Can I change my child's forename(s)?
Your child's first name(s) can be changed within 12 months of the date of the registration of the birth and a new birth certificate issued.
Contact Details:
Telephone: 023 8063 1422
Email: registrars@southampton.gov.uk
Details of service:
Your child's first name(s) can be changed within 12 months of the date of the registration of the birth and a new birth certificate issued.
If the child has been baptised in the Christian faith within the 12 month period after birth registration you can obtain a form from the Register Office to take to the Minister of the Church in which the child was baptised. Once this form has been completed it needs to be returned to the Register Office and the amended names can be inserted into space 17 of the original birth register. This process can be done at any time after the birth as long as the baptism took place within 12 months of the registration. You can then purchase certified copies from this amended registration.
If your child has not been baptised one of the parents can complete a 'Name Given Not in Baptism' form available from the Register Office. Once the form has been completed the amended name(s) will be inserted into space 17 of the original birth registration. This process can be done at any time after the birth (as long as it can be proved that the change of name took place within 12 months of the birth registration). Certified copies of the amended registration can then be purchased. This procedure can only be done once.
Please note: the short version certificate will only record the child's amended forename(s). The full copy certificate will contain both the original name and the new name, showing whether it was given in baptism or by certificate of naming.
Last updated: 13 July 2007
