Legal Name Change Restrictions in the United States

Legal Name Change Restrictions in the United States

When a citizen wish to change his/her name, there are a few limitations. For example, the interested person may not seek a name change for an ulterior or illegal purpose. Additionally, in some states, the person must verify that changing his/her name will not in any manner invade the property rights of others (whether partnership, patent, trademark, privacy, or otherwise). In some states it is the court’s decision whether to grant a request for a name change.

List of Restrictions

List of cases where courts may restrict or deny requests for a name change:

• To defraud another person
• To avoid debts
• To avoid litigation or legal action against the interested person
• To change the name to a racial slur
• To change the name to one that could be measured as a fighting word, which includes fighting words or any word or words that may incite violence.
• To change the name to one that includes obscene words.
• To the name of a famous person (see below) for a fraudulent purpose; you may choose the name of a famous person, but a court may examine the reasons for the request to ensure that the name change will not infringe on certain rights such as trademark, copyright, patent, privacy, or that you are seeking to take advantage of the famous person’s fame. The person  can’t change his/her name to interfere with the rights of other people which usually means that he/she wants to change the name to that of a famous person with the intent to mislead others. Most judges will not allow to change the name to that of a famous person unless they are convinced that there are reasons that are completely unrelated to the famous person and are reasonable in their own rights.
• To the name of a company, brand, or product; company, brand, and product names are usually protected by trademarks and copyrights, and usually require the permission or consent from the owner of the name of the company, brand, or product.
• To an initial, number, sign, punctuation mark, or one word name although it is not difficult to find persons who have changed their name or part of their name to an initial, number, sign, or one word name (i.e. Malcolm X, the musician Prince who changed his name to a sign, etc.), courts generally scrutinize such name change requests. You can not change your name to one that would be deliberately confusing, such as punctuation or a number. You can not name yourself “7” or “VI” or even “!”.

While it may seem ‘interesting’ to name a child or change a name to something a little odd, there are some names that will be rejected by the courts, even if you are naming a new born child. It’s best to familiarize yourself with the laws surrounding name changes to ensure that the name you want to change yours to is allowed by the state. In most states, you can just assume a name without being required to go to court, however not all states uphold that federal law.

Legal Name change and Restrictions in Canada

There are various types of legal name changes in Canada. These categories range from formal name changes for adults, formal name changes for children to changing your surname due to marriage or divorce. Different provinces in Canada each have their own jurisdictions over name changes. You will be required to change your name in the province where you reside.

Your request to change your name can be refused if the name can cause confusion, mistake or embarrassment by you or any other person. It can also be refused if there is reason to suspect a name is being changed for fraudulent or improper purposes.

It is also required that the entire name is written in characters of the Roman alphabet.

Requirements for changing your name in some provinces may include to be at least 16 years old and lived in that province for at least one year

The name change are published in the province´s Gazette. You can request that the name change be kept confidential (if publication can lead to significant harm).

Restrictions on name changes in the U.K. and the Deed Poll

See more information about the U.K. Deed Poll here.

A change of title can be added to a deed poll for a name change. If you want to change from Mrs to Miss, or if you are a transgender person wanting to change from Ms to Mr, or vice versa, no evidence is required for this.

You need to prove your entitlement to any academic, military or noble titles before you can have them added to a deed poll.

Having a title rejected will not affect your right to change the rest of your name.

It is your responsibility to choose a name that is legally acceptable and not offensive. Some examples of names that would not be acceptable by government departments would be those names which include symbols or numbers, or which are unpronounceable. We do not accept blasphemous names, other than that you can pretty much change your name to anything, so long as you do not do so to commit an illegal activity or to defraud anyone.

Names and Copyright

Names are not protected by copyright, so if you want to change your name to David Beckham, you can, as long as you are not trying to pass yourself off as the famous football player, or use the name for other fraudulent purposes.

There is also no way for a divorced person to stop their previous partner using their surname, unless they are deceiving others into thinking they are still married.

Fun Names

In 2010 name change applications were accepted for people wanting to be known as ‘Monkey Skunky’, ‘Mike Moonshine’ and ‘Blazing Inferno’ to name but a few.

Fun names are not normally a problem; however, the U.K. passport service will not normally accept applications for names which include political statements or strings of words that are not normally considered a name.

There is also a limit of 250 characters for forenames and 30 for surnames.

Famous Name Changes

There are many people in history who have odd names, and even names that have contained numerals, although most often they are spelled out completely. Even more people are beginning to name their children with proper nouns – words that are words in common English language but aren’t commonly used as names. Some well-known examples are:
•Apple Martin (daughter of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin.)
•Bluebell Madonna Halliwell (daughter of ‘Spice Girl” Geri Halliwell.)
•Depressed Cupboard Cheesecake (The child of a couple in Kent, England.)
•Loser Lane (A New York Police Department sergeant.)
•Miroslav Šatan. (NHL Hockey Player – last name is pronounced Shah-tahn).
•Reverend Canaan Banana (The first President of Zimbabwe.)
•Peerless Price, (A wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills).
•Picabo Street (Her first name is pronounced it “Peek-a-Bow”, not “Peek-a-Boo” and she is an American skier.)
•Poppy Montgomery, born Poppy Petal Emma Elizabeth Deveraux Donahue. (An Australian-born actress who starred in the television series the. Poppy’s family has some odd names too – her brother is named Jethro Tull, and her sisters are named Rosie Thorn, Daisy Yellow, Lily Belle and Marigold Sun.
•Yahoo Serious (An Australian actor known from the television show Young Einstein.)