# New law: As of today every adult must legally change his or her first name. My new name is… **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 23, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680 "2016-09-23T23:20:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680/61 "2016-09-27T12:37:20Z")
Areallylongnametoannoythemanbecausetheyshouldntbeallowedtomakeapersonchangetheirnameanywayanditwouldbemywayofportestingagainstheinhumanityandassaninityofthelaw. 1. Make paperwork harder for those who thought this was a good law. 2. I’d keep going by my real name anyway. 3. Hi Opal. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680/62 "2016-09-27T12:50:09Z")
I’d change it to “Your Name”. Them: What’s your name? Me: Your Name. Them: Oh! Your name is (their name) too? Me: No, it’s “Your Name”. Them: It’s Your Name? Me: Yes Them: Your Name is Yes? Oh it would be just beautiful… ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680/63 "2016-09-27T19:17:25Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I’d change it to “Your Name”. > Them: Oh! Your name is (their name) too? John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680/64 "2016-09-27T19:55:05Z")
Gahan 1. Gahan Wilson is a cool cartoonist 2. It’s pronounced like “Gone” with a slight expulsion of breath in the middle 3. Those who say “Gay Han” would be wrong and I get to castigate them for it ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680/65 "2016-09-27T23:13:08Z")
Lorelai 1. It means “Alluring Enchantress” . Who doesn’t want to be called that every day? 2. It has nicknames I like: Lor, Lori, Lora, Rory, 3. My same first initial. That means my typical username online (my initials, spelled out) doesn’t have to change and the things I have that are monogrammed are still right. A close second for me was Morrigan because I feel like it fits my personality. But I liked Lorelai better. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680/66 "2016-10-02T02:08:32Z")
Thor 1. Its God-like 2. Means Thunder 3. Easy to Spell ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680/67 "2016-10-02T03:32:15Z")
Eliel. 1. It is Hebrew. 2. It is pleasingly recursive. 3. It bends gender. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680/68 "2016-10-02T22:04:07Z")
My new first name is **Steve** , because:[ol] [li]People call me \*\*Steve \*\*when they mis-hear my name on the phone[/li][li][\*\*Steve \*\*is the prototypical cool American male, you know what I’m talkin’ about?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UefQYjG7rM)[/li][li]_Hi, Opal!_ has already been used, so no third reason [/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680/69 "2016-10-03T03:22:45Z")
I choose… **Richmond**. 1. It’s pretty uncommon; the only person I know with the name is ex-NFL player Richmond Webb. 2. For some reason, people decided to pick “Brooklyn” and “Bronx” from the NYC boroughs and counties. “Richmond” is much more organic as a person’s name. 3. For those who must, they can easily shorten it to Rich. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680/70 "2016-10-03T03:45:35Z")
It should come as no surprise that I would choose Rhiannon. 1. It has been my online name for nearly 20 years 2. I like the Celtic myth 3. I like the Fleetwood Mac song ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680/71 "2016-10-04T03:40:12Z")
Linus 1. I always liked that Van Pelt boy in “Peanuts” 2. I think it’s cool that Linus Pauling won Nobel Prizes in two different fields 3. I’d enjoy keeping track of how many people pronounced it to rhyme with “sinus” (as I would) as opposed to how many opted for “linn-us” ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680/72 "2016-10-04T12:24:35Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > Linus > > 1. I always liked that Van Pelt boy in “Peanuts” > > 2. I think it’s cool that Linus Pauling won Nobel Prizes in two different fields > > 3. I’d enjoy keeping track of how many people pronounced it to rhyme with “sinus” (as I would) as opposed to how many opted for “linn-us” The latter would be clueless computer folk who never bothered to read the old Linux Pronunciation FAQ. (What’s worse, these people “correct” my pronunciation.) As for 2, then you might be interested in “William” as a middle name, after Nobel laureate William Parry Murphy who as a child lived in the same small [town](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condon,_Oregon#Notable_people) as Pauling. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680/73 "2016-10-04T18:41:27Z")
**Adelheid** 1. I could go by Heidi. 2. I like the book _Heidi_. 3. I like Germanic names. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680/74 "2016-10-04T19:32:04Z")
Kyle [ol] [li]Cool sounding[/li][li]Short[/li][li]No obvious nickname[/li][/ol] Somewhat diminished in appeal since the rise of South Park, but I’m old enough that I don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680/75 "2016-10-05T13:23:00Z")
Ainsley Feminine yet still adult sounding No good nicknames (hate 'em!) I really like the character Ainsley Hayes on “The West Wing” ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680/76 "2016-10-05T13:58:01Z")
Marius 1. It’s short. 2. Easy to spell and pronounce. 3. Unusual enough that I won’t run into more of them every day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-law-as-of-today-every-adult-must-legally-change-his-or-her-first-name-my-new-name-is/766680.md?page=3)