Name Order and Surname First in Documents in Uttarakhand

Usually not. A change of name gives you a name you did not have before. Here you have one name, with every word intact, written two ways. That is a matter of correction or of formatting.

The Aadhaar rules allow certain name updates with a supporting paper and no Gazette, and a change in the order of the same name is among them. So for the record most other offices check against, the order can be put right directly.

Pick one order as your base, and bring the others in line with it. Do not change the base to suit whichever office you visited last.

• Start with your class 10 certificate. It is usually the oldest paper that boards, employers and the passport office trust, and it is the hardest to change.
• Check your birth certificate, if it carries your full name.
• Look at your passport, if you hold one, and note which words are the given name and which the surname.
• Choose the order that most of your papers already carry. Fewer records then need attention.

The common order in most Indian records is given name, middle name, surname. If your class 10 certificate has the surname first, think before you treat that as your base. It may be easier to ask the board how it reads a surname-first entry than to turn every other record round.

Write the chosen order on a slip of paper and carry it. Fill every form from that slip for the rest of your life, and the problem does not come back.

Travel is where name order causes the most real trouble, because airlines and immigration systems match the given name and the surname as two separate fields.

A passport is the base record for travel. Until it is corrected, every ticket and visa follows the passport as it stands, even where you know it to be wrong. Correct it well before you plan to travel, not in the week before.

Step 1: Confirm that a Gazette is needed

Get the refusing office to say so in writing, or check your case against the list above.

Step 2: Draft the notice and ask the Department

Write the forms in use, joined by alias, and the form you will keep. Ask the Department if it will print the notice as drafted, and the charge.

Step 3: Make the affidavit

State every form in use and the one you will use from now on, and sign before a notary.

Step 4: Publish the newspaper notice

Print the same wording in a daily local leading newspaper. Keep the original newspaper.

Step 5: Type the form and sign the undertaking

Two typed copies of the specimen, signed in your old name with two witnesses, and the undertaking.

Step 6: Prepare the CD, photographs and certificate

The same text on a CD in MS Word, two self-attested photographs with identity proof, and a certificate that both copies match.

Step 7: Pay the charge on BharatKosh

Commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult, with Rs 250 more for each alias. It is not refunded.

Step 8: Send the file yourself, then download the Gazette

Send it in person or by post, with a request letter, to the Controller of Publications, Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054. Then check Part IV on egazette.gov.in each week.

The full route is on our gazette name change in Uttarakhand page.

An order problem is far easier to prevent than to fix. A few minutes at three moments in a child's life save years of trouble.

• At birth registration. Decide the full name and its order, and give it that way.
• At school admission. Write the name in the order you chose. If the form has a "surname first" column, check how the school will print the name on its certificates.
• At board registration. Ask to see the name as the school is sending it to the board, and check it against the birth certificate and Aadhaar.
• At the first passport. Put the given name and the surname in the right boxes. Every later passport copies them.

If you find an order difference in a child's school record, ask the school to correct its register now, with the birth certificate as proof. A school can usually correct its own register on a parent's written request. Once the board certificate is printed, the board's stricter process applies.

A typical case we handle: a nurse from Haldwani had "Bisht Pooja" on her class 10 certificate and "Pooja Bisht" on everything else. She had been quoted for a Gazette. Every word matched and only the order differed. Her school gave a letter saying that its register lists the surname first, her employer abroad accepted the certificate with that letter, and she filed nothing at all. This is an illustrative example of the type of case we handle, not a named client review.

When you do not need us

For a plain order difference, you most likely need no Gazette and no service. Correct Aadhaar if it is the odd record, then the others, each at its own office. Call us only where an office has refused in writing, where words also differ, or where several forms are in use and one notice has to tie them together.

Is surname first or last in Indian documents?

Most records print the given name first and the surname last. Some registers and forms ask for the surname first.

Does a different name order need a gazette?

Usually not. Where the words are the same, the office that holds the record can often correct the order.

Can I change the order of my name in Aadhaar?

Yes, with a supporting document. A change in the order of the same name is among the updates that need no Gazette.

My passport has my surname in the given name box. What do I do?

Apply for a re-issue with the right split, using the papers on the Passport Seva list.

Is "Rawat Suresh" the same as "Suresh Rawat"?

They are the same words in a different order. An office may still ask you to show they are one person.

Which name order should I use on forms?

The one on your class 10 certificate and most of your papers. Use it every time.

Can I split my name into given name and surname in my passport?

Yes, by applying for a re-issue. The Embassy of India in Kuwait says no word or spelling may be added or dropped while splitting; if it is, the change of name procedure applies.

Is adding a surname while splitting my passport name allowed?

Not as a split. An Indian mission's guidance says adding a surname to the given name is treated as a change of name.

Do I have to split my name if I do not want to?

No. The Embassy of India in Berne says its instructions on splitting are advisory, and applicants are not compelled to alter their name or adopt a surname.

Are initials allowed in the passport given name?

No. The passport form says the given name is the first name followed by the middle name, if any, and initials are not allowed.

Why do foreign countries want a separate surname?

Many countries insist on a surname for a visa, and local authorities abroad need a clear given name and surname for residence permits and other identity papers.

Will my old name order be printed on the passport as well?

No. Only the real or official name of the applicant is printed on the passport.