yawiki.org entry for Deed of Change of Name

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A Deed of Change of Name is a legal document which enables a single person or a family to officially change his, her or their name and is bound to that contract. It is a type of deed poll.
There are various reasons why a person would want to change his or her name:

When a person changes their gender.

to receive an inheritance conditional on adopting the name of the deceased.

to replace a frivolous name given by their parents (eg. old name James Bond new name Jason Bond). A well known example is David Bowie's son Zowie Bowie, who is now know as Duncan Jones.

to dissociate themselves from a famous or infamous person (eg. old name Michael Jackson new name Martin Jackson)

to dissociate themselves from a family black sheep

to revert to a former name

to identify with a heroic personality, eg. new name Arthur Pendragon

or as a form of political protest.

to adopt a stage name as one's legal name (eg. Elton John, Elvis Costello-- Costello later returned to using his birth name of Declan McManus)

In England and Wales, such a deed may be registered in the Central Office of the High Court. Deeds so registered are advertised in the London Gazette. A Deed of Name Change on behalf of a minor must be approved by the Senior Master on behalf of the Master of the Rolls who will take into account the child's best interests. Registration of deeds is regulated by the Enrolment of Deeds (Change of Name) Regulations 1994, Statutory Instrument 1994 No.604.

The registration of a Change of Name Deed is not strictly required in the United Kingdom. A standard legal document, with "standard" wordings, filled in by the person making the deed poll, and signed in presence of a witness, carries sufficient legal authority to be recognized. The witness should be a solicitor, or a professional person such as a mayor, member of parliament, minister of religion, teacher or police constable. Institutions, such as banks, government departments, social security offices, etc., will not recognize a change of name unless presented with a Change of Name Deed.

In the UK, a Change of Name Deed will not change the name on the person's certificate of birth. For instance, when applying for a passport, both the Birth Certificate and the Change of Name Deed would need to be presented as documents of identity.

In re Parrott, Cox v Parrott 1946 Ch 183, Mr Justice Vaisey stated that he did not believe that a Deed poll could be used to change a person's Christian name (first name) — that could be done by only an Act of Parliament. Deeds are registered in the High Court that change a person's first name, and they are usually endorsed "Notwithstanding the decision of Mr Justice Vaisey in re Parrott, Cox v Parrott, the applicant wishes the enrolment to proceed".

Deed of Change of Name

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