A practical guide to name changes under the Names Law: registry rules, the seven-year limit, minors, refusal grounds, and the legal route when refused.
Israeli law treats a name change as a step within a person's own control. Section 10 of the Names Law, 5716-1956 provides that an adult may change their family name and first name, and that this is done by filing a notice at an office of the Population and Immigration Authority — not by applying for permission. In practice, between the notice and the registration stands the registration clerk (registrar), who holds defined discretion: to review, to request explanations, and, in cases the law and procedures list, to refuse.
That gap is why most inquiries we receive on this topic come after the visit to the office. Below we explain what the process looks like for an adult, for spouses who have married, and for parents of minors; what the grounds for refusal are; and what the route — internal and judicial — looks like when a request is denied. If you received an oral refusal at the counter, you are entitled to a reasoned decision in writing.
The primary framework is the Names Law. Alongside it, the Population and Immigration Authority operates under internal procedures — the documents the clerk at the office actually consults: Procedure 2.10.0001 (general name change), dated 7 Jul 2019; Procedure 2.10.0004 (handling of family-name selection following marriage, and, at any time, under section 6 of the Names Law), dated 1 Oct 2017; Procedure 2.10.0007 (handling of a notice of first- and family-name change for a minor), dated 1 Feb 2016; and Procedure 2.10.0006 (retroactive name change), dated 12 Jan 2014.
Above all of these sits Procedure 2.4.0001 (making changes, corrections, additions and deletions to registration particulars in the Population Registry), dated 20 Jul 2020. Its clause 4.2.3 requires the registration clerk to record their decision and give reasons for a refusal, and clause 4.2.4 requires sending the applicant a reasoned reply. Procedures are not statutes, but they bind the Authority itself — and a departure from them is, as a rule, a weak point in a refusal decision.
Procedure 2.10.0001 lists the requirements in clause 3: personal attendance is mandatory, along with an identity card, a valid Israeli passport if one exists, a written notice of name change (form מר/4), and an explanatory letter; the service carries a fee under the fee schedule. Clause 4.11 authorizes the clerk to demand a detailed explanation if the reasons given are insufficient — which is why it pays to invest in the explanatory letter in advance.
Two practical consequences follow: under clause 4.8, the previous name will be recorded on the identity card and travel document for seven years from the date of the change; and under clause 1.7, a name cannot be corrected in an existing passport — a new one must be issued — and if a restriction is registered against you (Execution Office, the Fines Collection Center, or a rabbinical court), the passport will be cancelled and a new one will not be issued until the matter is resolved.
Section 20 of the Law prohibits a further name change within seven years. Clauses 4.20.5–4.20.6 of the Procedure distinguish between cases: reverting to a previous name, or adding a previous name to the current one — the office manager or their deputy may approve this even within the period; an entirely new name — must be refused, with the route being a reasoned appeal to the Registrar and Passports Officer.
A separate route is set out in Procedure 2.10.0006, implementing section 17(b) of the Law: a name a person began using before 3 Aug 1956 may be given retroactive effect, provided it was recorded in a public certificate. Anyone who immigrated after 1956 is handled under section 10, effective from the date of registration.
Section 6 of the Law creates a separate route for choosing a family name, and Procedure 2.10.0004 sets out the options: continuing to bear, or reverting to, a previous name; taking the spouse's name, alone or combined with one's maiden name; adding the spouse's name to one's existing name; choosing a new, shared name; or adding a new, shared name to both spouses' existing names. Section 7 allows a person, after the marriage ends, to resume bearing a previous family name.
The practical advantages: under clause 1.5, a person filing a notice under section 6 need not give reasons and need not produce evidence, other than an identity card and passport. Clause 1.6 provides that the seven-year limit does not apply to this route, and clause 4.15.1 adds that one may switch between the options at any time; under clause 3.9, a request filed together with an update of personal status is exempt from the fee. The form is מר/4א.
Two qualifications: spouses who have already chosen a new shared name and now seek a different new shared name will be directed to the name-change route under section 10; and where there are shared minor children, a separate notice under section 12, signed by both parents, is required for them — while a child who is not shared is not included in the change, and the parent will be referred to the Family Court (clauses 4.15.2 and 4.17).
Procedure 2.10.0007 implements section 13 of the Law and distinguishes between a first name and a family name. For a first name: for a minor under ten, the parents may change the name, but if the child is capable of expressing an opinion, they must be allowed to voice it; from age ten, the change will be made only after the minor gives consent before the registration clerk, and if the minor refuses — only with court approval (clause 1.2.1). Absent the consent of both parents, the route is the Family Court.
For a family name, the rule is reversed: clause 1.2.4 provides that a minor's family-name change will be made only with court approval. Clause 1.8 lists exceptions that may be approved at the office with both parents' consent — adding the other parent's family name to the existing one, merging into a single name shared by both, or changing the order of the family names. By contrast, moving from one biological parent's family name to the other's will not be approved at the office — even with consent — and a court judgment must be produced (clause 1.9.2).
Both parents' attendance is mandatory, and from age ten the minor's attendance as well; a single parent will be required to provide evidence that care of the minor is entrusted to them — a court judgment or an approved divorce agreement (clauses 1.5, 3.3 and 4.7). Clause 1.12 clarifies that the seven-year limit does not apply to minors.
Section 16 of the Law is the main source of refusal: a request to change a name that might mislead or offend public policy or public feeling must be denied (clause 1.6.1 of Procedure 2.10.0001). Clause 1.6.2 provides that a person convicted of a sex offense as an adult will have their request refused, for both the family name and the first name, and clause 4.23 adds that they may appeal to the Minister of the Interior. Clause 4.24 directs refusal where a name contains spelling errors or characters that are not letters.
Equally important is what the Procedure states does not amount to misleading the public. Clause 4.21 lists cases that may be approved: moving from a name characteristic of one nationality to a name characteristic of another; moving from a masculine name to a feminine one or vice versa — in the Procedure's words, "no explanation or proof of sex-reassignment surgery may be required for this"; names such as Cohen or Levi, with the approval of the community head or synagogue rabbi, or where the change is intended to create a link to a spouse's name — including common-law partners and same-sex spouses.
On the other hand, clause 4.22 requires the clerk to forward the request to the Registrar and Passports Officer at headquarters — for example, where the requested name is that of a persecutor of Jews, a commercial company, or a well-known public figure. The upshot: in these cases, the clerk at the office is not the authority empowered to refuse.
First, make sure you have a written, reasoned decision. Clauses 4.2.3–4.2.4 of Procedure 2.4.0001 require the refusal to be reasoned and a reasoned reply sent to the applicant, and the Procedure's list of appendices includes a reasoned letter of refusal (form מר/33). A refusal delivered orally is far harder to challenge.
Second, exhaust the internal route. Under clauses 4.2.5–4.2.7 of Procedure 2.4.0001, a resident's appeal is forwarded to the office manager, and an appeal against the manager's decision goes to the relevant desk in the Registration and Biometrics Division. In matters under section 16 of the Names Law, clause 4.25 of Procedure 2.10.0001 routes the file through the office manager to the Registrar and Passports Officer at headquarters, who is the deciding authority; the same applies to a repeat request within seven years.
Third, the judicial route — and here it matters not to get the forum wrong. A decision of the Authority under the Names Law is subject to review by the District Court sitting as the Court for Administrative Affairs, under section 5(1) and Item 12(7) of the First Schedule to the Courts for Administrative Affairs Law, 5760-2000; a decision of the registration clerk under the Population Registry Law, 5725-1965 is subject to the same forum under Item 12(10). The administrative petition must be filed within the time set by the regulations and without delay, and, in appropriate circumstances, together with an application for interim relief.
Applying to the HCJ instead of the Court for Administrative Affairs will be dismissed. In HCJ 6603/20 (17 Jan 2021), two couples of parents to children born through surrogacy abroad petitioned after the Authority registered the minors under the genetic father's family name alone, instead of the name appearing on the birth certificates. The petition was dismissed in limine for the existence of an alternative remedy, and it was held that a petition against decisions under the Names Law is to be heard by the Court for Administrative Affairs.
The same petitioners then applied to the correct forum — and won. In Adm. Petition (Tel Aviv) 56941-05-21 (13 Jun 2022), the petitions were granted in full. It was held that the foreign birth certificates are public certificates under section 29 of the Evidence Ordinance, and are the necessary and sufficient document for registering the name; the registration clerk has no authority to determine a minor's name or to choose a name instead of the one the parents chose, and may decline to register the name on the certificate only in exceptional cases raising a concern of forgery or fraud.
By contrast, a document that is not a public certificate will not move the registration. In HCJ 19570-09-25 (17 May 2026), a petition seeking to compel the Authority to align the registry, on its own initiative, with the determinations of public committees was dismissed. It was held that changing a registration particular requires a public certificate (sections 19A and 19C of the Population Registry Law), that the proper route is a declaratory judgment, and that judicial review of the registration clerk's decision lies with the Court for Administrative Affairs.
We guide applicants through every stage of the process: drafting the explanatory letter and the notice before the visit to the office — where many requests are decided; checking in advance for restrictions that might block the issuance of a travel document; obtaining the necessary documentation, including applying to the Family Court where a judgment is needed to change a minor's family name; the internal appeal; and filing an administrative petition where the decision stands. We examine every case on its own merits and explain in advance what can reasonably be expected.
Section 20 of the Names Law provides that a person who has changed their first name or family name may not change it again within seven years. Procedure 2.10.0001 distinguishes between cases: a request to revert to a previous name, or to add a previous name to the current one — the office manager or their deputy may approve this even within the period (clause 4.20.5); a request for an entirely new name — must be refused (clause 4.20.6), with the route being a reasoned appeal to the Registrar and Passports Officer. The seven-year limit does not apply to changing a minor's name.
As a rule, no. Procedure 2.10.0007 provides that a minor's family-name change will be made only with court approval, except for defined cases under clause 1.8 of the Procedure that may be approved at the office with both parents' consent. A single parent will be required to present evidence that care of the minor is entrusted to them — for example, a court judgment or an approved divorce agreement. Absent consent, the proper address is the Family Court.
Under clause 1.7 of Procedure 2.10.0001, the name cannot be changed on an existing travel document, and a new one must be issued. If a restriction is registered against you from the Execution Office, the Fines Collection Center, or a rabbinical court, the existing passport will be cancelled upon the change and a new one will not be issued until the matter is resolved. In addition, clause 4.8 provides that the previous name will appear on the identity card and the travel document for seven years from the date of the change.
First, make sure you received a reasoned decision in writing, as required by clauses 4.2.3–4.2.4 of Procedure 2.4.0001. Then exhaust the internal route: the office manager, then the relevant desk in the Registration and Biometrics Division, and, in matters under section 16 of the Law, the Registrar and Passports Officer at headquarters. If the refusal stands, an administrative petition may be filed with the District Court sitting as the Court for Administrative Affairs — not the HCJ.
No. Clause 1.6 of Procedure 2.10.0004 expressly provides that the seven-year limit in section 20 of the Law does not apply to a name choice under section 6, and clause 4.15.1 adds that one may switch between the options under section 6 at any time and without limit. The exception is spouses who have already chosen a new shared name and now seek a different new shared name — they will be directed to the name-change route under section 10 (clause 4.15.2).