Making my given name official!

tikki999

I have finally decided that I want to be known by everyone by the name on my birth certificate and not by the additional surname given to me by immigration authorities when my parents emigrated to UK many years ago.

E.g. The name on my birth certificate is Jennifer Jones
But because my parents have a different surname (naming systems were different in country of origin) authorities changed my surname to match theirs, e.g. Jennifer Jackson.
At school, I decided I wanted my original surname as part of my name and from the age of 16 I have 'officially' been Jennifer Jones Jackson in the UK. In my country of origin I am Jennifer Jones.

Now I want to get rid of the Jackson for good and just be a Jones. I have an officially translated birth certificate that confirms that is my name, as well as a driving licence and id card from my country of origin (EU) with my original name. Is this enough to get a new UK passport and then change my name everywhere else, i.e. bank, council etc?

However, I have also started thinking about using my husband's surname (After 10 years of marriage), so could I just knock off the Jackson and add my husband's Smith to the end? (My marriage certificate is in a foreign language, would I need to pay to have it officially translated to do that?) and be Jennifer Jones-Smith?

Having spent the first half of my life with the 'wrong' name, I think I would like the spend the second half with my given one wherever I am!

AnotherJoe

I find your post somewhat confusing.

First you say you want to be the name you started with. Fair enough.

But then you say you want to take your husbands name, which entirely negates that !

And finally, you say you want to be your original name, which negates the statement on husbands name!

I suggest you work out what name you'd like to have and then just go through the process to change it. Apart from passport, as I understand it, it can all be done informally anyway, then you simply need to remember to use your passport name when booking flights.

pendragon_arther

It saves any confusion, once you've decided, to change it by deed poll. I did it years ago to include her surname so now I've got a double-barrelled surname. It's food for thought if you don't know which surname you'd prefer.

TBagpuss

Check with the passport agency, but I think that if you have an existing passport in the name of Jones Jackson, you would be able to change it to Jones Smith if you send them a copy of your marriage certificate, as that would appear to be a straightforward change from maiden to married name. (You would need to get the marriage certificate translated, probably by a translator which does legal translations regularly and can do the appropriate statement of truth with the translation)

However, if you want to go from Jones Jackson to Jones, you will need a change of name deed or deed poll. You wouldn't need your birth certificate or marriage certificate in that case.

maman

I'm not sure that you need to change your name by deed poll although I think it's cheap enough if it'll give you peace of mind.


I believe that you can call yourself whatever you like provided it isn't your intention to defraud.


You just need to inform relevant people (bank, utilities etc). I think it's quite common with people who get divorced and want to revert to maiden name.


If anyone wants 'proof' then you obviously you have your birth and marriage certificates and I suppose its down to the agency involved whether they ask for a translation.

Willow92

No need to pay to get your name changed, I found an online template and printed a few copies out for two witnesses to sign. This was enough to get my passport renewed and change my name for the bank/doctors etc.

coolcait

I don't understand the idea that "immigration authorities changed your name".

I can see that someone, somewhere might have erroneously called you 'Jennifer Jackson' on some form or other - but that didn't change your name.

If your birth certificate says you are Jennifer Jones, that's who you are - until you choose to change it.

I speak as the matriarch of a small family which has a variety of surnames, due to a mish-mash of naming conventions. And as a member of an extended family which covers even more cultures and naming conventions.

We've all had various authorities get the names wrong. None of us has had our name officially changed by any authority.

Before you start shelling out money to 'officially change your name back' please make sure that it was actually 'officially changed' in the first place.

snae

Shame this isn't Spain or Ireland, as multiple names are common and accepted by authorities. The governments realise that people go by many different variation of names, of differing length, language and content. In Ireland, you can in fact get this name on your passport (might only apply to Irish language names) without the need for deed poll, if you can prove that you use it in every day life, like for banks and what not.

If you feel strongly, you can do as previously mentioned, and go by deed poll, or similar, or you could just attempt to change how the authorities use your name. I know a few people that I went to both primary and secondary schools with, which had name changes, myself included. In secondary school, my parents removed my numerous middle names as it became apparent it was an annoyance in primary school. Still doesn't change who I am.

tikki999

coolcait..i don't really understand what happened. All I know is that since we've been in UK my name at doctors, schools etc was always Jackson even though it's not on my birth certificate! And I insisted the Jones be added on my school qualifications. I do wonder if I can just change my passport with a copy of my birth certificate and then take it from there - just show my passport as proof of my name. So yeah..have no idea what really happened. My parents probably couldn't really tell me either as their English would have been very poor at the time!

Anyway, decided not to add husband's name and looks like there are many mistakes on my marriage certificate which would confuse the issue anyway! Bureaucracy - crazy in every language!

unforeseen

No deed poll is needed for a wife to change her surname to her husband's.

You will probably need a translated marriage certificate to use as proof with the various authorities

coolcait

tikki999 wrote: »

coolcait..i don't really understand what happened. All I know is that since we've been in UK my name at doctors, schools etc was always Jackson even though it's not on my birth certificate! And I insisted the Jones be added on my school qualifications. I do wonder if I can just change my passport with a copy of my birth certificate and then take it from there - just show my passport as proof of my name. So yeah..have no idea what really happened. My parents probably couldn't really tell me either as their English would have been very poor at the time!

Anyway, decided not to add husband's name and looks like there are many mistakes on my marriage certificate which would confuse the issue anyway! Bureaucracy - crazy in every language!

To be honest, that sounds as if someone, at some point, put your name as 'Jennifer Jackson', and everything else has been copied from that.

The possible spanner in the works is that - from this post - you already have a British passport in the name of Jennifer Jackson.

I'd understood your original post wrongly - I thought that you were applying for a British passport for the first time.

If you already have a British passport which has the wrong name, you'll need to dig a bit deeper to see why that is. What documents did you/your parents use when the passport application was sent in?

As for your marriage certificate being full of errors.... :eek:
In your shoes, I'd be getting that sorted out right now - and well before worrying about the Jackson/Jones name issue!