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

A court-ordered name change in Pennsylvania costs $116 to file in Franklin County and $349.23 in Philadelphia — the widest county spread of any filing on this site. One published county schedule prices the petition at just $75.25. The filing fee is only the first charge, though: Pennsylvania uniquely requires a State Police fingerprint criminal-history check and publication in two newspapers before the decree can issue.

Pennsylvania name change fees at a glance

The spread is structural, not an error. Pennsylvania name changes are filed in the Court of Common Pleas of the petitioner's county under 54 Pa.C.S. §701, and each prothonotary sets the petition fee locally — hence $75.25 on one published schedule, $116 in Franklin County, and $349.23 in Philadelphia, where the First Judicial District publishes its own name-change process and fee. Before budgeting on any figure here, confirm your own county's current schedule; the only number that matters is your prothonotary's. Two statutory shortcuts sit far below every petition fee, though. A divorced person may resume any prior surname simply by filing a written notice with the prothonotary of the county where the divorce was granted, under §704 — $17.50 on the Bulletin schedule — with no petition, no fingerprints and no publication; a surviving spouse may do the same under §704.1. The national comparison is on the name change costs hub and the state picture on the Pennsylvania court costs guide.

The fingerprint and publication requirements

Section 702(b) makes a fingerprint-based criminal-history check a statutory precondition of the decree: the petitioner is fingerprinted on a court-approved card, the State Police certify the result to the court (a process counties describe as taking up to about 60 days), and no decree may issue without it. Fingerprinting is performed by a police agency or approved vendor whose charge is set by that provider — counties do not publish it in their prothonotary schedules, so this page does not price it. Publication is the second distinctive cost: unless the court waives it, notice of the petition and hearing must be published in two newspapers of general circulation in the county (one of which may be the county legal journal). Each publication sets its own legal-notice rate, so the honest statement is that publication is a real, unavoidable-in-most-cases cost with no official price. The safety valve is §701(a.1): where publication would jeopardise the petitioner's safety, the court may waive it and seal the record.

What the petition must show, and the searches

The §701 petition states the petitioner's intention, the reason for the change, the current address and every address of the preceding five years. Counties then run or require judgment and lien searches — certifications from the prothonotary, the clerk of courts and the recorder of deeds that the petitioner is not changing name to evade debts or judgments — which must be current within days of the hearing (one large county requires them no more than 48 hours beforehand). The hearing itself is set far enough out — at least about 45 days in that county's practice — to let the fingerprint return and both publications run. A name change may not be granted for a purpose the court finds improper, and a petitioner in bankruptcy or with unsatisfied judgments should expect the searches, not the fee, to be where the case is decided.

How the case runs

1. Obtain your county's name-change packet from the prothonotary and complete the §701 petition (intention, reason, five years of addresses)
2. File in the Court of Common Pleas of your county of residence and pay the petition fee $116 in Franklin County $349.23 in Philadelphia
3. Complete the fingerprint card and submit it for the State Police criminal-history certification under §702(b)
4. Publish notice of the hearing in two newspapers of general circulation (or obtain a §701(a.1) safety waiver), and obtain the prothonotary, clerk of courts and recorder of deeds lien-search certifications
5. Attend the hearing with proof of publication and the certifications; on the decree, order certified copies $5 certification in Franklin County for Social Security, PennDOT and passport records

What a name change really costs beyond the clerk

In most Pennsylvania counties the all-in cost is roughly the petition fee plus two publication charges plus the fingerprint provider's charge — and because the last two are provider-set, the county spread in the table understates the real spread in totals. Philadelphia's high petition fee makes it the state's most expensive name change on any measure; a $75.25-petition county with modest legal-journal rates is the cheapest. Certified copies of the decree are the final predictable clerk charge — you will need several for agencies — at the per-copy and certification rates on your county's schedule. Attorney help is optional and market-priced; most petitioners file without one using the county packet. If your change follows a divorce, stop and check §704 first: the $17.50 notice route replaces this entire process for a return to a prior surname. Compare New York name change costs and Ohio name change costs.

Can't afford the fee?

File a petition to proceed in forma pauperis under Pa.R.C.P. 240 with the name-change petition. IFP status waives the prothonotary's filing fees; it does not pay the newspapers or the fingerprint provider, though a petitioner whose safety is at issue should also ask the court about the §701(a.1) publication waiver, which removes the largest of those outside costs. The general mechanics are explained in the fee waiver guide.

Sources: Franklin County (PA) Prothonotary — Fee Schedule (Petition for Name Change $116; certification $5; photocopies $0.50/page) · First Judicial District of Pennsylvania — Name Change process (Philadelphia filing fee $349.23) · County prothonotary fee schedule published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin (petition for change of name, not divorce related $75.25; name change — resume maiden name after divorce $17.50) · 54 Pa.C.S. §§701 (court approval; publication; safety waiver), 702 (fingerprint criminal-history check), 704 (resumption of surname after divorce), 704.1 · Pa.R.C.P. 240 (in forma pauperis). Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures with your county prothonotary.