Legal Question in Administrative Law in California

Re: legal spelling name change

The starting point would be to identify your birth name, as officially entered on a birth certificate or equivalent civil or religious record in the jurisdiction of your birth. Possibly your birth name was given in a country that uses a different alphabet or way of writing, such as Chinese, Arabic or Russian; in that case, maybe there is a "standard" method of transliteration that would point to what your "official" name would be based on what was initially given you. I'd say that would be the correct spelling, and whichever document has that spelling would be correct, and all the others need to be changed to conform. In that case, you don't need to go to court to change your name; all you need to do is get the non-conforming documents changed. This may not be easy.

If, however, your "official" birth name is uncertain as to spelling in the Roman/English alphabet, or you want a different spelling to be your official name in the future, the easiest approach would be to go to court and petition for a court order changing your name to read exactly as you want it.

The law covering name-change petitions is set forth in Code of Civil Procedure sections 1275 through 1279.6. I have noticed that some people are preparing, filing and prosecuting their own name-change petitions, so it can be done without the assistance of an attorney, but I would suggest that you consider retaining an attorney to assist you with getting the court procedures done and then contacting the agencies (passport bureau, Social Security Administration, etc.) to complete the project of getting all your records set up in conformity with your "new" name.