Quick answer: Choose the full name first, including whether you use a surname, and check it will survive a form. Then the ordinary route: a notarised affidavit, a notice in two newspapers, and the Central Gazette at Rs 1,100. Nobody will ask you why, and if anybody does, you are not obliged to answer. Afterwards, update Aadhaar and then everything else, one office at a time, because publication changes nothing on its own.
This is the cleanest version of the whole process, because there is no error to explain and no history to reconcile.
At a Glance
| Reason needed | None |
| Who may demand one | Nobody |
| The route | Affidavit, newspapers, gazette |
| Government fee | Rs 1,100 for an adult |
| Time | Roughly 25 to 45 days |
| What the gazette does | Publishes your declaration |
| What it does not do | Update anything automatically |
| The old name | Stays in older records, permanently |
Key Takeaways
- Wanting a different name is a sufficient reason in itself.
- Choose a name that behaves on a form, not only one you like.
- The gazette publishes; it does not update.
- The old name never disappears, and that is fine.
- Timing matters more than most people expect.
What You Need: Quick Facts
| The chosen full name | Decided once, in writing |
| Class 10 marksheet | To cite the old name |
| Aadhaar | The first thing updated after |
| Stamp paper and a notary | For the affidavit |
| Two newspapers | A Hindi daily and an English paper |
| Rs 1,100 on BharatKosh | The government fee |
| Two witnesses | Family members are fine |
| A quiet period | Nothing pending anywhere |
Table of Contents
- No reason is required
- Choosing a name that works
- What the gazette does not do
- The old name does not disappear
- The one thing to get right
- Afterwards is the long part
- What is local in Kannauj
- Central Gazette: the complete process and file format
- Areas we serve
- Key terms
- Related guides
- Why choose our office
- FAQs
No Reason Is Required
It is a small point and it changes how the whole thing feels, which is why it is first here.
Choosing a Name That Works
- Keep it within the length a form will hold, because portals and cards truncate long names and you will spend years explaining the cut-off version.
- Avoid punctuation, hyphens and full stops, since different systems handle them differently and some drop them silently.
- Decide the surname question once, whether you use one at all, because a single-word name causes trouble on any form that splits given name and surname.
- Check how it transliterates, since it will be written in both scripts and you want the same answer both times.
- Say it aloud at a counter in your head, because a name that is hard to hear will be written down wrong for the rest of your life.
What a single-word name does at a passport counter is on our adding a surname in passport page, and the transliteration question on our transliteration page.
What the Gazette Does Not Do
| People expect | What actually happens |
|---|---|
| Documents update automatically | Nothing updates; you apply to each office |
| The old name is erased | It stays in every older record |
| It settles a date of birth too | It concerns a name and nothing else |
| It forces an office to accept the change | Each office applies its own procedure |
The full gazette guide is on our gazette page, and what it cannot do about a date of birth on our date of birth and gazette page.
The Old Name Does Not Disappear
- Your Class 10 marksheet will always carry the old name, because a board record reflects what was true when it was made.
- So will old employment records, property papers and anything already issued, unless each is separately corrected.
- You therefore carry a link rather than a replacement, and the gazette is that link.
- That is not a failure of the process, it is how records of the past are supposed to behave.
- Keep the gazette and both newspaper pages permanently, because you will produce them for decades.
The One Thing to Get Right
Not while a recruitment is running
A third version of your name mid selection turns a check into a question about identity.
Not while employed abroad on a visa in the old name
Ask the employer first, because records there do not update themselves either.
Not with a consignment or claim in motion
If you trade as a proprietor, the firm is you, and documents in transit must agree.
Not in the middle of a scholarship or examination window
The calendar will not wait, and a correction rarely lands inside it.
A quiet stretch, with nothing pending
That is the whole requirement, and there is almost always one.
Then move steadily, one office at a time
Rather than all at once, since each verifies against the one before.
Each of those has its own page: recruitment, working abroad, trading as a proprietor and scholarships.
Afterwards Is the Long Part
What Is Local in Kannauj
- The district has three tehsils, Kannauj, Chhibramau and Tirwa, with eight development blocks.
- It was carved out of Farrukhabad in 1997, so papers older than that may name Farrukhabad and are correct for their date.
- The district sits in the Kanpur division, which is where escalation above the district goes.
- Town areas are served by Nagar Palika Parishads, which register births and deaths, with gram panchayats across the rest.
- Newspapers publish a district edition, and any local advertising agent places a name change notice routinely.
What a district split means for older documents is on our Moradabad page.
Central Gazette: the Complete Process and File Format
This is the plainest version of the file, with no error to explain and no second document to reconcile. It is also the version most people actually need.
Stage 1: The affidavit
Two words earn their place here. Voluntarily in point two, and point four stating the change is of your own free will and for no unlawful purpose. Neither claims a reason. Both answer, in advance, the only two questions anybody is actually entitled to have about a change made for no stated reason at all.
Stage 2: The Public Notice, in two copies
Notice that this too says only what, never why. Each witness gives signature, full name and address, and both sign both copies. Family members are entirely acceptable.
Stage 3: The CD and CD-Certificate
Check the typed copy on screen before it is written to the disc. A new name typed for the first time is the likeliest place for a fresh error to enter, and you would be correcting a name you only just chose.
Stage 4: Newspapers, fee, covering letter and dispatch
Publish in two newspapers and buy six copies
A Hindi daily and an English paper covering this district, complete original pages. Read the wording before it prints.
Pay Rs 1,100 on BharatKosh
Online, with two receipts printed.
Write the covering letter
To The Controller, Publication Department, Civil Line, Delhi 110054, with your mobile number and email.
Assemble, check and photocopy
A full copy set kept at home, because the file sent is never returned.
Courier it, tracked
A day or two from here to Delhi.
Then Aadhaar, and outwards down the list
One at a time, over the following months.
Live With It for a Fortnight First
Gazette Fees, Time and the File
| Adult gazette fee | Rs 1,100 |
| Minor gazette fee | Rs 1,700 |
| Affidavit | Rs 100 to 500 including stamp paper and notary |
| Newspapers | A few hundred rupees per paper |
| Courier to Delhi | A couple of hundred rupees |
| Gazette timeline | Roughly 25 to 45 days |
| Updating everything after | Some months, and yours to do |
The envelope in one line: covering letter with your phone and email, affidavit (notarised), Public Notice typed in two copies with two witnesses on each, CD in MS-Word format with the signed CD-Certificate, both complete newspaper pages, photo identity proof, address proof, photographs and the BharatKosh receipt.
Before You File: Check These
- Have you lived with the new name for a fortnight?
- Does it survive the form test and the counter test?
- Have you settled whether you use a surname?
- Is anything pending anywhere that this would disturb?
After Publication: What Follows
Aadhaar first, then PAN, bank, passport, employment, licence, ration card and the rest, over the following months. Keep the gazette and both newspaper pages somewhere you can find them in ten years, because that is when the last one will surface.
What Other Websites Get Wrong
- Wrong: you need a valid reason. Right: no form asks for one and no office may demand one.
- Wrong: the gazette updates your documents. Right: it publishes a declaration; the updating is yours.
- Wrong: the old name is erased. Right: it remains in older records, and the gazette links the two.
- Wrong: any name you like will do. Right: it also has to survive a form, a counter and two scripts.
- Wrong: do it as soon as you decide. Right: live with it for a fortnight, and avoid any period when something is pending.
Areas We Serve in Uttar Pradesh
Kannauj and the Kanpur division, and the rest of the state. Most often these:
| Purvanchal and eastern UP | Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Ballia, Deoria, Mirzapur, Basti, Ghazipur, Mau, Sonbhadra |
| Western UP and NCR | Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Agra, Aligarh, Mathura, Bulandshahr, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Hapur, Firozabad |
| Rohilkhand and Bundelkhand | Bareilly, Moradabad, Rampur, Shahjahanpur, Budaun, Pilibhit, Bijnor, Amroha, Jhansi, Banda, Mahoba, Chitrakoot |
| Awadh and central UP | Lucknow, Kanpur, Unnao, Raebareli, Sitapur, Hardoi, Barabanki, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Amethi, Bahraich |
Within the district we work with people across Kannauj, Chhibramau, Tirwa, Saurikh, Talgram and Gursahaiganj, and in Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiya and Kanpur alongside. A change made simply because somebody wants one is the same everywhere. Papers reach us by photograph and we send the wording back typed. Our chamber is at Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Sector 5, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow 226010, and the wider picture is on our districts page. Call 9540003316 or WhatsApp 9540005002.
Key Terms on This Page
Plain definitions for the words that come up at the counter:
- Affidavit
- A statement you swear is true, signed before a notary on stamp paper. The notary confirms you signed it, not that the contents are true.
- Public Notice
- The typed declaration filed with a gazette application, signed by you and witnessed by two people who give their full name and address.
- Notary Public
- An officer who attests that a document was signed in front of them. They verify the signature, not the facts written above it.
- BharatKosh
- The government payment portal used to pay the gazette publication fee. The receipt goes into the file.
- Department of Publication
- The office at Civil Line, Delhi that receives name change files and publishes the notification.
- Name correction
- Fixing a name that was written wrongly by somebody else. Lighter than a change, because an older document already shows the right version.
Related Guides on This Site
Whichever counter you reach next, there is a guide for it here:
- the gazette guide: the process in full.
- the name change process: every stage, start to finish.
- what it costs: government fee and service fee, separately.
- the affidavit: format, stamp paper and notary.
- the newspaper notice: wording and which papers.
- a single word name at a passport counter: the given name and surname split.
- removing a surname: a common reason, and not a required one.
- name change in Azamgarh: why not to do this mid recruitment.
- name change in Sultanpur: why not to do it while employed abroad.
- forty questions answered: ordered by how much the answer changes.
- contact the office: phone and WhatsApp.
Why We Never Ask You Why
People who want a name change for no particular reason often begin by explaining themselves, and we stop them. It is not information we need, it does not appear anywhere in the file, and asking for it would be presumptuous. What we do ask about is the name itself: whether it fits a form, how it transliterates, whether a surname is being used, and whether anything is pending that the timing would disturb. Those four questions are the ones that actually affect the outcome. We also tell people to live with the name for a fortnight before we file anything, which delays our own work by two weeks and saves a small number of people from doing this twice. Vipin Chauhan, B.Tech LL.B, does not ask why.
- We do not ask for a reason: it is not part of the file and not our business.
- We test the name against a form and a counter: before anything is typed.
- We ask what is pending: because timing is the only real risk here.
- We ask for a fortnight first: even though it delays us.
Associate office at Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Sector 5, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow 226010, serving all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh including Kannauj, Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 6:30 PM. Call 9540003316 or WhatsApp 9540005002.
Tell Us the Name You Have Chosen
Uttar Pradesh Name Change
Associate Office: Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Sector 5, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226010
Head Office: Metro Pillar 337, Hardev Nagar, Street 1, Shop No 1 (Shri Sham Documentation)
Call: 9540003316
WhatsApp: 9540005002
Email: info@uttarpradeshnamechange.com
Hours: Mon to Sat, 10 AM to 6:30 PM
Send the new name in both scripts and your marksheet. You do not need to tell us why, and we will not ask.
Get Call and Name Change Format
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Name Change in Kannauj: FAQs
Do I need a reason to change my name?
No. The affidavit, the notice and the gazette all state what has changed, never why, and no office is entitled to demand a justification.
What if a clerk asks me why?
Say that you have changed your name and produce the published notification. That is a complete answer.
What does the gazette actually do?
It publishes your declaration and gives you a dated official record. It does not update any of your documents.
Will my old name be erased?
No. It stays in every record already issued, and the gazette is the link between the two.
How should I choose the new name?
Test it: write it in a box of about thirty characters, and say it once to somebody who then writes it down. Compare.
Can I have a single name with no surname?
Yes, and it is legitimate, but it creates real friction on passports and any form that insists on two fields.
When should I not do this?
During a recruitment, while employed abroad on a visa in the old name, with a consignment or claim in motion, or inside a scholarship window.
How long does the gazette take?
Roughly 25 to 45 days, and Rs 1,100 for an adult.
And afterwards?
Aadhaar, PAN, bank, passport, employment, licence, ration card and the rest, one at a time, over some months.
Can I change my mind later?
You can, but Aadhaar limits how often a name may be updated, which is why we ask people to live with the new name for a fortnight first.
Does the gazette also fix my date of birth?
No. It concerns a name and nothing else.
What should I keep permanently?
The gazette and both complete newspaper pages, somewhere you can find them in ten years.
Official Sources
- Department of Publication, Civil Line, Delhi 110054, which publishes Central Gazette name change notifications.
- BharatKosh, the government payment portal, for the prescribed fee.
- District Kannauj at kannauj.nic.in, for tehsils, blocks and local bodies.
- Each office that holds one of your records, which applies its own procedure for updating it.
Facts here are checked against these sources and our own casework. Departmental procedures and fees are revised from time to time, so confirm the current requirement before filing.
The Short Version
People arrive apologetic, with an explanation ready: a numerologist suggested a spelling, they have never liked it, they want to drop a caste surname, they took a name at an initiation, the full one is too long for every form. All of those are perfectly good reasons and none of them is necessary. The affidavit says you have changed your name; it does not say why, because the form has no place for why. At no point in the file is there a box asking for a justification, and no clerk is entitled to invent one. What does deserve thought is the name itself, because it has to survive a form of about thirty characters, a counter where somebody hears it and writes it down, and two scripts that should produce the same answer. Live with it for a fortnight before filing. Then affidavit, two newspapers, gazette at Rs 1,100, and the patient business of updating everything else, one office at a time.