Change of name

[Guy]

I’m a french citizen, born outside France & living in the US.

I want to change my first name. I understand that I could either (1) go through the procedure in France; or (2) get a court order in the US (easy for me), and then submit it to the French authorities. I was trying to find more information on either of these options (in English) but wasn’t successful. I would appreciate any help (or a reference to a lawyer).

Thanks!

[suein56]

Well, I wrote a long post to say that, as of May this year, it is a whole lot easier to change your first name here in France but my words disappeared in a puff of the page refreshing.

Just to say that I googled 'changement de prénom en france' and a whole raft of links came up. You could do the same and then use Chrome to translate any of them.

As to the US I have no idea what trying to achieve the same thing there would involve.

Good Luck.

Sue

[Guy]

Hi Sue,

Thanks so much for your help!

I've looked into these links as you suggested, and I gather that after the new reform (that has not yet taken place officially?), the process would not require a lawyer anymore.

But I'm not sure how to actually go through the process (preferably without flying to France for it, and without understanding French).

As for the US option, I've googled "Tribunal de grande Instance de Nantes homologation du jugement etranger". The procedure should be similar to registering a US divorce in France. The only problem is that I can't find instructions specific to registering a name change, and there's no way I could figure it out on my own.

If anyone here knows more about the process, or has a good reference to an English speaking French lawyer, I'd appreciate any help.

[Loiseau]

Why not get in touch with your nearest French embassy, or consulate, and see what they can tell you?

There may be some French-qualified notaires in the US you could speak to.

Angela