Changing Your Name in Pennsylvania

File a petition in the court of common pleas of the county where you live, stating the reason and your residences for the past five years. The court sets a hearing one to three months after filing and orders notice published in two newspapers of general circulation (one may be the county's official legal-notice paper); notice is waived and the file sealed if notice would endanger the petitioner or their child. At the hearing you must show proof of publication and an official search showing no judgments or similar matters against you in counties where you lived in the past five years. Fingerprints are sent to the State Police, at your cost. People convicted of certain serious felonies cannot change their name, and other felons must wait two years after completing their sentence (or be pardoned).

A party in a divorce action may resume any prior surname, before or after the divorce decree, by filing a written notice with the prothonotary of the county where the divorce was filed or entered, showing the caption and docket number. A person divorced in another jurisdiction may file a certified copy of that decree in their county of residence and then file the notice.