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Your driver number

Does your driving licence number change when you change your name?

Yes, when your surname or your first names change. The first five characters of a licence number from DVLA are taken from your surname and two more are your initials, so a new surname rewrites the start of it and new first names rewrite the initials. The six digits from your date of birth stay exactly as they are.

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  • From DVLA’s own leaflet
  • Nothing you type leaves the page
  • Checked with GOV.UK, October 2026
A young person with short dark brown hair in a sage green jumper, smiling and holding up a driving licence card in each hand: a paler, older one on the left and a brighter new one on the right

A number made from your name

DVLA’s leaflet INS57P, Information on driving licences, takes the driver number apart: letters from your surname, digits from your date of birth, your initials, then check digits from DVLA’s computer. GOV.UK takes the change for granted too. Change your name after booking a driving or theory test, arrive without proof of it, and it says to book again in your new name “using your new driving licence number”.

The number, explained

What each part of your licence number means

DVLA’s leaflet labels the parts A to E. Here they are on an invented number for Robin Avery Sample, a man born on 22 September 1987. In DVLA’s own example the driver number runs to 16 characters, with the issue number printed after it.

Changes with a new surname Changes with new first names Stays the same Set by DVLA A S A M P L ASurname The first 5 letters. A shorter surname is filled with 9s, as in FOX99. B 8 0 9 2 2 7 BDate of birth 8 and 7: the year. 09: the month. 22: the day. A woman’s month has 5 added: 09 is 59. C R A CInitials The first two initials of your first names. With only one, a 9 follows it: R9. D 9 A B DCheck digits Generated at random by DVLA’s computer, as a security measure. E 0 3 EIssue number Goes up by one with every licence. Not part of the driver number. A Surname S A M P L Changes with a new surname The first 5 letters of the surname. A shorter one is filled with 9s, as in FOX99. B Date of birth 8 0 9 2 2 7 Stays the same 8 and 7 are the year, 09 the month, 22 the day. For a woman, 5 is added to the month: 59. C Initials R A Changes with new first names The first two initials of your first names. With only one initial, a 9 follows it: R9. D Check digits 9 A B Set by DVLA Generated at random by DVLA’s computer, as a security measure. E Issue number 0 3 Set by DVLA Goes up by one with every licence issued. It is not part of the driver number.
From DVLA’s leaflet INS57P, Information on driving licences, the July 2025 edition on GOV.UK, checked October 2026. The example is invented and belongs to no one.
Try your names

See which characters of your number change

Type the name on your licence now, then the name you are changing to. The comparison follows the rules in DVLA’s leaflet, part by part, and says plainly where the leaflet runs out.

Your number, before and after

Two worked examples, one for a new surname and one for new first names:

Robin Avery Sample becomes Robin Avery Fox

PartNowNew
A, surnameSAMPLFOX99 Changes
B, date of birthThe same six digits
C, initialsRARA Stays
D, check digitsSet by DVLA

Sam Lee becomes Alex Jordan Lee

PartNowNew
A, surnameLEE99LEE99 Stays
B, date of birthThe same six digits
C, initialsS9AJ Changes
D, check digitsSet by DVLA

Where the leaflet stops

What DVLA’s leaflet does not say

Its rules fit in a few lines, and some names raise questions those lines leave open. We found nothing further from DVLA on any of them, so in each case the number printed on your new card is the one to go by.

Hyphens, apostrophes and spaces

The leaflet speaks only of letters, so the comparison above skips anything that is not one. Whether DVLA skips them too, it does not say.

Mac, Mc, St and other prefixes

A prefix could be kept as written, spelt out or shortened on DVLA’s record. The leaflet is silent, so the comparison uses your letters exactly as typed.

Accented letters

Accents are not mentioned at all. The comparison reads É as E and ö as O, which may or may not be what DVLA prints.

A hyphenated first name

It could give one initial or two. The leaflet says only “the first 2 initials of your first names”, and the comparison takes one.

A single name

Someone known by one name, with no separate first name and surname, falls outside the leaflet’s rules, which assume both.

Your gender changing too

The leaflet adds 5 to the month for a woman, but does not say what happens to that digit when the gender on a licence changes. The comparison leaves the date part alone.

Who needs the new number

Who to give your new licence number to

Anything that finds your licence by its number needs the one on your new card. Start with these, once the card is in your hands.

  • Car hire firms, and anyone checking your licence

    GOV.UK’s service makes a check code to share your driving record, and whoever checks it types in the code with the last 8 characters of your licence number. A code lasts 21 days and works only once, so make a fresh one after the new card comes.

  • GOV.UK’s view your licence service

    It opens with three things: your driving licence number, your National Insurance number and the postcode on your licence.

  • A driving or theory test already booked

    Take proof of the new name to the test, such as your Deed Poll. Without it, GOV.UK says to cancel and book again with the new name and number. Tests and a new name.

  • An employer that checks your licence

    A driving job may check your record the same way, with a code from you and those last 8 characters. nidirect lists employers beside car hire firms among the people a code is given to.

  • Your car insurer

    If your policy records your licence number, give the insurer the new one when the card arrives, and tell it about the new name in any case. Your car after a name change.

  • Lorry, bus and coach drivers

    DVSA’s service for your Driver CPC training hours asks for your driving licence number. CPC and tachograph cards with a new name.

A coral laptop showing a blank form of boxes and lines on its screen, with a driving licence card on the desk in front of it and a small potted plant beside it
From GOV.UK’s view or share your driving licence, check someone’s licence, driving test and Driver CPC pages, and nidirect, checked October 2026.
What stays the same

What a new name leaves alone

A new number does not mean a new start. Section 99 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, the part of the law behind a change of name on a licence, calls the card you get a replacement.

Stays as it is

  • The digits from your date of birthPart B of the number. A new name does not touch it.
  • The date your licence runs toSection 99(8) has a replacement expire on the day the old licence would have.
  • Your photo, and what is left of its 10 yearsUnless you choose a new photo, for £17. Keep it or change it.
  • The price of the changeNothing. GOV.UK says changing the name on a licence is free.

Set by DVLA

  • The check digits, part DGenerated by DVLA’s computer as a security measure. The leaflet does not say whether a new name brings new ones.
  • The issue number, part EIt goes up by one with every licence issued, and the leaflet is clear that it is not part of the driver number.

Your record and the vehicles you can drive. Neither the leaflet, GOV.UK’s name change guide nor section 99 says a new name alters them. To see both for yourself, sign in to the view service with the number on your new card.

From section 99 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, GOV.UK’s name change guide and DVLA’s leaflet INS57P, checked October 2026.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland: an eight-digit number

A licence from the Driver & Vehicle Agency is numbered another way. nidirect calls it an “eight digit driver number”, and its checking service asks for “the eight characters” of it, so it carries no letters from your surname or initials.

nidirect does not say whether a new name brings a new number, so look at the card the DVA sends back. The change itself goes on form DL1, by post, because the DVA cannot take a new name online. Form DL1, and where it goes.

Two kinds of number

England, Scotland and Wales
DVLALetters and digits, built from your surname, date of birth and initials: 16 characters in DVLA’s example
Northern Ireland
The DVAAn eight-digit driver number, nidirect says

From DVLA’s leaflet INS57P and nidirect, checked October 2026.

Getting the new card

How to get a licence with your new number

Tell DVLA the new name and it does the rest, free. Form D1 from a Post Office goes to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BN with your licence and the original proof of the new name. A Deed Poll also needs one document showing the new name, or the number of a UK passport issued in it.

GOV.UK says you can keep driving while you wait, and a licence applied for by post usually arrives within 3 weeks. The full guide to changing your licence.

Still deciding whether you have to? When the law says you must tell DVLA.

The Adult Deed Poll

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  • Accepted by DVLA, or your money back
  • Drafted by a paralegal, every spelling checked
  • Posted the same working day
Apply online – £18.50 How the Adult Deed Poll works
Questions & answers

More about your licence number

Does my driving licence number change when I get married?

Only if you take a new surname. The first five characters of the number come from your surname, so taking your spouse’s rewrites them on the licence DVLA sends after form D1. Keep your own surname and there is nothing on the licence to change. Compare your two names.

Does a driving licence number include your surname?

Yes. DVLA’s leaflet INS57P says the first five characters are the first 5 letters of your surname, and a shorter surname is made up with 9s, as in MAN99. Your first two initials appear later in the number.

What do the numbers in my driving licence number mean?

The six digits after the surname are your date of birth: the first and last give the year, the second and third the month, and the fourth and fifth the day. For a woman, DVLA adds 5 to the first digit of the month, so October shows as 60. Every part, explained.

Which parts of my licence number change when I change my name?

The surname part, if your surname changes, and the two initials, if your first names do. The date of birth digits stay the same. DVLA sets the check digits that follow, and its leaflet does not say whether a new name brings new ones.

What is the issue number after my driving licence number?

A count of your licences. DVLA’s leaflet says it goes up by one with every licence issued and is not part of the driver number; in its example it is printed after the 16 characters of the driver number itself.

Does a Northern Ireland driving licence number change with a new name?

nidirect does not say. It describes a Northern Ireland licence as having an eight digit driver number, so nothing in it is taken from your name, unlike a DVLA number. Check the card the DVA sends back after your form DL1.

Something else? Ask a paralegal and we will answer, usually the same working day.

Keep reading

Related answers

Do you have to change your licence?Only once your name has changed, then straight away: the duty, the fine and keeping your name.Read this Changing your driving licenceForm D1 by post, free and never online, plus Northern Ireland.Read this Licence after marriageNo Deed Poll needed: form D1 and your certificate, free, by post.Read this

A new name, then a new licence number

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