Want To Change Babies Name, Father Not On Birth Certificate - Do I Need To Notify Him

I had my baby and named him something very meaningful and intentional to me while we were in the hospital. We took his newborn announcement photos with his original name, I had custom outfits made, and I was 100% sure that’s what I wanted. But right before being discharged, I was pressured by my mom, my child’s father, and his mom to name him after his dad. For context, the father is not involved at all — he put me out in the middle of the night while I was pregnant, gave me an STD, told me “f*** that baby,” said he would sign his rights away, stopped talking to me months before I gave birth, and completely missed the birth. He still lives 12 hours away and has never supported or been involved with our child. Despite that, I let myself get pressured and changed my son’s name to his father’s name on the hospital paperwork. I’ve regretted it every day since. I’ve never called my son that name — I use a nickname I came up with. Now I want to legally change his name back to the original one I chose, but I’m confused about the process. The father is not on the birth certificate, has never been involved, and we have no court orders or anything legally binding between us. I read online that you have to notify the other parent when changing a minor’s name, but since he’s not legally recognized as the father, I’m not sure if that applies. My concern is this: he and his family have made threats toward me and my baby before, and I truly do not feel safe contacting him. Does anyone know if I would be required to notify him for a name change when he’s not on the birth certificate? And is there any way to avoid notifying him since he is not legally established as the father? Any advice from people who’ve been through something similar or know how this works or any advice in general would be appreciated.

location: kentucky