Three separate questions stacked on one name • Decide once, then make every record agree • Nothing to do with a change of religion

Md, Mohd and Mohammad Name Spelling in Documents in Jharkhand

Your Class 10 marksheet says Md. Shahid. Your Aadhaar says Mohammad Shahid. Your passport says Mohammed Shahid. Three papers, three forms, one person, and a scholarship counter or a visa desk that stops at the first line. This is not one problem, it is three stacked on top of each other: the word is abbreviated on some papers, spelt differently on others, and sometimes missing altogether. Each of the three has its own answer, and mixing them up is why families go round in circles. This page separates them, tells you which form to keep, and says plainly where an affidavit is enough and where it is not.

📞 Call 9540005002 WhatsApp 9540005064 The three questions

3Separate questions on one name

1Form to settle on, and settle once

0Officially correct English spellings

0Connection to the change of religion category

Reviewed by the Jharkhandnamechange.com documentation desk • Updated 21 September 2026

Quick answer

Separate the three questions before you do anything, because each has a different answer. One, is it abbreviated? Md. and Mohd. are short forms of the same word written out in full. Expanding a short form is adding back, not changing, and at many counters an affidavit plus a record carrying the full word settles it without any published notice. Two, which spelling? Mohammad, Mohammed, Muhammad and Mohamad are all honest English spellings of one Arabic original. There is no officially correct English spelling to appeal to, and the name is described as having one of the highest numbers of English spelling variants in the world. So the form your papers must use is not the one you prefer, it is the one your Class 10 certificate carries. Three, is it there at all? This is the question nobody asks. On some records the word is present and on others it is not, because some counters treat it as part of the name and others treat it as a title in front of the name and quietly drop it. You must decide which it is for you, write that decision down, and then make every record agree. Practically, because the word is so common that South Asia abbreviates it as a matter of course, the name that actually identifies you is usually the second one. And one thing to put out of your mind straight away: none of this has anything to do with a change of religion, which is a separate category altogether and is not what a spelling or abbreviation question touches.

Separate them first

Three Different Questions Stacked on One Name, and Why They Need Different Answers

Md Mohd and Mohammad name spelling in documents in Jharkhand — Abbreviated, spelt differently, or missing. Three problems that look like one.

Most people describe this as a single complaint, that the name is different on every paper. It is three separate things happening to the same word, and a file that does not say which one it is gets drafted wrongly.

The three separate questions behind an Md, Mohd and Mohammad document difference
The question	What it is and what it needs
1. Abbreviation. Md. Shahid on the marksheet, Mohammad Shahid on the Aadhaar	A short form of the same word. Writing it out in full is adding back, not changing, so this sits on the correction side. Many counters accept an affidavit that the short form stands for the full word, with a record carrying the full word attached
2. Spelling. Mohammad on one paper, Mohammed on another, Muhammad on a third	A transliteration difference. All are honest English spellings of one original, and there is no official correct one. Pick the form your oldest board record carries and bring everything else to it
3. Presence. The word is on some records and absent from others	The hardest and least discussed of the three. It happens because some counters treat the word as part of the name and others as a title in front of it. You have to decide which it is for you, and then be consistent everywhere
Where it sits in the fields, for example the whole thing typed into the surname box, or Md and the given name run together as one word	A field problem, not a spelling one, and usually fixed at the counter that typed it. Worth spotting separately, because an application about spelling will not correct a box
The women's prefixes. Mst. or Musammat on older records in this belt	Read it the same way as Md. It is a prefix on the record rather than a given name, and the same decision applies: settle whether it stays, then be consistent. Older Bihar and Jharkhand records carry these far more often than new ones

This has nothing to do with a change of religion. Some families hesitate to touch these papers at all, worrying that an application about the word Mohammad will be read as something bigger. It will not. The Department of Publication keeps change of religion as its own separate category, and an abbreviation or a spelling question does not go near it. What you have is a short form, a transliteration or a missing element, and it is handled like any other spelling matter on this site.

Why this name in particular carries so many forms. It is described as having one of the highest numbers of English spelling variants in the world, because it is a transliteration of an Arabic original and every language and region has rendered it differently. It is also so common that South Asia abbreviates it as a matter of course, which is exactly why the name that actually identifies a person is usually the second one. Offices know this instinctively, which is why some of them drop the first element without asking you.

The deciding question

Is Md Part of Your Name or a Title in Front of It

This is the question that decides whether your papers ever stop disagreeing, and almost nobody puts it to the family plainly. A counter that reads Md. as a title, like Shri or Mr, will leave it out of the field. A counter that reads it as part of the name will type it in. Both counters think they are being correct. You end up with two sets of records and neither clerk did anything wrong.

How different offices treat Md at the start of a name and what follows from it
Where it comes up	What tends to happen and what to do about it
School and board records	Usually written exactly as the admission form had it, which is where the abbreviation most often entered your file in the first place. Because everything later was copied from here, this is the record to read first and the one to treat as the anchor
Aadhaar and PAN	These follow whatever document was produced at application, so they often carry the full word where the board carries the short one. That is how the commonest version of this mismatch is born
Passport	The name is split into given name and surname fields, and how the first element lands in those fields matters. This is where an unresolved difference is most likely to be questioned, and it is the record hardest to argue with afterwards
Scholarship portals, examination forms and recruitment verification	These compare fields letter by letter against the certificate, so a difference that no human would ever question can still stop a form. This is where most people first discover they have the problem at all
Bank accounts and service records	Generally the most flexible, and usually corrected on their own record against a board certificate and an affidavit. Do these last, not first
Old land and revenue papers	Older records in this belt carry prefixes freely, including Mst. or Musammat for women. Read them as prefixes on the record and never alter an old entry to match a new one

Decide it once, in writing, before you apply anywhere. Write down the full form of your name exactly as you want it to read everywhere, including whether the first element stays and whether it is written in full. Then use only that. The single commonest reason these files run for years is that the family never made the decision, so each application is made in whatever form the last clerk used, and the file spreads instead of closing.

Our practical position, and the reason for it. Where your board certificate carries the element, keep it and write it out in full everywhere. Where your board certificate does not carry it at all, think hard before adding it, because adding a word no old record carries is a harder case than keeping one that is already there. Either way the test is the same test as on our short name and full name page: adding back what a record already carries is a correction, taking something no record gave you is not.

The spelling

Mohammad, Mohammed or Muhammad: Which Spelling to Keep on Your Documents

People ask us which of these is correct, expecting a rule. There is no rule to give, and anybody who tells you there is one is selling something. All of them are honest English spellings of a single Arabic original, and the name carries one of the highest numbers of English spelling variants in the world for exactly that reason. What your file needs is not the correct spelling. It needs one spelling, used everywhere.

How to choose which English spelling of the name to keep across documents
The rule	Why it is the rule
1. Take the spelling on your Class 10 certificate	Because every later record was copied from it, and because the Department of Publication itself names the 10th certificate and the birth certificate as proof of an old name. A verification desk reaches for the same paper
2. Write it out in full rather than abbreviated	A full word can always be matched to a short form by anyone. A short form cannot always be matched to a full word without explanation. Full is the safer direction to standardise in, particularly if a passport or an overseas application is anywhere in your future
3. Do not chase the passport spelling backwards	If the passport differs from the board certificate, the instinct is to change everything to match the passport, because the passport feels most official. The board record is the older one, and it is the one other offices check against. Fix the direction of travel first
4. Count the records only to size the job	Knowing that seven papers carry one spelling and two carry another tells you how much work each choice means. It does not decide which is right. One old board certificate outranks five later copies
5. Do not change the second name while you are at it	The second name is the one that actually identifies you. Adjusting it at the same time as the first element turns a spelling file into a change of name, with a different form and a different burden
6. Write the final version out letter by letter	Including the spacing, any full stop, and whether it is one word or two. Then use exactly that on every form. An application typed from memory undoes the whole exercise

The trap at a visa or overseas admission desk. A passport reading one spelling against a degree or marksheet reading another is questioned far more often than the same difference inside India, because the checker has no idea that these are the same name. If study, work or travel abroad is coming, settle this before the application and not during it. Our page on name mismatch at document verification covers what to carry on the day.

The sentence that explains it in one line. "Md. is the standard short form of Mohammad, and Mohammad and Mohammed are two English spellings of the same name. Here is my Class 10 certificate, which is the oldest record, and here is my affidavit." Said once, with the papers in hand, this settles more counters than any file. The general spelling position is on our name spelling correction page, and the test that separates a correction from a change of name is on our correction against change of name page.

Do it in this order

How to Fix an Md and Mohammad Difference in Jharkhand, Step by Step

List every paper and which of the three it shows

Abbreviated, differently spelt, or missing the element altogether. Write the three columns out. Most families have never seen their own problem laid out this way and the answer is usually obvious once they do.

Read the school admission record

This is where the abbreviation almost always entered the file, and where the board copied it from. Ask the school in writing for an attested copy of the admission form and register page if you do not hold one.

Make the decision and write it down

Full form or short, which spelling, element kept or not. One line, on paper, settled once. Every later step just carries out this sentence.

Ask each office in writing what it needs

Many accept an affidavit that the short form stands for the full word, with the board certificate attached, and never ask for a published notice. That letter can save the entire gazette step.

Use the right words in the affidavit

That Md. stands for Mohammad, that the two spellings are one and the same person, and that no name has been changed. Quote each entry exactly as printed, full stops and spacing included.

Correct the board record first where the board is the odd one out

Everything later was copied from it. Doing Aadhaar or the bank first means doing them twice, and Aadhaar charges per attempt with no refund.

Bring the passport in line deliberately

Not by accident and not last. If travel or an overseas application is coming, the passport and the certificates have to agree before the application, because afterwards the questions are asked by somebody who cannot read either script.

Keep a received stamp on every application

On your own copy, every time. This file usually touches the board, the school, Aadhaar, PAN, the bank and sometimes the passport office before it is finished.

Step 3 is the whole page. Almost every long running version of this problem is a family that never decided. Somebody writes Md. on one form because the marksheet says so, and Mohammad on the next because the Aadhaar says so, and each honest choice makes the file wider. Decide once, write it down, and hand that line to anybody filling a form for you.

The affidavit rules are on our name change affidavit page, the education route on the education documents page, and the published notice route on the public notice for a wrongly written name page.

The full process

Central Gazette Process for a Name From Jharkhand, and Which Category an Abbreviation Uses

Read this before the rest of this section. An abbreviation or a spelling difference almost never needs a gazette. Most offices correct their own record against a board certificate and an affidavit. Where a receiving office does insist on a published notice, the category is the Notification of Public Notice for a name wrongly written, and not the change of name category, whose undertaking says henceforth be known as, a statement that is not true of you. It is also not the change of religion category, which the Department keeps entirely separately and which has nothing to do with a short form or a spelling. The process is printed in full so you can see what a real file contains and recognise at once when the wrong one is being prepared for you.

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 Name File Sent From Jharkhand

Settle the final form first

Full word or short form, which spelling, and whether the element stays at all. Write it out letter by letter with the spacing and any full stop, 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

For an abbreviation or a spelling this is the public notice for a wrongly written name, whose proforma opens "HAS BEEN WRONGLY WRITTEN AS". Twelve categories exist and only one is yours.

Type the proforma in duplicate

Two originals with two witnesses giving signature, full name, address and mobile number on both copies. A public notice is signed in your own name, because nothing is changing.

Quote each entry exactly as printed

Full stops, spacing and all, from each certificate named. The proforma supports listing several names or documents with their correct versions respectively, so one notice can cover the marksheet, the Aadhaar and the bank together.

Publish and keep the original paper

One of the daily local leading newspapers, the matter showing the details of the case, carrying both forms in full, the father or husband name and the address. The whole original paper goes in the file, not a cutting.

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 both forms letter by letter the day it publishes, 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 five papers of a Central Gazette public notice file for a wrongly written name and what the Department checks in each
The paper	What is checked in it, clause by clause
1. The proforma, in duplicate	That it is the public notice format and not the change of name one; the wrong form quoted exactly as printed on each certificate named, full stops included; the correct form; the father or husband name; the full address with pin code; the certificate that other legal requirements have been complied with; two witnesses complete with signature, full name, address and mobile number
2. The undertaking	Signed by the applicant, carrying the correct and the wrong form, the father or husband name and the address, matching the proforma word for word; on Rs 100 non-judicial stamp paper as our safe default
3. The original newspaper	The original paper, not a cutting; the paper name and date of publication visible; both forms carried; the matter showing the details of the case; dated within the last year
4. Photographs, identity proof and the connected document	Two self attested passport photographs; self attested identity and address proof matching the proforma address; both witnesses proofs; and the attested photocopy of the connected document, meaning the certificate that actually carries the wrong form. That last paper is the one a change of name file never needs and a public notice file always does
5. The CD, its certificate and the BharatKosh receipt	MS Word, without the witness portion, with the 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 proforma is where files are lost, and there are twelve to choose from. An abbreviation typed on the change of name form declares henceforth be known as, which claims a change you never made. The Government charge already paid is not refunded, because BharatKosh payments are non-refundable. You then have six months to make good a shortcoming the Department points out, after which a fresh application with all new documents is required.

What to select on BharatKosh, field by field. Pay to the Department of Publication under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and pick the Ministry, the Pay and Accounts Office and the Drawing and Disbursing Officer by their names in the dropdown, never by a code copied off a website. The codes printed for this office on different websites do not agree with each other, and money paid into the wrong head cannot be traced to your file. Read the amount on the portal on the day you pay, because it is revised each financial year.

How to read the published notice before you rely on it. Open the e-Gazette copy and check five things: that it says Part IV; the date of publication; the wrong form exactly as your certificate carries it, full stops and all; the correct form, letter by letter; and the father or husband name and address. Then note the page number and the issue number, because that is what an office will quote back to you at verification.

The posting detail is on the sending the file to Delhi page, the exact wording on the public notice 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.

Cost and time

What Fixing an Md and Mohammad Difference Costs in Jharkhand

Cost and time for correcting an Md, Mohd and Mohammad difference across documents in Jharkhand
Item	Cost	Time
An affidavit that the short form stands for the full word, accepted at many counters	Rs 100 non-judicial stamp paper and the notary charge, and nothing more. No publication and no gazette. Make two originals, because the office keeps the one you hand in	The same day
Office corrects its own record against the board certificate	The office own charge. We do not print office charges we have not verified	Set by the office. We do not print a timeline we have not verified
Board or school correction	The board or institution own charge, plus Rs 10 for an RTI application where an admission register page has to be obtained that way. We never print the JAC correction fee, because the figures circulating online belong to other boards	Set by the board
Government printing charge, only where a published notice is asked for	The guidelines print Rs 1,400 for a public notice for FY 2016 to 2017, against Rs 1,100 for an adult change of name, and every category adds that the charge varies each financial year and from case to case. Treat these as the order of the amount. What BharatKosh shows on the payment screen the day you pay is the figure that counts	Part IV publishes weekly, so allow several weeks from posting
Newspaper, in a published case only	Paid to the paper, charged by length. One original advertisement is what the guidelines ask for, and a second paper is office practice rather than a stated rule	Same week
Post or courier to Delhi, in a published case only	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 PAN, bank, passport and the rest have their own 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

Do not trust a figure printed on any website, including this one, on the day you pay. The Department own guidelines say the printing charge varies each financial year and from case to case, so the figures above are what the published guidelines show for 2016 to 2017 and are given so you know the order of the amount, not the amount. What BharatKosh shows when you reach the payment screen is the one that counts. Read it there and pay that.

The cheap version of this problem, which is most of them, is an affidavit explaining that the short form stands for the full word. The expensive version is a full published file prepared because nobody asked the receiving office the question first. Our name change cost page sets out the line items in full.

Send the papers and we will sort the three

Send the Class 10 and Class 12 certificates first, because the abbreviation almost always entered your file at school admission and everything later was copied from there. Then the school admission form if the family kept a copy, the birth certificate, Aadhaar, PAN, the bank passbook page and the passport if you hold one. Our first reply separates the three questions for you: which papers are abbreviated, which are spelt differently, and which are missing the element altogether. Then we tell you which form your own papers point to and whether any office in your list will need a published notice at all. Where an affidavit will do it, we will say so. Details on the contact page.

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Set the record straight

Myths About Md and Mohammad on Documents

Common beliefs about Md, Mohd and Mohammad on documents and what is actually correct
What people are told	What is actually so
One of Mohammad, Mohammed and Muhammad is the officially correct spelling	None of them is. All are honest English spellings of one original, and the name carries one of the highest numbers of English spelling variants in the world. Your file does not need the correct spelling, it needs one spelling used everywhere
Md. and Mohammad are two different names	They are the same word, short and full. Writing it out is an expansion, which is adding back rather than changing, and it sits on the correction side of every route on this site
Touching this will be treated as a change of religion	It will not. The Department of Publication keeps change of religion as its own separate category. A short form or a spelling question does not go near it, and nobody should price it as though it does
The passport spelling is the official one, so change everything to match it	The passport is not the oldest record. The board certificate is, and it is the one other offices check against. Work out the direction of travel before you start, because fixing it backwards means doing the whole file twice
It is only a title, so it does not matter if some papers leave it out	It matters at exactly the counters that hurt: scholarship portals, examination forms, recruitment verification and visa desks, which compare letter by letter. Decide whether it stays, then make every record agree
A gazette is needed whenever two papers differ	Almost never for this. Most offices correct on their own record against a board certificate and an affidavit. Where a notice is genuinely required it is the public notice category, not change of name
Fix the first element and the second name together while the file is open	The second name is the one that actually identifies you. Touching it at the same time turns a spelling file into a change of name, with a different proforma and a different proof burden
Older records with Mst. or Musammat are wrong and should be altered	They are prefixes on an old record, written the way records were written then. Never alter an old entry to match a new one. Read it, explain it in the application, and leave it as it stands

The one line that ends most of these conversations at a counter. "Md. is the standard short form of Mohammad, and both papers are the same person. Here is the Class 10 certificate and here is the affidavit." Most clerks know this perfectly well and only need something on file to point at. Give them that, rather than a complaint.

Plain meanings

Key Terms in an Md and Mohammad Document Case

Key terms used when Md, Mohd and Mohammad differ across documents
Term	What it means in practice
Abbreviation	A short form of a word, such as Md. or Mohd. for Mohammad. Writing it out is an expansion and not a change
Expansion	Writing a short form out in full, where the letters stand for the same word. The correction side of this page
Transliteration	Writing a name from one script into another by its sound. The reason Mohammad, Mohammed and Muhammad all exist side by side
Variant spelling	One of several honest English renderings of a single original. No office ranks them, so consistency matters more than choice
Prefix or honorific	A word placed before a name, which some counters record and others drop. Md. is read this way by some offices, and Mst. or Musammat on older records in this belt are read the same way
Anchor document	The oldest record carrying your name, usually the Class 10 certificate, which the Department also names as proof of an old name. Whatever it says is the case you can make
Stands for	The wording an affidavit uses for an expansion, as in Md. stands for Mohammad. The right phrase, because nothing is being changed
One and the same person	The declaration that two forms of a name belong to one person. The line an office actually needs from your affidavit
Wrongly written name	The Department of Publication category for a name written incorrectly on a record. Its proforma opens "HAS BEEN WRONGLY WRITTEN AS"
Change of religion	A wholly separate Department category, which a spelling or abbreviation question does not involve in any way
Connected document	The attested photocopy of the certificate carrying the wrong form. A public notice file always needs it and a change of name file never does
Received stamp	The office acknowledgement on your own copy of the application. Without it, an application never happened

Coverage

Name Spelling Correction Help Across Jharkhand

The school, the board office and the notary are in your own district, and that part is local wherever you live. Separating the three questions on your papers, telling you which form your own records point to, and drafting the exact wording is done on your scans over WhatsApp, for every district in the state.

RanchiJamshedpurDhanbadBokaroHazaribaghDeogharGiridihDumkaRamgarhMedininagarChaibasaGumlaKhuntiSimdegaGarhwaKoderma

District pages are linked from the services page.

FAQ

Md, Mohd and Mohammad Name Spelling: Frequently Asked Questions

My marksheet says Md. Shahid and my Aadhaar says Mohammad Shahid. Is that a problem?+

It is a question rather than a problem, but it does have to be answered before a scholarship portal, an examination form or a verification stops on it. Md. is the standard short form of Mohammad, so writing it out is an expansion, not a change. An affidavit saying the short form stands for the full word, with the board certificate attached, settles it at many counters.

Which is the correct spelling, Mohammad, Mohammed or Muhammad?+

None of them is officially correct and none is officially wrong. All are honest English spellings of one original, and the name is described as having one of the highest numbers of English spelling variants in the world. What your file needs is one spelling used everywhere, and the one to keep is whatever your Class 10 certificate carries.

My passport says Mohammed and my marksheet says Mohd. Will that stop a visa or admission?+

It is questioned far more often abroad than inside India, because the checker has no idea these are the same name. Settle it before the application, not during it. Carry the Class 10 certificate as the oldest record, plus an affidavit stating that the short form stands for the full word and that both refer to one and the same person.

Is Md part of my name or just a title?+

Offices differ, which is exactly why your papers differ. Some counters record it as part of the name and some treat it as a title and leave it out, and both think they are being correct. You have to decide which it is for you, write that decision down, and then make every record agree with it.

Does correcting this count as a change of religion?+

No, and nobody should tell you otherwise. The Department of Publication keeps change of religion as its own separate category. A short form, a spelling variant or a missing prefix is a spelling matter and is handled exactly like any other one on this site.

Should I write the name in full everywhere or keep the short form?+

Our practical position is to write it out in full, because a full word can always be matched to a short form by anybody, while a short form needs explaining. That is especially true if a passport or an overseas application is anywhere in your future. The exception is where your board certificate carries something else, in which case the board record leads.

Do I need a gazette notification for this?+

Usually not. Most offices correct a spelling or an abbreviation on their own record against a board certificate and an affidavit. Where a receiving office genuinely insists on a published notice, the category is the Notification of Public Notice for a wrongly written name, not change of name. Ask the office in writing first, because that letter can save the whole step.

Where do I start if every paper is different?+

At the school admission record, because that is where the abbreviation almost always entered your file and where the board copied it from. Ask the school in writing for an attested copy of the admission form and the register page. Then correct the board record if the board is the odd one out, and work outwards to Aadhaar, PAN and the bank.

What should the affidavit actually say?+

That Md. stands for Mohammad on the named certificate, that the forms appearing on the named documents refer to one and the same person, and that no name has been changed. Quote each entry exactly as printed, full stops and spacing included. Never say you changed your name, because you did not.

My old family papers say Mst. or Musammat before my mother name. Should I get that removed?+

No. Those are prefixes on an old record, written the way records were written then, and an old entry should never be altered to match a newer one. Read it, explain it in the covering application if an office asks, and leave the original as it stands. The same reading applies to it as to Md.

Can I fix the first element and my surname at the same time?+

Keep them as separate numbered clauses if both are genuinely spelling matters, and be careful. The second name is the one that actually identifies you, so changing it is not a spelling correction at all. Mixing the two in one clause turns an easy file into a change of name, with a different proforma and a different burden.

What does it cost to fix this?+

Where an affidavit is accepted, a stamp paper and a notary charge, and nothing more. Where an office has to correct its own record, that office own charge, which we do not print because we have not verified it everywhere, and we never print the JAC correction fee. Only where a published notice is genuinely required does the Government printing charge come in, read off BharatKosh on the day you pay.

Who wrote and checked this page

Written and maintained by the Jharkhandnamechange.com documentation desk, led by founder Vipin Chauhan, B.Tech LL.B, with 5+ years filing with the Department of Publication. The category position is taken from the Department of Publication's own published guidelines, whose public notice proforma opens with a declaration that a name "HAS BEEN WRONGLY WRITTEN AS", against the change of name undertaking reading "I (old name) HENCEFORTH BE KNOWN AS"; the Department publishes twelve separate categories and keeps change of religion as one of its own, which is why this page states plainly that a spelling or abbreviation question does not touch it. The Department also names the 10th certificate and the birth certificate as proof of an old name, which is why this page treats the Class 10 certificate as the anchor. That the name carries one of the highest numbers of English spelling variants in the world, that the variants arise from romanising an Arabic original, and that South Asia commonly abbreviates it as Md. or Mohd. because of how widespread it is, are taken from a reference work rather than any Government record, and we present them as background and not as a rule any office applies. The three-way split of this problem, the part of the name against title question, and our preference for writing the word out in full are our own working framework from handling these files, not a published Government classification, and no office is bound by them. We have deliberately not printed any rule about how a passport counter handles a prefix in the given name and surname fields, because we have not verified one, and the page tells the reader to ask the Passport Seva Kendra in writing instead. We do not print the JAC correction fee or any board timeline, and we do not print office or notary charges we have not verified. We are a documentation consultancy and not advocates. Who we are is on the about page.

Last reviewed 21 September 2026 • 9540005002 • info@jharkhandnamechange.com • Jharkhandnamechange.com is a private documentation consultancy and is not the Department of Publication, the Controller of Publication, a court, a law firm or any Government office. This page is general information, not legal advice.

Verify it yourself

Official Sources on Name Spelling and Categories

Department of PublicationThe office that publishes the twelve guideline categories and their proformas, including the public notice for a wrongly written name and the separate change of religion category.
The Gazette of IndiaWhere a published notice appears, in Part IV, and where it can be searched and downloaded afterwards.
BharatKosh, the Non Tax Receipt PortalThe only route for the Government printing charge since October 2018, and the only place the amount of the day can be read.
Jharkhand Academic CouncilThe board that holds and corrects a Jharkhand school record, where an abbreviation on a certificate has to be put right.
Bihar School Examination BoardThe board holding the Class 10 record for anyone in this region who sat the examination before 2000.
Passport SevaWhere a passport application is made, and where to ask in writing how a prefix is handled in the given name and surname fields.
Unique Identification Authority of IndiaFor what Aadhaar accepts as proof when a name is corrected, and the limits on how often a name may be updated.
Muhammad as a given nameA reference work, not a Government record, for the number of English spelling variants, the romanisation of the Arabic original, and the South Asian use of Md. and Mohd.

Quick Summary

An Md and Mohammad Difference in Eight Lines

The short version

Three separate questions sit on one name, so separate them first.
Md and Mohd are short forms, and writing them out is adding back.
Mohammad, Mohammed and Muhammad are all valid, so there is nothing to appeal to.
Decide once whether the first element stays, and write the decision down.
Keep the form your Class 10 certificate carries, and prefer the full word.
Do not chase the passport spelling backwards onto older records.
This has nothing to do with the change of religion category.
An affidavit that the short form stands for the full word settles most counters.

Send your certificates and we will separate the three questions for you in one reply.

Which papers are abbreviated, which are spelt differently, and which are missing the element altogether. Then one form to use everywhere, and the exact wording for the affidavit.

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