Changing a child's name

You cannot change your child’s surname or given name without authorization from the court or the registrar of civil status.

The court will hear an application filed for one of the following reasons:

• the child no longer has any filiation with one of the parents;
• the child has been abandoned by one of the parents;
• the father or mother has been deprived of parental authority.

You can file an application for a change of name with the registrar of civil status on various grounds, for example if:

• you wish to correct the child’s surname or given name as it appears in the register of civil status;
• you wish to simplify your child’s name because it is of foreign origin or difficult to pronounce or write;
• your child’s given name is a subject of ridicule.

Notices of change of name must be published on the website of the registrar of civil status, rather than in the Gazette officielle du Québec and in a local newspaper.