Changing first name question (Usa IL)

January 21, 2024 1:32 AM

I'm trying to change my name for gender related reasons, Yay! My current name is first, middle, married last name. I'm trying to answer a question about updating my birth certificate.

I want to change my name to newfirst, married last.

IL wants me to update my new name on my birth certificate but I 100% don't want my married last name on my birth certificate. I got married and changed my name with my spouse to separate from my family of origin.

I'm not sure if this is possible and want to find out before I file. But it is also an easy enough question I don't think I need to pay a lawyer for it. Ultimately if the only way to change my name is to update my married last name on my birth certificate I'm going to do that.

Is this possible? If I've got to bug a lawyer about it I will but trying here first.

posted by anonymous to Law & Government (3 answers total)

Congrats! I think there is an error in the second sentence here that's making this a little difficult to follow- you 100% don't want your birth last name, right? And you do want your married name? First name is easy. Last name, I'm not sure they'd update a birth record (although with a legal name change you can get everything else changed) but I can't speak to IL law. Before you pay a lawyer I would find a trans legal aid clinic! In my state there are several organizations that help folks with name changes for free, and they will know the answers.
posted by wormtales at 6:10 AM on January 21, 2024 [1 favorite]

I have changed the name on an Illinois birth certificate, but have the same last name as at birth. I am pretty sure the only option (without a specific court order, no idea how hard it is to obtain) would be with your legal name when you request the change (i.e. your married surname).

You can phone IDPH and ask. Be advised that when I called (which was a decade ago), there was a recorded message reading you essentially the entire website making you think they'd just not turned on the phones for the day, but if you sat through that, it did ring and you got a person.

I also want to throw out there that, unless you're changing the gender marker as well, there's not a whole lot of reason to change the name on your birth certificate (even the gender marker is of limited utility in many situations--I needed it for dual citizenship reasons but probably wouldn't have otherwise bothered). You pull out the court order from your name change and the old birth certificate on the rare occasion you actually need a birth certificate.
posted by hoyland at 6:11 AM on January 21, 2024

I've changed my name in the US and although IL wasn't involved, I've been reading over their documents this morning and it all looks very similar. I can see how it could come across as them wanting the birth certificate done too, but I don't know that that's what they're saying. I think there's just a really strong assumption that one will want to change it, and they're saying that, if so, here's what one has to do. As such, unless you've already learned otherwise, I think I'd try just asking the same person I'd be filing the request with what's up. "If I get my name changed, am I obligated to update my IL birth certificate?" They may not answer, but they may also give very definitive information, so I think it's worth asking. If that didn't work, I'd try the same question with Equity Illinois, who produced a gender name change guide I found linked on the .gov site. I would be very surprised if between those two resources you can't get a clear answer on whether this is even a thing. I'm guessing not, because presumably people changing their name for marriage alone don't have to update their birth certificates, and so what grounds do they have for requiring it of anyone else?

(Fwiw, I do think the question's original phrasing is plausible: the OP wants their new name to have absolutely nothing to do with the family of origin, including being listed as someone's child on the birth certificate. I very much doubt that they'll be able to get Newname Oldsurname on an amended birth certificate without having a step where they legally change their name to that, amend the birth certificate, and then get another legal change to Newname Newsurname, but if the plan is just to use the original birth certificate + the Newname Newsurname court order if ever needed, then I'd personally just get the legal change and not update the birth certificate. For me, doing the birth certificate was an entirely separate step, not a legal requirement.)
posted by teremala at 8:23 AM on January 21, 2024 [1 favorite]