Deed poll
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A deed poll is a legal and formal contract binding only to a single person. The most common form is a name change through a Deed of Change of Name. Deed polls are used for this purpose in countries including the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and Singapore.
The name deed is common to signed written agreements. Poll is an archaic legal term referring to documents with straight edges; these distinguished a deed binding only one person from one affecting more than a single person (an indenture, so named during the time when such agreements would be written out repeatedly on a single sheet for each party, then irregularly torn or "indented" so that each party had a document with a unique tear, to discourage forgery).