How to Double-Barrel Your Surname in the UK
Quick answer
Who should skip this
Check the certificate route first after marriage or civil partnership, including for a double-barrelled surname. Skip a child pack unless every parental-responsibility holder agrees.
Updated · Editorial policy
One-time payment. Yours forever. No subscription, ever.
On this page · 8 sections
Do I need a deed poll to double-barrel?
Not automatically after marriage or civil partnership: HM Passport Office accepts the certificate for a double-barrelled name made from your surname and your partner’s. Other organisations set their own evidence rules, so check first. Outside that route, an unenrolled deed poll can document the change. Correct signing and any supporting evidence still matter.
HM Passport Office’s change of name guidance says a double-barrelled surname is two existing surnames joined by a space or a hyphen, such as Crickle-Wood or Crickle Wood. The certificate is enough when it shows the link between your old and new names, how the new name was made, and that the spelling has not changed.
| Your change | Evidence of the change | Evidence you use the name |
|---|---|---|
| Your surname and your spouse’s or civil partner’s, joined with a hyphen or space | Marriage or civil partnership certificate | Not normally needed |
| A one-word blend, such as Cricklewood | Additional evidence, such as a change of name deed (deed poll) | Needed |
| Double-barrelling without marrying or forming a civil partnership | A change-of-name document, such as a deed poll or statutory declaration | Needed |
| Keeping your old surname as a middle name | A change-of-name document; the certificate is not accepted | Needed |
| Later dropping the double-barrel for your partner’s surname only | A change-of-name document, such as a statutory declaration; the certificate is not accepted | Needed |
The document is the same £14.99 adult deed poll — your new name is simply the double-barrelled one. Marriage context: after marriage. Civil partners: civil partnership name change. Moving a surname into your middle names: changing a middle name.
Hyphen or space — and whose name goes first?
Entirely your choice: Smith-Jones, Smith Jones or Jones-Smith are all valid. GOV.UK says a deed poll can add or remove names or hyphens. Choose the exact form you want and use it consistently: a deed poll records it character for character, and HM Passport Office expects the name on your application to match your supporting documents.
Hyphens and apostrophes are the only punctuation HM Passport Office accepts in the name fields, so O’Brien-Smith is fine but decorative symbols are not. More detail: UK name restrictions.
Length. HM Passport Office guidance allows up to 30 characters for forenames and 30 for the surname, including spaces. If a double-barrelled surname is longer, it prints as many characters as possible and adds an observation giving your full name.
Changing your mind about the hyphen. HM Passport Office treats adding or removing the hyphen on a double-barrelled surname as a minor change. On a first adult passport it accepts the change without evidence if the spelling and order stay the same. On a renewal it issues the passport in the old form unless you send 2 pieces of evidence that you use the new form for all official purposes.
Can we blend our surnames into a new one?
Yes — a blended or entirely new surname is a normal deed poll name change. HM Passport Office does not treat a one-word blend as double-barrelled, so a marriage certificate cannot evidence it. The same applies to changing first or middle names at the same time. Each partner who is changing signs their own deed.
For a passport in the blended name, HM Passport Office wants the change-of-name document and evidence that you use the name for all official purposes, such as a bank statement or a letter from your employer issued in the last 12 months. Each of you can complete the three-minute form. DIY: free template.
How do I update my passport and other records?
Settle the exact spelling first, then update the records you use to prove identity. GOV.UK says you need a new passport to travel in a new name, and the name on your passport must match the name on your travel booking.
- Decide the exact surname, including the hyphen or space and the order, before you update any record.
- Update your bank, employer, HMRC and GP records with the certificate or your deed poll. Our who to notify checklist lists the rest.
- Apply for a new passport. GOV.UK lists £102 online or £115.50 on a paper form for an adult (checked 24 September 2026). You get a new 10-year passport and the time left on the old one is not added. You do not need a countersignature just because your name changed.
- Update your driving licence. DVLA charges nothing for a name change. Send form D1 with your licence and original documents, not photocopies. In Northern Ireland the DVA handles licences instead: nidirect says to post form DL1 with the required documents.
Do not book travel in the new name until the new passport arrives. GOV.UK warns that unexpired visas in your old passport may become invalid, so check with the country that issued them. If you also hold a non-British passport, GOV.UK says its name must match the name you want on your British passport, so change that one first. Full steps: changing the name on your passport.
Can I keep using my old surname at work?
Yes. If you are not a dual citizen, HM Passport Office guidance lets you take a married or civil partnership surname but also use your previous surname, for example professionally. Say so on the passport application or in a signed statement. The passport is issued in the new name with an observation that the holder is also known by the previous name.
This is not a double-barrelled surname: the passport surname is the new one, and the observation records the other name you use. If you want both surnames in one legal name, choose a double-barrelled form and use it for all official purposes.
How do children get a double-barrelled surname?
Through a child deed poll, with the consent of everyone who holds parental responsibility — usually both parents. A posted “family deed poll” does not replace those consent letters. If anyone with parental responsibility refuses, stop and use form C100; a PDF cannot create missing consent.
Re-registering after you marry no longer changes the surname. HM Passport Office’s birth registration guidance says that from 13 July 2026 the General Register Office and GRONI will not change a child’s surname when parents re-register a birth after marrying or forming a civil partnership. If you want the child to share the new double-barrelled name, change it by deed poll or change of name deed. For a birth registered in Northern Ireland, check with GRONI first: nidirect’s recording-a-change-of-name page still described re-registration as a way to change a child’s surname when we checked on 24 September 2026.
Any change counts for a child’s passport. HM Passport Office treats every change to a child’s name, including adding or removing a hyphen, as a change of name. It needs the consent of everyone with parental responsibility, the change-of-name document and evidence the child uses the name.
Scotland. For a child born in Scotland, National Records of Scotland can record the surname change instead. Under-16s can have one surname change, and the fee is £40 (checked 24 September 2026).
See changing your child’s surname and the child deed poll pack. Our adult £25 name-change pack covers one adult only — children are a separate form.
Good to know