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This article is about the legal name of a person. For the legal name of a business, see legal name (business).
Legal name is often the name which an individual is called at birth or which appears on their birth certificate (see birth name) or marriage certificate (in those States which have a statute allowing a name change to be recorded at marriage). Most States still allow the common law of changing one's name through non-fraudulent use and this is actually the most common method since most women who marry do not petition a court under the statutorily prescribed method, but simply use a new name (typically the husband's, a custom which started under the theory of coverture where a woman lost her identity and most rights when she married). In re Natale, 527 S.W.2d 402 (Mo. App. 1975); In re Kruzel, 226 N.W.2d 458 (Wis. 1975). Most State courts have held that a legally assumed name (i.e. for a non-fraudulent purpose) is a legal name and usable as their true name, though assumed names are often not considered the persons technically true name. Stuart v. Board of Supervisors, 295 A.2d 223 (Md. Ct. App. 1972); In re Hauptly, 312 N.E.2d 857 (Ind. 1974); United States v. Cox, 593 F.2d 46 (6th Cir. 1979). See also 10 U.S.C. ยง 1551 (2006). A person's legal name typically comprises their given name and a family name. The order varies according to culture and country. There are also country-by-country differences on changes of legal names by marriage: see married name.
