TL;DR: India has no single statute that governs a general adult’s change of name. What most people call “the legal procedure” - a deed or affidavit, a newspaper notice, and a Gazette of India entry - is an administrative practice run by the Department of Publication, not a law that creates your new name. The deed or affidavit is what actually declares the change; the Gazette notification is evidence of it, filed through post or in person, not a fully online application.

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There is no central Indian statute titled a “Name Change Act” that governs how an adult citizen changes their name. Unlike marriage, divorce, or succession, which sit inside dedicated codes, a name change for a private individual is not a creature of a specific parliamentary enactment. What exists instead is a settled administrative practice: sign a deed or affidavit declaring the new name, publish a notice in a newspaper, and apply to the Department of Publication for an entry in the Gazette of India, Part IV. Nearly every government form, bank, and passport office in the country now expects to see that Gazette entry before it will update its own records.

That practice is not itself the source of your right to change your name. The Supreme Court addressed this directly in Jigya Yadav v. Central Board of Secondary Education, decided on 3 June 2021. The Court held that a person’s name is an intrinsic element of identity, and that individuals possess a right under Articles 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution to control and alter their own name. The judgment records that “an individual must be in complete control of her name and law must enable her to retain as well as to exercise such control freely for all times.” The Court was examining CBSE’s own bye-laws, which at the time required a court-approved gazette notification before the Board would correct a candidate’s name, and treated that bye-law as a procedural condition set by the Board, not as the general law of the land on how a name change comes into being. Before relying on this or any other precedent in a submission, confirm it is still good law and follow a correct format when you cite the judgment; a citation that has been overruled or a case name misquoted undermines an otherwise sound argument.

The practical consequence is important and frequently stated wrong. The deed or affidavit is the document that actually declares your change of name; it is the operative act. The newspaper notice and the Gazette entry that follow are publicity and evidence, a public record that the change happened and on what date, not the mechanism that creates the new name. This is why a deed of change of name, properly executed, is legally effective from the date you sign it, even before the Gazette catches up weeks later. Authorities that insist on seeing the Gazette entry before accepting a name change are applying their own internal verification standard, not a statutory requirement that only a gazetted name is a valid one. If you are drafting the underlying declaration, the same rules that govern any sworn affidavit in India apply: it must be true to your knowledge, signed before the right authority, and consistent with every other document you hold.

Step 1: the deed or affidavit of change of name

The document you sign first is either a deed of change of name or a change-of-name affidavit, depending on who you are and where you work. The Department of Publication’s own published guidelines for an adult applicant set out a specimen text for this document, and it is worth following closely because the Department checks the wording against its template before it will process the Gazette entry.

The specimen requires the following elements in the body of the document:

  • Your existing (old) name, stated in full.
  • Your relationship descriptor and parentage: son, daughter, or wife of your father’s or husband’s name.
  • Your occupation and employer, where the applicant is employed.
  • Your residential address as it currently stands.
  • A clear declarative sentence: “have changed my name and shall hereafter be known as” the new name.
  • A certification that you have complied with other legal requirements connected with the change.
  • Your signature in your old name (not the new one, since the document is the instrument that records the transition).
  • Two witnesses, each supplying full name, signature, address, and mobile number.

Central government employees follow a slightly different track. The Department’s guidelines point them to a deed executed in accordance with the Ministry of Home Affairs office memorandum dated 12 March 1987 (O.M. 190016/1/87-Estt.), which the Department attaches a specimen for. Indian citizens living abroad submit a deed attested by the relevant Indian embassy or High Commission in original, rather than a locally sworn affidavit. This deed operates purely as a personal declaration; unlike a power of attorney, it confers no authority on anyone else to act on your behalf.

Two points are worth stating precisely because they get muddled in casual advice. First, nothing in the Department’s guidelines requires the deed or affidavit to be executed before a court; it is a document signed by the applicant and two witnesses, not a judicial order. Second, the document is typed on plain paper according to the specimen, in duplicate, and submitted along with the print matter on a CD in MS Word - a requirement that has not been updated to reflect that most applicants now submit on a USB drive or by email attachment where the department accepts it, but the published specimen still describes a CD.

If your name change is tied to a property transaction, succession matter, or a document like a gift deed or a will, keep the deed of change of name with those papers; registrars and sub-registrars will ask for it when the names on the old and new instruments do not match.

Step 2: newspaper publication

The Department of Publication’s guidelines for an adult applicant require that the change of name “should be advertised in one of the daily local leading newspapers stating therein Father’s/Husband’s name along with residential address,” and that the original newspaper (or, per the minor’s guidelines, the full page carrying the notice) be forwarded to the Department in original.

Read that requirement carefully: it says one newspaper, described as a local leading daily. It does not specify a language, a minimum circulation figure, or a requirement to run the notice in both an English and a vernacular publication. That two-newspaper convention is common in casual advice, but nothing in the Department’s published guideline mandates it. Treat any claim about a specific number of newspapers, a language, or a circulation threshold as convention, not law, unless a particular state or professional body’s rule says otherwise.

What the newspaper notice must contain, per the Department’s specimen and instructions, is:

  • The applicant’s old name.
  • Father’s or husband’s name.
  • Residential address.
  • A statement of the change of name.
  • For a minor, the child’s age as well.

Practically, most applicants place a small classified-style notice, since the Department only needs the text to match the deed and to carry the required identifying details. Once the notice is published, the original newspaper (the physical copy, not a photocopy) goes into the application bundle sent to the Department. Losing the original newspaper means running the notice again, so keep two or three extra copies from the day of publication before you file anything away.

Step 3: the Department of Publication e-Gazette process

This is the step where the “online” label misleads people. The Department of Publication (deptpub.gov.in) accepts and processes name change applications, and the Gazette of India is now published exclusively in electronic form, searchable and downloadable free of charge from egazette.gov.in. But the application itself, per the Department’s currently published guidelines, is not filed through an online portal. The Department’s instructions state plainly: “Application either submitted personally or sent by Post/Courier only will be entertained. No other channel is permissible viz Agents, Advocates, etc.” Everything about the intake is physical.

The document bundle the Department asks for, per its guidelines for an adult applicant, is:

  1. An undertaking (the deed or affidavit described in Step 1) signed by the applicant.
  2. The original newspaper carrying the notice.
  3. The prescribed proforma, typed, in duplicate, signed by the applicant and two witnesses.
  4. A CD containing the print matter in MS Word, without the witness portion, with the old name typed in place of a signature.
  5. Two self-attested passport-size photographs and a self-attested photocopy of photo ID proof.
  6. A certificate signed by the applicant declaring that the hard copy and the soft copy contents are identical.
  7. A request letter, along with the requisite fee.

For proof of the old name and proof of address, the Department’s published list of acceptable documents includes a passport, Aadhaar card, ration card, voter card, driving licence, a utility bill (electricity, water, telephone, or gas) not older than three months, an identity card issued by a central or state government body, a PAN card, a birth certificate, and Class 10 or Class 12 educational certificates - the same category of school records examined closely in disputes over correcting a CBSE certificate. For a minor applicant, the guidelines separately accept the parents’ ID proofs as address proof.

The Department’s own published fee schedule, as currently displayed on its guideline document, states Rs 1,100 for an adult applicant and Rs 1,700 for a minor applicant, with higher fees of Rs 3,500 and Rs 5,100 respectively for Indians living abroad; the document itself labels these figures as effective from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017, so treat that number as the last officially published figure rather than a guaranteed current rate, and confirm the live amount before you pay. The fee is deposited through the government’s Non-Tax Receipt Portal (Bharatkosh, www.bharatkosh.gov.in), a requirement the Department introduced from 1 October 2018. The completed bundle, with the payment proof, forwarding letter, and photo ID, is addressed to the Controller of Publications, Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054, and the Department specifies the documents must not be older than one year at the time of submission.

Once the Department finds the application complete, it forwards the request for notification to the concerned Government of India Press; its guidelines note it is “not responsible for any delay in printing on the part of concerned Press,” a fair warning that printing is a separate bottleneck outside the Department’s control. The Controller of Publications also reserves the right to reject a request that is incomplete, vague, unlawful, or misleading.

What a published Gazette entry actually looks like

Once your notification is printed, it appears in the weekly Gazette of India, Part IV, which carries private individual notices including changes of name. The Department’s own instructions describe how to find your entry on egazette.gov.in: search by category “Weekly Gazette,” select Part and Section “Part IV,” narrow the date range between two Saturdays covering the week your notice should have run, download the relevant PDF, and use Ctrl+F to search for your old or new name within it. The Department notes that once you have downloaded the whole gazette to keep your own copy, “this further needs no certification from the department,” and separately disclaims responsibility for any tampering in a downloaded copy circulating outside its own website.

The entry itself follows the specimen format: your old name, your parentage or spousal relationship, your address, and the declared new name, published as a formal government notice under Part IV. It is this printed, dated, publicly searchable entry that banks, passport authorities, and other bodies rely on as documentary proof that the change happened and when. It is not, as the Jigya Yadav reasoning makes clear, the act that created your new name in the first place.

A minor’s name change: a separate route

A minor cannot apply for their own Gazette notification; the Department’s guidelines for this category are titled “Guidelines for Change of Name for Minor” and are addressed to the guardian, described as either the father or the mother, who applies on the child’s behalf. The mechanics track the adult process closely, with three practical differences.

First, the newspaper notice must identify the applicant guardian’s own name, the father’s or husband’s name, the residential address, and additionally the child’s age, and the full page of the newspaper carrying the notice must be submitted rather than a clipping. Second, the deed or undertaking is signed by the guardian, not the child, and the specimen text names the guardian as the party who “have changed the name of my minor son/daughter.” Third, the photograph requirement is doubled: two self-attested photographs of the guardian and photographs of the minor as well, along with the guardian’s photo ID.

Where the minor’s name change follows a divorce, the Department publishes a separate specimen public notice for exactly that situation. It requires the mother (or applicant parent) to state her old name and her former husband’s name, declare that she obtained a divorce citing the court decree number and date, and then state the child’s age in years (not date of birth) and the new name the child will use going forward. This is a distinct form from the general minor’s change-of-name specimen, and using the wrong one is a common cause of the Department returning an incomplete application.

If a parent is separately pursuing custody, maintenance, or other relief connected to the divorce, that process runs on its own track under family law; the Gazette application only records the resulting name change, it does not adjudicate custody or consent disputes between parents.

Name change after marriage or divorce

Adopting a spouse’s surname on marriage, or reverting to a maiden name after marriage or divorce, follows the general adult procedure with one additional document requirement specific to reverting to a maiden surname. The Department’s published guideline on this point is short and specific: an applicant seeking to obtain her maiden surname must submit either a copy of the divorce decree, or a no-objection certificate from the husband confirming he has no objection to her using her maiden surname, along with a copy of that husband’s ID proof and his mobile number. The guideline adds a further condition that matters if there is litigation pending: “If the matter is in the court of law, the change of name of applicant cannot be processed till the final verdict is pronounced.” In other words, the Department will not process a maiden-surname reversion while a matrimonial case involving the same parties remains sub judice.

For most people going through this route, the practical order is to first obtain the divorce decree (or the husband’s NOC where no divorce is involved), then execute the change-of-name deed, then publish the newspaper notice, and only then apply to the Department. Where the change is connected to a matrimonial dispute over maintenance, residence, or property rights on divorce, keep the underlying affidavit consistent with what has been filed in the matrimonial proceeding; inconsistent statements of fact across documents are the kind of detail that opposing counsel and courts do notice.

Adopting the husband’s surname on marriage, by contrast, is treated by the Department as an ordinary adult name change, without the additional NOC or decree requirement, since it is not accompanied by the removal of a name acquired through the same marriage.

Change of religion and adopting a name from another faith

The Department distinguishes two situations that are often conflated in casual advice, and its guidelines treat them differently.

The first is an applicant who wants to adopt a name or surname associated with a different religion without converting - for example, adopting a name common to another faith tradition purely as a personal preference. For this, the Department requires an additional undertaking, over and above the standard one, in which the applicant declares expressly that “he/she confirms that he/she is not changing his/her religion.” The Department’s guideline sets the cost of this category at Rs 1,100 plus an additional Rs 250, totalling Rs 1,350 as currently published, again subject to the same caution that the figure is what the guideline document states rather than a confirmed present-day amount.

The second is an applicant who is actually changing their religion. Here the Department requires the change of religion to be declared both in the leading newspaper notice and in the undertaking itself; it is not left implicit. This is a materially different disclosure from the first category, and the Department’s guideline is explicit that the two situations are not interchangeable: adopting a name without converting needs the confirmation that no conversion is occurring, while an actual conversion needs the opposite, an explicit declaration that it is.

Neither category, on the Department’s own published guideline, requires a court order or a certificate from a religious authority before the Gazette application can be filed; the requirement is confined to the undertaking and newspaper disclosure described above. A name change accompanying a change of gender marker follows a related but distinct framework; see the transgender persons law for how that process differs from an ordinary name change of the kind described here.

The downstream update sequence: what to fix first

Once the Gazette entry is published, the work of updating every record that carries your old name begins. There is no statute prescribing the order in which you must update identity and financial documents, so what follows is a practical sequence based on which documents other authorities treat as base proof, not a legal requirement. Following it reduces the number of times you have to explain a name mismatch to a second authority.

Aadhaar first, because it has become the identity document most other bodies check against, including banks and telecom providers, and an unresolved mismatch here creates friction everywhere else. PAN next, since PAN records are cross-checked against Aadhaar for income tax filings, and a stale PAN name can silently block e-filing or refunds long after you have otherwise finished the update. Passport follows, since passport applications for a name change themselves typically ask for the Gazette copy and the updated PAN or Aadhaar as supporting proof, so sequencing it after those two avoids a second round of paperwork. Bank accounts, the voter ID, and the driving licence can generally be updated in any order once Aadhaar and PAN are current, since each accepts the Gazette copy directly. Property records, employer service records, insurance policies, and educational transcripts tend to be the slowest to update and are best handled once the identity core (Aadhaar, PAN, passport) is settled, because registrars and HR departments will ask to see the updated government ID before accepting the change on their own records. Where the update touches immovable property, keep the Gazette copy alongside your encumbrance and mutation records, since a mutation entry that still carries the old name can complicate a later sale even after the Gazette notification exists.

If the name change coincides with a succession matter, for instance where an heir’s name in the death certificate or will differs from their gazetted name, resolve the Gazette entry before applying for a succession certificate or legal heir certificate, since that application will ask you to account for any name discrepancy across the deceased’s and the heirs’ documents.

When a name change is refused or challenged

Refusals typically come from two directions: the Department of Publication itself declining to process the Gazette entry, or a downstream authority (an employer, an educational board, a bank) refusing to accept a name change that has already been gazetted.

On the first, the Department’s own guidelines reserve to the Controller of Publications the right to reject any request that is “incomplete/vague/unlawful/misleading.” In practice this means missing documents, a mismatch between the newspaper notice and the deed, or an application bundle that does not follow the specimen format. There is no separate statutory appeal mechanism described in the Department’s published guidelines for a rejected application; the practical remedy is to correct the deficiency and resubmit.

On the second, refusal by a downstream body to accept an already-gazetted name change is the scenario the Supreme Court examined in Jigya Yadav v. Central Board of Secondary Education. CBSE had, at the time, imposed its own bye-law conditions - including a requirement of prior court approval before a gazette notification for a name correction on school records - that went beyond what the Department of Publication’s general process requires. The Court held that the constitutional right to control one’s own name under Articles 19(1)(a) and 21 constrains how rigidly such a body can refuse to give effect to a properly established name change, while leaving the Board’s own bye-laws to regulate the administrative mechanics of correction. Where a public authority refuses to recognise a gazetted name change without a lawful basis, the person affected can challenge that refusal before the jurisdictional High Court under Article 226, typically through a writ petition seeking a writ of mandamus directing the authority to act; the full set of constitutional writs available for this kind of administrative refusal is broader than mandamus alone, and which one applies depends on exactly what the authority did or failed to do.

Before escalating to a writ petition, it is usually faster to send the refusing authority a formal legal notice attaching the Gazette copy and asking for a reasoned response within a stated period; many refusals turn out to be a clerical failure to check the Gazette record rather than a considered legal objection, and a notice on record forces the authority to state its actual ground for refusal, in the same way a recipient is expected to respond in writing to a legal notice rather than ignore it. If the authority’s silence or delay is itself the problem rather than an active refusal, a right to information request to the relevant department can establish, on record, what stage the file is at and who is holding it up. If you only discover the refusal well after it was communicated, do not assume a late challenge is automatically barred; how courts weigh a delayed filing is covered separately in the law on condonation of delay.

A worked timeline

The following is an illustrative sequence for a straightforward adult name change with no pending litigation, built from the steps the Department’s guidelines describe. Actual timing for the newspaper and printing steps depends on the publication you use and the printing press’s own schedule, which the Department explicitly disclaims responsibility for.

flowchart TD
    A["Deed or affidavit of change of name"] --> B["Newspaper notice published, original retained"]
    B --> C["Application filed by post/in person with Department of Publication"]
    C --> D["Notification sent to Government of India Press"]
    D --> E["Gazette of India Part IV entry published"]
    E --> F["Aadhaar updated"]
    F --> G["PAN updated"]
    G --> H["Passport updated"]
    E --> I["Bank, voter ID, driving licence updated"]
    E --> J["Property, employer, and education records updated"]

A realistic week-by-week picture: Week 1, execute the deed or affidavit with two witnesses and gather ID and address proof. Week 1 or 2, place the newspaper notice and retain the original copy. Week 2, assemble the full document bundle (proforma in duplicate, CD or digital copy, photographs, undertaking, fee payment through Bharatkosh) and send it by post or deliver it in person to the Controller of Publications in Delhi, since the Department accepts no other channel. From here, printing and publication timing rests with the Government of India Press and is outside the Department’s stated control, so build in a wide margin rather than assuming a fixed number of weeks. Once the Gazette entry is live on egazette.gov.in, plan for a separate multi-week stretch to work through Aadhaar, PAN, passport, and the remaining downstream records, since each of those bodies runs its own, unrelated processing timeline.

Mandatory versus conventional: a comparison table

RequirementStatusBasis
Deed or affidavit of change of name✓ RequiredDepartment of Publication guidelines
Newspaper notice before applying✓ RequiredDepartment of Publication guidelines
Two newspapers (English + vernacular)convention, not a legal requirementCommon practice; guideline specifies one leading daily
Application filed online through a portal✗ Not availableGuideline mandates post or in-person filing only
Fee payment through Bharatkosh (NTRP)✓ RequiredDepartment order effective 1 October 2018
Court order for an adult’s ordinary name change✗ Not requiredNo such condition in the adult guideline
NOC or divorce decree for reverting to maiden surname✓ RequiredDepartment guideline on maiden surname
Application through an advocate or agent✗ Not acceptedGuideline restricts filing to applicant, post, or courier
Declaration of religion change in both notice and undertaking✓ Required, where religion is changingDepartment guideline distinguishes this from a name-only adoption
Gazette entry as the legal act creating the new name✗ Incorrect characterisationJigya Yadav v. CBSE, Supreme Court, 3 June 2021

How Niyam helps

Once a Gazette entry is published, confirming that it is genuinely on record, and pulling the exact citation details for a downstream form, is a research task in itself, particularly if the applicant only has a screenshot rather than the original PDF. A legal research platform that can search and cross-reference official notifications and case law in one place saves the back-and-forth of manually searching egazette.gov.in date ranges by hand.

Where a name-change refusal turns into an actual dispute, the relevant precedent, including how a case like Jigya Yadav has since been cited and applied, is easier to track down with a citator that flags whether a judgment remains good law before you rely on it in a submission; verifying that a cited authority has not been overruled or distinguished is exactly the kind of check a citation-checking tool is built for, rather than trusting an old bookmark or a secondhand summary.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a separate law in India specifically for changing your name?

No. There is no dedicated central statute governing how an adult private citizen changes their name. What functions as “the process” is an administrative practice run by the Department of Publication: a deed or affidavit, a newspaper notice, and a Gazette of India Part IV entry. The Supreme Court in Jigya Yadav v. CBSE (2021) grounded the underlying right to change one’s name in Articles 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution, not in a specific name-change law.

Does the Gazette notification actually create my new name?

No. The deed or affidavit you sign is the document that declares the change; that is the operative act. The newspaper notice and the Gazette entry that follow are evidence that the change happened and on what date. Many authorities treat the Gazette entry as their own internal verification standard before updating records, but that is an administrative preference, not proof that only a gazetted name is legally valid.

Can I apply for a Gazette name change entirely online?

No, not under the Department of Publication’s currently published guidelines. You can pay the prescribed fee online through the Bharatkosh Non-Tax Receipt Portal, and you can search and download the published Gazette free of charge from egazette.gov.in, but the application bundle itself must be submitted by post or delivered in person; the guidelines expressly exclude filing through agents or advocates.

How many newspapers do I need to publish my name change notice in?

The Department’s published guideline requires publication in one leading local daily newspaper, stating your father’s or husband’s name and residential address. A common belief that you must publish in both an English and a vernacular paper is a widespread convention, not a requirement stated in the Department’s guidelines. Check whether your specific downstream use, such as a particular state’s education board, imposes its own additional rule.

What documents does the Department of Publication require for an adult applicant?

An undertaking (the deed or affidavit) signed by the applicant, the original newspaper carrying the notice, the prescribed proforma typed in duplicate and signed by the applicant and two witnesses, a soft copy of the print matter, two self-attested photographs, a self-attested photo ID copy, a certificate that the hard and soft copies match, and a request letter with the requisite fee.

Do I need a court order to change my name as an adult in India?

No. The Department of Publication’s guidelines for an ordinary adult name change do not require a court order. A court order becomes relevant only in specific situations, such as reverting to a maiden surname where there is no husband’s no-objection certificate available, or where the underlying dispute (for example, a matrimonial matter) is still pending before a court.

Can a minor apply for their own Gazette name change?

No. A minor’s guardian, described in the Department’s guidelines as either the father or the mother, applies on the child’s behalf. The newspaper notice must include the guardian’s identifying details and the child’s age, and the deed or undertaking is signed by the guardian, with photographs of both the guardian and the child submitted with the application.

How is a minor’s name change handled after a divorce?

The Department publishes a distinct specimen notice for this situation, requiring the mother (or applicant parent) to state the court decree number and date of the divorce, then declare the minor’s age in years and the new name. This is a separate form from the general minor’s name-change specimen, and applications are frequently returned when the wrong specimen is used.

What is required to revert to my maiden surname after marriage or divorce?

The Department’s guideline requires either a copy of the divorce decree or a no-objection certificate from the husband, along with a copy of his ID proof and mobile number. If there is a pending court matter between the same parties, the Department will not process the maiden-surname change until the final verdict is pronounced.

Do I need extra permission to adopt a surname from another religion without converting?

You need an additional undertaking, beyond the standard one, explicitly declaring that you are not changing your religion, and the Department’s published fee for this category is higher than the ordinary adult fee. This is different from an actual religious conversion, which the Department requires to be disclosed both in the newspaper notice and in the undertaking itself.

What fee does the Department of Publication charge for a Gazette name change?

The Department’s currently published guideline states Rs 1,100 for an adult applicant and Rs 1,700 for a minor applicant within India, with higher amounts for applicants living abroad. That figure is explicitly labelled on the guideline as effective from April 2016 to March 2017, so confirm the live fee before paying rather than relying on that historical figure alone.

In what order should I update my identity documents after the Gazette entry is published?

No statute prescribes an order. Practically, updating Aadhaar first, then PAN, then the passport, minimises rework, since many other authorities check applications against Aadhaar and PAN. Property, employer, and educational records are easiest to update once that identity core is current.

What happens if the Department of Publication rejects my application?

The Controller of Publications may reject an application that is incomplete, vague, unlawful, or misleading, under the Department’s own guidelines. There is no separate statutory appeal process described in those guidelines; the practical remedy is to identify the deficiency, correct it, and resubmit the full bundle again.

Can I challenge an authority that refuses to accept my already-gazetted name change?

Yes. If a public authority refuses without lawful basis to give effect to a properly gazetted name change, that refusal can be challenged before the jurisdictional High Court, typically through a writ petition under Article 226. Before escalating, sending a formal legal notice attaching the Gazette copy and asking for a reasoned response is often a faster route to resolving what turns out to be a clerical oversight rather than a considered legal objection.

Does my employer have to update its records automatically once I am gazetted?

No. The Gazette entry is evidence you can present, but each institution, including an employer, runs its own internal process for updating its records and will typically ask for supporting documents such as the Gazette copy and an updated identity document before amending its files. There is no automatic feed from the Gazette of India into private or institutional record systems.

Is a name change after marriage compulsory in India?

No. Adopting a spouse’s surname on marriage is a personal choice, not a legal requirement. If you choose to adopt a new surname, the Department of Publication treats it as an ordinary adult name change under its general guidelines, without the additional documentation required for reverting to a maiden surname.

Can I change my name more than once through this process?

The Department’s guidelines do not state a limit on how many times an individual may apply for a Gazette name change, but each application must independently satisfy the full document and fee requirements, including a fresh deed or affidavit and a fresh newspaper notice reflecting the most recent change.