Change a Baby's Name - Contact your local probate court, explain your situation, and ask how to proceed. In some states, a child's name can be changed via a court order. The time limits for requesting this change vary from state to state so be sure to ask the court employee how much time you have. Some states have no time limitations whatsoever. Other states may require that you provide various documents (birth certificate, insurance policy and a school record if the child is older) in order to proceed with the process of name changing.
Realize that a notice of a pending name-change may be published in a newspaper before the change can become official. Some states require this; others don't.
Change a Baby's Name
Ask the probate court employee if the original birth certificate will be amended or if a new one will be issued after the change has occurred.
Understand that there is the “common law right of choice,” which means informal name changes can be made, allowing individuals to use any name that they so choose; however, this is not a formal, or legal, change and won't be considered as such on legal documents. If you start calling Henry "Hank" and he is known forever more as Hank, it's still not his legal and official name. Henry is. To make it official and legal, you have to go through the name-change process.
Detecting an error in your child's birth certificate, such as if the name has been misspelled, requires that you contact your local health department, where birth certificates are processed, as well as probate court as soon as you make the discovery. Depending on your state of residence, the process for correcting the error will vary. Oprah Winfrey is the perfect example of someone whose birth certificate was erroneous. Her name was supposed to be Orpah. Apparently, the letters were transposed when the birth certificate was typed. In Oprah's case, that was a good thing because Orpah certainly doesn't have the ring to it that Oprah does. Her parents obviously decided to go with the new name rather than requesting that the document be fixed and calling their child Orpah, which was their original intent.
Sometimes it happens--you goofed when you named your baby. After giving the name further consideration, you have decided that you don't like it and want to rectify your mistake as soon as possible by officially changing your child's name. It can be done and is done far more frequently than you would guess. - by eHow
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