Julia DiPrete is a freelance writer, former BigLaw attorney, unapologetic night owl, and Xennial. She has worked in law school career services and legal recruiting and has blogged extensively both in and outside the legal industry. When she's not wri.
Julia DiPrete, J.D. ContributorJulia DiPrete is a freelance writer, former BigLaw attorney, unapologetic night owl, and Xennial. She has worked in law school career services and legal recruiting and has blogged extensively both in and outside the legal industry. When she's not wri.
Written By Julia DiPrete, J.D. ContributorJulia DiPrete is a freelance writer, former BigLaw attorney, unapologetic night owl, and Xennial. She has worked in law school career services and legal recruiting and has blogged extensively both in and outside the legal industry. When she's not wri.
Julia DiPrete, J.D. ContributorJulia DiPrete is a freelance writer, former BigLaw attorney, unapologetic night owl, and Xennial. She has worked in law school career services and legal recruiting and has blogged extensively both in and outside the legal industry. When she's not wri.
ContributorAdam has resided at the intersection of legal and journalism for two decades. An award-winning journalist and legal strategist, he’s covered high-profile trials in Florida. After law school, Adam and spent two years clerking for a U.S. District Co.
Adam has resided at the intersection of legal and journalism for two decades. An award-winning journalist and legal strategist, he’s covered high-profile trials in Florida. After law school, Adam and spent two years clerking for a U.S. District Co.
Adam has resided at the intersection of legal and journalism for two decades. An award-winning journalist and legal strategist, he’s covered high-profile trials in Florida. After law school, Adam and spent two years clerking for a U.S. District Co.
Adam has resided at the intersection of legal and journalism for two decades. An award-winning journalist and legal strategist, he’s covered high-profile trials in Florida. After law school, Adam and spent two years clerking for a U.S. District Co.
Updated: Jul 12, 2023, 11:58am
Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.
Getty
As the great William Shakespeare once penned, “What’s in a name?” As it turns out, a lot. Especially if you want to change it.
There are lots of reasons you might want to know how to change your name. Common reasons for name changes include marriage, divorce and other significant life shifts. No matter your reason for making a change, this guide will walk you through how to legally change your name.
We’ll help you navigate this sometimes complex process. Just keep in mind that there are differences between state processes for how to legally change your name, and you should consider speaking with an attorney for legal assistance.
Since the United States is a federalist republic, we have two layers of government: federal and state. For most normal life stuff, the states are the ones making the rules–which means that answers to questions like “How can I legally change my name?” depend on the state in which you live. Every state has its own laws and processes for carrying out those laws.
Don’t worry, this shouldn’t add a major level of complexity to changing your name. In reality, the process is very similar in most states. Still, you need to know your state’s rules so you can follow them to the letter.
Was this article helpful?
Share your feedback Send feedback to the editorial team Thank You for your feedback! Something went wrong. Please try again later. Name ChangeBy Natalie Campisi
By Christy Bieber, J.D.
By Christy Bieber, J.D.
By Christy Bieber, J.D.
By Dawn Nici
By Rachel Witkowski
Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only. Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, nor do we recommend or advise individuals or to buy or sell particular stocks or securities. Performance information may have changed since the time of publication. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Forbes Advisor adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and have not been provided, approved, or otherwise endorsed by our partners.
ContributorJulia DiPrete is a freelance writer, former BigLaw attorney, unapologetic night owl, and Xennial. She has worked in law school career services and legal recruiting and has blogged extensively both in and outside the legal industry. When she's not writing, she’s probably either doing mom stuff, wrangling her three dogs, lifting weights, or finding excuses not to clean her house.
© 2024 Forbes Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Are you sure you want to rest your choices?The Forbes Advisor editorial team is independent and objective. To help support our reporting work, and to continue our ability to provide this content for free to our readers, we receive compensation from the companies that advertise on the Forbes Advisor site. This compensation comes from two main sources. First, we provide paid placements to advertisers to present their offers. The compensation we receive for those placements affects how and where advertisers’ offers appear on the site. This site does not include all companies or products available within the market. Second, we also include links to advertisers’ offers in some of our articles; these “affiliate links” may generate income for our site when you click on them. The compensation we receive from advertisers does not influence the recommendations or advice our editorial team provides in our articles or otherwise impact any of the editorial content on Forbes Advisor. While we work hard to provide accurate and up to date information that we think you will find relevant, Forbes Advisor does not and cannot guarantee that any information provided is complete and makes no representations or warranties in connection thereto, nor to the accuracy or applicability thereof. Here is a list of our partners who offer products that we have affiliate links for.