Changing legal name

[Spirit of the Forest]

Hey. I was wondering what do I have to do if I want to change my legal middle and last names?

If it's possible and I do go through it, will they update it everywhere else for me automatically, or will I have to go through everything myself (license, residence, school, etc) and announce that I've changed my legal name?

[Upphew]

Hey. I was wondering what do I have to do if I want to change my legal middle and last names?

If it's possible and I do go through it, will they update it everywhere else for me automatically, or will I have to go through everything myself (license, residence, school, etc) and announce that I've changed my legal name?

It is possible. Magistrate will change your name in population registry, but they won't push the changes. So you'll need to change the license, passport etc by yourself. School most likely won't poll the registry, so you'll have to inform them too.

http://maistraatti.fi/fi/Palvelut/nimiasiat/

[Spirit of the Forest]

Alright. I'll see what I'm going to do. Thanks.

[leisl]

By the way, there are restrictions on the names you are permitted to have. It's possible you'll be told "no" if you try to use a name nobody in Finland has previously registered (for example if you ask for your name to be changed to Precious) or a name that's generally not registered to your gender (like perhaps Petri if you're a woman). The third issue is "protected" family names which can only be registered by someone with a family "right" to that name and more often it seems to only apply to unusual Finnish surnames.

I don't know the full details of how they make these rulings but no doubt someone will give more info.

[Spirit of the Forest]

Hmm, that's strange. I thought those restrictions only apply to names that might be offensive or insulting to the individual.

I have to do some other things before I proceed with that anyway, so I have enough time to think.

Thanks.

[betelgeuse]

The third issue is "protected" family names which can only be registered by someone with a family "right" to that name and more often it seems to only apply to unusual Finnish surnames.

There are no protected names any more because that rule was not equal. Now all family names are protected so you can't change to a name that is already in use unless your ancestors have used it.

Hmm, that's strange. I thought those restrictions only apply to names that might be offensive or insulting to the individual.

There are other rules as well. See section 32 for example.

http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/kaannokset ... 850694.pdf

[leisl]

You could change it in your home country, present your new passport with evidence of why the name change occurred, and I would think the change would be registered in Finland. Problem solved.