Is it possible to amend name in my birth certificate in North Carolina?

Full question:

My birth certificate has my middle initial but my social security card doesn't. Can I still receive an ID card? Or is it possible to change name in my birth certificate?

• Category: Vital Records
• Subcategory: Birth Certificates
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: North Carolina

Answer:

In North Carolina, for the amendment of a certificate of birth an application has to file before the State Registrar with a fee not to exceed fifteen dollars ($ 15.00) to be paid by the applicant. When a new certificate of birth is made, the State Registrar shall substitute the new certificate for the certificate of birth then on file, and shall forward a copy of the new certificate to the register of deeds of the county of birth.

The statute in this regard has given below:

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 130A-118 
Amendment of birth and death certificates
   (a) After acceptance for registration by the State Registrar, no record made in accordance with this Article shall be altered or changed, except by a request for amendment. The State Registrar may adopt rules governing the form of these requests and the type and amount of proof required.
(b) A new certificate of birth shall be made by the State Registrar when:
   (1) Proof is submitted to the State Registrar that the previously unwed parents of a person have intermarried subsequent to the birth of the person;
   (2) Notification is received by the State Registrar from the clerk of a court of competent jurisdiction of a judgment, order or decree disclosing different or additional information relating to the parentage of a person;
   (3) Satisfactory proof is submitted to the State Registrar that there has been entered in a court of competent jurisdiction a judgment, order or decree disclosing different or additional information relating to the parentage of a person; or
   (4) A written request from an individual is received by the State Registrar to change the sex on that individual's birth record because of sex reassignment surgery, if the request is accompanied by a notarized statement from the physician who performed the sex reassignment surgery or from a physician licensed to practice medicine who has examined the individual and can certify that the person has undergone sex reassignment surgery.
(c) A new birth certificate issued under subsection (b) may reflect a change in surname when:
   (1) A child is legitimated by subsequent marriage and the parents agree and request that the child's surname be changed; or
   (2) A child is legitimated under G.S. 49-10 and the parents agree and request that the child's surname be changed, or the court orders a change in surname after determination that the change is in the best interests of the child.
(d) For the amendment of a certificate of birth or death after its acceptance for filing, or for the making of a new certificate of birth under this Article, the State Registrar shall be entitled to a fee not to exceed fifteen dollars ($ 15.00) to be paid by the applicant.
(e) When a new certificate of birth is made, the State Registrar shall substitute the new certificate for the certificate of birth then on file, and shall forward a copy of the new certificate to the register of deeds of the county of birth. The copy of the certificate of birth on file with the register of deeds, if any, shall be forwarded to the State Registrar within five days. The State Registrar shall place under seal the original certificate of birth, the copy forwarded by the register of deeds and all papers relating to the original certificate of birth. The seal shall not be broken except by an order of a court of competent jurisdiction. Thereafter, when a certified copy of the certificate of birth of the person is issued, it shall be a copy of the new certificate of birth, except when an order of a court of competent jurisdiction shall require the issuance of a copy of the original certificate of birth.