Hi
Hope you can help please.General enquiry
If a person is born out of wedlock and registered
with a surname can this be changed without going
through a legal process.
Regards
Brian

An adult can call himself what they like (within reason)
Under English law it is legal to change your name without drawing up any formal record, provided that such action is not undertaken for the purpose of fraud. Very often a proof of change of name either never existed or no longer exists. Enrolling a deed poll in the Supreme Court was therefore a voluntary process and extra fees were payable. Consequently, very few changes of name were enrolled in these records.

From 1916, enemy aliens resident in Britain had been forbidden to change their names. This ban was extended to all foreigners in Britain in 1919. The only exceptions made were when a new name was assumed by royal licence or by special permission of the Home Secretary. These restrictions were removed in 1971.

I suspect your question relates to an informal arrangemet i.e. John JONES "takes" on the mantle of John SMITH either because that was his mothers name when he was born , or his mother married a SMITH and he felt that to all intents he was recognised as a SMITH.

The formal process :-

If you wish to legally change your name, or your children's names, you can use the Deed Poll process, which has been used by hundreds of thousands of people for over 150 years.

By Deed Poll, you can officially change any part or all of your name. For example, you can change your forenames, surname (or both), add names, remove names, change the spelling of your names or rearrange your existing names. You can change your name by Deed Poll as often as you want, at any time and for any reason provided it is not for deceptive or fraudulent purposes.
Contrary to popular belief, there is no central register of name changes in the United Kingdom. Deed Polls are not registered anywhere unless they are "enrolled" i.e. lodged for safe keeping, in the Close Rolls of the Chancery (from 1851 to 1902) and from 1903, in the Enrolment Books of the Supreme Court of Judicature, which is located within the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, London.

Enrolling a Deed Poll provides a public record of a person's name change and since 1914 the details of the name change are published in either the London Gazette or Belfast Gazette.

Deed Polls that have been enrolled at the Royal Courts of Justice in London remain with us for five years. After which (and going back to 1851), they can be found at the National Archives, which is located at Kew in Richmond, Surrey.

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Given the number of divorces and remarriage in modern UK - family researchers in 50 - 100 years time are going to be faced with real challenges tracing children from census to census, as it seems common place for children to "adopt" new surnames at will - even if legally they have not changed :-(

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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

Hello Brian
In England and Wales a persons name is that by which they are known; if they are registered with the name James JONES, for example, there is no reason why they could not, at a later date, call themselves James BOND without any legal documentation, but it could make life difficult without some supporting documentary evidence. The birth register entry remains as at the time of registration and a Deed Poll or declaration of name change should be kept and produced along with the birth certificate when needed. If a change of forename is decided upon, this can be entered in the birth register within 12 months of the original registration (in space 17 of current entries).

In the case of a child born outside of marriage, if the biological parents marry each other later, they are required by law to re-register the child to show this, and they have the opportunity at that time to change the child’s surname to that of his/her father if it was not used in the original registration. The original registration is annotated so that any further certificates are copied from the new registration.

Cheers, Celia

Thank you slowhands and Celia.Both my wife's grandparents appeared to
have done this.Also quite a few have changed their christian names using
their middle name first.Wonder if this method will work with the Taxman
Regards
Brian

My Great Great Grandfather did the same... (may be it was probably to escape debts!!) - fortunately on the 1881 and 1891 census, in Swindon, Wiltshire, some of the family were visiting or classed as Lodgers.

1871 Census, Blakeney Road, Awre

William WICKENDEN - 26, Butcher, born Glos. Rendcombe
Blanche WICKENDEN - unmarried, age 2. born Glos. Blakeney
William WICKENDEN - age 57, born Coln St Aldwins (originally the Miller at Rendcombe)
Margaret WICKENDEN - age 49, born Glos. Rendcombe

1881 Census, Swindon, Wiltshire, 5 Brundel Street

William GREEN - age 58, Railway Labourer, born Glos Coln (his mother's maiden name)
Margaret GREEN - age 56, Glos. Rendcombe
Martha WICKENDEN - Granddaughter - 5, born Glos. Ruardean

1891 Census, 26 Farnsby Street, Swindon, Wiltshire

William GREEN - age 73, Machineman - born Glos. Rendcombe
Margaret GREEN - 68, born Glos. Rendcombe
Susan GREEN - Sister, age 65, born Coln St Aldwins
John WICKENDEN - Lodger, age 41, Railway Clerk - born Rendcombe ( his Son)
William WICKENDEN - age 17, Machineman, born Glos. Blakeney (his Grandson, my Grandad)

His death certificate 17 April 1891 gives his correct name William WICKENDEN , address 26 Farnsby Street, ([i]Retired Farmer[/i])