Filing for a Name Change in Virginia Circuit Court

This is the court side of the process described in Virginia vital records and which agency issues what. The court order is the document every other agency wants to see, so the sequence matters: circuit court first, then the State Registrar, then Social Security, then the DMV and everyone else.

Where an adult files, and who else can apply

Under Va. Code § 8.01-217, a person who wants to change their own name, the name of their child, or the name of their ward applies to the circuit court of the county or city where the person whose name is being changed lives. Venue follows the subject of the name change, not the applicant. A parent living in Roanoke who applies on behalf of a child living in Norfolk files where the child resides.

Three variations sit inside the same section of the Code of Virginia. A person with no place of abode may apply to any circuit court, which considers the application if it finds good cause under the circumstances alleged. An incarcerated person applies to the circuit court of the county or city where they are incarcerated. A minor with no living parent or guardian has the application made by a next friend.

What the application has to say

The application is sworn. Subsection B of Va. Code § 8.01-217 lists what every application contains, and a clerk will return an application that leaves an item blank:

• the applicant’s place of residence
• the names of both parents, including the mother’s maiden name
• the applicant’s date and place of birth
• the applicant’s felony conviction record, if any
• whether registration with the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry is required
• whether the applicant is presently incarcerated or on probation with any court
• any former name or names, if the applicant has changed names before

Two of those items surprise people. The parental information is required even for applicants in their sixties whose parents died decades ago, because the State Registrar uses it to match the order to a birth record. And the conviction and registry questions apply to everyone, not only to people with a record; the answer “none” is still an answer the application needs.

Filing, the clerk’s fee, and the hearing

Circuit court clerks use Supreme Court of Virginia form CC-1411 for a change of name. Some clerks accept their own local version of the same content. As of 2026, Va. Code § 17.1-275(A)(24) sets the clerk’s fee for all services in a change-of-name matter at $20, and that subdivision does not apply when the name change is incident to a divorce.

1. Confirm the right circuit court

   Venue is the circuit court for the county or city where the person whose name is changing resides. Virginia has thirty-one judicial circuits, and city circuit courts are separate from the surrounding county’s court. Filing in the wrong court means refiling.

2. Complete the application under oath

   Fill in every item listed in subsection B of Va. Code § 8.01-217, including parents’ names and the mother’s maiden name. The application is signed under oath, so most applicants sign it in front of the clerk or a notary rather than at home.

3. File with the clerk and pay the fee

   The clerk collects the $20 change-of-name fee under Va. Code § 17.1-275(A)(24), plus any local assessments the clerk’s office charges for certified copies. Ask for the number of certified copies you expect to need before leaving.

4. Attend a hearing if one is set

   Many uncontested adult applications are decided on the papers. A hearing is held when one is demanded, when a parent objects in a minor’s case, or when the application falls into one of the categories described below.

The standard the judge applies is narrow. Subsection C of Va. Code § 8.01-217 directs the court to order the change unless the evidence shows the change is sought for a fraudulent purpose, would otherwise infringe upon the rights of others, or, for a minor, is not in the best interest of the minor. Disliking a name is a sufficient reason; the statute does not ask for one.

What the order says, and who the clerk notifies

A Virginia change-of-name order is deliberately thin. It contains no identifying information other than the former name or names, the new name, and the current address. The clerk then spreads the order upon the current deed book, indexes it under both the old and the new name, and transmits a certified copy of the order and the application to the State Registrar of Vital Records and the Central Criminal Records Exchange, under Va. Code § 8.01-217(F).

That transmittal is not required for someone who changed their name by reason of marriage and is asking to resume a former name. Va. Code § 20-121.4 handles that situation: on motion of a party who changed their name because of the marriage, the court granting a divorce from the bond of matrimony restores the former or maiden name by separate order. That route runs through the divorce case, and the $20 change-of-name fee does not apply to it under Va. Code § 17.1-275(A)(24).

Applications that get extra scrutiny

Three categories of applicant face a different process: probationers, people required to register with the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry, and incarcerated people. Under subsection D of Va. Code § 8.01-217, no court accepts such an application at all unless it first finds good cause for considering it, based on the reasons alleged.

Once accepted, the court mails or delivers a copy of the application to the attorney for the Commonwealth where the application was filed and to the attorney for the Commonwealth in any jurisdiction where a conviction produced the probation, registration, or incarceration. The Commonwealth’s attorney has 30 days after that mailing or delivery to file a response, and makes a reasonable effort to notify the victim of a registrable offense, or the victim’s immediate family member if the victim has died. A hearing follows, and the court may grant the change only on findings that it would not frustrate a legitimate law-enforcement purpose, is not sought for a fraudulent purpose, and would not infringe upon the rights of others. Those findings go in writing into the order.

These requirements are jurisdictional. An order entered under subsection D that fails to comply with any part of it is void ab initio, and the Commonwealth’s attorney can bring an independent action at any time to have the order declared void, as Va. Code § 8.01-217(E) sets out.

Updating your birth certificate, Social Security record, and IDs

The court order changes the legal name. It does not change any document. Virginia-born applicants amend the birth record through the Virginia Department of Health: Va. Code § 32.1-269(D) directs the State Registrar, on receipt of a certified copy of a court order changing a name and on request of the person, a parent, guardian, legal representative, or the registrant, to amend the vital record to reflect the new name.

VDH charges a $10 administration fee for any change to a certificate, and $25 total if an amended copy is wanted, which is the $15 certificate fee plus the administration fee, according to the department’s birth certificate amendment page. Ordering rules differ by record type across the same office, so the eligibility test for ordering a Virginia death certificate is not the test that applies to amending your own birth record.

For the Social Security record, a name change is processed as a request for a replacement card. The Social Security Administration’s change name page says some requests can be completed online while others require an appointment at a local office, and that the replacement card arrives by mail in 5 to 10 business days. Most applicants update Social Security before the DMV, because driver’s license records are matched against Social Security data.

The DMV and the State Board of Elections receive a certified copy of the order directly from the clerk only in the narrow void-order and perjury situations described in Va. Code § 8.01-217(E). For a routine name change, the license, the voter registration, and every private account are updated by the person, using certified copies of the order.