Welcome to our one-stop hub for name and gender change information. Find out how to update your name and gender on state and federal IDs and records.
Most courts and government offices have resumed normal operations with the formal end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Make sure to contact your local court or other government offices for details on their current operating hours and procedures, including if they require appointments for in-person visits.. You should keep dated copies of any materials you submit by mail or electronically.
Last updated November 2023
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To obtain a legal name change in Kentucky, an applicant must submit a petition to the court. No publication is required; the court keeps the name change in a book of records. (Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 401.010-401.040).
For instructions on legal name changes for minors under 18 in Kentucky, see NCTE's Name Changes for Minors in Kentucky resource.
To change the name on a Kentucky ID, the applicant must submit a document demonstrating the name change, such as a birth certificate or court order. To change the gender marker, the applicant must submit one of the four documents:
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet addresses name changes here.
Kentucky will issue an amended certificate of birth "[u]pon receipt of a sworn statement by a licensed physician indicating that the gender of an individual born in the Commonwealth has been changed by surgical procedure and a certified copy of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction changing that individual's name." Certificates shall be marked as amended. Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. 213.121. The Office of Vital Statistics is at 275 E. Main St. 1E-A, Frankfort, KY 40621 and can be reached at (502) 564-4212.
