Can I change my name in Hungary?
Yes — your name isn't a life sentence, but the state ties the swap to an application and a fee. Birth-name changes are requested in person at any registrar on a form: changing your first name costs 13,000 HUF, applications touching the surname (or both) 18,000 HUF, with a 45-day processing period. You state your reasons — practice smiles on appreciable grounds (unbearable, offensive or foreign-sounding names, family ties) and frowns on pure whim; new first names must appear on (or be admitted to) the Academy of Sciences' registry of given names. A separate track is adjusting married-name use (say, reclaiming a maiden name after divorce): a simple registry declaration with a smaller fee. Changing a child's name needs both parents' consent (and the child's, when older). After the swap comes the paperwork domino: ID, address card, driving licence, passport, banks — start with a checklist.
📋 The key rules
- Birth-name changes: by application at any registrar, in person
- Fees: first name 13,000 HUF, surname(+first) 18,000; deadline 45 days
- New first names: from the Academy's given-name registry (or admitted on request)
- Married-name use: a separate, simpler declaration procedure
- Minors' names: with both parents' (and, by age, the child's) consent
🔓 Exceptions
- Repeat changes: within 5 years only on specially appreciable grounds
- Minority-language and foreign-acquired names: separate registry rules
- On refusal the fee isn't returned — it buys the procedure, not the outcome
⚠️ Penalties
There are no sanctions; the risk is to your money and your time. The application can be refused — an unregistrable first name, a frivolous or unappreciable reason — while the 13,000 or 18,000 HUF paid is gone anyway, because the fee buys the procedure, not the result. The real penalty belongs to omission: if you don't update the documents after the change, an old-name ID card, address card, licence and passport stall your affairs, and banks and utilities halt your files citing identification problems. With the new birth certificate most swaps are free or discounted.
📎 Official sources
- Government Office · Name-change and registry department guide (PDF, HU) →
- Pénzcentrum · Name-change costs and process 2026 (HU) →
- Act I of 2010 on registry procedure (HU) →
❓ Frequently asked questions
Can I take any first name?
Eligible first names appear on the register kept by the Academy of Sciences' linguistics institute. New names can be requested — an expert opinion decides registrability, which lengthens the procedure.
How do I reclaim my maiden name after divorce?
That isn't a name change but an adjustment of married-name use: a simple declaration at the registrar, with a smaller fee. It is faster and cheaper than the 18,000 HUF procedure, and your birth name stays untouched.
How long does it take?
The processing deadline is 45 days, and it covers the decision only. Then come the document swaps — ID, address card, driving licence, passport, banks — most of which are free or discounted with the new birth certificate.
Can I change my child's name?
Only with both parents' consent, even where they live apart, and — depending on age — with the child's own. In a dispute the guardianship authority decides on the child's interest, so conflict slows the case rather than speeding it.
Can I change my mind and apply again?
Within 5 years of the first change, a further application is allowed only on specially appreciable grounds, the five years running from that first change. The fee is payable regardless, and the risk of refusal is much higher.
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