I was just thinking how weird it is to have someone else give you a name for the rest of your life. I wonder how many people are truly happy with their names.
What are the odds of being named something you actually like?
Maybe your name just doesn’t suit you.
I am actually happy with my name and wouldn’t change it, but I am wondering how many people out would like to change their given name, and if so, what name would you choose?
I bet a lot of people on here would choose the user name they have here now!
I never wanted to change my given name, I wanted to change my last.
I didn’t because it’s difficult and expensive. I didn’t feel like hiring a lawyer for what’s gonna get done for free before I get married.
-M
Is it expensive? When I recently went through my US Citizenship interview, you had the option to change your name before you receive your citizenship certificate - no extra charge!
dantheman: changing my name to Flamsterette_X, eh? Nah… I already get enough problems when I write it out as part of my email address. (“like… is the underscore a hyphen, a dash, or what?”)
I know someone who changed her name from Alma to Elisyn Jerrica. Definitely sounded nicer to the ear than Alma… but that’s just my opinion.
F_X
Change my name? What for? There’s a lot of ‘history’ behind it.
What?
Oh. OH!
I was talking about my nickname, “Oswald”. Sorry . . .
Tripler
My reputation preceeds me professionally. Go figure.
I don’t know if I even want to go there. I sometimes wish I hadn’t changed it after getting married. I now have six letters in my first and last names. I have a total of six DIFFERENT letters in my first, middle and last names. My birthday is 3-3-66. I was born at 1:23. If I have to hear one more “spawn of Satan” joke (what with all the 6’s) from my husband, there my just be a divorce in my future.
And dammit, if he wakes me up one more freaking time looking at my scalp while I’m sleeping… 
I changed my name when I was 18. It was basically a sign of respect for my Dad. (As opposed to the guy I don’t really care for that disappeared when I was 4).
Plus I got rid of “Elton”. Apologies to any Eltons out there.
I like my middle name much more than my first name, and attempted to change it (in my friend’s minds, not legally) when I was a teenager. Problem was, I couldn’t respond to the middle name, and gave up on that idea within a few weeks.
I would most certainly change my name if I was unhappy with it. As for the last name, there are certain documents I refuse to change from my maiden name, too much of a hassle. Of course, I was informed by the IRS in a somewhat bitchy letter than I HAD to officially change my Social Security last name, or face a stiff penalty. Damn them!
I also wonder how many parents would be offended or hurt if their child changed their name.
Hence nicknames.
I am WEASEL. Hear me squeak.
I like my name. It’s common enough that people don’t react like “what the hell kind of name is that?,” but not so common that everyone knows 43 people with it.
I have always hated my first name, but have kept it. My first name is rather old-fashioned. Suffice it to say that one of the Mousekateers from the original Mickey Mouse Club had (has?) this name. My dad wanted an American sounding name, so that is how I got my name.
…and, uh, no…I wouldn’t change my name to my screen name. My screen name is actually my husband’s nickname. The history behind it is that husband loves to sit and play at the 'puter. A friend started calling him Taters in order to give him a slight jab at being a “couch potato”. Slight hijack, sorry about that.
Interestingly, I discovered when I moved to Louisiana that it doesn’t matter what name I actually use or consider my legal name anywhere else, here my maiden name IS my legal name whether I like it or not. So I have to sign all my documents first name/maiden name/married name, and the married name is purely optional on my part. It used to offend me until I was informed of the reasons behind it, and I kind of like that my marital status really isn’t legally reflected in my name here at all. I guess it’s another one of those weird holdovers from the Napoleonic code that litter the laws around here.
I’ve always liked my first name, and like my last name now. I’ve known some people who have names I can’t imagine not changing, however. Like a judge named Heine (pronounced “hinie”) that I ran into recently (I’m a court reporter). Or a girl who I ran into on a train when I was 10 years old and have remembered her name all these years because it just struck me as deeply weird, Rhonda Burnthorn.
Then there was the time in court some years back where the (non-Jewish) attorney was using the example name of “Mr. Schmuck.” He finally complained to the (Jewish) judge that the opposing (Jewish) attorney was snickering. The judge asked the other attorney, “Have you ever known anyone named Schmuck?” To which the other guy replied, “No, but I knew a man named Putz once.”
I don’t think the first attorney ever had a clue that he had just been whoooooshed!
Me too! While I hate my last name, and would be more than willing to give it up if I marry, I like my first and middle names both. They’re both common enough that everyone knows them, but not usually paired together (Shannon Renee’)- there are only 1,500 exact matches on google, and many of them refer to the same artist.
I did a survey in high school and around 80% of the girls in my grade’s middle names were Lynn, Anne or Marie. I like mine better, though the others are prefectly fine if more common.
LolaCocaCola, I think it’s free when you get citizenship, get married or get a divorce. For the rest of us, you need to hire a lawyer, file court papers, place a newspaper ad, etc. Spend a lot of money and jump through a lot of hoops.
My first name is uncommon but I wouldn’t change it. My last name came from my birth father (parents divorced when I was small). It’s not an attractive-sounding name, though there are apparently a bunch of famous Russians with it. It also means something in Italian and Spanish. I wanted to change it because it is uncommon, hard to spell and pronounce, has no relation to my family and doesn’t fit me at all.
Oh, well, when I get married it’ll be gone, right? Anyone know how that works? Like, can I go back and get the University to send me another diploma with my new name on it?
my family name was changed by deed poll when i was about 9. my family now has a totally different name to that of my grandparents. we did it a few years after moving countries, and away from people who knew us with the old name.
my cousin also changed her first name from ‘cathy’ to something else which no one in the family can remember, so we all call her cathy when she visits.
Well, I did change my given name. I was never happy with my first name or any of its derivations, though if if wasn’t such a pain in the kiester, I would probably reclaim it. (I did this over 25 years ago, and no I didn’t change it to Rainbow or Sparrow or anything like that. I actually ditched my middle name, pushed my given name over to take its place and took my great great aunt’s name as my first name.)
It was very easy to do. Way back then it only required an ad to be run for 3 times in my town paper and a quickly hearing in front of a judge. My mother still laughs that I “changed my name, renounced my religion and moved to the other side of the country.”
Sorry, Mom, you know I still love you. 
If I got the chance, I would almost definitely change my name. First, middle and last. My first/middle names are extremely common (Stephanie Marie), and I’m really tired of jumping when I hear my name then hearing the other girls last name. The worse was in grade eight, when there was a total of four in one of my classes…and my last name is short,(five letters) but if someone reads it, they pronouce it wrong, and if I say it, they spell it wrong. It gets irritating after a while…
I actually knew someone who had no idea what a _ was. Looked all over his keyboard and could not find it.