You should contact your local parish, if you want to change:

• first name (s)
• or have one of your parents' names as surname or middle name

You must remember to bring:

• Your original baptism or name certificate

At the church office, fill out a form.

Then you should send your original baptism or name certificate and the form to the office of the parishes where you are born or baptized.

Wedding Authority

You should contact the wedding authority where you have married, if you want to

• take your spouse's name, or
• If you want to change your last name to what you had before the wedding ceremony

Wedding authority may be the municipality or prstegldet:

• Are you married in the church, please contact the parish office in your hometown
• Are you married at the municipal office, please contact your local authorities

High Commissioner of Greenland

You should contact the High Commissioner of Greenland, if you otherwise want to change your middle name or surname. For example. If you want

• your parents, care of parents, grandparents or great-grandparents' name,
• a completely newly formed surname, or
• your and your spouse's surnames joined by a hyphen

• Certificate of Criminal Record
• Request Addressed to the Minister of Justice
• Application addressed to the Registrar
• Identity Card (original and photocopy)

Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Church
Postboks 1029
3900 Nuuk
Tlf: (+299) 34 50 00
Email: ikiin@nanoq.gl

Ministry of Nature, Environment and Justice
Imaneq 1A - 801
Postboks 1614
3900 Nuuk
Tel: (+299) 345000
Fax: (+299) 345410
Email: paian@nanoq.gl

Do you want a new name; you must carefully consider what you would like to be called. You can only change your name to the names approved. You can find a list of approved Danish names of family Agency's website. In the language board's website you can order a list of approved Greenlandic names.

Explain the fees structure which is required for obtaining the certificate/document.

Explain the time until which the certificate/document is valid.
e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Please attach documents that can be used by people. e.g. links

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Please explain processing time taken in obtaining the document/certificate.

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications. 
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type="website">video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the "&" inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver, 
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M" Video ID is "Y0US7oR_t3M". 
	

Which authority to treat your application for change of name is determined by whether you want to change your first, middle or last name.

• Your name as listed on birth certificate or immigration or citizenship documents.
• The full name you are applying to change to (if you are changing your name).
• Date and place of birth
• Marital status and details
• Places of residence for last three months
• Address for Correspondence

If you are using, or wish to use, a name other than your registered name, there is no legal requirement that you formally change your name. It is, however, recommended that you change your name officially, both for identification and as evidence of your name change.

Name change generally refers to the legal act by a person of adopting a name different from their name at birth, marriage or adoption. The procedures and ease of a name change vary between jurisdictions.

Typically, you may legally change your name to whatever name you'd like. There are some exceptions, though:

• You can't change your name just to escape debt liability or to hide from criminal liability.
• You can't change your name in order to commit a crime.
• You can't change your name with the intention to mislead. This usually involves taking the name of a famous person. Courts typically do not allow this, unless you have a convincing reason that is not related to the famous person or the use of his or her name.
• You can't choose a confusing name one that includes numerals or punctuation. However, some courts have permitted people to spell out the numbers, for example "Seven" instead of "7".
• You can't choose a name that would intimidate, offend, or be considered obscene.
• You can't choose a racial slur.

You may want to change your name because:

• You have just gotten married
• You have divorced
• You just want a change
• In case of adoption

Sullissivik - the place for citizen service

Contacts to Ministries

Government of Greenland

Name Change

How you should go about changing your name will depend upon which category you fit into. Changing your name after marriage or divorce is quite a simple process, while changing your name 'just because' requires a little more effort, but it is still quite straight forward and a lot easier than it used to be.

To change your name, submit a petition to your local Superior Court that details the reasons you'd like to change your name. After the court approves your request, you'll then need to update your Social Security card, driver's license and passport.