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Certified Armenian Name Change Document Translation
Certified translation of the documents that record a change of name in Armenia, including the marginal annotations and registry endorsements that carry the legal effect and that a reader unfamiliar with the system will otherwise skip.
$24.95/page
Flat rate per page, up to 250 words. No hidden fees.
100% USCIS acceptance
Every certified translation is guaranteed to be accepted by USCIS.
24-hour delivery
Most 1-3 page documents are delivered within 24 hours. Same-day available.
The civil status agency, in the Soviet pattern
A change of name in Armenia is registered with the civil status acts registration agency under the Ministry of Justice, in the pattern inherited from the Soviet ZAGS: an application, a decision, a certificate of the change, and an annotation against the birth record.
The certificate of change of name is a standalone document and a complete packet contains it alongside the reissued birth certificate. People routinely send only one.
The patronymic, and what it is not
Armenian documents record a patronymic formed from the father's given name, placed where a US form expects a middle name. It is not one, and a passport that omits it while a birth certificate carries it is not evidence of a change.
Armenia has moved away from requiring the patronymic on newer documents, so an older document carrying one and a newer one without it is the form changing rather than the name.
The alphabet, and -yan
Armenian has its own alphabet and no single accepted romanisation, and Eastern and Western Armenian pronounce the same letters differently — so Բարսեղյան is Barseghyan or Parseghian depending on which tradition the transliteration followed.
Surnames ending -յան appear as -yan and -ian, and diaspora families frequently use the -ian spelling while Armenian passports use -yan. One family name, and a great many apparent name changes in Armenian-American packets are exactly this.
Soviet-era records, and the genocide gap
Births before 1991 were registered under Soviet administration and a modern Armenian certificate restates that entry; we name the original registering authority alongside the current issuing office.
For families displaced in 1915, records originate in what is now Turkey, Syria, Lebanon or Iran, and a person's documented surname may date from resettlement rather than from birth. We translate what the document shows. See our Armenian page.
Ordering, and what the certification covers
Upload the document, choose certified translation at $24.95 per page of up to 250 words, and it comes back typically within 24 hours as a PDF formatted to mirror the original, with a signed certificate of translation accuracy on letterhead. Marginal annotations are translated in place, in the margin, so the reader can see that the change was recorded against the original entry rather than written into a fresh document. See how we translate and certified versus standard.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a separate certificate of change of name?
Yes, alongside the reissued birth certificate. A full packet has both.
My passport has no patronymic but my birth certificate does.
The form changed, not the name. Newer Armenian documents commonly omit it.
-yan or -ian?
One Armenian ending. Diaspora families often use -ian while passports use -yan, and it is not a change.
My family records are from Syria or Lebanon.
Common after 1915. We name the issuing authority and translate what the document shows.
Ready to get started?
Upload the order, the resolution or the annotated certificate and receive the certified translation, typically within 24 hours.