Help! I messed up my DS's name and I don't know how to fix it!

[Sparrow7]

When DS was born I gave him a nickname version of an old name, I'll use the example Billy/William. I registered him as Billy and got the birth certificate. In those first sleep deprived weeks I regretted my decision and found out you could change the name for free if in the first month. I did this and got a new birth certificate in the name William. They did not ask for the first certificate back.
He was already in the NHS system as Billy and I did not change this.
When he entered the school system he was registered as William but everyone calls him Billy.
When we got a passport it was in the name William.
He has a bank account in the name William.
I had pretty much forgotten about the change until now. He is about to turn 16 and HMRC have just sent him his new national insurance number registered to Billy!
Everyone calls him Billy and he says he would like this to be his official name now if possible.
I have two birth certificates but I no longer know which one is valid.
Any advice on how to sort this out would be gratefully received.
Poll: YABU - you'd better sort this out now or it will cause him a lot of bother in the future.
YANBU - don't worry about it, it's probably fine.

It seems like he is two people given he is registered in different places with different names. If his passport is William and NI is Billy, it will mess up things like payroll.

I’m not sure what the easiest one to change is!

Clearly william is his legal name. He'll just have to use that officially or deed poll it to Billy if it's that important.

The nhs system isn’t an official naming system. If his birth certificate was changed his name is William. So you need to contact HMRC and explain they made a mistake. He has a birth certificate and passport that prove what his name is.

Thanks you are all right, I will contact HMRC with the correction. If DS does want to change his name officially we can do that at some point in the future. Panic over, thanks Mumsnet for helping clarify the situation (I tend to spiral and over think, which is how this problem started in the first place 😂).

According to the government website they automatically send National insurance numbers out if a parent has ever filled in a child benefit claim form for you. So would you have used Billy on that?

Either way, it can be changed I would think. Back in the day when I got mine I remember it seemed to give you a level of choice on the application form and I chose to use my shortened name. Then changed my mind and got a new one.

The NHS system seems to be somewhat separate. When I changed my name by deedpoll they refused to change it unless I had an enrolled deedpoll, which you don’t need legally. Wouldn’t take no for an answer so I just didn’t bother.

I would get the national insurance number changed though, as I would imagine it will cause problems if it’s different to the ID he will have to use for employment identity checks.

The second birth certificate is his “legal name”. I believe HMRC just use the name that you gave them when you filled in the forms to claim child benefit when they issue NI numbers. You will have to get them to correct it.

Billy isn't a nickname. It's a long accepted diminutive of the name William (as is Bill or Will).

Prince Harry's birth name is actually Henry. Doesn't seem to be an issue for him.

Doesn't the second birth certificate have both names on anyway? We did this, but with a completely new name, and the second certificate still has the old name at the top and the new one at the bottom, a bit more like an addendum.

I wouldn’t worry about it or do anything if he wants to keep using the name Billy.

Everything is in my new first name that I chose and have used since a young teenager.

I’ve never bothered to officially change it by deed poll so my birth certificate is still in my old name but everything else inc. bank accounts, Tax, pension, even my marriage certificate is in my new first name.

Despite what some posters will have you believe, if it’s only changing a first name, you don’t need to do anything formal. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Firstly contact your local registrars office and make an appointment to speak to them in person. Take both birth certificates and explain the situation. Normally the first one is voided in this circumstance but since you seem to have registered bother names at various times, this might not be the case. You need to find out if one is invalid firstly. Then you can go about updating the relevant departments with his correct legal name.

I suspect William will be his legal name, but either way you need to know for sure. I used to work in a bank and this happened a lot with the older generation when ID wasn’t required to open accounts, they would put nicknames like Billy instead of William. But it can and does cause alot of issues down the line. As your son is young this may well cause him issues with getting credit and mortgages and even a job etc so it does need sorting.

If William is his legal name and he wants to change it to Billy. Get everything issued in William first (change NHS, HMRC etc) and then he can change his name via deed poll and change it back over so there is a trace. HMRC otherwise may have him down as 2 seperate people. If his legal name is still Billy, then get his passport changed.

You might need to order extra birth certificates as some places still require you send a physical copy to change names.

This is totally missing the point of the thread.

Billy is no longer his legal name and was superseded when he was a baby and it was changed to William. You’ll need to make sure all of his documentation is accurate and then if he wishes to change his name to Billy, he will need to formally do that which means potentially changing the same things again.

There's no such thing as a legal name. As long as you have no intentions to defraud people and can show a paper trail if asked (even that isn't a legal requirement), you can call yourself whatever you like.

She already reregistered the child's name though by the sound of it.

I would get it sorted now. As an immigrant child I always have extra paperwork and documents I have had to get from my parents in the past. It's a real pain as generally when you have forms to fill in they always seem to be urgent.
Some official forms you have to declare if your name has ever been changed too.

I am a Solicitor so just letting you know the position from a legal perspective. Your son’s legal name is William and the National Insurance card will need to be changed. The second birth certificate voided the first and the expectation is that the first registered name will no longer be used. Your son can use Billy as a shortened version but would have to use William in legal documents unless he changed it officially. Sort it out for him now as otherwise this will cause him problems with the DVLA, employment, marriage etc.

Give HMRC a call they are really helpful I had a different issue when registering for tax free childcare and names not matching as their records didn't match birth certificates (their error) as kids have a double barrell surname and double barrelled first and middle name ( all 3 kids were incorrect) and was all sorted in a single call

A slightly different situation, but my son had a surname change when 3yrs.

His NI number came with his previous surname(, which was retained as a middle name). I think a quick call to HMRC clarified it, as I would have changed his name with them back then too, it just hadn't linked up for some reason.

They reissued the NI letter quite easily with the correct name.

Heads up - HMRC are a nightmare! We legally changed DS surname when he was 3. HMRC have his online account in his birth surname, but issued his NI number in his current surname. We are still trying to get it fixed and he's now almost 19...

I changed my name (spelling) when I was in Y1 at school with other people who had the same name - I wanted to be different.

It's never caused me a problem having a different name on my birth certificate and passport. I use the "new" name on my passport. When I got my NI it had my OG name but I "corrected" them at some point after I started work and now everything (apart from that birth certificate) is in my new name. Once you have a passport or driving licence you very rarely use your birth certificate. I think I only used it to register my citizenship of another country (which is technically in that name, but their passport is in my new name as you're not allowed to hold passports in different names).

Basically you'll be fine to just change the vestigial "billy" to william but if you want to officially change an older person with a passports name it will be costly and full of admin.