The Gazette 1978

GAZETTE

MARCH 1978

NOTE ON BIRTH REGISTRATION AND

THE USE OF PERSONAL NAMES

(This note ispublished with the kindpermission ofthe Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. It is intended as a guideline only and is not intended to be authoritative.)

PARLIAMENT Printers & Stationers 8 Parliament St. Dublin 2. Phone 714577/714363 THE LAW PRINTING EXPERTS

A person's legal surname is that which he uses and by which he is known. It can be changed at will and the assumed name then becomes the legal surname once a right to it has been established by use and repute. In western civilization a person generally uses, his father's surname. Legally, however, he does not acquire any right to that surname simply because it is his father's — he acquires his right to it by use and repute. Birth registration records and birth of a child to parents who at the time of the event are known by a particular form of surname. The main items recorded in the entry are the date and place of birth, the Christian or given names bestowed upon the child, the name, surname and dwelling place of the father, the name, surname, and maiden surname of the mother and the profession of the father. These items record, and are intended to record, the facts as they stood at the date of the event. Thus if a man were a labourer when his child was born and subse- quently became managing director of a large organ- isation he would continue to be described as a labourer in the child's certificate because this correctly describes the position as it was on the day the child was born. Again, if the father changed his surname after the birth, that change of surname would not be recorded in the child's birth entry because the new surname had not been assumed on the day the child was born. A person is entitled to use only one form of surname at a particular period of time — if he habitually uses more than one surname, legally speaking he would have to be described by all of the surnames he used, e.g. Smith, alias Jones, alias Murphy. Again, legally speaking, a change of surname from an Irish to an English form, or vice versa, is as much a change of surname as from Jones to Smith. The legal considerations which underline these principles are important and, if they were waived, would leave a wide gap in society's defences against fraud, evasion of responsibilities, etc. Certificates of birth are accepted as proof of personal identity for a wide range of administrative and legal procedures. Consequently, people who change their surnames, whether by adopting their former surname in a different language or by adopting a new surname which has no connection with their former one, may experience some difficulties when they produce a birth certificate in which the father's surname is in a different form. Such a person would be well advised to prepare at the time at which he makes the change a formal Deed Poll or affidavit indicating that he has ceased to use his former surname and that henceforth he intends to use and wishes to be known by his assumed name. Such a document, attached to a birth certificate, is acceptable for most administrative procedures and provides an easy and inexpensive solution for most of the difficulties likely to be encountered by a person who changes his surname.

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