Application to the Prefetto to change a first name or surname (Italy)
Published byDocMuse
This document is in Italian
The PDF you download is in Italian — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
For an adult Italian citizen asking to change their surname or first name, or to add one, such as the mother’s surname. The application goes to the Prefetto of the province of residence or of the one holding the birth record (article 89 of Italian Presidential Decree no. 396/2000), with the reasons and the name sought. Many Prefetture publish their own free form: if there is one, you may use it. It needs a € 16 revenue stamp (marca da bollo, from a tobacconist; online via @e.bollo or F24), except for ridiculous or shameful surnames.
- Made for use in Italy
- Last updated October 14, 2026
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Your answers appear in place as you type. The full wording is in the PDF you download.
When to use this document
- You carry the surname of a father you have not seen for years and want to change it in Italy.
- You want to add your mother's surname to your own.
- Your first name sounds ridiculous or offensive and causes you trouble every day.
- You are looking for how to ask the Prefettura to change your name or surname.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Applicant
- Applicant's address
- Applicant's codice fiscale (Italian tax code)
- Phone and e-mail or PEC for replies
- How the letter is sent (printed above the recipient)
- Prefettura (e.g. Prefettura – UTG di Roma)
- Address of the name-change authority (street, then postcode and town)
- City
- Date
- Applicant's place of birth (town, or country if abroad)
- Applicant's date of birth
- What is being asked
- First name(s) and surname after the change
- Reason
- Comune holding the birth record
Common questions
- Does the Prefettura have its own form for a change of surname?
- Many Prefetture publish free forms on their websites for changing or adding a first name or surname, separate for adults and minors: if yours has one, you may use it. This application is for where there is no form, or to set out the reasons in an orderly way. In the provinces of Trento and Bolzano the application goes to the Commissariato del Governo, and in the Aosta Valley to the Region’s Presidency (Servizio affari di prefettura); in Bolzano it may also be in German, in the Aosta Valley also in French.
- Can you ask to add your mother’s surname in Italy?
- Yes: adding a surname to your own, including your mother’s, is asked of the Prefetto with the same application, explaining in the reasons your link with the surname and why you want it. You cannot ask for historically important surnames or ones suggesting membership of a famous family. For a minor child the application is made by both parents, normally on the Prefettura’s form for minors.
- What happens after the application to the Prefetto is filed?
- The Prefettura examines the application and may ask for more documents. If it finds it worthy, it authorises a notice with a summary of the application on the official notice board (albo pretorio) of the Comune of birth and of residence; anyone with an interest may object within thirty days of the last posting. The Prefetto then decides by decree, which needs another revenue stamp, and the Comune records the new name in the civil-status records.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
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