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Quick answer

What is my legal name?

Your legal name is the name you use for official purposes: the one on your passport, driving licence, bank account and payslip. For most people that’s the name on their birth certificate, or a married name. If you want it to be something else, a deed poll is how you make a new name your legal name, on paper, everywhere.

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What counts as your legal name
Legal name vs preferred name
Make a new name official
How your legal name works

Checked against GOV.UK, HM Passport Office, HMRC, the Home Office, The National Archives and a council registration service. Sources are listed at the end.

Updated: 30 October 2026
On this pageQuick answerWhat countsProving itLegal vs preferredSpecial casesFAQs

The quick answer

No law fixes your name for life. In England and Wales your legal name is the name you use and are known by for official purposes, and for most people it’s the one on their birth certificate, or the surname they took when they married. Your passport is usually the best record of it.

Nicknames and preferred names don’t count, and HMRC tells employers not to use them on payroll. To make a new name your legal name, the standard document is a deed poll, which GOV.UK describes as a legal document that proves a change of name. Ours is £14.95, posted free.

The answer

What counts as your legal name

Your legal name is the name you use consistently for official purposes. It usually starts as the name on your birth certificate. It can change when you marry or form a civil partnership and take your partner’s surname, when you sign a deed poll, or simply through using a new name, which Cornwall Council’s registration service explains is allowed under English common law. Cornwall Council: changing your name

Part of your namePart of your legal name?How to change it
First namesYesA deed poll
Middle namesYes, every one of themA deed poll
SurnameYesYour marriage certificate for your spouse’s surname, or a deed poll
Title, such as Mr, Ms or DrNoAsk each organisation. A deed poll can’t change a title
A nickname or preferred nameNo, unless you make it officialA deed poll

GOV.UK says a deed poll can change any part of your name, add or remove names and hyphens, or change the spelling, but it can’t change your title. GOV.UK: change your name by deed poll

On paper

How you prove your legal name

You prove your name with documents: your birth certificate, your passport or driving licence, and the marriage certificate or deed poll that links any change. The National Archives points out that it has always been possible to change your name without registering it, which is why the paper trail matters. The National Archives: changes of name

HM Passport Office wants evidence of the change and evidence that you use the name for all official purposes. Employers are asked by the Home Office to check the reasons for any different names across your documents. HM Passport Office: change of name passport applications Home Office: right to work checklist

Documents don’t match? Pick the name you want as your legal name and bring everything in line. A deed poll links your old name to it, and extra copies let you update your passport, licence and bank at the same time.

Good to know

Single names, titles, children and Scotland

  • One name only. You can have a single legal name, but HM Passport Office records it as your surname with XXX in the first name field. See can I have just one name?
  • Titles. Mr, Ms, Dr and Lord aren’t part of your legal name. See titles and deed polls.
  • Children. A child’s name changes with a child’s deed poll signed by everyone with parental responsibility. See changing a child’s name.
  • Scotland. If you were born or adopted in Scotland, you can also record a change of name with National Records of Scotland. See recording a change of name in Scotland.
Your questions answered

Frequently asked questions

Usually, unless you’ve changed it since by marriage, civil partnership, deed poll or simply by using a new name. Your passport is normally the best record of your current legal name.

Yes. Every middle name is part of your legal name, and organisations like HM Passport Office record them all.

Yes, if you use it. Taking your spouse’s or civil partner’s surname changes your legal name, and your marriage or civil partnership certificate is the proof.

No. Titles like Mr, Mrs, Ms and Mx aren’t part of your name, and GOV.UK says a deed poll can’t be used to change one.

It can be, for example straight after you sign a deed poll, but it causes problems. Update your passport so the name you travel in matches the name you use.

With a deed poll, signed in front of two witnesses. It’s £14.95 from us, posted free, and it works from the day you sign it.

Check the detail

Sources for this guide

Guidance and reference pages

The official rules this guide is based on, checked in October 2026.

Continue your name change

Related guides

Changed your name without a deed poll?

How to make it official now.

Using a preferred name without a deed poll

Where it works, and where it doesn’t.

What is a deed poll?

What it says, who accepts it and what it costs.

Ready when you are

Make your new name your legal name.

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