The number of transgender children having their names and titles changed has surged in the past five years, according to reports.
The UK Deed Poll Service has seen a sharp rise in the number of parents paying to alter their child's title from “Miss to Master” or “Master to Miss”, with around one under-16-year-old making the change every day, according to the Sunday Times.
These changes are commonly accompanied by changing the child’s birth name to a new first name from the opposite sex.
Senior deed poll officer Louise Bowers told the newspaper: “We used to issue a couple of these deed polls every couple of months — but now it’s seven to 10 a week.
“The majority are teenagers — 14 or 15 — but they go down to the age of 10.”
Ms Bowers said that some children tweaked their first names, transitioning from “Joe to Jo”, for example.
While others took on an entirely new name, such as changing from "Louise to David".
The deed poll officer added that the majority of applications came from children born female and wishing to adopt a boy's name, contrary to previous data that showed the reverse.
Parental approval is needed to change the name of a child aged under 16.
Ms Bowers said there were "a couple" of incidents were children had also requested "reversals" - asking to return to their original name and original gendered title after they turned 16.
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