Text of the provision

Art. 376. No person can change his name or surname without judicial authority.

Civil Code of the Philippines, Republic Act No. 386, approved June 18, 1949, effective August 30, 1950. Reproduced in full; verified verbatim against the LawPhil and ChanRobles official-text renderings.

What this article means

No person may change his name or surname without judicial authority. A change of name is a matter for a court, not a private decision or a mere change in usage.

The rule targets a formal change of name — substituting one name for another as a matter of legal identity — which is why matters like adoption, legitimation, or a widow’s continued use of a husband’s surname elsewhere in this title are handled by their own specific rules rather than by a general petition for change of name. It does not address nicknames or informal usage; the requirement of judicial authority is aimed at the name a person carries in official records.

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Cases citing this article

Compiled automatically from Supreme Court decisions published on LawPhil that expressly cite this article, most frequently cited first. A listing means the decision cites the provision — it is not a statement that the case is the leading authority, and it does not show whether a ruling has since been modified or abandoned. Always read the decision itself.

Note. The text of the provision above is reproduced in full from the official enactment (Republic Act No. 386), verified against the LawPhil and ChanRobles renderings. The annotation and commentary around it are the work of Vivas & Nobles Law Office and are general legal information, not legal advice. How a provision applies to a particular situation depends on facts that only a lawyer reviewing your case can assess.