How to change name on birth certificate in Kenya

Change of name of a child whose birth has already been registered can only be done before 2 years from the birth of the child but not after more than 2 years. If the child is older than 2 years and a name had already been inserted in the birth register of that particular child, then no change of name can take place, nonetheless you can add a name on already existing names but you cannot remove a name from the birth register.

 Upon receiving a formal application of birth certificate filled in form B4, the Principal Civil Registrar shall search for the particular birth record for assessment in their registry as the custodian of birth records either for payment or late registration.
In the service charter of department of civil registration the fees payable for various services ranges from Kshs.5O to a maximum of Kshs. l 50 as provided by the Principal Civil Registrar. However, the above covers only the fees directly payable to the Principal Civil Registrar without mentioning other additional costs which must be met first before seeking the services of their office.
In practice members of the public in Nairobi District who apply for services at the District Civil Registrar’s office at Sheria House pay additional Kshs.200 to City Council of Nairobi as search fees for their birth records. Therefore as applicants in all other districts all over the country pay a maximum of Ksh.l50 to be issued with birth certificates, Nairobi district applicants pay additional Kshs.200 to City Council of Nairobi making the total fee payable for a birth certificate at Kshs.350.
The double payment for Nairobi District applicants originates from the duplicity of two officers as explained earlier as registrars of births that is Principal Civil Registrar at Central Division Registry and Medical Officer of Health at City Hall.
What is ironical in the fees payable to City Council of Nairobi because the Medical Officer of Health is registrar of birth for Nairobi, is that staff who do the registration are seconded by the department of civil registration, Principal Civil Registrar’s office, Ministry of Immigration and Registration of Persons to that particular local authority to do the work. This is a case of civil registration department sowing the seeds and the city council of Nairobi reaping the harvest.
Nairobi is therefore the only district in the entire country where applicants of birth certificate pay for one service twice to two different offices at Central Division Registry (Sheria House) and City Hall.
Whereas this is an anomaly that has been severally pointed out to both the Principal Civil Registrar and the Minister in charge as it contravenes the Births and Deaths Registration Act, no office has bothered to rectify this situation. In Nairobi we have two registration officers for one registration area thus Principal Civil Registrar and Medical Officer of Health at City hall contrary to births and deaths registration regulations.