Would you change your name?

[timoc]

I once knew a girl called Polly Parrot.
We dated for a short while, but she give me the push because I always brought her a bag of nuts instead of a bunch of flowers, and, she hated me saying,"Who's a pretty girl then?"

 

[Mike]

I've always wondered what happens when Mary Smith-Williams marries John Wilson-Thompson and they want to hyphenate their names. Would they be Mary and John Wilson-Thompson-Smith-Williams?

Oh, the things I think about at 3 a.m...…..

The Spanish and South Americans do something like this,
everbody's first surname is their fathers and their second
one is their mother's maiden name, so when they marry,
they add their groom's surname, preceded by de, so the
result could be Ann Smith Jones de Black.

Mike.

 

[HoneyNut]

I HATE my middle name. No, it's not that I dislike it, I HATE it. I thought about changing it, off and on, over the years. Would you change your name?

I didn't like my name when I was young. The first name didn't get impressive associations in surveys, and the last name was so hard to pronounce correctly that I'd given up and was saying it the way people mispronounce it. So I changed my whole name.

Then some years later after my great-aunt and grandmother had passed away, I changed my whole name again. I used my great-aunt's name as my first name and my grandmother's as my middle name, and I slightly modified the last name.

I would really like to change the last name again because I don't like it after all, but think I should wait until my daughter eventually marries (because then if she protests I can point out she doesn't have it herself either).

There are times that it is awkward, I had a job interview once with an interviewer who told me I got the interview because they wanted to meet the person with all the names (this was back in the days before computers and my written job references weren't all for the same name).

And once I got a job and on the first day the paperwork said to bring in Driver's License, birth certificate, and social security card. I brought them in but they were each in a different name (I'm slow at paperwork). Luckily it turned out for my job I only needed one ID (people who were starting paperwork to get security clearance needed the others).

I'm not sure though how much it costs, the first time I changed I was living abroad and it only required a small paperwork fee, and the next time I changed I was in school and didn't have income so I qualified for free legal assistance.

 

[Jules]

@Gaer mentioned Numerology. I don’t know much about it, only recall someone who had her future husband’s name analyzed for fit for her. It had worked for at least 30+ years, the last I knew.

 

[Ruby Rose]

The name 'Ruby' was chosen for me by my Dad in honour of his baby sister, Ruby' who died at a young age. I didn't like it as my brothers would tease me and call me 'Rhubarb'. But, thanks to my Maman who understood, I went by another name when I started school which could be pronounced both in English and in French...keeping everyone happy. I seem to have many names...my birth certificate from Quebec (with errors in spelling) is different then my passports (an element of stupidity there)...then of course, I have a couple of 'pen names' which I love. As for the people (family) who made a fuss, they are all deceased now so don't have to worry about that.

 

[JonDouglas]

I never gave my name much thought other than to know it was the "handle" that identified me. Perhaps if Id been given a less common name like Ebenezer, Archibald or Lancelot; it might have been the subject of more introspection.

 

[Remy]

I HATE my middle name. No, it's not that I dislike it, I HATE it. I thought about changing it, off and on, over the years. Would you change your name?

I say go for it if you want.

My last name was changed to my stepfather's when I was 7. It was never done legally and we were never asked. I was told to start using that name.

I hate it. I hate my first, middle (a variation of my mother's first name) and my last. I hate to say it, write it, when I see it, I don't know who that is.

My bio-dad was a jerk but it was my original last name. I've considered going back to it (I never married) when my stepfather is gone, but I don't know if the hassle is worth it to me.

 

[Remy]

Before making ANY changes to your name, consider any Legal ramifications that might occur....for example Social Security. I just checked my card and it has my full name....including my Middle Name. Bank accounts, credit cards, drivers license, etc., might all have to be changed to avoid future troubles.

Yup. This is probably what will stop me. Hassle, hassle hassle.

As I stated above my last name was changed to my stepfather's when I was 7. Had I done a last name change when I was a young adult, my mother would have probably gone ballistic. My oldest brother kept our original last name since he was significantly older and already an adult when my mother married my stepfather.