# Why doesn't Monica Lewinsky legally change her name? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 4, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158 "2015-03-04T00:41:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/1 "2015-03-04T00:41:32Z")
According to Wiki, > [@](#): > > By 2005, Lewinsky found that she could not escape the spotlight in the U.S., which made both her professional and personal life difficult. She stopped selling her handbag line and moved to London to study social psychology at the London School of Economics… for the next decade she tried to avoid publicity… but due to her notoriety had trouble finding employment in the communications and marketing jobs for nonprofit organizations that she interviewed at. By 2014, she had still not held a full-time job since leaving the Pentagon in 1997. If my name were Monica Lewinsky, I would legally change it, _pronto_. Seems like an obvious thing to do… ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/2 "2015-03-04T00:58:23Z")
I’m kinda skeptical that a “Jane Smith” with Lewinsky’s job history would be any better off. OK, OK, if she were to change her name, she could change it to something less obviously made up. But I think that marketing jobs for non-profits is the type of occupation where you are going to be judged by who you know, and a person with no public history is not neccessarily more employable than one with a notorious history. I think she’d have been better off looking for a less public career. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/3 "2015-03-04T01:05:34Z")
Because “Monica Lewinsky changes her name to Jane Doe to escape infamy” is a news story. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/4 "2015-03-04T01:25:07Z")
Because for better or for worse, it’s her name. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/5 "2015-03-04T01:41:46Z")
More importantly, why doesn’t she team up with Oral Roberts? Death is no excuse! ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/6 "2015-03-04T01:42:09Z")
You know who [else](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKgHUrKZiXA) changed his name? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/7 "2015-03-04T01:50:02Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > If my name were Monica Lewinsky, I would legally change it, _pronto_. Seems like an obvious thing to do… Because a legal name change is part of the public record and the paparazzi would be on it in an instant, giving her new identity instant notoriety. Trust me on this - I changed my name 25 years ago when I got married, I’m no one famous in real life, I’ve moved to another state, and I still get mail with my maiden name on it. Somehow people keep finding me and associating me with a name I haven’t used in a quarter century Now, imagine you’re someone (in)famous. It won’t work, short of getting a sealed court record and I’m not sure “I want people to forget I gave the President a blow job” will convince a judge to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/8 "2015-03-04T01:52:57Z")
> [@Flywheel](#): > > You know who [else](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKgHUrKZiXA) changed his name? William Blythe? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/9 "2015-03-04T01:56:13Z")
Didn’t she get rich off of book deals? Why does she need to work full time? Also I don’t think she should change her name. She was in her early 20s when she had the affair. If Bill Clinton can find work and doesn’t have to change his name then it isn’t fair that she has to. Looking at pictures, she got kind of hot in her 40s. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/10 "2015-03-04T02:33:16Z")
Let that other Monica Lewinsky change HER name! She’s the one that sucks! ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/11 "2015-03-04T03:08:20Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > More importantly, why doesn’t she team up with \*\*\*Oral \*\*\*Roberts? Death is no excuse! Ah, er, um, ah, joke in there someplace that’s fer sure!! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/12 "2015-03-04T03:44:45Z")
One of Fred Phelp’s younger daughters changed her surname when she began her own professional career. She had escaped the family, and the name Phelps, here in Topeka, is, however common, a burden to someone practising law. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/13 "2015-03-04T04:11:27Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > Let that other Monica Lewinsky change HER name! She’s the one that sucks! You expect us to swallow that? ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/14 "2015-03-04T05:13:07Z")
> [@stui\_magpie](#): > > You expect us to swallow that? I think it was a come on. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/15 "2015-03-04T17:19:34Z")
She should just do porn and get it over with ---
**Author:** ![Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool_in_the_Rain)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/16 "2015-03-04T19:00:02Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > She should just do porn and get it over with Oh my god, she sucks. I’ll find my way out… ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/17 "2015-03-04T19:15:21Z")
Because it doesn’t matter what she calls herself legally; everybody will call her Monica Lewinsky, except maybe when interviewing her. Kate Middleton “changed her name” officially - she’s Her Royal Highness, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge - but she’s still called “Kate Middleton” by who knows how many people, and magazines, and TV shows. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/18 "2015-03-04T20:05:42Z")
She could do what tons of people who don’t like their name do and applying for jobs using her middle name. Helen\* Lewinsky would probably open more doors, with no legal document trail. \*I don’t know her real middle name and don’t care enough to look it up. It is unimportant to my point. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/19 "2015-03-04T20:13:38Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > William Blythe? Yeah, it’s pretty well known that Bill Clinton himself was once Bill Blythe. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158/20 "2015-03-04T20:26:37Z")
And Gerald Ford was once Leslie King. Both were adopted. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-monica-lewinsky-legally-change-her-name/714158.md?page=2)