If you are a student and/or work study staff, please visit Update Your Personal Info on BC Knowledge for Students for instructions.
Preferred Name Change Request
Preferred names are limited to first and middle names. A preferred last name may not be selected.
A preferred name may be requested for use in college e-mail, and unofficial documents such as college directories, course catalogs, and other internal documents.
Employees are advised that a preferred name will not be used for payroll, benefits, and employment verification purposes.
Self-service to make preferred name changes is not currently available in CUNYfirst. Please submit the Preferred Name Request Form to via Dynamic Forms, BCWebCentral login is required. Alternatively, bring it to the Office of Human Resource Services located at 1219 Boylan Hall.
Legal Name Change Request
Employees must notify Social Security Administration (SSA) of any legal name change and provide an updated copy of the social security card to HRS as soon as possible for payroll purposes. Failure to do so may result in name discrepancies on paycheck/paystub, Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statements, and/or other documents or systems that require an updated Social Security card.
Visit the Change name with Social Security page for the best way to request a replacement Social Security card with your new name.
Staff and faculty are entitled to change records to reflect new or resumed names in accordance with any court ordered legal name change.
CUNY requires LEGAL documentation for any change in legal name.
Please attach two (2) types of appropriate documentation; one type of documentation must be either a marriage certificate, passport, birth certificate, social security card, divorce decree or a court order, the second must be a Photo ID.
Please submit the required documentation and Basic Personnel & Address Information form via Dynamic Forms, BCWebCentral login is required. Alternatively, bring them to the Office of Human Resource Services located at 1219 Boylan Hall.
Typographical/Spelling Errors
Please do not submit a preferred name change form if there is a spelling error in your legal name.
FAQs
- What CUNY applications are affected by changing to a preferred name?
- Changes that require a legal name change:
- CUNYfirst username
- CUNY Login username
- Official university documents
- I have trouble downloading or viewing the forms, what should I do?
HRS recommends that you download the forms to your local computer prior to opening them.
Download/Save the Forms to Your Computer
Saving the PDF file to your local computer can normally be accomplished as follows:
- Right click on the title link (option-click on the Mac will automatically save the file locally).
- Select “Save Target As” or “Save Link As” when presented with a menu.
- I have trouble filling out the forms, what should I do?
Use Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to open the file directly after downloading.
If you have problems with a PDF file you can review the troubleshooting information in Adobe’s support knowledgebase.
Contact
Meitian Luo, Human Resources Specialist, MLuo@brooklyn.cuny.edu