Name Changing

When my son was a baby we decied to change the way we spelled his first name, and ended up finally changing it on his birth cert about 3 yrs ago. It was not hard, just show proof of who you are and fill out the form. It does take about 10 months for the amended birth cert, but totally not hard at all..

How old is the baby? I changed my son's last name to my husbands (not his bio-father) when he was 11 months. In WA we can do whatever change you want the first year. I just sent in his old birth certificate with the back filled out to a different name. It was easy and totally worth it since his bio-dad has never met my son and actually signed over his rights 2 years later).

Hi Mama-
I am not sure why it is so hard.....I know that when I got married 8 years ago I spent 5 separate appointments at the SS office trying to get them to SPELL my name right. I didn't think McArdle was rocket science, but apparently I was wrong.
Anyway, I would consider, for you, adding your last name to the end of your child's name. The reasoning for this is family history. Even if things are not great with a parent in the future, for a child to be able to know both sides historically can close a lot of gaps. The baby, when older, only has to sign the very first and very last names on the ss record or birth record (as long as nothing is hyphenated....if you hyphenate, you have to sign everything that is attached to the hyphen according to social security). So they will be baby _______________ (insert your last name here). But I would not remove the other one so that in the future if your child wants to do some digging on their roots, they know where to start.
I hope that helps and encourages you.
Good luck- and may the waiting period be short!
-E.

It totally depends on the state. I've always had 4 names, but when and where I was born, only 3 could be on the certificate (yay beaurocracy). When I got married, I just added the 4th for "free", when I paid to change my last name. It's in the wrong "place" on my name, because to be able to add it for free along with my new last name, it had to get added to the beginning or end, but couldn't go in the middle. If I wanted it to go in the middle, I would have had to pay a fee and go to court (yay beaurocracy).

I would suspect your answer is a beaurocracy q. AKA, it's a time/money thing... but I don't really know the answer.

We're also in the process of changing the SPELLING of our last name, which was changed in WWII. Which is something of a nightmare (the legal process to do so, since it's just 2 letters off... apparently because it's "close" it's "harder" for the govt. to change it than if we changed it to something radically different. :roll eyes:)

My sister changed her child's name first name and it is not difficult to do,just a question of filing it.. the original birth certificate stays on file, and you simply have an additional paper attached to it with the new name. it is sort of unwieldy, but who cares...She did this many years after we had been calling her child by the name she preferred (not the name on the birth certificate).

My understanding by the way, is that you can call yourself whatever you like. So, for instance, if you want to start calling your daughter by your name (or vice versa) then simply do that, and file for the birth certificate change whenever you actually have to (getting a passport, etc)..Your daughter can be known as the name you prefer her to have, and that is what her "real" name will be!

I don't actually KNOW the answer to this, but would suspect (as I've been looking at name change issues myself) that it's because of a combination of identity fraud and child custody issues.

These days you do need a judicial order to legally change a name (it used to be you could just go to the social security office, fill out a form saying what you want the new name to be and that was that). I would imagine the difference between changing a name and adding a name would be:

1) You'd need to show that it would be better for your child to have your last name and NOT have her current last name (dad's?). To add your name you'd just have to show that she SHOULD have your name not that she should LOSE the other name. (it is doable though, especially if her dad isn't going to fight it)

2) From a fraud perspective... hyphenating your last name doesn't do much to hide your previous identity so isn't a big deal, where as CHANGING your name gives you a way to hide from your previous life.

Just the ideas of a fellow questioner :-)

T.

I'm not sure what the problems all are with this. The only thing I know about changing a child's name is from when my husband adopted my son some years ago. We had to go to a lawyer. Part of his charges were for putting ads in the newspaper public pages for four weeks. This was to protect us from the bio father, who was out of the picture and we didn't have any idea where he was at the time, coming back and making any problems about the adoption.
I agree with those who have suggested that identity problems may be a part of what you are dealing with. We have so many missing and expoited children in our country today and I'm sure that lax regulations regarding name changes can make that easier for those people who are in the 'business' of abusing our children. Unfortunately, when people want to do wrong, those of us who don't also end up paying the price.

It is not that difficult to do. I have several friends who changed their kids names, and some that changed their own. You don't have to "prove" anything to a judge about why you choose to do so. You file the paperwork, pay the fee, and go before a judge to legalize the change. The judge might ask why out of wanting to know, but it won't affect anything. You don't even have to pick the father or mother's name, I have a friend who gave her child a last name that she completely made up:)
And I think that keeping the father's name for your child out of some kind of "loving connection" after he walked out on his child is pretty ridiculous.

I asked a question about name changes awhile ago and I learned that if a child was given the father's last name at birth and then Mom wanted to change it back to her maiden/legal name, the bio-father had to give consent. If the bio-father was out of the picture then ads in the paper were necessary to "let him know."

I think times have changed and fathers have more/better rights (whether some deserve them or not) than they used to and identity issues are so prevelant.

By removing a name you are "deleting" a possible trace to another person or hiding an alias. By adding a name, nothing was deleted.

It also depends on each state's laws. Contact the Social Security office or an attorney.

I would imagine it depends on the State laws but I am starting this process as well. We have to go to court and the child needs to be present plus a witness who can attest to who the child is. It is not possible to change a child's name unless both parents consent.

Unless things have changed, a name change is not that difficult. i did one for my nephews to put their stepfather's name on (he didn't adopt, they just changed their last name.) it was easy. I've never attempted to "add" a name to a birth certificate so I have no experience with that. With a name change, you simply file the papers with the court, publish a notice in the paper and then appear for the order to change the name. once you have the order, you send that to the county recorder and the birth certificate gets changed. not too difficult at all.

Hello MG, I can share a couple of things that have been learned by our family about this; 1. if a father wants to fight it you will have to get court permission.
2. you may have to have a declaration from the other parent giving permission.
3. this birth certificate is a legal document and to make changes depending what they are can be expensive.
4. if ou have named a father then this is something they will use if you ever get state aid to after the father.
It is easier all the way around to just add your name becasue with out it being legally done it does not have to be accepted by any school district as they go by the name on the birth certificate for forms. This is one of the things a family membe had to face.
Good Luck

If I remember correctly..I changed/added my daughters names once we adopted them...it took some time...a couple of months....I think the younger you are the easier it is to get results and then older you are the longer it is.....basically government agencies have to all change thier data etc and make sure that there is some link to your old name etc....of course it also depends on the state you live in and how efficient and fast they move.

When my first child was born I was not married so I gave him both mine andI(my now husband's) name. When he was starting school I had my last name removed. We had to set an appt to go before a judge and explain the purpose of the name change. It was more of a hastle than anything, but I;m glad we did it.

If you are talking about changing the name on a birth certificate, you want to amend the birth certificate. If you are in California, at least in Alameda County, you will need to file a VS-24 form with the change(s) you want on the birth certificate. It's not complicated, but it usually takes several months to process (the state doesn't work on Fridays, and counties are in general, less staffed, due to financial problems).

I think maybe you're wanting to change your daughter's last name because the dad "left you both when she was one", correct?
I would caution against this. You're doing this solely for your own personal benefit, and when she's older she will realize this and quite possibly be upset at you over it (speaking from personal experience).
Whether you like it or not, she's still part of her father, and her name should reflect that.
Just add your last name to hers- that way she can feel connected and a part of both of you, and isn't that really what having a child is all about? Love and belonging from BOTH parents.

I don't know how to answer your question but I want to put in my 2 cents with a child having both the father's and mother's last names...what happens when that child grows up and gets married? You didn't say if it's a boy or girl, but either way, it's just something to think about.