Is name changing more common than you thought?

<p>It may be rare to meet someone who changed their birth name. For some their birth name becomes religious, or personal. So I was wondering is you or anyone you know/ met change their birth name before? Happen to change their birth name in college? What do you think of those who do change their birth name?</p>

<p>Name: Christopher
Rarely call Christopher by anyone, just usually Chris or Bailey.</p>

<p>( Thread not started by me of having intentions of changing my name, though interest in knowing those who have/ others opinions. I even think if my name wasn't Christopher, and I was in a situation I needed to change my name, Christopher would be my choice.)</p>

<p>I have two friends who have legally changed their birth names. One just changed her first name out of preference (had a very conventional, girly name, and wanted something a little more… intimidating?) and the other completely changed her name, first middle and last. She did this mainly to dissociate from her family, but chose her name after, of all things, her Harry Potter online roleplaying character, who she really wanted to be like. </p>

<p>My brother also had a coworker who changed his last name because he had serious issues with his father. He also had a really odd sense of humor, and chose an adjective that rhymed with his first name as his last. It’s just a shame I can’t share the name here because it really is something, but I need to respect his identity. </p>

<p>Of these three, it seems like two had personal reasons for changing and one was purely aesthetic. I don’t see anything wrong with getting one’s named changed, really. It’s just a matter of personal choice that can’t really hurt anyone but oneself.</p>

<p>My birth name is Ibrahem (Arabic for Abraham), I have gone by Abraham since I was a kid, and should be changing it to that legally pretty soon.</p>

<p>^That’s my “real” name too. But everyone outside my family calls me something more Americanized.</p>

<p>I’m strongly considering changing my name sometime soon. But I don’t know when. </p>

<p>I’ve pretty much gotten a significant number of people to dislike me for whatever reason (i have severe asperger’s syndrome). And I can’t work on social skills right now (i’m slow and i need hours and hours to academics now) - plus a lot of it is my inherent excitability and overreaction to things - which is much harder to improve with effort. change my name too soon, and i’ll repeat the same mistakes (although not to the same extent that i used to).</p>

<p>people don’t remember names alex,
they remember faces.
at least if you’re not autistic.</p>

<p>also i know a couple of people who changed their names because they were transgendered.</p>

<p>For a few years now, I’ve been considering moving my first name to my middle name, and creating a new first name for myself. I’m kinda excited about doing it.</p>

<p>One of the things I hate to see is when international students adopt an “Americanized” name. One of my tour guides was Chinese. Her name was something similar to Jane (? I can’t remember, it was a J name) but much more difficult to pronounce. So everyone called her “Jane”. It was sort of disappointing that she might have felt like she had to change her name… but on the other side, sometimes it’s easier to be called by an Americanized name than a slaughtered natural one. If the student didn’t mind or liked it, I’d be okay with it. If the student felt pressured into it, I’d be really disappointed for them.</p>

<p>That said, my name was is (or was) one of the top five most popular for girls for many years. My middle name is Ghanaian and my last name is French. I wouldn’t change it.</p>

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<p>yeah good pt.</p>

<p>Oh wow more replies/ people on cc who thought of name changing than I thought</p>

<p>( interested in more replies)</p>

<p>I did notice sometimes people have like two middle names, maybe they moved their first name as a second middle name and made their own first name.</p>

<p>I changed my name legally several years ago. I hated my birth name. I was named for my father, and the name was very dated. I was awkward in social situations, knowing that if I met someone new, I would be forced to introduce myself and say the name I was so embarrassed by. I changed it. It was strange for a time to be called something new. Now I can’t imagine being called anything else, certainly not the old name. </p>

<p>Since I’ve done it, I have come across a fair number of people who have also done a legal name change. All have various reasons for it, but all seemed thrilled with the outcome.</p>

<p>My whole family changed our last name (our older kid included) when my husband decided to take back his natural father’s name. It wasn’t that difficult to do. What’s a pain is for many years later every time we needed to deal with legal documents, we also need to submit a copy of name change document. If you do make a name change, always keep a copy of it handy. Our older kid though she was adopted because her birth certificate name is different than her current name.</p>

<p>I have a first name that’s not ever used, and it is the case for a lot of people I work with. For every employee, we will list the legal name, and “Preferred First.”</p>

<p>I have legally changed my name. My situation was similar to what applicannot described (though I wasn’t pressured into changing my name). I kept my birth name as the middle name, so now my English name is my first name. One problem (besides the pronunciation) I had with my birth name was that it didn’t indicate anything about gender, so all throughout middle and high school, I had to deal with teachers and subs thinking I was a boy. I much prefer my current name, since I’ve been called by my English name since I immigrated.</p>

<p>I’m not entirely sure how the whole name-change process works, since my parents handled most of it, but I think the process is much easier when you’re a minor. The only annoying bit for me was submitting a copy of my name change document to all the schools I applied to, since I changed my name summer before senior year (and before I turned 18).</p>

<p>I have no middle name, and i dont really like my first…i was thinking of finding out how to add a middle name, since it seems really roundabout to change your birth name!</p>

<p>Is it strange to introduce yourself to people by middle name? lol</p>

<p>^</p>

<p>Yes, I think it will be different to introduce yourself by middle name. Most people introduce themself by first name, and so as you get to know a person ( or within school etc…) their last name becomes more prevelant. Though middle name, you rarely know ones middle name ( or happen to forget when it’s stated).</p>

<p>my grandfather changed after going to dental school to make his name sound more dr like.
not that his original name was juvenile. his doctor name was just exceptionally dr-y.</p>

<p>rsala–One of my friends goes strictly by his middle name because him and his father have the same first name. I didn’t know for a few months what his real first name was and still sometimes forget, but he’s not the only one in my school that does it.</p>

<p>As for me, I always thought about changing my name “Regina” to the shortened form I’ve gone by my entire life “Gina”, but recently I’ve started to like my birth name more. I feel like I have more of a chance of being taken seriously.
But if I had changed my name when I wanted to, I would have been stuck with the name that I don’t like as much. I’m in the transition back to my birth name now with everyone I’ve known more than a year or two calling me Gina and everyone else calling me Regina.</p>

<p>As for legally changing, I think I only know one person. My aunt’s birth name was Carmel. She now goes by Cammy.
Does anyone blame her?</p>

<p>I also know a few people who have changed their last names from their father’s to their mother’s or stepfather’s, and rarely vice versa.</p>

<p>My father had my brother’s last name changed, so now he has his mother’s last name and our father’s last name. A hyphenated name.</p>

<p>It’s not strange to go by your middle name at all. I know LOTS of people who go by middle names. (Strange ones too, like Mayfield. o.O)</p>

<p>I know of a boy who’s name was Ashley (a boy’s name originally not a girl’s. o.O). His name was like Ashley Smith, or something really common like that. So one day in school, “Ashley Smith” was called to the office. He went, and found out that they were actually calling for a girl named Ashley. He got so upset about it, that he had his parents change his name. =/</p>

<p>But my name is… me. I’ve often wanted to change my name to Sarah though. Or KES (Kristen Elizabeth Sylvia).</p>

<p>And as for not having a middle name… my ex didn’t have a middle name… and that confused a lot of people.</p>

<p>Haha, I don’t have a middle name either.</p>