Sorry, but you've mangled the methods a bit. > All of them are a little weird but one is free - you can effectively write to one of the courts in London to say

Sorry, but you've mangled the methods a bit. > All of them are a little weird but one is free - you can effectively write to one of the courts in London to say you have been known by a different name for some time, so would like your official records updated to that new name - but this route is unconventional and somewhat archaic. This is an enrolled deed-poll. It's not free, it costs £36. It's not unconventional. It's a commonly used method because it's the change that is most widely accepted by other organisations. > The more often used method (deed poll) costs £35 and takes a couple of weeks Deed-polls are free. You can write your own, or you can download a template from the Internet. We don't have legal names in England. You can change your own name at any time, for any reason, so long as you don't have the intent to defraud. You can change it to almost anything you like. There are three methods: If you're over 18 you can just stop using your old name and start using your new name. This is just as valid as any other name change method. It doesn't work well because banks and doctors tend to ignore it. The next step up is to use a deed poll. This is free. It's just a piece of paper saying that you've stopped using your old name and you're only going to be using your new name from now on. A deed poll is just a written version of the first step. For some reason having it in writing helps people accept it more. But some banks don't accept this form of deed poll. The next step up is an enrolled deed poll. You take your deed poll and you enroll it at the Royal Courts of Justice and have it published in The Gazette. It costs £36. This form should be accepted by everyone. Because it's cheap, and because it's accepted by banks, and because it makes life easier, this is the version that most people chose. https://www.gov.uk/change-name-deed-poll https://www.gov.uk/change-name-deed-poll