Name Order and Surname First in Documents in Jharkhand
Your Class 10 certificate says Singh Rajesh Kumar. Your Aadhaar says Rajesh Kumar Singh. Read them again and you will see something important: the words are identical. Nothing is misspelt. Nothing is missing. Nothing was shortened. All that happened is that the same three words went into different boxes on different forms. That makes this the easiest of all the name mismatch problems and the one most often sold as the hardest. A field problem is fixed by the counter that typed the fields. It almost never needs an affidavit, and it virtually never needs a gazette. This page shows you how to prove that in one minute and what to say at each office.
Do the word test before you do anything else, because it takes a minute and it decides everything. Write the name from each document on a separate line, then tick off the words one by one. If both lines hold the same words, correctly spelt, none missing and none added, and the only difference is which word comes first, then you do not have a name problem at all. You have a field problem, meaning the same name was typed into different boxes on two different forms. That is not a correction of your name and it is certainly not a change of name, because nothing about your name was ever wrong. Say exactly that at the counter: the words are the same, only the order differs, and here are both documents. Most offices will simply re-enter their own fields against your board certificate. Where an office wants something on file, a plain affidavit saying the two are one and the same person is enough, and you should ask in writing before anybody prepares more than that. The place this stops being simple is a passport, because it has two separate name fields and whatever went into them travels with you, and an overseas checker has no idea that Indian records order names in more than one way. If a visa, an overseas admission or a job abroad is coming, fix the order before the application. And if a word is genuinely missing or misspelt rather than merely moved, this is not your page, and you should start at the spelling or short name pages instead.
The Word Test That Proves a Name Order Difference Is Only a Field Problem
Write the two names one under the other and tick the words off against each other. What you find tells you which page you are on and which office you are going to.
| What the test shows | What it means and where to go |
|---|---|
| Same words, same spellings, none missing, only the order differs. Singh Rajesh Kumar against Rajesh Kumar Singh | A field problem and nothing more. Your name is not wrong on either paper. Take both documents to the office that has the order you do not want and ask it to re-enter its own fields. This is the whole of this page |
| Same order but a word is spelt differently | Not an order problem. That is a spelling matter, and it goes to name spelling correction in Jharkhand, or to tribal surname spelling correction where the word in question is a clan name |
| Same order but a word is missing or abbreviated | Also not an order problem. That belongs on our short name and full name page, and if the word in question is Md. or Mohammad, on the Md and Mohammad page |
| The order differs and a word is also wrong | Two separate matters in one file. Deal with them as separate numbered points in the application, because the order part needs no correction at all and the spelling part does |
| The words are in different fields but print in the same order, for example the surname sitting inside the given name box | Still a field problem, and one that only shows itself on a passport, a ticket or an overseas form where the two fields are read separately. Worth fixing before any of those, not after |
Where Name Order Flips Between Documents, and Why Each One Happens
Nobody set out to write your name backwards. Each of these has a reason, and knowing the reason is what lets you explain it in one sentence at a counter instead of arguing.
| Where it happens | Why, and what to do about it |
|---|---|
| School and board records listed surname first | Registers and result lists are often kept in alphabetical order by surname, and the certificate then prints the name the way the register holds it. This is where most Jharkhand cases begin, and because every later record was copied from the certificate, it is also the one to settle first |
| Aadhaar holds the name as one line | Aadhaar records a name, not a set of separate boxes, so whatever was written on the enrolment form is what it carries. A different order here usually just means a different form was filled by a different person on a different day. The route is on our name change in Aadhaar card page |
| Passport splits the name into two fields | A passport carries a given name and a surname as separate fields. Whichever word went into which box is then printed that way and read that way by every airline, visa desk and university abroad. This is the record where an order difference has the largest consequences and the one to get right before travelling |
| Forms that force first, middle and last | Examination forms, scholarship portals, bank account forms and employer systems all demand three boxes, and a name that does not naturally split into three gets pushed into them differently each time. The same person genuinely fills the same name in two ways across two forms |
| Tickets and boarding passes | Airline systems use first name and last name and match them against the passport. A ticket booked in the everyday order against a passport carrying the other order is a problem on the day of travel, which is the worst possible moment to discover it |
| Old land, revenue and service records | Older registers follow their own conventions, frequently surname first with a prefix. Read them, quote them as they stand, and never alter an old entry to match a new one |
When There Is No Surname, or the Surname Is a Clan Name
A large part of Jharkhand does not carry a surname in the way a form expects one. Some people have a single name and nothing after it. Many others carry a clan or community name that behaves differently from a family surname. A form with three boxes cannot tell the difference, so it forces a choice, and different clerks make that choice differently.
| The situation | What it means for your documents |
|---|---|
| You have one name only, with nothing after it | There is no order to get wrong, but forms with a compulsory surname box create one anyway, sometimes by repeating your name in both boxes and sometimes by leaving one blank. Decide once what those two boxes should hold and use the same answer everywhere. Actually adding a surname is a separate decision altogether, covered on our adding a surname to a single name page |
| Your surname is a clan or community name | It is written in the surname box because that is the only box available, but its spelling and form follow community usage rather than form logic. Do not let an order question turn into a spelling question. The spelling route for these is on our tribal surname spelling correction page |
| A passport with no surname | Where the surname field ends up empty, news reports describe real difficulties for Indians abroad, particularly in the Gulf, where local systems expect a family name, and there have been public calls for an easier way to add one later. We report this as news coverage and not as a rule we have read, and if it affects you, ask the Passport Seva Kendra in writing what your options are before assuming anything |
| A father name used as the second name | Common, and a frequent source of order differences, because some forms treat it as a surname and some as a middle name. The fix is the same: decide once, then be consistent, and never let two offices decide it for you |
| The whole name typed into one box | Harmless inside India and awkward abroad. Check the passport specifically, because that is the record where the two boxes are read separately by people who cannot ask you what you meant |
How to Fix a Name Order Difference in Jharkhand, Step by Step
Do the word test on paper
Write both versions one under the other and tick the words off. If every word matches and only the order differs, you have a field problem, and you can say so with confidence at any counter.
Decide the order you want, once
Including which word goes in the surname box. Write it down exactly as it should appear and keep it on your phone. This one line prevents almost every repeat of the problem.
Take the board certificate as the anchor
Everything later was copied from it, and the Department of Publication itself names the 10th certificate and the birth certificate as proof of an old name. Match the other records to it unless there is a strong reason not to.
Ask the office to re-enter its own fields
In writing, with both documents attached, and with one sentence explaining that the words are identical. Many offices treat this as a data entry correction on their own record and want nothing more.
Add an affidavit only if the office asks
And when it does, the wording is that both forms refer to one and the same person and that no name has been changed. Never sign anything saying you changed your name, because you did not.
Check the passport fields specifically
Look at the given name and surname boxes separately rather than reading the printed line. Whatever sits in those two boxes is what every airline and visa desk will use.
Book tickets in the passport order, always
Not the everyday order. This costs nothing and it prevents the version of this problem that happens at an airport counter, where nobody has time to look at your Class 10 certificate.
Keep a received stamp on every application
On your own copy, every time. Even a simple field correction needs proof that you asked and when.
Where the difference turns out to be more than the order, start at name spelling correction. Where it is showing up at a verification, see name mismatch at document verification, and where the two papers are a JAC marksheet and an Aadhaar, see name mismatch between a JAC marksheet and Aadhaar.
Central Gazette Process for a Name From Jharkhand, and Why a Box Does Not Need One
No district in Jharkhand has a gazette counter, so a genuine 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 name first
Letter by letter, with the spacing you want. This step matters even on a pure order question, because the line you settle is the one every form will copy. A corrigendum after publication is a second fee and a second wait.
Pick the category, then its proforma
Twelve categories exist and none of them is name order. If a genuine spelling error sits alongside the order difference, that part is the public notice for a wrongly written name. If nothing is misspelt, no category applies at all.
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; a change of name is signed in the old name.
Quote each entry exactly as printed
Word for word, in the order the certificate prints them. The proforma supports listing several names or documents with their correct versions respectively, so one notice can cover more than one paper where one is genuinely needed.
Publish and keep the original paper
One of the daily local leading newspapers, the matter showing the details of the case, with 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 every word 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 paper | What is checked in it, clause by clause |
|---|---|
| 1. The proforma, in duplicate | That it is the right category format; the entry quoted exactly as printed on each certificate named; the correct version; the father or husband name; the full address with pin code; the signature in the right name for the category; two witnesses complete with signature, full name, address and mobile number |
| 2. The affidavit or undertaking | The same names and address as the proforma, word for word, and wording that matches the category. On a pure order question there is nothing to undertake, which is the clearest sign that the file does not belong here. 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; 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, in a public notice file, the attested photocopy of the connected document, meaning the certificate carrying the actual error. On an order question there is no such document, because nothing on the certificate is wrong |
| 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 posting detail is on the sending the file to Delhi page, the 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.
What a Name Order Difference Costs in Jharkhand
| Item | Cost | Time |
|---|---|---|
| The office re-enters its own fields, which is how most of these end | Very often nothing, or the office own small charge. This is the honest answer for a pure order question and it is the commonest outcome | Set by the office. We do not print a timeline we have not verified |
| An affidavit, only where an office asks for one | Rs 100 non-judicial stamp paper and the notary charge. Make two originals, because the office keeps the one you hand in. Do not buy it before somebody asks for it | The same day |
| Aadhaar update | Aadhaar charges a fee per attempt with no refund, so decide the final order before you go, not at the counter | Set by the centre |
| Board or school record, where the certificate itself is the one to change | The board or institution own charge, plus Rs 10 for an RTI application where a 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 | Not applicable to a name order difference. No category covers it. The figures exist for real cases: the guidelines print Rs 1,400 for a public notice and Rs 1,100 for an adult change of name for FY 2016 to 2017, each with the caveat that the charge varies each financial year and from case to case. If somebody quotes you either of these for a box, that is the moment to stop | Not applicable |
| Passport re-issue, where the two fields have to be put right | The passport office own charge. We do not print passport charges or timelines we have not verified, and the counter will tell you on the day | Set by the passport office |
| Updating the other records afterwards | PAN, bank and employer have their own small charges, and most treat an order question as a data entry matter | A few 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 | |
This is the cheapest problem on this website and it is quoted as one of the most expensive. If a quotation for a name order difference runs into thousands, ask which letter is wrong before you pay it. Our name change cost page sets out the line items in full.
Send both documents and we will do the word test
Send the two documents that disagree, photographed so the full name line is readable on each. That is usually the Class 10 certificate and the Aadhaar, and if you hold a passport, send the page showing the given name and surname fields separately, because that is the record with the real consequences. Our first reply does the word test for you and tells you plainly whether this is only an order question, in which case no affidavit and no gazette are needed, or whether a word is genuinely misspelt or missing, which is a different route. Where the answer is that you should simply ask the office to re-enter its own fields, we will say so and tell you what to write. 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
Myths About Name Order and Surname First on Documents
| What people are told | What is actually so |
|---|---|
| A different name order needs a gazette change of name | It does not. No letter of your name is wrong, so there is nothing to change and nothing to publish. There is also no category among the Department's twelve for the order in which an office typed your words |
| One order is the legally correct one | Neither is. Registers kept alphabetically print the surname first and forms with three boxes print it last, and both are ordinary record keeping. What matters is that your records agree with each other, not which order wins |
| You need an affidavit before you can even ask | Ask first. Many offices treat this as a data entry correction on their own record and want nothing more than both documents and one sentence. Buy a stamp paper when somebody asks for one, not before |
| Fix Aadhaar first because it is fastest | Aadhaar charges per attempt with no refund, and it will be matched against your board certificate anyway. Settle the order you want first, then go once |
| If it has never caused a problem it never will | Inside India a clerk can see the words match. A visa desk, an airline system or a foreign university cannot, because they do not know Indian records order names in more than one way. The problem appears at the worst possible moment |
| The printed line on the passport is what matters | The two fields matter, not the printed line. Given name and surname are read separately by every system abroad, so check the boxes and not the appearance |
| Book the ticket in the name you normally use | Book it in the passport order, always. This costs nothing and prevents the version of this problem that happens at an airport counter, where nobody will look at your Class 10 certificate |
| A single name means your documents are defective | They are not. A single name is a name. What causes trouble is forms with a compulsory surname box being filled differently by different people. Decide once what those boxes hold and use the same answer everywhere |
Key Terms in a Name Order Case
| Term | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Name order | Which word comes first. Not part of the spelling of your name, and not something any record can get wrong in the way a letter can |
| Field problem | The same words typed into different boxes on two forms. The whole subject of this page, and the reason no correction of your name is needed |
| Word test | Writing both versions one under the other and ticking off the words. If every word matches and only the order differs, you have a field problem |
| Given name | The name field on a passport that holds your personal name. Read separately from the surname field by every system abroad |
| Surname field | The passport field for a family name. It can end up holding a clan name, a father name, or nothing at all |
| Clan or community name | A name that sits in the surname box because that is the only box available, but which follows community usage rather than form logic |
| Single name | A name with nothing after it. Complete in itself, and only made awkward by forms that demand a surname |
| Anchor document | The oldest record carrying your name, usually the Class 10 certificate, which the Department also names as proof of an old name. Match the rest to it |
| One and the same person | The declaration that two versions belong to one person. The only wording an order question ever needs, and only where an office asks |
| Data entry correction | An office putting its own field right against a document you produce. Cheap, quick, publishes nothing, and the usual ending to this problem |
| Change of name | Taking a name you did not have. Emphatically not what a different order is, which is why the change of name wording must never be used here |
| Received stamp | The office acknowledgement on your own copy of the application. Without it, an application never happened |
Name Order Correction Help Across Jharkhand
The school, the board office and the Aadhaar centre are in your own district, and that part is local wherever you live. Doing the word test on your papers, telling you whether this is only an order question, and writing the sentence to put in the application is done on your scans over WhatsApp, for every district in the state.
District pages are linked from the services page.
Name Order and Surname First: Frequently Asked Questions
My marksheet has the surname first and my Aadhaar has it last. Is that a problem?
Do I need a gazette notification to fix the order?
Which order is the legally correct one?
Will a different order stop my passport application?
Do I need an affidavit?
My ticket is in a different order from my passport. What happens?
I have only one name and no surname. How do I fill the boxes?
What happens if my passport has no surname at all?
My surname is a clan name. Does that change anything?
The order is different and one word is also spelt wrongly. Now what?
Should I fix the board certificate or the Aadhaar?
What does it cost to fix a name order difference?
Official Sources on Name Records and Fields
- Department of PublicationThe office that publishes the twelve guideline categories and their proformas, and whose list contains no category for the order in which a name is recorded.
- Passport SevaWhere a passport application is made, where the given name and surname fields are filled, and where to ask in writing about a surname field in your own case.
- Unique Identification Authority of IndiaFor how Aadhaar records a name and what it accepts as proof when an entry is corrected, including the limits on updates.
- Jharkhand Academic CouncilThe board that holds and corrects a Jharkhand school record, where a surname first entry usually originates.
- Bihar School Examination BoardThe board holding the Class 10 record for anyone in this region who sat the examination before 2000.
- The Gazette of IndiaWhere a published notice appears, in Part IV, in the separate cases where one is genuinely required.
- 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.
- JharSewa, the Jharkhand Government service portalWhere Jharkhand certificates are applied for, and where a settled name order has to be carried through consistently.
A Name Order Difference in Eight Lines
The short version
- Do the word test before anything else, and it takes one minute.
- Same words in a different order means nothing about your name is wrong.
- That makes it a field problem, fixed by the office that typed the fields.
- No gazette category covers the order of your words, so none is needed.
- Neither order is the legally correct one, so pick the board certificate.
- Check the passport as two separate fields, not as a printed line.
- Book every ticket in the passport order, never the everyday order.
- Ask the office in writing before anybody buys a stamp paper.
Send the two documents that disagree and we will do the word test for you.
If only the order differs, we will tell you so and tell you what to write to the office. If a word is genuinely wrong, we will tell you that too, and which route it actually needs.