Short answer. Yes — that is the first ground Section 4 gives. A petition may be allowed where the petitioner finds the first name or nickname to be ridiculous, tainted with dishonor, or extremely difficult to write or pronounce. Note the word extremely: awkward is not the standard.
What the law says
The petitioner finds the first name or nickname to be ridiculous, tainted with dishonor or extremely difficult to write or pronounce.
RA 9048, Section 4 — Grounds For Changing First Name. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The petition for change of first name or nickname may be allowed in any of the following cases
RA 9048, Section 4 — Grounds For Changing First Name. Read the full provision →
Three complaints, one ground
The petitioner finds the first name or nickname to be ridiculous, tainted with dishonor or extremely difficult to write or pronounce. Three distinct grievances share a single paragraph. Ridiculous is about the name inviting mockery. Tainted with dishonor is usually about association — a name that has come to carry a public disgrace attached to someone else. Difficulty is about the mechanics of writing and saying it. They are alternatives, so you need only one, and the petition should say plainly which one you are relying on rather than gesturing at all three.
The adjective is the test
The drafting is careful in a way that petitions often are not. It is not a name that is difficult to write or pronounce; it is one that is extremely difficult. A name that people misspell occasionally, or that a foreign colleague stumbles over, is an inconvenience rather than a ground, and a petition resting on that will be arguing against the plain word of the section. What the paragraph asks for is a name whose spelling or pronunciation is a persistent obstacle in ordinary dealings — something you can illustrate with actual instances rather than assert.
The ground is about the old name, not the new one
All three limbs describe a defect in the name you carry. None of them says anything about the name you want. That distinction changes what a petition has to establish: the case is made by showing the problem with the existing entry, not by explaining why the proposed name suits you better. If the real story is that you have always been called something else, the second ground in the same section — habitual and continuous use, with public recognition in the community — fits far better and is proved with entirely different documents. Choose the ground that matches your facts.
What a change of first name additionally requires
This is the heavier of the two administrative routes. Beyond the documents any petition needs, Section 5 requires that a petition for a change of first name be published at least once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation, and that the petitioner submit a certification from the appropriate law enforcement agencies that he has no pending case or criminal record. Remember also that the change reaches the first name or nickname only, and that Section 3 allows these petitions to be availed of only once.
Related provisions
- RA 9048, Section 1 — Correction Without A Court
- RA 9048, Section 3 — Who May File And Where
- RA 9048, Section 4 — Grounds For Changing First Name
- RA 9048, Section 5 — Form Contents And Publication