Name change in New Jersey
These are the steps most people follow for a name change in New Jersey, in order. Each links to its official source and the date we last checked it. When you're ready, build a personalized checklist that covers every document at once.
This is general information, not legal advice. Requirements change, so always confirm with the official source linked on each step, and talk to a lawyer or legal-aid organization about your specific situation.
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Step 1: Get a court order for your name change
- To legally change your name in New Jersey as an adult, you file a Verified Complaint and a Certification of Confidential Information for Name Change in the Law Division of the Superior Court, along with a Civil Case Information Statement and a $250 filing fee. The court sets a hearing date, and you must notify the Division of Criminal Justice of your application by certified mail at least 20 days before that hearing.
Varies by court/clerk.
More detail
- The court's packet contains five forms: the Verified Complaint (Form A), the Certification of Confidential Information for Name Change (Form A1), the Order Fixing Date of Hearing (Form B), the Final Judgment (Form C), and the Final Judgment Addendum (Form C1). One $250 fee covers a name change for multiple adult family members filed together, but anyone under 18 must instead use the separate 'Chancery Division, Family Part' name-change packet. If you have pending criminal or delinquent charges in New Jersey, you must also notify the county prosecutor (or, if the Attorney General brought the charges, the Division of Criminal Justice) at least 20 days before the hearing. After the hearing, you present a certified copy with a raised seal of the Final Judgment and Final Judgment Addendum — $25.00 per certified copy — to the Motor Vehicle Commission, if you hold a license, vehicle registration, or non-driver ID card, within two weeks of the judgment's effective date, and to the Department of Treasury within 45 days along with a $50 fee.
📝 Get the official form: How to Ask the Court to Change Your Name — Adults Only (CN 10551)
Sources
- New Jersey Courts — How to Ask the Court to Change Your Name (Adults Only) — We cannot check this source automatically for changes. Check it yourself before you file.
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Step 2: Update your Social Security record
- Social Security still changes the legal name on your Social Security record. A valid court order for a name change is one of the events Social Security recognizes as changing your legal name, and you apply with Form SS-5, the Application for a Social Security Card.
More detail
- Social Security's policy manual defines your legal name as your first name and last name — the name you use to sign legal documents. For a person born in the United States, that is generally the name shown on the birth certificate, unless the name changed through an event such as a marriage or a valid court order for a name change. The sex marker on your record is handled separately and under a different rule — see the Social Security sex marker step.
📝 Get the official form: Form SS-5 — Application for a Social Security Card
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Step 3: Update your driver's license or state ID
- To update your name on your New Jersey driver's license or ID card, you must first get your name legally changed. Then go to any MVC Licensing Center as a walk-in — no appointment is needed — and bring a certified copy of the court order granting your legal name change and your '6 points of ID' documents to prove your identity and date of birth.
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- All documents must be original or certified copies. It's okay if your birth name is on your other ID documents — they will still be accepted. You can order a certified copy of your New Jersey birth certificate using the NJ State Office of Vital Statistics' online system. While you are at the MVC Licensing Center, you can also update your gender marker on your license.
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Step 4: Update your U.S. passport
- To update the name on your U.S. passport, submit a passport application with an original or certified copy of the document that legally changed your name, such as a court order.
More detail
- If your name changed within 1 year of your most recent passport being issued, mail Form DS-5504 with the name-change document — you will not have to submit any fees for this service. If it has been more than a year, renew by mail with Form DS-82 and a certified name-change document, or apply in person with Form DS-11. If you have no legal documentation of the change, you apply in person with Form DS-11 plus Form DS-60, Affidavit Regarding a Change of Name.
📝 Get the official form: Form DS-82 — U.S. Passport Renewal
Sources
- U.S. Department of State — Change or Correct a Passport — We cannot check this source automatically for changes. Check it yourself before you file.
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Where to get help
- Garden State Equality — Statewide LGBTQ+ advocacy organization; its Name Change Project partners with legal organizations to help transgender New Jersey residents with name-change petitions, driver's license updates, and birth certificate changes.
- LSNJLAW (Legal Services of New Jersey) — Free civil legal information and assistance for low-income New Jersey residents, including a statewide legal hotline and self-help guidance on name changes.
- Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE) — New Jersey identity documents guide — Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE) keeps a plain-language guide to changing your name and gender marker on New Jersey documents. Their staff write and update it. Read it alongside this checklist.
- Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE) — National advocacy organization (formerly the National Center for Transgender Equality) with plain-language guides to updating federal identity documents (Social Security, passport) after a name or gender-marker change.
- Lambda Legal Help Desk — National LGBTQ+ legal organization offering a free legal help desk for questions about discrimination and legal name/gender-marker changes.