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How much does it cost to change your name in Ohio?

Changing your name in Ohio costs $128 to file in Franklin County Probate Court, $112 in Trumbull County and $100 in Lucas County, with Defiance County at the top of the published range at $175 for an adult or a minor. Ohio name changes are a probate-court filing under R.C. ch. 2717, and every probate court publishes its own application fee — so the state has 88 prices for the same judgment entry, all of them modest.

Ohio name change fees at a glance

The four probate schedules above are each court's own published figure for the identical statutory application — Form 21.0 for an adult, with the minor's application on the parallel form — which is why this page presents a range anchored on named courts rather than a invented statewide fee. Franklin County requires applications through its e-filing system and notes a hearing may be required depending on the circumstances; Trumbull County requires a certified birth certificate with the application and typed, single-sided paperwork; Lucas County's checklist states the $100 court costs plainly. Additional certified copies of the judgment entry — the document every agency will demand — are priced per copy by each court ($1.10 in Trumbull). The national comparison is on the name change costs hub and the wider state picture on the Ohio court costs guide.

Who may file — and who may not

Under R.C. ch. 2717 an adult who has lived in the county for at least 60 days may apply to its probate court for a change of name, stating a reasonable and proper reason — personal preference suffices — and supporting the application with a sworn affidavit. The affidavit does real work: the applicant must disclose whether they are seeking the change to evade creditors, whether they are in bankruptcy, and whether either of two statutory bars applies. Ohio law flatly prohibits a court-ordered name change for a person required to register as a sex or child-victim offender, and for a person convicted of identity fraud — those are not discretionary denials the judge can overlook. A minor's application is filed by a parent, guardian or legal custodian, and where a parent does not consent the court must be satisfied the change is in the child's best interest, with notice to the non-consenting parent. A criminal background check is required for adult applicants in the counties whose checklists appear on this page — Trumbull County, for example, requires a BCI WebCheck through the sheriff's office, priced by the sheriff and therefore not in the court's fee table.

Marriage and divorce: the no-court routes

Two of the commonest name changes never touch this fee table at all. A name taken on marriage is effected through the marriage licence itself — $65 in Franklin County — with the licence and certificate serving as the proof agencies require. A name restored on divorce is handled inside the divorce decree: Ohio courts routinely restore a party's former name as part of the dissolution or divorce judgment under R.C. §3105.16, at no separate probate filing. The probate application on this page is for everyone else — a wholly new name, a change outside marriage or divorce, or a change for a child — and filers who are divorcing should ask for restoration in the divorce case before paying a second court to do the same work. See Ohio divorce costs for that case's own fees.

How the case runs

1. Confirm 60 days' residence in your county, gather a certified copy of your birth certificate, and complete the Application for Change of Name (Form 21.0 for an adult) and the supporting affidavit
2. File in your county probate court — by e-filing where the court requires it, as Franklin County does — and pay the application fee $128 in Franklin County $112 in Trumbull County
3. Complete the criminal background check where your court requires one (Trumbull County: BCI WebCheck via the sheriff)
4. Attend a hearing if the court sets one — some applications are granted on the papers, others are called — and answer the court's questions on reason and the affidavit disclosures
5. Receive the Judgment Entry changing your name and order certified copies $1.10 each in Trumbull County for the BMV, Social Security, passport and bank records

What a name change really costs beyond the clerk

The application fee is nearly the whole court-side cost: Ohio's current process does not carry the two-newspaper publication bill that Pennsylvania imposes, and the remaining charges are small and published — certified copies of the entry, and the sheriff's background-check charge where a county requires one (provider-set, so not priced here). What filers underestimate is the errand load after the decree, not its price: every agency wants its own certified copy or sight of the entry, so ordering several copies at the court's per-copy rate on the day the entry issues is cheaper than returning for them one at a time. Attorney help is rarely needed and is market-priced where used. Compare Illinois name change costs and Pennsylvania name change costs, and Ohio's other probate filings in Ohio probate costs.

Can't afford the fee?

An applicant who cannot pay may file a poverty affidavit with the application asking the probate court to waive or defer the costs; the decision is the judge's, on the affidavit's showing of income and means. Because the Ohio fees on this page run $100–$175 — low as court fees go — the affidavit route is used less here than in high-fee states, but it exists in every probate court. The general mechanics are explained in the fee waiver guide.

Sources: Franklin County Probate Court — court costs guidance (name change application $128; marriage license $65; estate deposits $115–$250) · Trumbull County Probate Court — Change of Name (filing fee $112 adult and minor; certified copies $1.10; BCI WebCheck required; 60-day residency; certified birth certificate required) · Probate Court of Lucas County — Name Change of Adult checklist (court costs $100; 60-day residency; criminal background check required) · Defiance County Probate Court — Probate Court Deposits and Filing Fees (change of name, adult $175; minor $175) · Ohio Rev. Code ch. 2717 (application, affidavit, statutory bars), §3105.16 (restoration of name on divorce). Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures with your county probate court.