Adding a Community Surname in Jharkhand After Turning Eighteen
Thousands of people in Jharkhand grew up as Oraon, Munda, Ho, Kharia or Santal at home while every school paper said only two words. At eighteen they want the full name on record, and the question is whether that needs a gazette. The clearest test in Indian documentation comes from the passport rules: a surname addition and a change on attaining adulthood are both treated as a name change, needing a gazette notification or newspaper clippings plus at least two public or school documents already issued in the new name. One honest warning belongs at the top. Adding a community surname does not create a caste entitlement. A caste certificate is issued on your family's community record, not on what you are called.
Pull out your school admission form before you do anything else, because it decides which of two very different routes you are on. If the admission form carried the community surname and the register or the certificate dropped it, nothing about your name has changed and this is a correction, which is cheaper and leaves no published trail. If no record of yours ever carried it, you are adding something new and that is a change of name. The passport services rules put this beyond doubt and are worth knowing because they are the clearest statement in Indian documentation. A surname addition, and a name change on attaining adulthood, are both treated as a name change, and the applicant has to produce a gazette notification or clippings of two newspapers, along with at least two public or school documents issued in the desired changed name, so that the office can see the new name is actually in use. The booklet also says that every change must be declared, even a marginal one. Now the part nobody else will tell you plainly. Adding Oraon, Munda, Ho, Kharia or any community surname to your name gives you no claim to a caste certificate or a reserved category seat. A caste certificate is issued on your family's community record, your parents' and grandparents' entries and your residence. The surname is not what creates it, and the same principle that protects a person who removes a caste surname works in reverse here. One more thing that costs people real money: spell the community name the way the Scheduled Tribes list for Jharkhand spells it, because a certificate office reads that list and not your spelling.
Correction or Change of Name: the School Admission Form Decides
In village and small town Jharkhand the same thing happened again and again. A parent gave the child's full name at admission, and a clerk wrote down as much as fitted the column. The family went on using the full name at home, in the gaon and at every social gathering, while the school register, and then the board certificate, carried the short version for the rest of that child's life. Three situations come out of this, and they cost very different amounts.
| What the papers show | What it actually is | The route |
|---|---|---|
| The admission form carried the community surname, the register or certificate dropped it | A correction. Your name never changed, a clerk wrote it short | A board correction through the school, with the attested admission form. No change of name, no gazette in most cases |
| The admission form also says only the short name, and no record of yours ever carried it | A change of name. You are adding something that was never on paper | Gazette, under adopting a different surname or change of name for an adult. The passport rule applies |
| Some papers carry it and others do not, in a mixed way | A mismatch that needs one decision before anything else | Settle which version is the real one, then correct the rest to match it. Often a public notice |
| The surname is there but spelt differently across papers | A spelling matter, not an addition at all | Our tribal surname spelling page covers this. Do not file a change of name for it |
If the admission form comes back carrying the community surname, stop reading about gazettes. You have a correction, it goes through the school and the board, and the full route is on our JAC certificate name correction page. Filing a change of name on a correction case is the most expensive mistake on this subject, because it publishes to the world that your name used to be something else, when in truth it never was.
If it comes back short, or if it cannot be traced at all, you are on the change of name route and the rest of this page is for you.
What Adding a Community Surname Does Not Give You
We have to be plain here, because agents are not. Some people add a community surname believing it opens a door to a caste certificate, a reserved seat or a scholarship. It does not, and building a plan on that belief wastes a gazette fee and several months.
When Adding the Surname Genuinely Does Help
It is not pointless. There are real, practical reasons, and they are about consistency rather than entitlement.
Your certificate already says the full name
If the caste certificate, the voter roll or a land record carries the full name and your school papers do not, you are living with a mismatch. Fixing the school side removes it.
The family record and yours disagree
Where a father's and siblings' papers carry the community surname and yours do not, offices ask questions at verification. Matching them removes the question.
You want your own name on your own papers
This is reason enough on its own. It is your name, it is lawful, and nobody has to justify it to a clerk.
One more honest line. Adding a surname that your family does not actually belong to, in order to claim a benefit, is not a documentation problem, it is a false claim, and it unravels at verification where the enquiry goes to the family record. We do not prepare those files. What this page is about is people putting their own family's name back on their own papers.
Spell the Community Name the Way the Official List Spells It
This is the detail that costs the most and is discussed the least. Once you decide to add the community name, you have to fix one spelling and use it everywhere, and the safest spelling is the one the Scheduled Tribes list for Jharkhand uses, because that is what a certificate office and a verification officer read.
The Tribal Welfare Research Institute, Jharkhand publishes the list of 32 Scheduled Tribes for the state. Read the spellings carefully, because several are not what people write by habit.
| Group | As the official list spells them |
|---|---|
| Most commonly seen in name records | Oraon, Munda, Ho, Santal, Kharia, Bhumij, Bedia, Lohra, Mahli, Chik Baraik, Karmali, Gorait |
| Others on the list | Asur, Baiga, Banjara, Bathudi, Binjhia, Birhor, Birjia, Chero, Gondi, Kanwar, Kharwar, Khond, Kisan, Kora, Kol, Korwa, Mal Paharia, Parhaiya, Sauria Paharia, Sabar |
A related point that decides the route. If the community surname is already on your papers and is only spelt two different ways, this page is not the one you need. That is a spelling correction, it does not need a change of name, and it is covered on our tribal surname spelling correction page. Filing a change of name for a spelling difference swears that you changed your name when you did not.
Which Gazette Category Applies and What the Passport Rule Asks For
Two sets of rules govern a surname addition, and they agree with each other. The Department of Publication decides how the notice is published. Passport services set out, more clearly than anybody else, what proof an office wants afterwards.
The Passport Test, and Why It Is the Clearest One in Indian Documentation
The passport name change rules separate the situations that need no further proof from those treated as a name change. Marriage, remarriage and divorce need no further proof. But a surname addition, a change on attaining adulthood, a revert to a maiden name while not divorced or widowed, and a minor modification are all treated as a name change. For those, the applicant produces a gazette notification, or clippings of two newspapers, together with at least two public or school documents already issued in the desired changed name, so the office can see the new name is genuinely in use. The instruction booklet also tells applicants to declare any change at all, even a marginal one, giving Harvinder to Harjinder and Ritesh to Reetesh as examples.
| Your situation | The category | The requirement that catches people |
|---|---|---|
| Adding the community surname to a name that has none | Guidelines for Adopting different Surname | An affidavit attested by a First Class Magistrate of the concerned area, not a notary |
| The whole name is being reset, not only the surname | Guidelines for Change of Name for Adult (Major) | The proforma is signed in your existing old name, and it asks for your post and your office or company |
| The surname is on the admission form and was dropped later | No gazette category at all | A board correction through the school. Do not publish a change of name |
| The applicant is still under eighteen | Guidelines for Change of Name for Minor | Both parents sign. Waiting until eighteen is not required, and often not wise |
The First Class Magistrate point deserves a plain sentence. Most affidavits in India are sworn before a notary, and for most categories that is enough. The adopting a different surname guidelines are the exception and ask for attestation by a First Class Magistrate of the concerned area, which means a Judicial Magistrate First Class in the district or sub-divisional court in Ranchi, Gumla, Khunti, Chaibasa, Simdega or wherever your area falls. Arrange that visit before anything else is printed, because it sets your timeline. The wording itself is on our surname change affidavit page.
Across every category one rule applies to you whichever one you file under: the documents must not be older than one year, and nothing sent to the Department comes back, original or photocopy. Keep a full set at home before you post anything.
The Order to Add a Community Surname in Jharkhand
The order below exists because the passport rule asks for two documents in the new name. Get the sequence wrong and you wait months for nothing.
Get the school admission form first
Attested, through the school or by RTI. It decides whether you need a gazette at all, and it is free or nearly free to ask for.
Fix the spelling and the position
The exact full name, the exact spelling, the exact spacing, and whether the community name sits at the end or in the middle. Write it down.
Match the family papers
Check your father's and siblings' documents. Where they already carry a spelling, matching it is usually stronger than matching any list.
Get the affidavit attested at the right level
A notary for a change of name, a First Class Magistrate for adopting a different surname. Book the court visit early.
Publish and keep the whole newspaper
The old name, the new one, the father's name and the address. The original paper goes in the file, not a cutting.
Pay on BharatKosh and post the file yourself
No agent, advocate, friend or relative may submit it. Personally or by post or courier only.
Read the published notice the day it appears
Check the community name letter by letter, then download the copy and note the page and issue number.
Update Aadhaar and PAN before anything else
These become your two documents in the new name, which is exactly what the next office will ask to see.
Only then apply for the passport or the rest
With the gazette copy and two papers already carrying the new name. Going earlier is what gets people turned away.
Doing It While the Child Is Still in School Is the Easier Half
Most people find this page at twenty two, with a board certificate already printed and a job application in front of them. If you are reading it as a parent whose child is still in school, you are in a much better position than they are, and it is worth understanding why.
| Question | While still in school | After the certificate is printed |
|---|---|---|
| What has to change | The school register, before the board ever prints anything | The board record, plus every later document, plus a gazette in most cases |
| Who signs | Both parents, under the change of name for minor category | The person themselves, as an adult |
| What the certificate ends up saying | The full name from the start, with nothing to explain later | The old name permanently, with a gazette copy carried alongside it for life |
| Cost | Often just the school and board correction fees | The gazette charge, affidavit, newspaper and postage, then every record updated |
| The hard part | Getting the school to act, which a written request usually solves | Proving two documents already carry the new name before an office will accept it |
Where Several Children in One Family Are Affected
This is common in Jharkhand, because whatever happened at one child's admission usually happened at the next one's too. Two practical points follow.
Agree the spelling once, for everybody
One family, one spelling. Three siblings carrying three versions of the same community name is what raises questions at verification, more than any single spelling ever would.
A public notice can carry several names together
Where the situation is a wrongly written name rather than a change, the Department's proforma itself supports listing several names with their correct versions respectively, which saves a family repeating the same charge.
An adult cannot ride on a family notice
The proforma names a minor son and daughter specifically, so every adult in the family needs their own notice. Plan that rather than discovering it late.
The combined notice route is set out in full on our one public notice for several certificates page, including the honest limit that a single error in a family notice affects everybody named in it.
Central Gazette Process for Adding a Community Surname From Jharkhand, Step by Step
No district in Jharkhand has a gazette counter, so the file goes from Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Hazaribagh, Deoghar or anywhere else in the state to the Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054, and the notice publishes in Part IV of the Gazette of India. As reported in July 2025 the Finance Department stopped personal name change notifications from the Jharkhand Government Press with immediate effect, so there is no state alternative to fall back on.
The Eight Steps of a Surname Addition File Sent From Jharkhand
Settle the final name first
Write it out letter by letter, with the spacing you want, and then use exactly that in every paper. A corrigendum after publication is a second fee and a second wait.
Pick the category, then its proforma
Adopting a different surname where the community name is being added, change of name for an adult where the whole name is being reset, change of name for a minor if the applicant is under eighteen, or no gazette at all where the admission form already carried it. Twelve categories exist and only one is yours.
Type the proforma in duplicate
Two originals, signed in your existing old name, with two witnesses giving signature, full name, address and mobile number on both copies. The adult form also asks for your post and your office or company.
Get the affidavit attested at the right level
A notary for the ordinary change of name, and a First Class Magistrate of the concerned area where the different surname guidelines apply. This is the step that catches people out.
Publish and keep the original paper
One of the daily local leading newspapers, carrying the old name in full, the new one with the community surname, the father's name and the address. The whole original paper goes in the file.
Pay only through BharatKosh
The Non Tax Receipt Portal and nowhere else since October 2018. Select the Department of Publication by name, read the amount the portal shows on the day, pay in your own name and print the e-receipt.
Check every date, then post it yourself
Nothing in the file older than one year. Personally or by post or courier only, never through an agent or advocate. Photocopy everything first, because nothing sent in comes back.
Read the notice, then download it
Check the old name and the new one letter by letter the day it publishes, paying most attention to the community name, note the page and issue number, and download the e-Gazette copy of that Part IV issue.
The Five Papers in the File, and What Is Checked in Each
| The paper | What is checked in it, clause by clause |
|---|---|
| 1. The proforma, in duplicate | That it is the right category's format; the existing full name exactly as your documents carry it, surname included; the new full name with the community surname in the exact position and spelling you settled on; the father's or husband's name; the full address with pin code; the signature in the old name; two witnesses complete with signature, full name, address and mobile number |
| 2. The affidavit or undertaking | Signed by the applicant; the same names and address as the proforma, word for word; attested at the level the category asks for, which is a First Class Magistrate for the different surname route; on Rs 100 non-judicial stamp paper as our safe default |
| 3. The original newspaper | The original paper, not a cutting; the paper's name and date of publication visible; the old name and the new full name both carried; the same spelling as the proforma; dated within the last year |
| 4. Photographs, identity proof and any category paper | Two self-attested passport photographs; identity and address proof matching the proforma address; both witnesses' proofs; and whatever the category itself demands, such as a decree or a no objection certificate where the maiden surname requirement applies |
| 5. The CD, its certificate and the BharatKosh receipt | MS Word, without the witness portion, the old name typed in place of the signature; the certificate that the hard copy and the soft copy are the same; the forwarding letter to the Controller of Publication with a telephone number and email; the e-receipt |
The posting detail is on the sending the file to Delhi page, the wording on the proforma format page, the charge by category on the fee and undertaking page, the reasons files come back on the rejection reasons page, and the download on the download page.
What Adding a Community Surname Costs in Jharkhand
| Item | Cost | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Where the admission form carried it, so it is a correction | The school and board correction fees, plus an RTI application at Rs 10 if the form has to be obtained that way. No change of name charge at all | A few weeks through the school and the board |
| Government printing charge | The Department's guidelines print Rs 1,100 for a change of name of an adult or major for the financial year 2016 to 2017, adding that it varies each financial year and from case to case, and Rs 3,500 for an Indian living abroad. The guidelines also show an additional Rs 250 on top of the Rs 1,100 in certain cases, taking that total to Rs 1,350, and the Department publishes a separate note on where additional charges apply. Which case triggers it is not something we will state from a summary, so read the amount on BharatKosh. A public notice is printed at Rs 1,400 for the same year | Part IV publishes weekly, so allow several weeks from posting |
| Affidavit | Rs 100 non-judicial stamp paper plus the attestation. A First Class Magistrate attestation for the adopting a different surname route costs time more than money | Notary the same day; a magistrate needs a planned court visit |
| Newspaper | Paid to the paper, charged by length | Same week |
| Post or courier to Delhi | Sent in your own name from any district, and keep the receipt | A few days each way |
| Updating the records afterwards | Aadhaar charges a fee per attempt with no refund, and the other offices have their own small charges | Several weeks across all of them |
| Our charge | Quoted on your papers before you pay anything, and confirmed in writing. We print no service price on any page of this site | |
The honest total for a straightforward addition from Jharkhand is the Government charge, the affidavit, the newspaper and the postage, and then several weeks of waiting for Part IV. The cost that surprises people is not any of these. It is the second file, caused by a name settled carelessly at step one, and it is entirely avoidable. Our corrigendum page explains what that second file involves.
Myths About Adding a Community Surname
| What people believe | What is actually so |
|---|---|
| Adding the community surname will get me a caste certificate | It will not. The certificate is issued on your family's community record, your parents' and grandparents' entries and your residence. The Bombay High Court observed in 2016 that a surname change does not change a person's caste, and the same logic applies in reverse to adding one |
| I have to wait until I turn eighteen to do it | No. A minor's name is changed by the parents under the change of name for minor category, and doing it while the child is still in school is usually far easier than doing it afterwards, because the school record can move with it |
| A gazette alone is enough for the passport office | Not on its own for a surname addition. The rules ask for a gazette notification or two newspaper clippings plus at least two public or school documents already issued in the new name. Update Aadhaar and PAN first, then apply |
| The surname is on my admission form, so I still need a gazette | Usually not. If your own earliest record carried it, your name never changed and this is a board correction through the school, not a change of name |
| A notary affidavit works for any surname work | Not for adopting a different surname. Those guidelines ask for an affidavit attested by a First Class Magistrate of the concerned area |
| Santhal and Santal are both fine, so the spelling does not matter | In speech, yes. On documents, no. Once you publish a spelling, that spelling has to appear on every record you hold from then on, and the official list for Jharkhand writes Santal |
| My whole family has to do it together | No. Each person's name is their own. Your father's and siblings' papers stay as they are, and your notice changes nothing for them |
| I can get my old Class 10 certificate reprinted with the new name | Generally no, and generally you do not need to. It was correct when issued. The gazette copy is what joins the old name to the new one at verification |
Key Terms in Adding a Community Surname
| Term | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Community surname | The family or community name such as Oraon, Munda, Ho, Santal or Kharia. In law it is simply a surname, with no special procedure of its own |
| Surname addition | Adding a surname to a name that did not carry one. The passport rules treat it as a name change, not as a minor edit |
| On attaining adulthood | A name change made on turning eighteen. Also treated as a name change, with the same two-document requirement |
| Admission form | The form a parent filled at first admission. The single most useful paper on this subject, because it shows what your name actually was |
| Correction | Bringing a record back to what your own earlier record already said. No change of name file, and no published notice |
| Change of name | Your full name becomes a different name. Adding something no record ever carried falls here |
| Adopting different Surname | The Department's category for taking a surname that is neither on your records nor a maiden surname. Its guidelines ask for a magistrate attested affidavit |
| First Class Magistrate | A judicial officer at the district or sub-divisional court. A higher attestation than a notary, and a planned visit rather than a walk-in |
| Scheduled Tribes list | The published list of 32 tribes for Jharkhand. Useful here for its spellings, not as a source of any entitlement from a name |
| Caste certificate | Issued on the family's community record and residence, not on the surname. Adding a name to yours does not create one |
| Part IV | The part of the Gazette of India that carries personal name notices. Check the copy says Part IV before relying on it |
| Shortcoming | A defect the Department points out in your file. Six months to make it good, after which a fresh application with all new documents is needed |
Community Surname Addition Help Across Jharkhand
The school, the magistrate and the newspaper are in your own district. The admission form check, the spelling decision, the category and the file are done on your scans over WhatsApp, for every district in the state.
District pages are linked from the services page.
Send your papers for a surname addition check
Photograph your Class 10 certificate or admit card, your Aadhaar, and the school admission form if your family still has a copy, because that one paper decides everything here. Tell us the full name you want, spelt exactly as you want it printed. The first reply tells you whether this is a correction or a change of name, which of the Department's categories your file goes under, whether a notary or a First Class Magistrate has to attest the affidavit, and the total before you pay anything. If a caste certificate or a reserved category claim is part of your plan, say so at the start, because we will tell you honestly what a surname does and does not do there. Details on the contact page.
- 📞Call 9540005002
Monday to Saturday, 9 AM to 6 PM - WhatsApp 9540005064
Send your scans here, it is the fastest way - ✉️info@jharkhandnamechange.com
- 📍Ranchi office: Main Building, Near Shaheed Chowk, Ranchi, Jharkhand 834001
- 🏛️Head office (Gazette filing desk): Metro Pillar No. 377, Near Burari Metro Station, Shop No. B-1, Ground Floor, Gali No. 1, Khasra No. 31/12, Hardev Nagar, Jharoda Majra, Burari, Delhi 110084
Adding a Community Surname: Frequently Asked Questions
Can I add my community surname to my name after turning eighteen?
Will adding Oraon, Munda or Santal to my name get me a caste certificate?
Which single document decides whether I need a gazette?
Is a gazette notification alone enough for the passport office?
Should the spelling be Santal or Santhal, Sabar or Savar?
Do I need a notary or a First Class Magistrate for the affidavit?
The surname is on my papers but spelt two different ways. Is that this page?
What does it cost and how long does it take from Jharkhand?
Can I do this for my child who is still in school?
Does my father or my brother have to change their name too?
Where should the community name sit in my full name?
Will my old certificates still be accepted after the change?
Official Sources on Adding a Community Surname
- Passport application instruction bookletThe name rules, the two public or school documents in the changed name, no initials, and a surname running to two words.
- Department of Publication, guidelines for change of nameThe twelve published categories, including the separate guidelines for adopting a different surname and for change of name for an adult and a minor.
- Department of Publication, Government of IndiaThe office at Civil Lines, Delhi 110054, where the file goes.
- Tribal Welfare Research Institute, JharkhandThe list of 32 Scheduled Tribes for the state, used here for the official spellings.
- e-GazetteWhere a published Part IV notice is searched for and downloaded free.
- BharatKosh, Non Tax Receipt PortalThe only channel for the Government charge, and where the amount that applies on the day is shown.
- UIDAI list of supporting documentsWhat Aadhaar accepts when the name is updated after the notice publishes.
Adding a Community Surname in Eight Lines
The short version
- The school admission form decides whether this is a correction or a change of name.
- If that form carried the surname, it is a board correction and no gazette is needed.
- If no record ever carried it, a gazette notice under adopting a different surname applies.
- That category asks for a First Class Magistrate attested affidavit, not a notary.
- The passport rules treat a surname addition as a name change.
- They also want two documents already issued in the new name, so update Aadhaar and PAN first.
- Adding a community surname gives no claim to a caste certificate or a reserved seat.
- Fix one spelling and match the family papers before anything is filed.
Find the admission form first. It decides whether you need a gazette at all.
Send your Class 10 certificate and the admission form if you have it, and we will tell you the route, the category and the total.