Nevada Name Change Laws: How to Legally Change Your Name

Nevada's name-change statute, NRS Chapter 41 (§§41.270-41.2999), 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. Those sections carry three separate tracks: the adult petition (NRS 41.270 to 41.290), the parent-filed petition for an unemancipated minor (NRS 41.291 to 41.298), and the petition an attorney may file for a minor in the legal custody of a child-welfare agency (NRS 41.2991 to 41.2999). The procedural detail below is drawn from the text of those statutes, with the Nevada Courts Self-Help Center, the Judicial Branch's own guidance for people filing without a lawyer, used for the practical layer the statute does not set: court forms, fee waivers, and county filing practice. Where a fact could not be confirmed in either source, this page says so rather than guessing.

Under NRS 41.270, 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

Under NRS 41.270, you file a verified petition with the clerk of the district court for the district where you live. The petition must state your present name, the name you desire to bear in the future, your reason for the change, and whether you have been convicted of a felony; it must also include a statement, signed under penalty of perjury, that you are not changing your name for a fraudulent purpose. If you have a criminal record, the petition must be accompanied by a complete set of your fingerprints, taken in the manner prescribed by the Director of the Department of Public Safety.

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 single flat name-change fee. The Self-Help Center's own guidance says the fee "is different in every county" and directs petitioners to their local court, so contact your district court clerk directly for the current total. An Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis is available for a fee waiver, which a judge must approve and which expires after one year.

NRS 41.270 expressly excludes an "unemancipated minor" from the adult petition track, which means 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. Under NRS 41.295, any parent of an unemancipated minor may file a verified petition. If the other parent's verified consent is not stated in the petition, NRS 41.296 requires personal service; if the petitioning parent submits proof satisfactory to the court that notice cannot be personally served, the court may order publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county once a week for three successive weeks, plus notice and a copy of the petition by registered or certified mail to the other parent's last known address. Under NRS 41.297, the court may grant the change if no written objection is filed with the clerk within 10 days after the other parent is personally served or after the last day of publication.

Separately, NRS 41.2993 allows an attorney representing an unemancipated minor in the legal custody of an agency which provides child welfare services to petition on the minor's behalf. That track is governed by its own sections rather than the parent-petition rules: NRS 41.2995 sets its notice and service-by-publication requirements, and NRS 41.2997 requires the court to make specific written findings that the change is in the minor's best interest.

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

Under NRS 41.280, adult publication is required at least one time in a newspaper of general circulation in the 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 under NRS 41.296; that is a different situation from the standard adult publication rule and should not be confused with it.)

Two separate waivers apply, and they do not do the same thing. Under NRS 41.280(3), a petitioner whose stated reason is to conform their name to their gender identity is exempt from publication entirely. Under NRS 41.280(2), a petitioner who submits proof satisfactory to the court that publication would place their personal safety at risk gets more than a waiver: the court must not require publication and must also order the records concerning the petition, and any proceedings concerning the petition, to be sealed and opened for inspection only on an order of the court for good cause shown or at the applicant's own request. For a domestic violence, trafficking, or stalking survivor, that automatic sealing is the load-bearing half of the protection.

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 and is separate from the case-file sealing described above, so enrollment in it does not by itself seal your name-change court record; that sealing comes from NRS 41.280(2).

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 under NRS 41.270, and under NRS 41.290 the court must specifically take that criminal record into consideration before issuing its order. The statute makes a felony conviction a factor the court must weigh, not an automatic bar to a Nevada name change. A false denial of a felony conviction is a separate matter: on uncontrovertible proof of one, the court must 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 under NRS 41.290. 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. NRS 41.290 also gives a 10-day window for any written objection to be filed with the clerk, running from publication of the notice or, where publication is not required under NRS 41.280, from the filing of 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's change-of-name statute does not create a separate marriage-based name-change procedure; 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 text of NRS Chapter 41 and from the Nevada Courts Self-Help Center. 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.