How to order a name change certificate

Information about the name change

You need to know the:

• full name of the person whose certificate you’re ordering
• date of the name change.

It helps with the search if you know the name at birth.

Information about yourself

If you’re ordering your own certificate, you can use your NZ name change record as evidence of your identity.

Ordering someone else’s certificate

Even if you’re ordering someone else’s certificate, you need to know the date and place of:

• your birth in NZ, or
• your marriage or civil union in NZ, or
• your child’s birth in NZ, and their full name.

If you do not have this information you can not order online. You can choose other ways to order below.

Births, Deaths and Marriages use the information to check who you are, then record your name in the Access Register. The register is a record of who orders certificates.

More about the Access Register

Order a name change certificate by phone

Order a name change certificate by post

Order a name change certificate in person

You’ll be refunded $8 if Births, Deaths and Marriages can not find the record of the name change.

You may need to get an apostille or authentication certificate for the name change certificate or have it translated into another language.

• Use your NZ documents outside NZ
• Translating official documents