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Certified Somali Name Change Document Translation
Certified translation of the documents that record a change of name in Somalia, 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.
There is no civil registry to annotate
Somalia has no functioning national civil registry of the kind these procedures assume. A name is evidenced by whatever documents exist — a passport, a school record, a chamber or municipal attestation, an affidavit sworn before a notary or a court.
A "name change document" from Somalia is therefore usually a sworn declaration or an attestation rather than a registry instrument, and the honest translation says which body issued it and what it attests, rather than dressing it as a certificate of change of name.
Three names, and none of them inherited
Somali names run given name, father's name, grandfather's name, and there is no inherited family name at all. Siblings share the second and third names; cousins share the third; the next generation shifts everything one place along.
A US system treating the third name as a surname will see a "change" every generation, and a person who drops or adds the grandfather's name on a form has changed nothing. We explain the pattern rather than manufacturing a surname.
Somaliland, and documents from abroad
Documents issued by authorities in Somaliland name a different administration and different offices from those in Mogadishu, and we name the issuing authority exactly as printed without commentary on status.
Many Somali documents in US packets were issued by embassies abroad, by UNHCR, or by authorities in Kenya, Ethiopia or Yemen where a person lived. We name the issuing body and the country precisely.
Somali, Arabic, and spelling
Somali uses the Latin alphabet, where c and x carry sounds English does not use — so Cabdi and Xasan are correct spellings, not errors, and they appear elsewhere as Abdi and Hassan.
Documents also carry Arabic and English, sometimes all three in one file, and each is translated. See our Somali page and our Somali asylum documents 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 Somali certificate of name change?
Generally no. What exists is a sworn declaration or an attestation, and we say which body issued it and what it attests.
Which of my three names is the surname?
None. Given name, father, grandfather, shifting one place each generation. A US system will read that as a change and it is not.
My documents are from Somaliland.
We name the issuing authority exactly as printed, without commentary on status.
Is Cabdi a misspelling of Abdi?
No. Somali uses c and x for sounds English lacks. Both render the same name.
Ready to get started?
Upload the order, the resolution or the annotated certificate and receive the certified translation, typically within 24 hours.