The Name Path
The Name Path · For newlyweds in Arizona

The Arizona Edition

Everything between "I do" and a new name on every card: Social Security, Arizona MVD and Travel ID, your passport, voter registration and the long tail of accounts, in the order that works.

Get the guide See the plan and tracker app
What it covers

33 pages, from certified copies to the last loyalty card

  1. Before you start

    Welcome and the sequence at a glance

    What's free, what costs a fee, and the order every office expects.

  2. Step 1

    Certified marriage certificate copies

    Where to order in Arizona, published county fees, and a checklist of what to have ready.

  3. Step 2

    Social Security

    Fully online or an office visit, the state-by-state table, what to bring, and help if you're married abroad.

  4. Step 3

    Arizona MVD and Travel ID

    Timing after SSA, the office visit, fees, and the Travel ID document checklist.

  5. Step 4

    Passport

    DS-5504, DS-82 or DS-11, with official fees and the online-renewal trap.

  6. Step 5

    Voter registration

    Re-registering under your new name the way Arizona law describes.

  7. Step 6

    Money and work

    Payroll, a new W-4 and filing taxes under the name Social Security has.

  8. Step 7

    Everything else

    A six-page writable checklist of about 100 easy-to-forget accounts in seven groups (money, work and benefits, insurance, home, health, everyday accounts, professional and legal), with blank rows in each.

  9. At the back

    Logs, notes, common questions and sources

    A master checklist and document tracker; writable logs for documents mailed and returned, phone calls and appointments, and logins to update (never passwords); two lined notes pages; 13 common questions; every official blank form; and every source with the date we checked it.

Look inside

Real pages, exactly as you'll receive them

Cover of The Name Path Arizona name-change guide: a soft painting of a couple on horseback at dusk below the Superstition Mountains, with saguaros and an adobe, under a pink and lavender sky.
The coverPage 1. The Arizona Edition: two riders at dusk below the Superstition Mountains.
Guide page for Step 2, Social Security: the three marriage-certificate paths and SSA's online criteria.
Step 2 · Social SecurityPage 5. Online or office: the three paths, explained.
Guide page for Step 4, Passport: a table of forms and fees, bullet notes and an 'If you get stuck' box, over a longhorn watercolor.
Step 4 · PassportPage 11. DS-5504, DS-82 or DS-11, with official fees.
Guide page for Step 5, voter registration, with a watercolor of wild horses running across the lower half.
Step 5 · Voter registrationPage 12. Re-registering under your new name, with the wild horses.
Guide page 'Everything-else checklist': a Money group of rows with item names, a done checkbox and ruled columns for date and notes.
The Everything-else checklistPage 15. About 100 easy-to-forget accounts in seven groups, each with blank rows.
Guide page 'Documents mailed and returned': a ruled log with columns for date mailed, document, sent to, tracking number, date back and a returned checkbox.
Documents mailed and returnedPage 23. A writable log for every certificate that leaves your hands.
Guide page 'Logins and online accounts to update': a note not to write passwords, then rows for site, username or email to change, and a done checkbox.
Logins to updatePage 25. Where your name or email needs changing. Never passwords.
Guide page 'Common questions' with questions such as 'Do I have to change my name?' and 'Is there a deadline?'.
Common questionsPage 28. Honest answers, each traced to a source.
The 'If you get stuck' box from the passport step: online renewal turned you away, applying in person with an ID in your new name, a typo on the new passport, an upcoming international trip, and a plane ticket that doesn't match your ID.
Every agency step ends with a compact "If you get stuck" box. This one is from the passport step (page 11).
Arizona at a glance

A few things the guide will tell you

Each line is from the guide and its official source, checked October 19–20, 2026. Confirm with the agency before you act.

  • Social Security is freeForm SS-5 says applying for a card is free. If a website asks you to pay for the Social Security part, you don't need it.Source: ssa.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf
  • Arizona certificates mean an office visitSSA doesn't verify Arizona-issued marriage certificates online yet, so if you married in Arizona you can start online but will finish at an office. Arizona licenses and IDs do qualify.Source: secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110205630
  • MVD comes secondWait two business days after SSA updates your name, then visit an MVD or Authorized Third Party office. ADOT says to update MVD within 10 days of your legal name change.Source: azdot.gov/mvd/services/driver-license-I…
  • Travel ID: $25A duplicate license or ID is $12. A Travel ID is $25 and arrives by mail in up to 2 weeks.Source: azdot.gov/mvd/services/driver-services/…
  • Certified copies: $35 to $43.50That's the published range in Maricopa, Pima and Pinal, from each county's Clerk of the Superior Court.Source: clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/records/marriage-licenses-pas…
  • A recent passport: $0DS-5504 is free when your passport and your name change are both under a year old. Online renewal can't be used for a name change.Source: travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/h…
  • Re-register to voteA.R.S. § 16-137 asks you to re-register under your new name. The Secretary of State points to AZ MVD Now for online updates.Source: azleg.gov/ars/16/00137.htm
  • Taxes follow Social SecurityThe name on your return must match SSA's records. You can file jointly before SSA updates you, using the name SSA has.Source: irs.gov/newsroom/marriage-means-makin…
The Arizona Edition

Get the guide

The Arizona Edition

Your whole name change, in one calm guide

$27

14-day refund, no questions asked · One-time payment, no subscription

  • 33-page illustrated guide, as a screen PDF and a print-friendly PDF
  • Your personal plan and tracker app: only your steps, with check-offs, reminders and logs. Installable, works offline, stays on your device
  • The right order, with what to bring, what it costs and the official link for every step
  • "If you get stuck" boxes and 13 common questions, each traced to an official source
  • Writable checklists, a document tracker, logs for mail, calls and logins, and notes pages
  • Links to every official blank form. We never fill one out for you

Changing your name with Social Security is free. You can apply directly with the Social Security Administration at ssa.gov or by calling 1-800-772-1213. You don't need to buy this guide, or anything else, to do it.

An independent, informational guide. Not legal advice, and not affiliated with any government agency. Terms · Privacy

Coming soon. Checkout opens shortly. Questions? hello@thenamepath.com

Free for everyone

Start without paying anything

  • Social Security online checker: works for every state
  • Every government step is free or charges only the agency's own fee. You never need a paid service to change your name

The plan and tracker app comes with the Arizona Edition.

Other editions

Married somewhere else, living somewhere else?

This edition is for people changing their name while living in Arizona. If you married in another state, it still applies: Social Security accepts marriage documents from any U.S. state.

  • First edition · sales open soon

    Arizona

    The first edition: Social Security, Arizona MVD and Travel ID, passport, voter registration and everything after.

    See the Arizona Edition →
  • Coming soon

    California

    A California edition is in preparation. Until then, the free Social Security checker works for California too.

  • Coming soon

    Texas

    A Texas edition is in preparation. Until then, the free Social Security checker works for Texas too.