The procedures required to change the name under the new regulations in 2023 are that the parties need to bring the household registration book, ID card, children's household registration book, divorce certificate and other materials to the local public security bureau police station where the household registration is located to apply, and then approve the change.
Changing the surname mainly occurs when the surname is changed from the father's surname to the mother's surname, as well as changes in adoption relationships, foreign-related marriages, or parents' divorce or remarriage. In this case, surname changes are allowed. The conditions for changing a name include changing a child's nickname to a given name, having an unusual and obscure character in the name, and having an ambiguous name that is easily misunderstood or even has bad connotations.
College and technical secondary school students who are currently in civil disputes, imprisoned and serving sentences, and those who have serious bad credit records are not allowed to change their names. Also, if you have changed your date of birth and ID number before, you are not allowed to change your name.
Changing surname after divorce
It is possible for children to change their surname after divorce. Children can take their father's surname or their mother's surname. Generally speaking, after a child is born, his or her name is determined by consensus between the parents. Therefore, the change of the child's name should also be determined by consensus between the parents. When parents are divorced, neither party has the right to change the child's name without authorization.
According to the relevant spirit of the "Reply on the Issue of Changing the Child's Surname", if the divorced parties have not negotiated or reached an agreement through negotiation and one of the parties requests to change the child's name, the public security organ may refuse to accept the request. If one party conceals the fact of divorce from the public security organs and obtains a change in the child's name, if the other party requests to restore the child's original name and the divorcing parties fail to reach an agreement through negotiation, the public security agency shall restore the name. Therefore, if a child changes his surname after a divorce, the parent raising the child has no right to change it alone without the consent of the other party