1. Name restrictions

When you apply to us for a Deed Poll, we cannot accept an application for -

  • A name that does not include at least one forename and one surname
  • A name that is impossible to pronounce
  • A name that includes numbers or symbols (see section 2 below)
  • A name that includes punctuation marks (although you can have a hyphen to link forenames or surnames e.g. if you want a double-barrelled name, and an apostrophe in the case of surnames like O'Brien
  • A name that is vulgar, offensive or blasphemous
  • A name that promotes criminal activities
  • A name that promotes racial or religious hatred
  • A name that promotes the use of controlled drugs or includes the generic or slang name for drugs
  • A name that ridicules people, groups, government departments, companies or organisations
  • A name that may result in others believing you have a conferred or inherited honour, title, rank or academic award e.g. a change of first name to Sir, Lord, Laird, Lady, Prince, Princess, Viscount, Baron, Baroness, General, Captain, Professor, Doctor, etc
  • A name that exceeds the maximum number of characters allowed in a name (see section 7 below)

Other than the above restrictions, you are free to change your forename(s) and surname (or both) to any name you like. You can also add names, remove names or rearrange your existing names. 

You can change your name by Deed Poll at any time and for any reason provided the change of name isn’t for deceptive or fraudulent purposes, or for the avoidance of an obligation.

Note: If you choose a forename or surname that consists of a single letter - or includes modified Latin characters - you may find that some record holders’ computer systems will be unable to show your name correctly.  This is because many computers only accept standard Latin characters and require at least two characters for the forename and surname.

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Sections in this article
Click on the links below to view each section of this article.

1.         Name restrictions
2.         Characters we can print on our Deed Poll documents
3.         Title restrictions
4.         Fun names
5.         Copyright and trade mark protection of names
6.         Applying for a passport in a fun or trademarked name
7.         Limits on the number of characters in a name

This page was last checked today by Amanda Dawson, Senior Deed Poll Officer.

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