Oregon Name Change Laws: No Publication, a Flat $124 Fee, and No Criminal Bar

Oregon runs one of the more reader-friendly name-change processes in the country. There is no newspaper publication requirement anywhere in the personal name-change statute, no criminal-history or sex-offender filing bar, and most petitioners never need an in-person hearing. The flat statewide fee is $124.

This page covers the process under ORS 33.410 through 33.440, the minor-notice rules, the mandatory decree-based divorce restoration, and why Oregon's «public interest» standard works differently than states with an explicit list of disqualifying offenses.

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

How to Change Your Name as an Adult in Oregon

An adult petition is filed with the probate court, or the circuit court where its jurisdiction has been extended to cover these matters, in the county where the petitioner resides, under ORS 33.410. The statute is short and standard-based: the court must grant the change unless it finds the request is not consistent with the public interest.

Oregon's official statewide petition form operationalizes that standard as a specific disclosure checklist rather than a list of automatic bars. The petitioner discloses whether they owe current or past-due child support, whether an active protective, stalking, or restraining order exists against them, whether they are on probation, parole, or post-prison supervision, and whether they have a sex offender registration duty. The court weighs these disclosures; none of them automatically blocks the petition.

The statewide filing fee is $124, set by ORS 21.145, which names applications for change of name under ORS 33.410 expressly, and current under the 2026 circuit court fee schedule. A fee waiver or deferral application is free: no fee may be charged for providing the application or for filing it (ORS 21.685). A judge may waive or defer all or part of the fees for a party who is unable to pay (ORS 21.682). No hearing is required unless the court asks for one; in practice, the judgment is often submitted for the judge's signature without an in-person appearance, under the local Certificate of Readiness process.

Changing a Minor's Name in Oregon

Written notice of the petition must go to both the custodial and noncustodial parent and any legal guardian before judgment (ORS 33.420(1)). The one exception: notice to a parent is not required if the other parent files a verified statement that the child has not lived with that parent and that parent has not provided or tried to provide support.

The statute does not state an express best-interest standard, but the court may confer privately with the child, without the parents or others present, if it finds that would serve the child's best interests. This can happen either on the child's own application (ORS 33.440) or when a parent's own name change would also change the child's surname (ORS 33.430(3)). A minor's petition is filed in the county where the child lives.

Publication: Not Required in Oregon

Oregon's change-of-name sections, ORS 33.410 through 33.440, contain no newspaper-publication requirement anywhere in their text for a personal name change. The only publication language in ORS chapter 33 sits in ORS 33.720, the in rem proceeding for a judicial examination of the legality of a municipal corporation's organization and actions, where notice must be published at least once a week for three successive weeks. That provision has nothing to do with a personal name change.

For petitioners with safety concerns, sealing is available. A certified adult participant in the Address Confidentiality Program who asks the court to seal the record of a name-change case gets it sealed unless the court issues an order pursuant to a finding of good cause under ORS 192.848 (ORS 33.420(3)); that subsection does not apply to an adult appearing as guardian ad litem for a minor child. An applicant for a legal change of sex under ORS 33.460 has a stronger right: if the applicant requests sealing, the court shall seal the record of the case, with no good-cause exception (ORS 33.420(4)).

Restrictions: No Criminal Bar, Only a Registry Reporting Duty

Oregon has no blanket statutory bar tied to a criminal record. The adult petition form requires disclosure of current probation, parole, or post-prison supervision, weighed under the general public-interest standard, but the chapter itself does not list any offense or waiting period that automatically blocks a petition. This is a real, meaningful contrast with states like Pennsylvania that maintain an explicit statutory list of disqualifying convictions.

Registered sex offenders are not barred from petitioning at all. Instead, Oregon law requires an offender to report a legal name change to the sex offender registry within 10 days of the change. The petition form still requires disclosure of registration status so the court can weigh it as one factor under the public-interest standard.

Name Restoration After Divorce

Divorce-related name restoration lives outside ORS chapter 33, in the dissolution judgment statute itself. ORS 107.105(1)(h) lets the court change the name of either spouse back to a name held before the marriage as part of the dissolution, annulment, or separation judgment. The statute is unusually strong on this point: the court must order the change if the affected party requests it. There is no separate post-decree petition needed if the request is made as part of the original proceeding.

Name Changes After Marriage

No provision in ORS chapter 33 or ORS 107.105 addresses a marriage-based name change directly. As in most states without a codified marriage-license option, a name change incident to marriage in Oregon is handled administratively: the Social Security Administration and Oregon DMV accept a marriage certificate as proof to update a name, without a court filing.

Related Oregon Records

An Oregon name change often comes up alongside other state records. See Oregon marriage and divorce records for how to obtain the certified copies agencies require as proof, Oregon court records for how a name-change case fits into the state's public-records rules, and Oregon divorce laws for how name restoration fits into a dissolution judgment.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about Oregon name-change law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Fees, forms, and procedures change; verify current details with your county circuit court or a licensed Oregon attorney before relying on anything here for a specific situation.

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