Have you or known anyone that legally changed their Name ?

[girlsearching]

I have often wondered about changing my first and middle name . From what I heard it's not that easy of a process. Not to mention paying the fee amount and wherever you live the circut courts have different procedures . Have any of you legally changed your birth names or know someone who has ?

[girlsearching]

I have always liked the name Jane which means "God is Gracious" English origin .

[RedEmbers]

Yes. I changed the spelling of my first name and I changed my last name when I was 18.

Sometimes I think about changing it again.

It cost $80 and all I had to do was fill out a form and send it back with 100 points of ID. It was really easy in my country.

I have to show my birth certificate and my name change certificate now when someone needs to see my ID.

[girlsearching]

Originally Posted by RedEmbers

Yes. I changed my first and last name when I was 18.

Sometimes I think about changing it again.

It cost $80 and all I had to do was fill out a form and send it back with 100 points of ID.

I have to show my birth certificate and my name change certificate now when someone needs to see my ID.

Where are from ? I need to move there lol. You only paid 80 dollars That is impressive.

[RedEmbers]

Australia. I think it costs about $120 now lol.

It used to be that a person could change their name one time per year to a certain amount of changes. Not sure if the rules are still the same now.

P.s. I.don't regret changing my name but some of the more traditionally minded people in my life had some time adusting to it.

[girlsearching]

Cool must be nice living in Australia. I have always thought about changing my first and middle name but never knew all that is required to do so. Than I think if I ever did get around to legally changing my name granted if the Judge would accept it , I might regret changing it in the first place.

My family would get used to the name change well my cousins would . I think the older folks Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles might not like it.

Oh well they don't have to live with the name anyway.

[RedEmbers]

Originally Posted by girlsearching

Cool must be nice living in Australia. I have always thought about changing my first and middle name but never knew all that is required to do so. Than I think if I ever did get around to legally changing my name granted if the Judge would accept it , I might regret changing it in the first place.

My family would get used to the name change well my cousins would . I think the older folks Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles might not like it.

Oh well they don't have to live with the name anyway.

What country do you live in if you don't mind me asking?


It is your life, do what makes you happy. Jane is a nice name.

Those who know and love me accepted my decision even if at first they didn't quite get it, much like many decisions I make for my life, there is always someone who doesn't get it but the important thing is that I made the decision which is right for me

I find that I have very few regrets in my life, when following the path which what feels true for me.

[girlsearching]

Originally Posted by RedEmbers

What country do you live in if you don't mind me asking?


It is your life, do what makes you happy. Jane is a nice name.

Those who know and love me accepted my decision even if at first they didn't quite get it, much like many decisions I make for my life, there is always someone who doesn't get it but the important thing is that I made the decision which is right for me

I find that I have very few regrets in my life, when following the path which what feels true for me.

I'm from the U.S. from the state of Wisconsin "America's Dairyland" as they call it.

I agree you have to do what makes you happy and no one else. I'm glad things worked out for you on the change in the spelling of your name. My birth name is common and not rare at all and there is different variations of it .

[BigJohn]

If you are 14 or older, it is a lot easier process.

If I were you, I would go to your county seat and go to your county's Supreme Court. Ask for where is the court's library. At the library, the librarian should be able to assist you in getting a blank form which you can fill out. You can download the form from the State Capital. The form is the first form in the list. It is form CV450. It can be found here Wisconsin Statutes 786.36 and 786.37. The librarian will tell you have to fill out the form and then file the form with the County clerk while at the same time pay a filing fee (I believe the amount is $164.00). The librarian also can tell you the cost of the filing fee.

As you are at the court, look around for a newspaper, generally small, that deals with business, liens notices, etc. Grab a copy of the newspaper. It probably is one you never saw before.

Why you need this newspaper, is you will have to provide a written document that has to be published, generally at least 3 different times, in the notice section of the newspaper claiming you want to change your name. Sometimes the newspaper can give you a couple archived copies from other petitioners who wanted to change their name. If you can get this, all you got to do is modify the document by substituting your name and try to reduce the word count. The more words you use, the more it will cost to publish.

The newspaper, after publishing the notice 3 times, will give you an "Affidavit of Publication” which you will have to file with the County clerk's office.

Why use this newspaper: others use it because the rates are a lot cheaper then other newspapers.

Hi...I changed my surname by deed poll years ago. The only problem I found was that you still always have to produce documents with original name for anything legally binding I.e marriage, passport etc. Plus , as was pointed out to me, the only records of this would be held in solicitors office and legal department somewhere else, but that if both were destroyed for example in a fire, there would then be no formal trace of you , and things in the future, as in family trees etc would come to a natural halt. I also learnt, which disturbed me greatly, was that some people in past go to graveyards to steal name of little babies to claim their identity to become anonymous . Sorry, that sounds awful, I know. But just thought the first part of my post may be of help.