Can you make your confirmation name official?

  • Thread starter Thread starter giraffeski
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
G

giraffeski

Guest
I was just wondering if it is common for people to make their confirmation names official?
I am being confirmed and will receive the Eucharist for the first time at the Easter Vigil and I would quite like to make my new name an official one as it means a lot to me and I don’t already have a middle name.

I am in the UK, where it doesn’t have to cost any money to do this as far as I know, although you do have to pay renewal fees for passports etc obviously.

I believe I just need to get witnessed statements that I wish to change my name, the wording of which can be downloaded from the internet, and then these can be sent off to the passport office, the DVLA etc.

Has anybody else done this, was it easy?

TIA
 
giraffeski said:
I was just wondering if it is common for people to make their confirmation names official?
I am being confirmed and will receive the Eucharist for the first time at the Easter Vigil and I would quite like to make my new name an official one as it means a lot to me and I don’t already have a middle name.

I am in the UK, where it doesn’t have to cost any money to do this as far as I know, although you do have to pay renewal fees for passports etc obviously.

I believe I just need to get witnessed statements that I wish to change my name, the wording of which can be downloaded from the internet, and then these can be sent off to the passport office, the DVLA etc.

Has anybody else done this, was it easy?

TIA
Click to expand...
It was common for people to change their name when it was a non-Christian name to a Christian one (Baptismal name) after their Baptism.
 
that would be a civil law process, and if you are a minor your parents would have to initiate the action, and it is not cheap. You would also then when you have received a new birth certificate from the state, take it to your baptismal parish to have the record amended (the confirmation record already lists your name)
 
I am 29 so my parents are not involved, but I think you are thinking of US law, as far as I can work out it will not be costly at all, I understand how to go about the process in the UK but I just wondered was it something many people did?
 
I don’t know any one that’s changed their name at all, let alone adding a confirmation name.I don’t think that it’s a very popular thing to do. I’ve never heard of it.
I don’t see why you shouldn’t do it; especially since you don’t have a middle name. But it still seems like it would be quite an endeaver even if it doesn’t cost as much in the UK.
 
I have known a couple people who added their name. The ones I can think of didn’t have a middle name from birth. I say go for it.

I heard that is what my grandfather did. He died before I was born, So I can’t ask him. He was born in Ireland.
 
So if i did do it I would have to get the church records changed as well? I was presuming they would be the one body who *would * have my confirmation name (s) on record?

Are you saying that the church does not keep a record of the name?
 
giraffeski said:
So if i did do it I would have to get the church records changed as well? I was presuming they would be the one body who *would * have my confirmation name (s) on record?

Are you saying that the church does not keep a record of the name?
Click to expand...
I’m not sure, puzzleannie might know this info. I have my baptismal certifcate and it list’s my confirmation date and parish but not my confirmation name. it is the only proof I have of my confirmation.

Perhaps if you are legally changing your name it has to be changed on your baptismal certificate as well I don’t know. That’s how I understand what annie is saying. Try calling your diocese to find out what you have to do if anything.
 
My father and all my aunts and uncles did. They didn’t have middle names when they were born and it was just accepted that they would add their confirmation names as their middles names once they were confirmed.

It’s kind of nice to be able to go back and look at their official documents and see what they chose for confirmation names! My father’s was John.
 
Baptismal records are historic records. You don’t change those to add or subtract names. The only way it changes is if a child is adopted after being baptized. The CCCB has a decree as to how those are to be dealt with. The baptismal record does not change but the notation " Child adopted as “new name” by Father Z & Mother Y on yyyy/mm/dd per adoption record #xyz" and the baptismal certificate is issued in the new name. If necessary the godparents are omitted.

In some cases, the church is never notified of the adoption which can cause any number of problems. One acquaintance adopted 2 brothers who were apprehended by Social Services and put up for adoption. They were both baptized before adoption but since the adoption is closed and they don’t want the biological parents to ever find out where the boys are.

Social Services will only say ‘yes they were baptized’ but will not reveal to the adoptive parents where the baptism occurred nor will the let the church know that the boys were adopted since the odds are good, due to the size of the community from which they were removed, that the biological parents would find out. Sadly, confidentiality is scarce in small tight-knit communities.
 
giraffeski said:
I am 29 so my parents are not involved, but I think you are thinking of US law, as far as I can work out it will not be costly at all, I understand how to go about the process in the UK but I just wondered was it something many people did?
Click to expand...
not commonly today in countries where most people’s given name at birth is, if not the name of a saint or OT figure, at least not a name antiethical to Christian values.
 
Phemie said:
Baptismal records are historic records. You don’t change those to add or subtract names. The only way it changes is if a child is adopted after being baptized. The CCCB has a decree as to how those are to be dealt with. The baptismal record does not change but the notation " Child adopted as “new name” by Father Z & Mother Y on yyyy/mm/dd per adoption record #xyz" and the baptismal certificate is issued in the new name. If necessary the godparents are omitted.

In some cases, the church is never notified of the adoption which can cause any number of problems. One acquaintance adopted 2 brothers who were apprehended by Social Services and put up for adoption. They were both baptized before adoption but since the adoption is closed and they don’t want the biological parents to ever find out where the boys are.

Social Services will only say ‘yes they were baptized’ but will not reveal to the adoptive parents where the baptism occurred nor will the let the church know that the boys were adopted since the odds are good, due to the size of the community from which they were removed, that the biological parents would find out. Sadly, confidentiality is scarce in small tight-knit communities.
Click to expand...
the baptismal record is never changed, even in the case of adoption or other legal name change, but the change is noted on the original record (with a copy or record of the legal document attached or appendixed in the register) and a new certification of baptism will list the new information–new name, adoptive parents and so forth. the godparents would not be listed if, as in the case of adoption, the original information is privileged. yes there have been cases where a conditional baptism has been done before confirmation or marriage because the original records are not available in such a case. Don’t worry, the Church has canon law to govern every imaginable situation. The answer for anyone who is worried or has any questions about sacramental records—see your priest.
 
ElizabethPH said:
I’m not sure, puzzleannie might know this info. I have my baptismal certifcate and it list’s my confirmation date and parish but not my confirmation name. it is the only proof I have of my confirmation.

Perhaps if you are legally changing your name it has to be changed on your baptismal certificate as well I don’t know. That’s how I understand what annie is saying. Try calling your diocese to find out what you have to do if anything.
Click to expand...
as I said, if there is a name change in civil law, at least in the US, you need to obtain a new birth certificate, and take that to your baptismal parish to have it amended. You will then receive a new baptismal certificate showing the legal name change. This applies in case of adoption, say where a step-father adopts the children of his new wife and they take his name (watch the old movie of Yours Mine and Ours with Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball for an example of why this issue is important to the Church and how it is resolved in civil law).

Your confirmation notice is sent to the baptismal parish, and there is a spot to know the confirmation name, but it is not part of the baptismal record, but there is a place to note it in the confirmation register of the parish where you were confirmed, and most parishes will list the name on the confirmation certificate if asked. John Ryan [Aloysius] Smith where Aloysius is the Confirmation name, we will put it on your nametag so the bishop uses that name if asked as well.
 
I see what you’re trying to say.

In the UK I think it works a bit differently, one can’t change ones birth certificate in cases like this, or the baptismal certificate I wouldn’t think (and I was baptised in a Church of England church so not the one I am being confirmed in).

I think in cases where I would need my birth certificate to prove my name, I also need to show the deed poll to show the change, in the same way you use the marriage certificate if you are married.
 
I had to change my name officially - I had my handbag stolen and lost a lot of documentation, what I did still have was in an unofficial name that I always go by, and to replace what was lost I had to make everything consistent and in the one name (the unofficial one). So what was my unofficial name is now my official name 🙂
 
giraffeski said:
🙂 did you find it straightforward?
Click to expand...
Well, firstly I forgot to mention that I live in Australia. Yes, it was pretty straightforward to make the change. There was a fee involved though.

And I haven’t attempted to contact the parish where I was baptised and confirmed for new certificates - showing your original certificates plus your certificate evidencing your change of name is more than sufficient to get things done.
 
I am going to be doing this next year, I am also Australian, and plan to do a name change (replacing my fathers name with my mother’s maiden name - but that’s another story). I want to add my Patron’s name to my middle name - I will have two then.

So the jist I am getting is that I was baptized as a baby in a Anglican church in my old town (which is interstate) and next year will be confirmed as a Catholic next Easter. So if I do make it all official, I will have to go back to the Anglican church and change it?? :confused:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top