Illinois
Illinois Name Change Laws: How to Legally Change Your Name
Illinois substantially overhauled its name-change law in 2024 and again in 2025. Public Act 103-1063, effective March 1, 2025, removed the newspaper publication requirement entirely, replacing it with mandatory criminal-history disclosure and, for petitioners with a felony or misdemeanor record, a possible Illinois State Police criminal-history-transcript update before the hearing.
The same overhaul narrowed residency to three months and added a felony provision for registered sex, violent, or arsonist offenders who petition during their registration period, with four named exceptions. If you read an older description of Illinois name-change law that mentions publishing a newspaper notice or a six-month residency rule, it is out of date.
Information last verified on 2026-08-11. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.
How to Legally Change Your Name in Illinois
An adult files a name-change petition in circuit court, in the county of residence, under 735 ILCS 5/21-101. Illinois requires three months' residency in the state at the time of the hearing or entry of the order. The Illinois Courts system maintains a statewide approved NC-A form series, including instructions, the Request for Name Change, a Motion to Impound, an Order to Impound, and the Order for Name Change itself.
Filing fees are set circuit by circuit rather than statewide, generally reported in the $250 to $390 range depending on county. A fee waiver is available for petitioners who qualify financially.
Changing a Minor's Name in Illinois
A petitioner may include minor children in the petition where doing so serves the child's best interest. Illinois applies an explicit four-factor best-interest test: the wishes of the child's parents or the persons acting as parents with physical custody; the child's own wishes and reasons; the child's interaction and interrelationship with parents, step-parents, siblings, step-siblings, or others significantly affecting the child's best interest; and the child's adjustment to home, school, and community.
Restoring a Former Name After Divorce
Illinois offers the most streamlined divorce-restoration mechanism found in this batch of states. Under 750 ILCS 5/413(c), a person resuming a former or maiden name through a dissolution-of-marriage judgment is explicitly not required to file an Article XXI name-change petition or provide notice by publication. The restoration is built directly into the divorce judgment itself.
No Publication Requirement
Illinois removed newspaper publication in the 2024/2025 statutory overhaul. In its place, the law requires mandatory criminal-history disclosure under 735 ILCS 5/21-102, and, for a petitioner with a felony or misdemeanor history, the State's Attorney may request that the court require an Illinois State Police criminal-history-transcript update before the hearing. Because there is no publication requirement left to waive, privacy protection instead runs through an optional Motion to Impound and corresponding Order to Impound, which seal the case file, the closest thing Illinois has to a domestic-violence or confidentiality mechanism for this process. Even a granted Motion to Impound does not automatically make a new name confidential with the Social Security Administration or the U.S. State Department; those agencies apply their own separate rules for what they will and will not disclose.
Criminal History and Offender Restrictions
Every petitioner must submit a sworn statement disclosing felony or misdemeanor adjudications or convictions. Separately, a person required to register under Illinois's Sex Offender Registration Act, the Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registration Act, or the Arsonist Registration Act commits a felony by petitioning for a name change during the period they are required to register.
That felony bar has four specific, named exceptions: a change due to marriage, a change based on a sincerely held religious belief, a change tied to human-trafficking-victim status, or a change tied to gender identity. Anyone with a registration history who falls outside those four exceptions should not file a petition without first speaking to an attorney, since the statute treats a violation as a felony rather than a simple denial.
Marriage-Based Name Changes in Illinois
Illinois has no dedicated statute granting a name change based on marriage. A provision in the Election Code exempts a marriage- or dissolution-based name from a candidate's ballot "formerly known as" disclosure requirement, but that is a narrow ballot-disclosure carve-out, not a name-change grant mechanism. A spouse who wants a new name at marriage does so by custom, using the marriage certificate with agencies like the Social Security Administration and the DMV. See name change after marriage for those federal-level steps.
Related Illinois Records
For the marriage certificate or divorce judgment that documents an Illinois name change, see Illinois marriage and divorce records. For how Illinois's court system handles filings generally, see Illinois court records. For the broader dissolution process, see Illinois divorce laws. For the full agency-by-agency update checklist once a name change is granted, see the name change checklist.
Disclaimer
This article provides general information about Illinois name-change law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Fees, forms, and statutory requirements change, most recently in 2024 and 2025; verify current details with your circuit court clerk or a licensed Illinois attorney before relying on anything here for a specific situation.
Last updated: 2026-08-11. Fees and forms reflect their published status as of August 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Illinois still require newspaper publication for a name change?
No. Public Act 103-1063, effective March 1, 2025, eliminated the publication requirement. Privacy is instead protected through an optional Motion to Impound that seals the case file.
How long do I need to live in Illinois before filing a name-change petition?
Three months' Illinois residency at the time of the hearing or entry of the order, under the current law effective March 1, 2025.
How much does it cost to change your name in Illinois?
Fees are set circuit by circuit, generally reported in the $250 to $390 range depending on county. A fee waiver is available for petitioners who qualify financially.
Can a registered sex offender change their name in Illinois?
Generally no. Petitioning during the required registration period is a felony, with four exceptions: marriage, sincerely held religious belief, human-trafficking-victim status, or gender identity.
Do I need to file a separate petition to resume my maiden name after an Illinois divorce?
No. Under 750 ILCS 5/413(c), resuming a former or maiden name through your dissolution judgment does not require a separate Article XXI petition or publication notice.
Updates
Governing law re-checked for recent changes
Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources
The Law Behind This Article
This article rests on 3 statutory provisions held in our own legal record, each retrieved from the official source. Tap a section to read the operative text.
Illinois Compiled Statutes Chapter 735, Act 5 (Code of Civil Procedure)
§ 21-101Proceedings; partiesIn force
(a) If any person who is a resident of this State desires to assume another name by which to be afterwards called and known, the person may file a petition requesting that relief in the circuit court of the county wherein he or she resides. The petitioner shall have resided in this State for 3 months at the time of the name change hearing or entry of an order granting the name change. (b) A person who has been convicted of any offense for which a person is required to register under the Sex Offender Registration Act, the Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registration Act, or the Arsonist Registration Act in this State or any other state and who has not been pardoned is not permitted to file a petition for a name change in the courts of this State during the period that the person is required to register, unless that person verifies under oath, as provided under Section 1-109, that the petition for the name change is due to marriage, religious beliefs, status as a victim of trafficking or gender-related identity as defined by the Illinois Human Rights Act. A judge may grant or deny the request for legal name change filed by such persons.
Official text (excerpt) · as of 2026-07-29 · Read the full section at ilga.gov
§ 21-102Petition; update criminal history transcriptIn force
(a) The petition shall be a statewide standardized form approved by the Illinois Supreme Court and shall set forth the name then held, the name sought to be assumed, the residence of the petitioner, the length of time the petitioner has resided in this State, and the state or country of the petitioner's nativity or supposed nativity. The petition shall include a statement, verified under oath as provided under Section 1-109 of this Code, whether or not the petitioner or any other person 18 years of age or older who will be subject to a change of name under the petition if granted: (1) has been adjudicated or convicted of a felony or misdemeanor offense under the laws of this State or any other state for which a pardon has not been granted; or (2) has an arrest for which a charge has not been filed or a pending charge on a felony or misdemeanor offense. The petition shall be signed by the person petitioning or, in case of minors, by the parent or guardian having the legal custody of the minor.
Official text (excerpt) · as of 2026-07-29 · Read the full section at ilga.gov
Illinois Compiled Statutes Chapter 750, Act 5 (Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act)
§ 413JudgmentIn force
(a) A judgment of dissolution of marriage or of legal separation or of declaration of invalidity of marriage shall be entered within 60 days of the closing of proofs; however, if the court enters an order specifying good cause as to why the court needs an additional 30 days, the judgment shall be entered within 90 days of the closing of proofs, including any hearing under subsection (j) of Section 503 of this Act and submission of closing arguments. A judgment of dissolution of marriage or of legal separation or of declaration of invalidity of marriage is final when entered, subject to the right of appeal. An appeal from the judgment of dissolution of marriage that does not challenge the finding as to grounds does not delay the finality of that provision of the judgment which dissolves the marriage, beyond the time for appealing from that provision, and either of the parties may remarry pending appeal. An order requiring maintenance or support of a spouse or a minor child or children entered under this Act or any other law of this State shall not be suspended or the enforcement thereof stayed pending the filing and resolution of post-judgment motions or an appeal.
Official text (excerpt) · as of 2026-07-29 · Read the full section at ilga.gov
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Sources and References
- 735 ILCS 5/21-101, Proceedings; Parties(ilga.gov).gov
- 735 ILCS 5/21-102, Criminal History Disclosure(ilga.gov).gov
- 750 ILCS 5/413(c), Resumption of Former or Maiden Name(ilga.gov).gov
- Illinois Courts, Approved Name Change Forms(illinoiscourts.gov).gov
- Illinois Legal Aid Online, Changing Your Name(illinoislegalaid.org)