We want to change our child’s name, and are wondering what unintended consequences this could have for him. He’s 2 months old. Would he be legally obliged to list his previous name in a lot of paperwork as an adult? We live in Denmark, but are also connected to the UK.
0 voters
I’m not sure about whether or not they’d have to include previous name on paperwork or other hassles. But if you’re going to change the name 2 months is early enough for the baby. I have read that before 1 year is best, as babies start to develop identity and respond to name starting at 6 months.
It depends on what kind of paperwork you’re talking about (I’m answering from a US perspective so it may be different where you are).
If it’s connected to functions that require one’s birth certificate or where the details of their birth are important (such as passport/visa applications) then the name change may have to be listed.
For things where a baby would obviously not have a relevant history under the original name (such as most job/school/credit applications, unless it’s for something like a government security clearance) then they probably wouldn’t care about such a name change. (Now if you were asking about changing your own name later in life then the points I just mentioned would be something to consider.)
I should mention that as a result of the transgender movement there is now a tendency to be more cautious about asking for former names or limiting the inquiry to last names (since with trans people being asked to provide their deadname is essentially forcing them to out themselves).
I don’t know for sure but Id imagine a change to the birth certificate would mean slightly more documents required for a passport, driver’s license, marriage license etc.
Not sure how it works in [name_m]Denmark[/name_m], but my surname got changed when I was eight and all it means is I occasionally have to list my old name on forms/documents (if they ask). So long as your kid knows what their previous name was when they get older and you’ve kept a note of when it was changed, it should all be fine 
@Greyblue - Do you live in the UK (since location is relevant here, if you don’t mind sharing)? (I’m guessing since from your profile I found one of your books links to Amazon via the co.uk site.)
@Greyblue - No problem; I just thought maybe you were trying to keep your location (even just the country) private.
Interestingly, as an example in the UK, here are (I don’t know if they’re current or not) the instructions for a criminal history check. It says that names changed due to adoption prior to age 10 are “exempt” from needing to be disclosed for this purpose, but all other former names (regardless of the age at change) must be (for transgender people they do have a confidential process where deadnames can be given directly to the investigator without being disclosed to the party requesting the check*). *As a trans activist that’s what led me to learn about this form I linked to, and I’ve suggested for a similar policy to be applied in other places as well, as I think that provides an excellent balance between keeping a trans person’s gender history confidential and ensuring that a background check is done thoroughly (I know the UK has a lot of criticisms regarding trans rights, but IMO that’s one thing they got right).