Double-barrelled Surnames

January 3, 2010 10:35 AM

I was told that my great-great grandfather surname was double-barrelled and was subsequently changed to the last surname. Can I (under UK Law) use the double-barrelled name when signing official documents?

As an example my families double-barrelled surname could have been "Baron Cohen" and has now been changed to "Cohen".

I have no intention of using the surname when signing official documents, etc but am just interested to see if I ever could use it.

posted by nam3d to Law & Government (5 answers total)

Best answer: I don't know about UK law but in the US you can use any name you want legally as long as you're not trying to be deceitful, or to defraud someone, or lie on legal documents etc...

Morally and ethically I don't see why you wouldn't be able to use the name.
posted by eatcake at 10:48 AM on January 3, 2010

The UK situation is just about as eatcake says. You probably want to change your name by deed poll to make it official, but that's not terribly difficult.
posted by Coobeastie at 10:59 AM on January 3, 2010

Best answer: You can call yourself whatever you like, provided you're not doing so with the intention of passing yourself off as someone else. But it's useful to have some kind of official document to evidence that change of name. Even easier than a deed poll is a statutory declaration. I used to draw them up all the time for people when I was in private practice. The link above has sample wording, and all you'd have to pay is the fee to the lawyer or commissioner for oaths in front of whom you swear the document, which will cost about £10.
posted by essexjan at 2:15 PM on January 3, 2010

It's pretty easy to do this: register the deed poll, and you've got the documentation you need for the same sort of change-of-name forms the bank will give you (it's no big deal for them at all, because many women change their names after marriage. Even Facebook has an option to update your name with a né)
posted by bonaldi at 2:17 PM on January 3, 2010

Best answer: If you decide to have a double-barrelled surname, a Deed Poll is often required. Change your name via deed poll here, but remember the significance of a Great-Grandfather's double barrelled name may merely be the result of children who were given surnames combining those of both parents, in which case you could justify adding your mothers maiden name to your existing surname to create your own double barreled name on the same grounds.
posted by samengland at 4:02 PM on January 5, 2010 [1 favorite]