Changing a name is not one process. It is a sequence of separate processes, each run by a different authority, and most of the confusion comes from not knowing which one you actually need first.
This guide walks through the full sequence, adding or correcting a name on a Telangana birth certificate, the legal gazette process that most other documents rely on, and updating Aadhaar, PAN, school records & Apaar, passport and bank accounts in an order that does not create new problems.
Where to start?
Start by working out which situation you are in, because the process is different for each.
Your birth certificate has no name on it at all. This is common and not an error. In Telangana, a birth certificate can legally be issued before a name is chosen, with the name added later. If the child is under one year old, this is a simple addition. Over one year, it needs more documents but is still routine.
Your birth certificate has a name, and you want to correct or change it. This needs an affidavit and supporting documents submitted to GHMC or the relevant municipal body, not a gazette notification.
Your child is currently studying and their name needs fixing in school records. For Classes 1 to 8, this is a simple internal school correction. For Classes 9 and 10, there is a closing window before board registration; miss it and the correction gets materially harder once the certificate is issued.
You are an adult wanting to legally change your name (after marriage, for personal reasons, or to fix a long-standing spelling mismatch across documents). This goes through the central government’s gazette process, and the gazette notification becomes the master document that every other update points back to.
Work out which of these four you are, then follow the matching section below. Most people trying to fix “my name is wrong everywhere” actually need the third process, done once, followed by updates to everything else in order.
Does your birth certificate already have your name on it?
This is the first branch point, and it changes everything downstream.
In Telangana, hospitals report a birth to the municipal authority (GHMC within Hyderabad, the local municipality or panchayat outside it) often before the parents have settled on a name. The certificate is issued with the birth recorded but the name field blank, and the name is added afterward through a separate application.
If your birth certificate has never carried your name, you do not need a gazette notification to add one. That is a name addition, not a name change, and it goes through the birth registration authority.
Adding a name to a birth certificate (Telangana)
If the child is under one year old, this is the simple case:
- Apply through MeeSeva or the GHMC Birth & Death office (Tank Bund Road, Hyderabad), or online through bnd.ghmc.gov.in for GHMC-registered births.
- Carry the original birth certificate (name field blank), a parent’s Aadhaar or another photo ID, and the hospital discharge summary if available.
- Births outside GHMC limits go through the CDMA name inclusion form, available through MeeSeva, with the same documents.
- The name is added to the existing record. No affidavit is normally required at this stage.
If the child is over one year old, the same offices handle it, but expect to submit more supporting documents; typically a notarised affidavit stating the name being added, school admission records if the child is enrolled anywhere, and both parents’ ID proof. The exact list varies by how old the child is and how much documentation already exists elsewhere with that name, so confirm the current requirement with your nearest MeeSeva centre before applying.
Births registered from 2024 onward may sit on the newer national CRS portal (crs.gov.in) rather than the older GHMC system. If bnd.ghmc.gov.in cannot find the record, try CRS before assuming the record is missing.
Correcting a name already on a birth certificate
This is different from adding a missing name. If the certificate already has a name recorded and it is wrong, misspelled, or you want it changed, this is a correction, filed with GHMC or the relevant municipal body, and it typically needs:
- The original birth certificate
- A notarised affidavit explaining the correction and stating the correct name
- Proof of identity (Aadhaar or another government photo ID)
- Supporting evidence the new spelling or name is genuine: school records, a parent’s ID showing the intended spelling, or similar
Apply at a MeeSeva centre with the “Birth Certificate Correction” service, or through the GHMC portal directly. Corrections to a parent’s name on the certificate follow a similar path, with proof of the parent’s correct name attached.
This route does not require a gazette notification. The gazette process below is for adults changing their own legal name for use across other documents, which is a different situation from correcting a child’s birth record.
Changing a name for a school-going child (Class 1 to Class 10)
Two very different situations here, and which class your child is in decides which one you are dealing with.
Classes 1 to 8: this stays entirely within the school
If your child has not yet registered for a board exam, correcting a name is an internal school matter. No board, no gazette (unless you are introducing a genuinely new name that never appeared anywhere, in which case treat it as the gazette process above), no government office involved at all.
Apply directly to the school with:
- A written application addressed to the principal, stating the correct name
- The child’s birth certificate
- A parent’s ID proof
- The Transfer Certificate or admission form from a previous school, if the discrepancy started there
The school corrects its own admission register. Keep the school’s written confirmation of the correction, since this is what you will eventually hand over for board registration later.
Classes 9 and 10: fix it before board registration, not after
This is the window that actually matters, and most parents do not realise how narrow it is.
Whatever name is submitted at board registration becomes the name printed on the SSC or CBSE Class 10 certificate, and that certificate then functions as a lifelong identity document; employers, colleges and passport offices generally treat it as equivalent to a birth certificate. Correcting a name after the certificate has already been issued is a genuinely harder process than correcting it before registration.
For Telangana State Board (SSC) students: the board opens a data-correction window each year, before the exam, during which schools verify every student’s name, parents’ names, gender and date of birth against the Printed Nominal Roll published on bse.telangana.gov.in. The school head must attest any correction and submit it to the District Educational Officer by the board’s published deadline, and the correction also needs to be reflected on the UDISE+ portal. This window is announced separately each year and closes weeks before the exam. Raise any discrepancy with the school the moment your child is enrolled for Class 10, not when the hall ticket is due.
For CBSE-affiliated schools: correction happens through the school, ideally at the Class 9 registration stage (the List of Candidates, or LOC), which is the easiest point to fix anything. CBSE draws a distinction that decides how difficult your case will be:
- Correction, where the right name already exists somewhere in the school’s admission register and you are fixing a spelling or clerical mismatch. This is the simpler case and generally does not need a gazette notification.
- Change, where the name you want was never recorded anywhere in the school’s records, meaning you are introducing a new name rather than fixing an existing one. This is treated as a full name change and needs a gazette notification, the same as the adult process described above.
Apply through the school with a written request, the child’s birth certificate, and the original admission form. For a genuine change rather than a correction, add the gazette notification and newspaper cutting. The school forwards the application to CBSE.
If you miss the window and the certificate is already issued, correction is still possible but harder. It goes through CBSE’s regional office rather than the school alone, generally needs a notarised affidavit and the same supporting documents, and can take considerably longer than a pre-registration correction would have.
The practical lesson is the same for both boards: check the name on your child’s school records the moment Class 9 begins, not after the Class 10 result is out.
This has become more urgent for CBSE specifically. From the 2026 board exams, CBSE made the APAAR ID mandatory for List of Candidates (LOC) submission: a school can only register a student for Class 10 or 12 board exams if that student already has an APAAR ID, and CBSE has stated no corrections are allowed once the LOC is submitted. In practice this means the APAAR ID itself, not just the school admission register, now needs to be correct before LOC submission. See the APAAR section below.
Which document to fix first, if more than one is wrong. The birth certificate is the anchor document here, not Aadhaar. If the birth certificate already has the correct name and only the school’s own record is wrong, the birth certificate alone is normally sufficient proof for the school correction; Aadhaar is not what the school is checking against. If the birth certificate itself carries the wrong name, correct that first through the GHMC route described earlier, since a minor’s Aadhaar correction also relies on the birth certificate as its supporting proof. In that case the order is birth certificate, then Aadhaar, then the school, each using the one before it as proof. Document lists from schools and boards generally ask for the birth certificate and the admission register rather than naming Aadhaar specifically, though carrying a matching Aadhaar alongside it rarely hurts.
Correcting a name in your child’s APAAR ID
APAAR (Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry) is the government’s permanent student identifier, linked to Aadhaar and DigiLocker, meant to follow a child from school through higher education. It has moved from optional to close to mandatory in practice over 2025 and 2026, and CBSE now requires it for board exam registration (see above).
You cannot apply to correct an APAAR ID directly. APAAR is generated by the school, not by a parent, and it is not a standalone record you can edit on its own. The ID is built from two sources: the student’s record on UDISE+ (the school’s own data submission) and Aadhaar, which APAAR uses as its primary verification check. If either of those is wrong, the APAAR entry will be wrong too, and fixing APAAR means fixing whichever of the two is the actual source of the error, not editing APAAR itself.
The practical steps:
- Work out which document is actually wrong. Compare the name as it appears on Aadhaar, on the school’s records, and on the birth certificate. Whichever one differs from the other two is usually the one that needs correcting.
- If Aadhaar is wrong, correct it first, through the Aadhaar update process described earlier in this guide.
- If the school’s own record is wrong, apply to the school directly: a written request to the principal, with the birth certificate, Aadhaar, previous school records, and a gazette notification or affidavit if the case is a genuine name change rather than a correction.
- Ask the school to update UDISE+ and regenerate or correct the APAAR entry to match. This step has to go through the school; there is no separate parent-facing APAAR correction portal.
- Follow up to confirm the correction actually reflects in APAAR, rather than assuming it has once the school confirms the request was submitted.
Correcting this before the APAAR ID is first generated is straightforward. Correcting it afterward is reported to be considerably more restricted, with some schools stating that changes after generation require a matching Aadhaar and are not always accepted. This specific restriction comes from individual school circulars rather than a single confirmed national rule I could verify, so treat it as a reason to move quickly rather than a guaranteed rule, and ask your school directly what their current policy is if an error is only discovered after the ID has already been generated.
The practical order, given all of this: check Aadhaar, school records and APAAR together, ideally in Class 8 or early Class 9, before both the APAAR generation and the board LOC submission lock the name in place.
Legally changing your name: the gazette process
This is what most adults searching for “how to change my name” actually need. It applies whether the reason is marriage, a personal decision, a religious change, or bringing a long-mismatched name into line across your documents.
The process has three parts, and skipping any one of them is the most common reason applications are rejected.
Step 1: The affidavit
Prepare a notarised affidavit on non-judicial stamp paper (commonly ₹10 to ₹100, though a notary can confirm the current value). It must state:
- Your current (old) name in full
- Your new name in full
- Your complete address
- Your reason for the change (a plain statement such as “personal preference” or “due to marriage” is accepted)
Write full names, not initials. An affidavit reading “K. Kumar” instead of the complete name is a common cause of rejection, because government records now require the full name spelled out.
Step 2: The newspaper advertisement
You must publish the name change in a newspaper, written in English regardless of the newspaper’s primary language. The advertisement repeats the same details as the affidavit: old name, new name, and address.
Keep several original copies of the newspaper, not photocopies. Five to ten is a reasonable number to have on hand, since different downstream offices may each want to retain one.
One genuine point of disagreement worth flagging: general guidance for the central gazette suggests a single newspaper advertisement is sufficient as of recent years. But some specific downstream uses, particularly correcting an educational certificate, have historically asked for publication in two separate newspapers. Since the requirement can depend on which office or institution ultimately accepts the document, confirm directly with the specific authority (your university, the passport office, your bank) before assuming one advertisement is enough for your case.
Step 3: Submit to the Department of Publication
Send your affidavit, the original newspaper cutting, a CD containing the typed (not scanned) text of your application in the prescribed format, and the government fee receipt to the Controller of Publications in Delhi, typically by speed post. The fee is paid online through the Bharat Kosh portal and is non-refundable.
Once processed, your name change is published in the e-Gazette, viewable and downloadable permanently at egazette.gov.in.
Cost and timeline: the government fee for an adult typically runs in the ₹1,000 to ₹1,500 range, separate from any notary or courier costs. Processing generally takes three to six weeks from submission, though this varies.
The gazette notification does not expire. Once published, it is a permanent legal record. You do the process once and reference it for life.
If parents are changing a child’s name, not correcting an error
Everything above in this section assumes the school record is wrong and needs fixing to match the name already established elsewhere. If instead you are a parent deciding on a genuinely different name for your child, that is a change, not a correction, and it follows the gazette process rather than a simple school or GHMC correction.
A minor cannot sign their own affidavit, so a parent or legal guardian applies on the child’s behalf, following the same three steps as the adult process: a notarised affidavit stating the relationship, the child’s current name, the new name and the reason, a newspaper advertisement, and submission to the Department of Publication for e-Gazette publication.
The update sequence afterward is different from a plain correction. Because this is a change, the birth certificate itself needs to be updated to match, at GHMC, using the gazette notification as supporting proof. This is a gazette-backed update, distinct from the plain correction process described earlier, which never involves a gazette. From there, update Aadhaar, then the school record, in the same order as the adult sequence above.
Worth checking before you apply, rather than assuming: whether both parents’ consent is required on the affidavit, which matters particularly if the parents are separated or divorced. This was not something I could confirm consistently, so raise it directly with the notary or lawyer preparing the affidavit.
Hyderabad residents have a second route: the Telangana State Gazette
Everything above describes the Central Gazette, run from Delhi, which is what most national guidance defaults to. Telangana also runs its own state gazette, the TG e-Gazette, through the Commissionerate of Printing, Stationery and Stores Purchase at Chanchalguda, Hyderabad, with an online portal at tggazette.cgg.gov.in.
The practical appeal is that a state gazette can mean not sending your documents to Delhi at all. The same three-part structure applies (affidavit, newspaper advertisement, application to the gazette office), but the office, the portal and the turnaround are local.
Two things worth confirming directly with the office rather than assuming, because they come from name-change agencies rather than the government portal itself, and I could not verify them first-hand:
- Some sources describe the newspaper requirement for the Telangana route as two advertisements, one in English and one in Telugu, rather than the single English advertisement that is standard guidance for the Central Gazette. This may be a genuine state-specific rule, or it may be conflated advice from businesses that also handle Central Gazette applications. Ask the Chanchalguda office which applies to your application before you publish anything, since a wrong or missing advertisement means starting the newspaper step over.
- Some sources also mention a police verification certificate, and for minors an Annexure II certificate from the Tahsildar’s office, as an additional step for the Telangana route. This did not appear in the general national guidance and I could not confirm it against the government portal directly. If it applies to your case, it would normally come before the affidavit stage, so ask about it early rather than after your newspaper advertisement is already published.
Whichever gazette route you use, Central or state, the notification carries the same legal weight once published, and the rest of this guide (updating Aadhaar, PAN, school records and so on) applies identically either way.
After the gazette: updating your other documents, in order
Once you hold the gazette notification, update your documents in this order. Doing it out of sequence is how people end up with three documents that all disagree with each other.
1. Aadhaar
This is usually the first update, because most other institutions will ask for an Aadhaar matching your new name before they update anything else.
Log in to the myAadhaar portal (myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in) using your Aadhaar number and OTP, select the name update option, and upload your gazette notification as proof.
A genuine conflict in current guidance is worth noting here. Some official-facing guidance describes name updates as available online through the portal, with a fee of roughly ₹50. Other current guidance states that a name change specifically still requires an in-person visit to an Aadhaar Seva Kendra, unlike an address update, which is fully online. Given this is actively in flux, check the live status on the UIDAI portal at the time you apply rather than assuming either route in advance, and be prepared to visit a Seva Kendra if the online option is not offered for your case.
UIDAI limits name changes to twice in a lifetime. A minor spelling correction counts as one of those two updates, so treat the gazette-backed change as the one you want to get right, rather than something to redo later.
2. PAN
Update your PAN card through the Income Tax Department’s PAN service portal, using the gazette notification and updated Aadhaar as supporting documents. This is generally a straightforward online correction once Aadhaar reflects the new name.
3. School and education certificates
Correcting a name on a degree, marksheet or school-leaving certificate goes through the issuing board or university directly, not through GHMC or UIDAI. You will typically need the gazette notification, the newspaper cutting, and an application to the specific board (CBSE, the state board, or the university’s examination branch).
This is the document type most likely to ask for two newspaper advertisements rather than one, so confirm the exact requirement with the issuing institution before you publish, to avoid doing it twice.
4. Passport, bank accounts, voter ID and driving licence
The passport office specifically and near-universally requires the central gazette notification; a newspaper advertisement alone is not accepted for a passport name change. Apply for passport reissue through the Passport Seva portal, carrying the original gazette notification and newspaper cuttings to your appointment.
Banks, the Election Commission (for voter ID) and the transport department (for a driving licence) generally accept the gazette notification plus updated Aadhaar as sufficient proof, though each has its own form to submit in person or online.
5. Property and other legal documents
If you own property, update the name on your property tax record and any pending registrations only after the above are settled, since these offices will cross-check against Aadhaar and PAN.
The order that avoids problems
- Gazette notification first. Every downstream update points back to this one document.
- Aadhaar, since most other offices check against it.
- PAN, once Aadhaar is updated.
- School and education records, if needed, checking the newspaper-count requirement with the specific institution first.
- Passport, bank, voter ID, driving licence, using the gazette plus updated Aadhaar together.
Doing this out of order, for example updating a bank account before Aadhaar, is the most common reason people end up submitting the same documents twice.
Frequently asked questions
How do I add a name to my child’s birth certificate in Telangana?
If the certificate was issued without a name, which is common, apply through MeeSeva or bnd.ghmc.gov.in with the original certificate and a parent’s ID. Before the child turns one, this is a simple addition. After one year, expect to submit additional supporting documents.
Do I need a gazette notification to correct my child’s birth certificate?
No. Correcting an existing entry on a birth certificate is handled by GHMC or the relevant municipal body directly, using an affidavit and supporting proof. The gazette process is for adults legally changing their own name for use across other documents.
How much does a gazette name change cost in India?
The government fee for an adult typically falls in the ₹1,000 to ₹1,500 range, paid through the Bharat Kosh portal, separate from notary charges for the affidavit and any courier costs to Delhi.
How long does the gazette name change process take?
Generally three to six weeks from submission to publication in the e-Gazette, though processing time can vary.
Can I change my name in Aadhaar online?
This is genuinely unclear in current guidance. Some sources describe an online option through the myAadhaar portal for around ₹50; others say name changes still require an in-person Aadhaar Seva Kendra visit. Check the live status on the UIDAI portal when you apply, and be prepared to visit a Seva Kendra if needed.
How many times can I change my name in Aadhaar?
UIDAI limits name updates to twice in a lifetime, and a minor spelling correction counts as one of those two changes.
How do I correct my child’s name in school records?
For Classes 1 to 8, apply directly to the school with a written request, the birth certificate and a parent’s ID; the school corrects its own admission register, no board or gazette involved. For Classes 9 and 10, correct it before board registration if at all possible: Telangana State Board schools verify names against the Printed Nominal Roll before a yearly deadline, and CBSE schools correct it at the Class 9 registration stage. After the Class 10 certificate is issued, correction is still possible but considerably harder.
Is there a deadline to correct my child’s name before the SSC or CBSE Class 10 exam?
Yes, and it closes well before the exam itself, not at hall-ticket stage. Telangana State Board schools verify and submit corrections against the Printed Nominal Roll ahead of a board-announced deadline each year. CBSE schools correct it most easily at Class 9 registration (the LOC). Raise any discrepancy with the school as soon as Class 9 begins.
Is there a Telangana state gazette, separate from the Central Gazette?
Yes. Telangana runs its own TG e-Gazette through the Commissionerate of Printing, Stationery and Stores Purchase at Chanchalguda, Hyderabad, accessible at tggazette.cgg.gov.in. It carries the same legal weight as the Central Gazette once published, and using it can mean not sending documents to Delhi. Confirm the current document and newspaper requirements directly with the office, since some details differ from the Central process.
How do I correct my child’s name in their APAAR ID?
You cannot edit APAAR directly. It is generated by the school from two sources: UDISE+ (school records) and Aadhaar. Find which of those is actually wrong, correct that document first (Aadhaar through the standard update process, school records through a written application to the principal), then ask the school to update UDISE+ and regenerate the APAAR entry to match. Correcting it before the ID is first generated is far simpler than after.
Does a passport require a gazette notification for a name change?
Yes. The passport office requires the central gazette notification; a newspaper advertisement or affidavit alone is not sufficient.
In what order should I update my documents after a name change?
Gazette notification first, then Aadhaar, then PAN, then education records if needed, then passport, bank accounts, voter ID and driving licence, which typically require the gazette plus updated Aadhaar together.
This is general information based on published government processes as of July 2026, not legal advice. Requirements, fees and portals change, and some points above, particularly the newspaper-advertisement count and the Aadhaar online-versus-offline name update route, are genuinely unsettled in current guidance. Confirm the current requirement directly with GHMC, UIDAI, or the specific receiving institution before applying, and consult a lawyer for anything unusual in your situation.
