Registering your baby's name in India and abroad

Choosing a name can take time, but registering a birth should not wait. Indian law lets you register the birth first and add the name later. Rules and fees are partly set by each state and do change, so check the current position on the Civil Registration System portal, crsorgi.gov.in, and on your state's portal before you act.

Registering a birth in India

Under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 and the state rules made under it, a birth should be reported to the local registrar within 21 days, and registration within that period is free. The registrar must then give a birth certificate free of charge, electronically or on paper, within seven days of registration.

Later registration takes more steps. If the birth is reported after 21 days but within 30, a late fee applies. From 30 days to one year, you need the written permission of the District Registrar (or another authority named in the state rules), a fee and a self-attested document. Since 1 October 2026, registration after one year but within two years needs an order from a District Magistrate, a Sub-Divisional Magistrate or an Executive Magistrate authorised by the District Magistrate, and registration after two years needs an order from a Judicial Magistrate of the first class.

For anyone born on or after 1 October 2023, the birth certificate is the document used to prove date and place of birth for purposes that include school admission, a passport and an Aadhaar number.

Adding the name later

Section 14 of the Act covers a birth registered without a name. The parent or guardian gives the name to the registrar, orally or in writing, "within the prescribed period", and the registrar enters it in the register. Each state sets that period in its own rules. Kerala's rules allow 12 months from registration, and up to 15 years under conditions the rules set out. Mumbai's municipal corporation says a name can be added up to 15 years after the birth.

The Mumbai corporation also says that a name, once entered, cannot be changed except to correct spelling without changing the pronunciation, so check the name carefully before you submit it. If you apply for a passport while the certificate has no name, the Passport Seva instructions ask for a declaration on plain paper, signed by the parents, giving the child's name.

If your baby is born abroad

A birth abroad is first registered under local law, which sets its own deadline. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, for example, it is 42 days.

For an Indian passport, parents then register the birth with the Indian embassy or consulate under section 4(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955. The Embassy of India in Washington says this starts on the Ministry of Home Affairs citizenship portal and must be done within one year of the birth, and the Embassy in Paris says later registration needs the ministry's prior approval. Both ask the parents to declare that the child holds no other nationality or passport, and the Paris embassy says every detail must match the local birth certificate. If a family returns to settle in India without having registered the birth at a mission, section 20 of the 1969 Act allows the birth to be registered in India within 60 days of the child's arrival. This records the birth in India, but it does not replace registration at an Indian mission under the Citizenship Act, which is what an Indian passport for a child born abroad depends on.

Single names, given names and surnames

Many Indian names do not fit neatly into given-name and surname boxes. The Passport Seva instructions show the given name as everything except the surname (for example, Surname: JAIN, Given Name: PIYUSH KUMAR), ask for initials to be written out in full, and say that if you do not use a surname you should leave that field blank and write your full name as the given name. They add that some embassies, naming the UAE and European countries, insist on a surname for a visa.

Other countries can work the other way round. Canada's immigration forms ask a person with no family name on their passport to put their names in the family-name field and leave the given-name field blank. Keep the spelling and order of the name exactly the same on the birth certificate, the passport application and any registration abroad, and check each country's current instructions.

Sources

Checked 25 Oct 2026. Families and communities differ; this guide describes common practice.