Changing Your Name

Chosen Name

In addition to your legal name (referred to on campus as your Primary Name), UMass Dartmouth allows students to designate a Chosen Name, which appears, by default, on class rosters, grade rosters, and on MyCourses.

Learn more about how to update or change your Chosen Name.

UMass Pass 

Your UMass Pass defaults to your legal name. If you wish to have your chosen name on your UMass Pass ID card, please submit a UMass Pass Name Change Form (PDF) to the UMass Pass office (ground floor of the Campus Center Building) or by emailing umasspass@umassd.edu. To set up a private appointment, please email or call UMass Pass at 508-999-8134. 

Alias name change for email

An alias is an alternate identifier that commonly follows a firstname.lastname convention, such as mary.smith. You can use it to more clearly identify yourself in email, especially if you feel that your UMassD Logon doesn't specifically identify you to email senders and receivers. For trans students, an alias can be used to alter your first name without a legal name change.

Establishing an alias does not change the way you log in. You must still use the UMassD logon in all applications and systems; you cannot log in using your alias. 

To request an alias

Log an IT Help Case and select Access Management from the menu options. 

Once your alias is created, you can then activate it for use with email. 

Outgoing messages will display your alias@umassd.edu as the "from" address, and will no longer display your UMassD logon username, even though your username remains valid for your email. 

When you activate an alias for email, people sending you email messages may address them to either the UMassD logon username (username@umassd.edu) or to the alias (alias.umassd.edu). 

How does changing my alias affect my email? 

You can change your alias at any time. When the alias is changed, the following sequence occurs: 

  • alias changed from old.alias@umassd.edu to new.alias@umassd.edu
  • all email sent by the user will be rewritten immediately to new.alias@umassd.edu
  • email sent to old.alias@umassd.edu will be delivered for 30 days.
  • the old.alias@umassd.edu will be unavailable to any user after 60 days. 

Selecting an alias

Access Management will assist you with possible options in selecting and creating an alias, and has final approval over your selection. 

Choices must be compatible with the Responsible Use Policy, and should present a professional public image of the univeristy. CITS reserves the right to deny a request for a variety of reasons. 

Note: Once you have changed your alias, you cannot change it again for 30 days. If you have further questions, contact CITS at 508.999.8900 (or x8900). 

How to receive a legal name change in Massachusetts

The Human Rights Clinic at UMass School of Law can help students with legal name changes. Click here for details: HRH Clinic (PDF)

Where to go

To file for a legal name change, you need to go to the office of the Register of Probate in the Probate and Family Court in the county in which you reside.

What you will need to bring

  1. A certified copy of your birth certificate
    • For more information on how to request a copy of your birth certificate in Massachusetts, click here. 
    • The cost to obtain a birth certificate is $20-$54 in Massachusetts. 
  2. Previous name change decrees (if any)
    • If your name has been previously changed by decree of court or at marriage, either a copy of record of birth so amended, a copy of such decree, or a copy of record of marriage must be filed with the application.
  3. Name Change Petition Form
    • This form is available.
    • The form asks why you are changing your name.
    • You do not have to indicate that you are trans or nonbinary, and you do not need to be on hormones, have had gender confirmation surgery, or have a letter from a doctor or therapist.
    • Some people choose to write "common usage," "personal reason," or "it's the name that I use."

As long as you are not changing your name in order to commit fraud, you have the legal right to change your name. A criminal record check will be done for all name-change petitioners over the age of 7 years. If you are denied the right to change your name because of a criminal record, you may wish to contact a lawyer.

Cost

The cost to file for a name change is $150, plus a $15 surcharge. Fees may be paid with cash, money order, or personal check. If you receive public benefits, have an income below the poverty line, or otherwise cannot afford $165, you may request that the fee be waived by declaring indigence. The Clerk of the Court can also offer assistance.

The process

All name change petitions are published in a local newspaper. There is a separate charge for the publication and you can usually choose the paper in which the notice is published. If you have a good reason that the notice should not be published, you can file a motion to waive publication and an affidavit (a sworn statement) stating why you do not wish to have this information published. You may have to appear before a judge to explain your reasons.

Each probate court has a different process for handling name changes. In some courts, you may go before a judge or before a judge's clerk. In other courts, the judge looks at the name change application outside of the petitioner's presence. You may be able to finish everything that day or you may be required to return in about two weeks.

Trans students may also utilize GLAD's Trans ID Project.