How to Change Your Name in California as a Trans Person

To change your name in California as a trans person, you file a single petition in Superior Court that asks the judge to recognize both your new name and your gender marker in one order. The main form is NC-300, the filing fee is $435, and California law spares gender-identity petitions from the newspaper publication requirement that applies to ordinary name changes.¹ No medical documentation is required, and most petitioners never have to appear in court. Start to finish, the process usually takes one to two months.

Do You Actually Need a Court Order

If you want a legal name change, yes. The court petition is the only route to a new legal name, and it can handle your gender marker in the same order.

If you only want to update your gender marker on a California birth certificate or driver’s license and keep your current name, you can skip court entirely. The State Registrar will issue a new birth certificate reflecting female, male, or nonbinary based on an application and affidavit stating the change conforms to your gender identity, with no medical documentation required.² The DMV lets you self-select male, female, or nonbinary on a license or ID without a court order as well.³

Most trans Californians want both, so the rest of this walks through the court petition.

The Forms You File

The petition is a small stack of Judicial Council forms, and courts reject filings with missing pieces, so assemble the whole package before you go.

NC-300, the petition itself. It asks the court to recognize a change of gender and sex identifier (female, male, or nonbinary), a name change, or both, for anyone 18 or older.⁴
NC-110, listing your current legal name, proposed new name, date of birth, and place of birth.⁵
NC-125, the order to show cause. Filing this triggers the privacy protection that exempts your name change from newspaper publication.⁶
NC-330, the proposed order for the judge to sign. You prepare it in advance so the court can issue it as soon as the petition is approved.⁷

You do not need a letter from a doctor or therapist, and you do not need to have had any gender-affirming care.¹

Where to File

California residents file in the Superior Court of the county where they live. Non-residents can file in the county where their California birth certificate was issued or where their California marriage took place.⁵

No Newspaper Notice

Ordinary California name changes require publishing a notice in a local newspaper before the hearing. Gender-identity name changes are fully exempt.⁶ Filing NC-125 activates the exemption. If no one objects within six weeks of the order to show cause, the court can grant the name change without any hearing.

Fees and Fee Waivers

The statewide filing fee is $435.⁸

If you cannot afford it, submit a fee waiver request on form FW-001 with your petition. The court reviews your financial information and issues its decision on form FW-003.⁹ Approval waives the filing fee entirely.

What Happens After You File

Submit your originals and copies to the Superior Court clerk in person, by mail, or electronically, depending on the county. The clerk assigns a case number, stamps your copies, and gives you the date for any scheduled hearing.

Most gender-identity petitions in California are decided on the paperwork alone. If NC-125 is on file and nobody objects during the six-week window, the judge can sign your order without you ever setting foot in a courtroom. Stay reachable on the hearing date anyway. Some judges prefer a brief appearance, and if something in your paperwork needs fixing, showing up lets you handle it on the spot instead of getting a denial in the mail.

When the judge grants the petition, the signed NC-330 is your official court order recognizing your new name and gender.⁷

Get Certified Copies Right Away

Ask the clerk for certified copies of the signed NC-330 as soon as the order is granted. Most agencies want an original certified copy, not a photocopy. Five to seven copies covers the Social Security Administration, the DMV, the Department of Public Health, the passport agency, and your bank or employer. Certified copies of court records cost $40 each under the statewide fee schedule.

Updating Your Records, in Order

The order matters. The DMV checks your name against Social Security Administration records, so if the SSA doesn’t have your new name yet, the DMV will reject your update.³

Social Security First

File a paper Application for a Social Security Card (Form SS-5) with the SSA, along with your certified court order and proof of identity. Evidence of U.S. citizenship or lawful immigration status may also be required.¹⁰ There is no fee for a replacement card.

One boundary to be aware of: as of early 2025, the SSA stopped processing changes to the sex marker on Social Security records under a federal executive order. Your name change still goes through, but the gender marker on your SSA file may not be updateable right now. Check the SSA website for the current policy before applying.

Then the DMV

Once SSA has processed your name change, visit the DMV with your certified court order to update your license or state ID.³ The gender marker on a California license can be self-selected as male, female, or nonbinary at any time without a court order, but the name change on the license does require the certified order. If you’re doing both, one visit handles it.

California Birth Certificate

If you were born in California, your NC-330 directs the State Registrar to issue a new birth certificate with your updated name and gender. File a certified copy of the order with the State Registrar within 30 days of the date it’s signed, along with the fee.⁷ The Department of Public Health charges $26 for a gender change on a birth record, which includes one certified copy; additional copies are $31 each.¹¹

Missing the 30-day deadline won’t permanently bar you from a new certificate, but it can create delays and extra paperwork. Send it promptly.

If you were born outside California, contact the vital records office in your birth state. Rules vary widely from one state to another.

U.S. Passport

For the name change on your passport, the form depends on timing. If your passport was issued and your name was legally changed both within the past year, submit Form DS-5504 by mail with your current passport, the certified court order, and a new photo (no fee unless you want expedited processing). If more than a year has passed since either, you’ll either renew with Form DS-82 by mail or apply fresh with Form DS-11 in person, at standard passport fees.¹²

The gender marker is a separate issue and an important boundary. Under Executive Order 14168, issued in January 2025, the State Department only issues passports with a sex marker matching the applicant’s biological sex at birth. The nonbinary (X) marker is no longer available, and requests for a marker different from your birth sex will be denied.¹³ Applications requesting a different marker may face delays and will produce a passport reflecting your sex at birth. That policy remains in effect after a November 2025 Supreme Court ruling that stayed a lower court injunction against it. Watch the State Department website for updates.

Immigration Documents

If you hold a Green Card, Certificate of Naturalization, or other USCIS-issued document, you can request a replacement in your new legal name by submitting the certified court order, returning the original document, and filing the applicable application with its fee.¹⁴ Forms and procedures differ by document type, and naturalization certificates in particular follow a separate track. Check USCIS for current instructions, since the federal restrictions affecting passport gender markers may also apply here.

If the Petition Is for a Minor

The court process for someone under 18 uses a different form. A parent, guardian, or other authorized adult files Form NC-500 on the minor’s behalf rather than NC-300, and guardians or juvenile-court attorneys use an additional form (NC-510G).¹⁵ If any living parent didn’t sign the petition, the court must issue an order (NC-520) requiring that parent to file any written objections. Read the NC-500-INFO instruction sheet before starting; a missing NC-520 is one of the most common causes of delay in minor petitions.

1
California Courts. Court Order to Recognize Change of Gender in California
2
California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 103426
3
California Department of Motor Vehicles. Updating Information on Your Driver’s License or Identification Card
4
Judicial Council of California. California Courts Form NC-300 – Petition for Recognition of Change of Gender and Sex Identifier, Name Change, and Issuance of New Certificates
5
Judicial Council of California. Instructions for Filing Petition for Recognition of Change of Gender and Sex Identifier, Name Change, and Issuance of New Certificates
6
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1277.5(d)(1)
7
Judicial Council of California. Order Recognizing Change of Gender and Sex Identifier, for Name Change, and for Issuance of New Certificates
8
California Courts. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2026
9
California Courts. Request to Waive Court Fees (FW-001)
10
Social Security Administration. How Do I Change or Correct My Name on My Social Security Number Card
11
California Department of Public Health. Application to Amend a Birth Record
12
U.S. Department of State. Name Change for US Passport or Correct a Printing or Data Error
13
U.S. Department of State. Sex Marker in Passports
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Immigration Documents and How to Correct, Update, or Replace Them
15
Judicial Council of California. Petition for Recognition of Minor’s Change of Gender and Sex Identifier and for Issuance of New Birth Certificate and Change of Name (Form NC-500)