Now your little one is part of the family, it’s time to make it official and tell the world his or her name.  New parents are required by law to register their baby’s birth, so here’s what you need to do.

Your baby must be registered in the district where the birth took place. This can often be done at hospital before the mother goes home, otherwise it will require a personal visit to a register office.

Legal requirements

You must register the birth of your baby within 42 days of the birth in England and Wales, and 21 days in Scotland. If you can’t go to the district where your baby was

born you can go to another office (still within 42 days) and the registrar will send your details to the appropriate district office. If the baby was born within England and Wales however, it must be registered within England and Wales. The same applies for Scotland.

A birth which takes place in England can only be registered in English, but births in Wales may be registered bilingually in English and Welsh. To do this, the details must be given in Welsh and the registrar must be able to understand and write Welsh.

Register office opening hours will vary from one district to another and most operate an appointment system.

Who should register the birth?

If the parents of the child were married at the time of birth or conception, then either parent can register the birth on their own. If this wasn’t the case, then they need to  decide whether or not they want the father’s name and details on the register.

There are also ways to have a parent’s name included on the register even if they cannot attend at the register office. For more information, use the link at the bottom of this article.

Parental responsibility

Having parental responsibility for a child means that you are legally responsible for making decisions about your child’s life: for example on medical care and education. Married parents automatically have joint parental responsibility for their children, but this isn’t the case for unmarried parents.

After registering your baby

You will receive a short birth certificate and a registration document that you will need to complete and take to your local doctor’s surgery. Registering your child with a doctor without this registration document may be difficult, and you will need the birth certificate for a number of reasons including applying for Child Benefit.

For details on the differences on how this issue is handled across the UK, visit the information pages on Northern Ireland and Scotland by using the link below.

Information on naming ceremonies

Parents now have the option to have a naming ceremony for their child. This is a non-religious ceremony which celebrates the birth of a child and/or welcomes new children into the family (such as adopted children).

The parents can also nominate adults to support their child - a bit like nominating a godfather and godmother at a christening - although naming ceremonies have no legal standing.

A birth certificate must be produced at the time of booking the ceremony with your local council.

Local information on registering a birth

The link below will let you enter details of where you live and then take you to your local authority website where you can find out more.

For more information on registering and naming your baby, visit directgov.uk