Quick answer: Decide first whether your surname is being changed or was simply recorded wrongly, because the affidavit says one or the other and the office reads it literally. A change uses "I have changed... and shall hereafter be known as", which signals a gazette. A correction uses "has been wrongly written as... the actual surname is", which needs no publication at all. Four formats follow, for marriage, adding a surname, dropping one, and correcting a misspelling.
Affidavits are short documents and people treat them casually, which is understandable until you see what the wording triggers. A counter clerk does not investigate your situation; they read what you swore. If the paper in front of them announces a change of name, they apply the rules for a change of name, and no amount of explaining afterwards undoes that.
At a Glance
| Change wording | "I have changed... shall hereafter be known as" |
| Correction wording | "has been wrongly written as... the actual surname is" |
| Change usually needs | A gazette, at Rs 1,100 and 25 to 45 days |
| Correction usually needs | Nothing beyond the affidavit and your documents |
| Stamp paper | Non-judicial; value varies by district |
| Typical cost | Rs 100 to 500 including notary |
| Witnesses | Not needed on an affidavit |
| Signing | In the notary's presence, never before |
Key Takeaways
- The verb you use decides whether a gazette is expected, so choose it deliberately.
- A misspelt surname is a correction, not a change, and costs far less.
- Marriage, adding, dropping and correcting each need different wording.
- An affidavit is signed before a notary and needs no witnesses.
- Say less rather than more; extra explanation invites questions nobody asked.
Which Format You Need: Quick Facts
| Taking a husband's surname | Format one |
| Adding a surname to a single name | Format two |
| Dropping a caste or family surname | Format three |
| Surname spelt wrongly on a document | Format four, and no gazette |
| Replacing one family name with another | Format three wording, adapted |
| Reverting after a divorce | Format one wording, with the decree |
| A child's surname | Sworn by the guardian throughout |
| Not sure which | Ask before printing; the verb is hard to undo |
Table of Contents
- The verb that costs Rs 1,100
- Format one: a husband's surname
- Format two: adding a surname
- Format three: dropping or replacing one
- Format four: a misspelt surname
- What to leave out
- Central Gazette: the complete process and file format
- Areas we serve
- Related guides
- Why choose our office
- FAQs
The Verb That Costs Rs 1,100
People reach for the change wording because a downloaded template used it, and because in ordinary speech we say we are changing a surname whether it was wrong or not. The office does not hear it that way. It hears a declaration and applies the rules that follow from one.
So before printing anything, answer one question: was your surname ever correctly recorded as the old version? If yes, this is a change. If it was always a mistake, it is a correction. The fuller test is on our correction versus change page.
Format One: a Husband's Surname
The words consequent upon my marriage in clause two matter more than they look. They tell the reader why the change happened, which is often what allows a counter to accept a marriage certificate instead of a gazette. Drop them and you have an unexplained name change.
For reverting after a divorce, the same structure works with the decree named instead of the marriage, and it is covered on our divorce page. The three shapes a married surname can take are on our surname after marriage page.
Format Two: Adding a Surname
The phrase single name, without any surname is the important one here. It tells every later reader that your earlier documents were complete as they stood rather than incomplete, which prevents a whole category of question at verification years later. Before using this format at all, check whether you actually need to add a surname, since most Indian forms have a rule for single names, as our adding a surname page explains.
Format Three: Dropping or Replacing One
Discontinued the use of is deliberate. It states a fact about what you do without inviting any discussion of why, which is exactly right where a caste title is being dropped. No office is entitled to ask your reasons and none of them do when the affidavit does not raise the subject.
To replace one family name with another rather than simply drop it, use the same structure with both named in clause two. Either way this is a change and a gazette normally follows.
Format Four: a Misspelt Surname
Notice what is absent: there is no "shall hereafter be known as" anywhere. Nothing is being announced, because nothing is changing. Clause two naming an older document is what does the work, because it gives the office something to compare against rather than only your word.
This is the format most people should be using and the one they use least, which is why so many spelling problems end up costing gazette money.
What to Leave Out
- Why you are doing it, in a change affidavit. Nobody is deciding your reasons and offering them invites a conversation about them.
- How the error occurred, in a correction affidavit. Speculation about a clerk in 1996 helps nobody.
- Other family members' names, unless they are genuinely part of the request.
- A date of birth, which no affidavit and no gazette can establish and which contaminates an otherwise clean file.
- Extra documents listed for completeness, since every document named is a document somebody may ask to see.
A four-clause affidavit that answers one question moves faster than a page and a half that anticipates ten. Say the minimum that makes the request clear.
Central Gazette: the Complete Process and File Format
Our core service: where your case is genuinely a change rather than a correction, the affidavit above becomes stage one of this filing, run from Lucknow.
Stage 1: The affidavit, as above
That last line is the money-saving one on this page. If your case is format four, the affidavit plus your older documents is the whole exercise, and there is no reason for anything that follows.
Stage 2: The Public Notice, in two copies
Each witness gives signature, full name and address, and both sign both copies at one sitting. This is the only document in the set that needs witnesses; the affidavit does not.
Stage 3: The CD and CD-Certificate
Stage 4: Newspapers, fee, covering letter and dispatch
Publish in two newspapers and buy four copies
One Hindi daily of your district and one English paper, complete original pages, two copies of each edition.
Pay Rs 1,100 on BharatKosh
Rs 1,700 for a minor, with the function head, PAO and DDO checked and 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 at home, since a queried file is far easier to answer with the originals to hand.
Courier it, tracked
One to three days from most UP districts, with no counter to visit.
Search Part IV after 25 to 45 days
A Saturday date range covering your window, then download and print about five copies.
Ask Before You Print
We have had clients arrive with a notarised change affidavit for what was plainly a spelling error, and by then the cheapest route is usually to swear a fresh correction affidavit rather than argue about the first. Rs 200 wasted is better than Rs 1,100 plus six weeks.
Gazette Fees, Time and the File
| Affidavit | Rs 100 to 500 including stamp paper and notary |
| Correction route total | Often just the affidavit and document copies |
| Adult gazette fee | Rs 1,100 on BharatKosh |
| Minor, through a guardian | Rs 1,700 |
| Newspaper advertisements | A few hundred rupees per paper, plus spare copies |
| Publication window | 25 to 45 days after the Department receives the file |
| Our service | Basic from Rs 999, Complete from Rs 1,999, quoted separately |
The envelope in one line, for a genuine change: 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 Print: Check These
- Decide change or correction before choosing any wording.
- Use "wrongly written as" if your surname was never correctly the old version.
- Keep "consequent upon my marriage" in a marriage affidavit.
- Sign only in the notary's presence, and expect no witnesses to be needed.
After the Gazette: What Updates Next
Aadhaar first, then PAN, bank and employer, then the passport with both newspaper pages, then Tehsil certificates. Education records keep the old surname, which is correct. Keep the affidavit itself alongside the gazette permanently, because several offices ask to see both together even after publication.
What Other Websites Get Wrong
- Wrong: one surname affidavit template fits everyone. Right: six different jobs go by that name and need different wording.
- Wrong: the wording is a formality. Right: the verb decides whether a gazette is expected.
- Wrong: a misspelt surname needs a name change affidavit. Right: it needs correction wording and no publication.
- Wrong: explain your reasons in the affidavit. Right: nobody is deciding them, and raising them invites questions.
- Wrong: affidavits need witnesses. Right: only the gazette Public Notice does.
Areas We Serve in Uttar Pradesh
Notaries sit in every district court complex and tehsil, so this needs no travel. We draft the wording and you print it on stamp paper locally, across all 75 districts, most often these:
| Awadh and central UP | Lucknow, Kanpur, Unnao, Raebareli, Sitapur, Hardoi, Barabanki, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Amethi, Bahraich |
| 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 |
Stamp paper values and notary charges vary between tehsils, which is why the honest figure is a range rather than one number. Requests to drop a caste title reach us from every district, and we draft those without asking why. Our chamber is at Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Sector 5, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow 226010, with the city guide on our Lucknow page. Call 9540003316 or WhatsApp 9540005002 from any district.
Related Guides on This Site
Whichever counter you reach next, there is a guide for it here:
- surname change: the main guide covering all six situations.
- surname after marriage: three shapes, and how each behaves.
- adding a surname to a single name: the form rule that often makes it unnecessary.
- correction versus change: the test that decides your wording.
- the affidavit guide: stamp paper, notaries and execution.
- spelling affidavit drafts: four more formats for spelling cases.
- name change after divorce: reverting, and the decree.
- the gazette guide: the route a change affidavit begins.
- the spelling correction guide: the router for every correction case.
- the full cost breakdown: government fees and our fees, line by line.
- contact the office: Lucknow office, phone and WhatsApp.
Why We Ask What the Old Surname Was
Our first question is not what you want the affidavit to say. It is whether your surname was ever correctly the old version, because that single answer decides between a Rs 200 exercise and a Rs 1,100 one. Clients are often surprised to find they were about to buy a gazette they never needed. Vipin Chauhan, B.Tech LL.B, settles the verb before anyone buys stamp paper.
- We decide change or correction first: because the verb is the expensive part.
- We match the format to your actual job: one of six, not one template for all.
- We keep reasons out of the drafting: particularly where a caste title is being dropped.
- We tell you when no gazette is needed: even though it is the smaller job for us.
Associate office at Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow, serving all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh, Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 6:30 PM. Call 9540003316 or WhatsApp 9540005002.
Tell Us Both Versions
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 surname as printed now, what it should say, and what your Class 10 marksheet carries. That is enough to pick the format.
Get Call and Name Change Format
Loading the enquiry form...
Surname Change Affidavit: FAQs
Why does the wording matter so much?
Because the office reads it literally. A change affidavit announces a new identity and triggers the rules for a gazette; a correction affidavit announces an error and does not.
How do I tell which one I need?
Ask whether your surname was ever correctly recorded as the old version. If yes, this is a change. If it was always a mistake, it is a correction.
What is the correction wording?
"My surname has been wrongly written as ____ in the said document. My actual surname is ____." There is no "shall hereafter be known as" anywhere in it.
What makes the marriage format different?
The words "consequent upon my marriage", which explain why the change happened and often allow a counter to accept a marriage certificate instead of a gazette.
What wording is used to drop a caste surname?
"I have discontinued the use of the surname ____." It states a fact without inviting any discussion of your reasons, which no office is entitled to ask about.
Do I need to explain why I am changing it?
No. Nobody is deciding your reasons, and offering them invites a conversation about them.
Do I need witnesses?
No. An affidavit is signed by you before a notary. Only the gazette Public Notice needs two witnesses giving signature, full name and address.
Can I sign it before going to the notary?
No. The signature must be made in the notary's physical presence, or the affidavit is not properly executed.
I already had a change affidavit made but mine is a spelling error. What now?
Usually cheaper to swear a fresh correction affidavit than to argue about the first. Rs 200 wasted beats Rs 1,100 plus six weeks.
What does it cost?
Rs 100 to 500 including stamp paper and notary, varying by district. Where it is a correction, that is often the whole cost.
Who swears it for a child?
The parent or guardian, with a clause establishing the relationship, since a minor cannot swear their own affidavit.
Should I list all my documents in the affidavit?
No. Every document named is one somebody may ask to see. Name what the request needs and nothing more.
Official Sources
- The Department of Publication's guidelines for change of name, which govern the declaration published in the Gazette of India.
- Affidavit formats published by Indian Missions and professional bodies, which distinguish declaration from correction wording.
- UIDAI and Passport Seva practice, under which a correction and a change are treated as different applications.
- Marriage registration provisions, which produce the certificate most counters rely on for a married surname.
Facts here are checked against these sources and our own drafting experience. Receiving authorities occasionally prescribe their own wording, which always takes precedence; the effect of the verb is the stable part.
The Short Version
Six different jobs go by the name surname change, and the wording you choose decides what happens next because the office reads the affidavit literally rather than investigating your situation. Announce that you have changed your surname and shall hereafter be known by a new one, and you have signalled a gazette at Rs 1,100 and twenty-five to forty-five days. Say instead that your surname was wrongly written and give the actual version, and you have described a clerical error that your existing documents can settle for the cost of the stamp paper. The question that separates them is simple: was your surname ever correctly the old version? Answer that before you buy stamp paper rather than after, because the verb is the expensive part and it gets chosen first by everyone who downloads a template.