Nevada Name Change Laws: How to Legally Change Your Name

Nevada's name-change statute, NRS Chapter 41 (§§41.270-41.299), requires a verified petition to the district court in the petitioner's county, one-time newspaper publication, and a sworn disclosure of any felony conviction. Nevada's official statute website was not reachable while researching this page, so the procedural detail below is drawn from the Nevada Courts Self-Help Center, the Judicial Branch's own guidance for people filing without a lawyer, rather than from the raw statute text itself. Where a fact could not be confirmed through that portal, this page says so rather than guessing.

According to the Self-Help Center, a Nevada name-change petition must disclose any felony conviction and include a sworn, perjury-backed statement that the change is not sought for a fraudulent purpose, a combination not every state requires. This page covers the adult and minor petition tracks, publication, divorce name restoration, and marriage-based changes.

Information last verified on 2026-08-11. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How to Legally Change Your Name as an Adult in Nevada

According to the Nevada Courts Self-Help Center, you file a verified petition in the district court for the county where you live. The petition must state your present name, your desired name, your reason for the change, and whether you have ever been convicted of a felony; it must also include a statement, signed under penalty of perjury, that the change is not being sought for a fraudulent purpose. If you have a criminal record, you must submit a full fingerprint set along with the petition.

There is no standardized statewide form-numbering system the way some other states use; Nevada's Self-Help Center lists titled but unnumbered forms, including a Family Cover Sheet, Petition for Adult Name Change, Notice of Petition for Adult Name Change (skipped if the change is for gender identity), Request for Summary Disposition & Declaration in Support, and Order for Adult Name Change.

Nevada has no statewide flat filing fee. The Self-Help Center's own guidance says the fee "is different in every county" and directs petitioners to their local court. Contact your district court clerk directly for the current amount. An Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis is available for a fee waiver, which a judge must approve and which expires after one year.

An "unemancipated minor" is expressly excluded from filing under the adult petition track, meaning an emancipated minor can self-petition as an adult.

Changing a Minor's Name in Nevada

Nevada runs two distinct tracks depending on who files. A parent of an unemancipated minor may file a verified petition. If the other parent does not consent, personal service of the petition is required; if personal service fails, the court may order publication once a week for three successive weeks, plus certified or registered mail to the other parent's last known address, with a 10-day window for that parent to object. Separately, an attorney representing an unemancipated minor in the legal custody of a child-welfare agency may petition on the minor's behalf.

The Self-Help Center's minor-name-change forms page lists a full set: Family Cover Sheet, Petition for Child's Name Change, Notice of Petition for Child's Name Change, Child's Consent to Child's Name Change, Proof of Service on the Other Parent, Request for Summary Disposition & Declaration in Support, Order for Child's Name Change, Certificate of Mailing, Affidavit to Serve by Publication, Affidavit of Due Diligence, and Order to Serve by Publication.

Publication in Nevada

According to two separate Nevada Courts Self-Help Center pages, adult publication is required one time in a newspaper of general circulation in the filing county, not the multi-week schedule some other states use for the standard adult track. (A longer, three-week publication run does appear in Nevada, but only as a fallback method of serving a non-consenting, personally-unreachable parent in a minor's case; that is a different situation from the standard adult publication rule and should not be confused with it.)

Two separate waivers apply. Any petitioner changing their name to conform to their gender identity is exempt from publication entirely. Any petitioner who believes publication would endanger their safety may ask the court to waive it.

Nevada's Confidential Address Program, run through the Secretary of State with a related court form (CV-5, Request for Confidential Address pursuant to NRS 247.545), provides a substitute mailing address for domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and stalking survivors in their dealings with state and local agencies. That program addresses address disclosure, not whether a name-change case file itself is sealed, so enrollment in it does not by itself confirm that your name-change court record is confidential.

Restrictions: Felony Disclosure and Fraud

Every petitioner must disclose whether they have been convicted of a felony. A person with a criminal record must submit a full set of fingerprints with the petition, and the court must specifically consider that record before issuing its order. A felony conviction does not appear to be an automatic bar to a Nevada name change, but a false denial of a felony conviction is grounds for the court to rescind an already-granted order.

The petition separately requires a statement, signed under penalty of perjury, that the name change is not sought for a fraudulent purpose. A false statement here is, on its own, sufficient grounds for rescission. If an order is rescinded, the clerk sends certified copies of the rescission, along with the applicant's fingerprints, to the State Registrar of Vital Statistics and to the Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History. There is a 10-day post-publication window during which any interested party may object to the petition.

Name Change After Marriage in Nevada

According to the Nevada Courts Self-Help Center, if you were recently married and want to take your spouse's last name, you typically do not need a court order. Most agencies will accept a certified copy of your marriage certificate instead. Nevada has no standalone statute granting a marriage-based name-change right; this is handled at the agency level, not through the court.

Name Change After Divorce in Nevada

Nevada has two parallel mechanisms for restoring a former name after divorce, not one. According to the Nevada Courts Self-Help Center, in any divorce suit the court can, for just and reasonable cause, restore a party's use of a former name as part of the divorce decree under NRS 125.130. That is the general, non-summary route available in any divorce case. Separately, NRS 125.182 governs a summary proceeding, meaning an uncontested divorce with no minor children; the petition itself must state whether either spouse elects to have a former name restored.

Related Nevada Records

See Nevada marriage and divorce records for documenting a name restored in a divorce decree, Nevada court records for how a name-change case fits into the state's broader court records, and Nevada divorce laws for the dissolution process itself.

For the national picture, see how to legally change your name, how much does it cost to change your name, and the name change checklist. For every state side by side, see name change laws by state.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about Nevada name-change law, drawn from the Nevada Courts Self-Help Center rather than the raw statute text, which was not independently reachable when this page was researched. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Fees, forms, and court procedures change and vary by county; verify current details with your Nevada district court clerk or a licensed Nevada attorney before relying on anything here for a specific filing.

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Last updated: 2026-08-11. Fees and forms reflect their published status as of August 2026.