Complete the following 3 forms to change your child's name:

• Request for Name Change (Minor Children): Asks the judge to change your child's name.
• Request for Name Change - Child Information: Gives the judge information about your child.
• Order for Name Change (Minor Children): The judge will sign this to approve or deny your request. You will need this to change your child's name on your child's birth certificate, social security card and other documents.

If your child's other parent does not live with you, you will need to fill out one of these forms (not both):

• Notice of Court Date for Request of Name Change (Minor Children): Tells your child's other parent that you have filed a request with the court to change your child's name. 
• Motion to Waive Notice & Publication (Request for Name Change): Asks the judge to let you change your child's name without notifying the child's other parent. Use this if notifying your child's other parent would put the child at risk of physical harm or discrimination.

Fill out your forms with our Easy Form program

After you fill out your forms, sign them and make 3 copies of each one.

Please note that if you want to change the name of several people in your family, you should contact the local circuit clerk. You might be able to file the separate requests into a single case.

Now that you have filled out your forms, you need to file them with the appropriate circuit clerk. You will need to electronically file ("e-file") them unless you have an exemption. 

There are fees to file many court forms, especially when starting a case. Fees are different from case to case and county to county. Contact the circuit clerk to find out about their fees. Many circuit clerks list theirs fees on their website. 

If you qualify, you can get a Fee waiver. A fee waiver allows you to file for free, or at a reduced cost.

When you file your name change forms, you'll need a hearing date.

How you will find out about the court date (or hearing date) and time depends on how you filed your case.

• E-filing: The website you used to electronically file may let you pick your court date (or hearing date) and time. If it does not, contact the clerk. 
• Paper filing: If you filed in person at the courthouse, the clerk will let you pick or they may pick for you.

Normally you need to notify the child's other parent about your child's name change. But if doing so would put your child at risk of physical harm or discrimination, you can ask the judge to let you skip it.

To ask the judge to let you skip notifying your child's other parent, fill out and file a Motion to Waive Notice & Publication (Request for Name Change).

When you file the Motion to Waive Notice & Publication, ask the circuit clerk for a court date. You will have to go to court to ask to be allowed to skip notifying your child's other parent.

When you go to your court date, fill out and bring an Order on Motion to Waive Notice & Publication (Request for Name Change). The judge will use this form to approve or deny your request.

If your Motion to Waive Notice & Publication (Request for Name Change) is granted, you can skip the next step. Move to step 6. 

If the child's other parent agrees to the name change and signs the Request for Name Change in front of a notary, you can skip this step and move to step 6.

Send a copy of Request for Name Change by [no-lexicon]certified mail[/no-lexicon]

If the child's other parent is not going to sign the Request for Name Change, but you know where he or she lives, you can mail a copy of the Request for Name Change and the Notice of Court Date for Request of Name Change (Minor Children) to their address. You should mail these documents by USPS Certified Mail with return receipt requested (green card). If you do not know where the child's other parent lives, you must send a copy to the child's other parent's last known address. 

Put a notice in a newspaper for your child's name change

If you do not know where the child's other parent lives, after filing your court papers and getting a hearing date, contact a local newspaper in the county where you live. Ask them to publish notice of your child's name change. They may charge you a fee.

Give them one copy of:

• Notice of Court Date for Request of Name Change (Minor Children), which includes the court date, time, name of the judge, the courtroom number, and the case number, and
• Order for Waiver of Court Fees (if you got one)

Certificate

After your notice has run in the newspaper for 3 straight weeks, get a Certificate of Publication from the newspaper. Ask the newspaper how they will send this certificate. They may:

• Send the certificate directly to the circuit clerk,
• Mail the certificate directly to you, or
• Tell you to pick up the certificate in person.

Check with your circuit clerk to find out whether the Certificate of Publication needs to be filed before your court hearing. In Cook County, you will just need to bring it to your hearing (see the next step).

If the newspaper sends the certificate directly to the circuit clerk, make sure it arrives before your court hearing and ask the newspaper to send you a copy.

Get to court at least 45 minutes before your hearing time. Bring these items to your court hearing:

• Photo ID,
• Stamped copy of your Request for Name Change (Minor Children),
• Certificate of Publication or Order on Motion to Waive Notice & Publication (Request for Name Change),
• Order for Name Change (Minor Children), and
• Other papers related to your child’s name change, like the green return receipt mail card that proves you told the child's other parent about the hearing.

Check-in quietly with the judge's clerk. Wait for your name and case number to be called.

You may be placed under oath. Answer the judge's questions truthfully. The judge will either grant or deny your request. The judge will write this on your Order for Name Change (Minor Children) and sign it.

When you testify, your testimony should include:

• The child's full name (first, middle, and last)
• The child's current address, including city and state
• The state or county where the child was born
• How long the child has lived in Illinois
• The full name (first, middle, and last) that you would like the court to give the child
• Why the name change is in the child's best interest

If your child's name change is approved, give the judge your Order for Change of Name (Minor Children)  form to be signed. Once the judge has signed it you must file it with the circuit clerk. You should get 3 certified copies from the clerk's office, usually for a small fee. You'll need these to change the child's birth certificate and social security card. 

If your child was born in Illinois, you can change your child's birth certificate by mail with the Illinois Department of Public Health. To change your child's Illinois birth certificate, you will need:

• A certified copy of the Order for Change of Name (Minor Children);
• A copy of your child's original birth certificate, and
• A money order for $15.00 made out to Illinois Department of Public Health.

Mail these three things to:

Illinois Department of Public Health
Division of Vital Records
925 East Ridgely Ave.
Springfield, IL 62702-2737
(217) 782-6554
Visit Vital chek

If your child was born in a state other than Illinois, contact the office that keeps birth records in that state to find out how to change the name on your child's birth certificate. To change your child’s social security card, go to the nearest social security office and fill out an application.

To change your child's name on your child's social security card, you will need:

• The child's new birth certificate;
• The child's original social security card; and
• A certified copy of the Order for Change of Name signed by the judge.