Change of Name

Legal Records Information 32

1. Proof of Change of Name: Does it exist?

Under English common law, a person may take a new surname, perfectly legally, without drawing up any formal record, provided that such action is not undertaken for the purpose of fraud of avoidance of obligation, etc. Various means of recording a change of name have been developed over time, but most of them were voluntary, and it is impossible to say what percentage of name-changers used them. Many people who changed their name did not wish to draw attention to the fact. For example, in an age of difficult divorce, some people took their new partner's name to allow them the appearance of marriage, and any children the appearance of legitimacy. From the number of enquiries The National Archives gets, it is clear that very often a proof of change of name either never existed or no longer exists. If you are required to provide evidence of a change of name, to obtain a passport for example, and you cannot find proof of your change of name then you need to obtain legal advice from a solicitor or the Citizens Advice Bureau.

2. Change of Name by Deed Poll

A deed poll is the technical term for a deed involving only one party. However, for most people deeds poll now have one meaning - change of name. Changes of name by deed poll were (and are) made before a solicitor who could enrol them, for safekeeping, in the Close Rolls of Chancery or the later Enrolment Books of the Supreme Court of Judicature. In fact, very few changes of name were enrolled, as it was not a legal obligation and extra fees were payable. Most people who come to The National Archives looking for an enrolled change of name are disappointed.

The original deed poll will have been given to the person who changed their name. Although the solicitor who prepared the deed poll may have kept a copy on file, it is unlikely to be a certified copy, nor is the file likely to have been kept for more than five years. In fact, there may never have been a deed poll: a perfectly legal alternative such as a statutory declaration before JP or Commissioner for Oaths (which could not be enrolled), or an advertisement in the newspapers, may have been used instead. (It may be possible to check local newspapers at the British Library Newspaper Library, Colindale Avenue, Colindale, London NW7 5HE).

3. Enrolled Deeds Poll, at The National Archives

From 1851, the indexes to the Close Rolls (C 54 ) include references to changes of name by deed poll which had been enrolled by the solicitor. In 1903, this work was taken over by the Supreme Court of Judicature Enrolment Books (J 18 ), for which there are also indexes. The indexes vary from time to time: until 1903 only the former name is given, but since then both are present, either as a note or a cross-reference. These indexes are only available at The National Archives, where they are on open access. The enrolments they refer to have to be ordered as original documents. Certified copies of any deeds poll enrolled in the Close Rolls and Enrolment Books now in The National Archives can be bought. The National Archives hold the enrolments of deed polls up to the year 2001. For more recent enrolments contact the Royal Courts of Justice at: Room 81, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, WC2 (Tel: 020 7947 6656).

4. The Gazettes - All Deeds Poll From 1914: All Name Changes 1939-1945

From 1914, all deeds poll enrolled in the Supreme Court had first to be advertised in the London Gazette - but again, this does not mean all changes of name. However, for the duration of the Second World War, British subjects could only change their name if 21 days before doing so they had published in the London Gazette, the Edinburgh Gazette or the Belfast Gazette a notice giving details of the proposed change. This was required by the National Register, which was in force from 1939 to 1952. Anyone changing his or her name had to make a declaration to that effect (and advertise in the relevant Gazette until 1945), to allow the National Registration records to be altered and an identity card and ration book to be issued in the new name. These declarations, formerly preserved by the General Register Office, were destroyed when National Registration was abolished in 1952.

A supplementary index to both old and new names exists in the quarterly indexes to the London Gazette for 1938-1964: copies of the relevant pages are shelved by the J 18 indexes at The National Archives. Alphabetical indexes by old and new names (1965-1999) are available to be consulted at The National Archives. The London Gazette is searchable online, access is free onsite at The National Archives.

5. Changes of Name by Foreigners in the UK, 1916-1971

Enemy aliens resident in Britain had been forbidden to change their names in 1916: the ban was extended to all foreigners in Britain in 1919. The only exceptions made were when a new name was assumed by royal licence); or by special permission of the Home Secretary; or when a woman took her husband's name on marriage. In the first two of these cases, the change had to be advertised in the Gazettes (see above). These restrictions were removed in 1971.

6. Royal Licences and Private Acts of Parliament: c.1700 Onwards

Royal licences to change a name appear among the records from the late seventeenth century. Such Licences were common in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and were often, though not invariably, advertised in the London Gazette. Changes so gazetted from 1760 to 1901 are noted by Phillimore and Fry (see below). Royal licences are now virtually restricted to cases in response to a bequest conditional upon adopting the deceased's name, or a marriage settlement requiring the husband to adopt the wife's name, or when a change to the coat of arms was also required. Warrants for such changes of name were entered into the current series of entry books; before 1782 in SP 44 ; from 1782 to February 1868 in HO 38 ; and from February 1868 in HO 142 . These usually have internal indexes in each volume. Records of such changes of name were often advertised in the London Gazette. It may be worth also checking the records of the College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4BT, as since 1783 all applications have been referred to the College of Arms for a report, or have been made through the College in the first instance.

There are also instances of correspondence in HO 45 that describe individual examples of changes of name registered in the period 1841-1871, and in HO 144 in the period 1868-1959.

Private acts of Parliament were also used in the same kinds of instance. This costly method, requiring the promotion of a private Bill, has been resorted to only once in the past hundred years (in 1907), though it was fairly common in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Changes of name by Act of Parliament for the period 1760 to 1901 are noted by Phillimore and Fry. For 1845 to 1859, private Acts of Change of Name are included in the officially printed series of Acts, but for other dates you will need to contact the Parliamentary Archives, London, SW1, to arrange to see the original Acts of Parliament. Also available for inspection there are the various records connected with the promotion of private Bills of Change of Name.

7. The Phillimore and Fry Index to Change of Name, 1760-1901

This is a composite index from several sources, and does not claim to be an index to all changes of name. Its full details are An Index to Change of Name Under Authority of Act of Parliament or Royal Licence and including Irregular Changes from 1 George III to 64 Victoria, 1760 to 1901. A copy is shelved with the C 54 finding aids at The National Archives.

The sources covered are: private acts of Parliament; royal licences published in the London Gazette and Dublin Gazette; notices of changes of name published in The Times after 1861; with a few notices from other newspapers; the registers of the Lord Lyon [king of arms], where Scottish changes of name were commonly recorded; records in the office of the Ulster King at Arms; and some private information. It thus omits changes by royal licence not advertised in the London Gazette, and changes by deed poll enrolled in the Close Rolls but not advertised in The Times.

(ri2250) Last updated: 15 August 2008 | © Crown Copyright 1999