Most common applications
Change of birth name („classical name change”)
This could either mean the complete change of your current family and/or given name(s) OR adding a new family or given name to your current one(s). For example, if your name is Smith (family name) Jane (given name), you might change it to:
- Smith Anne (given name is changed)
- Smith Jane Anne (new given name is added)
- Taylor Jane (family name is changed)
- Taylor Anne (family and given name are both changed)
Kindly note that these are just examples to help you understand the procedure, non-Hungarian names may not be accepted.
Change of given name
This solely means that you either change the order of existing given names OR you request one of them to be removed. Changing to a completely new name is not possible under this application. For example, if your name is Smith Jane Anne, you might change it to:
- Smith Anne Jane (changing the order of given names)
- Smith Jane (removing middle name)
- Smith Anne (removing first name)
Acknowledgement of name change abroad
This could apply to you if you have changed your name legally in a foreign country AND you are either a citizen of this country OR your habitual residence is there. You need to be able to present an official certificate of name change from this country. For example, Kovács (family name) Anna (given name) may request her name change to be acknowledged in Hungary as Smith Anne (this is literally an English version of the above-mentioned Hungarian name) if she has changed her name in the UK with a Deed Poll and she is a resident there/she is already a British citizen.
Change of married name
This could only apply to you if you either got married in Hungary OR got married abroad but already registered your marriage in Hungary. This esentially means that you could take your spouse’s name or change your family name back to your maiden/birth name. For example, in case Smith Jane and Taylor Robert got married, Miss Smith might request her name to change to:
- Taylor Jane (taking her husband’s name)
- Smith-Taylor Jane or Taylor-Smith Jane (keeping her maiden name but adding her husband’s)
- Maybe she took her husband’s name first but she would like to change it back to Smith Jane.
If you recently got married and haven’t yet registered your marriage in Hungary, you need to do that first. As part of the marriage registration procedure, you can request a name change, too (change of married name only). Click here to see the requirements.
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Before booking an appointment for any kind of name change – except for registration of marriage – kindly contact us at consulate.abu@mfa.gov.hu. Kindly include the following in your enquiry:
- Your current family name(s) and given name(s)
- The name you would like to change your current name to
- Whether you have already changed your name outside Hungary
- Marital status (unmarried, married, divorced, widowed), and if not unmarried, whether the relevant registry event has been registered in Hungary
- Whether you have a spouse or any children who would also be affected by your name change