Changing your child's name

Changing your child's forename before their first birthday

Parents can change their child’s forenames during the first year after the date of registration.

A statutory fee is payable for this service and also a new birth certificate.

The forms you need to complete will depend on whether or not your child has been baptised.

Full details, including the relevant forms, are available from Birmingham Register Office.

Note that it is not possible to change your child's surname by this method.

Changing your child's surname (and/or forename) after 12 months of the birth registration

It may be possible to change your child’s surname on re-registration, if

• you marry or enter into a civil partnership with the natural father after your child’s birth was registered, or
• you’re not married but you want the natural father’s name on the birth record after registering

For further details and forms, visit our re-register a birth page.

Page last updated: 2 October 2024