Surname upon marriage 

You must notify the surnames you have chosen when you request an examination of impediments to marriage. In other words, when you get married, you do not need to separately apply for a change of name. A change of name based on marriage is free of charge. 

However, not all choices of surnames are possible as there are limits to what surnames can be chosen upon marriage. You have a wider choice of surnames if you submit an application for a name change. For example, if you would like to adopt a newly coined surname or if only one of you would like to adopt the surname they had before their first marriage, you have to submit a payable application before or after the marriage ceremony.  

You need your spouse’s permission is you would like to adopt their surname or one surname from their compound surname upon your marriage. 

The examiner of impediments to marriage states the legality of the surname in a certificate of the examination of impediments to marriage. If you change your minds about the surname during the examination, both of you must notify us of it by email to the following address: [email protected] If you change your minds about the surname and the decision on the examination of impediments to marriage has already been issued, you have to apply for a new examination with the new surnames you propose. 

Upon marriage, your surnames will change in accordance with the certificate of the examination of impediments to marriage.

However, regardless of the name chosen and notified in the examination of impediments to marriage, both spouses can retain their own surname upon marriage by notifying the officiator of it. 

Below are the different options briefly:

More information and examples of spouses’ surnames when getting married.

Do the following

Before submitting the request for an examination of impediments to marriage, familiarise yourselves with the legal options for surnames. 

State your choice of the surnames in the request for an examination of impediments to marriage. 

Request to examine impediments to marriage

Frequently asked questions

Contact us

Email

Please use secure email if your message contains personal or otherwise confidential information. Choose one of these addresses as the recipient:

Send secure email

Telephone

Telephone service from Monday to Friday 9–12

Telephone number +358 295 536 244, the service number is national. 

Service locations

Service locations

Postal address (prenuptial agreements)

Digital and Population Data Services Agency, P.O. Box 1003, FI-00531 Helsinki