Thinking of changing my legal name...

[Luna]

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...
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When I hear my (legal) name, all I remember is my broken, young self alone in the school halls...bullied and taunted relentlessly.

My legal name...
People often mispronounce it; I remember how I would feel my stomach sink when hearing it over the intercom...how the speakers would ruin it and make it sound uglier than it was.

Recently, I had someone (a colleague of 46 years old) burst out laughing when he heard my name. Combine my first and last name - and hilarity ensues.

I don't believe that a name defines who we are - it is a label that we use to identify one another.

But I don't want to be identified any more under my legal name.
It's almost like...I want to close that chapter of my life.

I don't want to identify any more with that broken, young self in school.
I want to almost...take on another identity.

 

[mintymint]

I've never felt comfortable with my own name. It's a foreign name, and I always used to hate the attention it drew to me. Not to mention the fact that people could seldom pronounce it correctly. How hard is it to phonetically repeat a name? Pretty hard for most it would seem. And always having to repeat it, over and over. Needing to use aliases like 'Tim' or 'John' in order to not waste yet another minute of my life going through what seemed like speech therapy with a complete stranger. To this day it doesn't really feel like my own. Maybe it's because I've never even felt comfortable in my own skin. I feel as if I could forget it tomorrow and not miss a thing. It's funny because objectively it's not a bad name... maybe I just dislike it because it's associated with me and my own experiences

 

[Luna]

I've never felt comfortable with my own name. It's a foreign name, and I always used to hate the attention it drew to me. Not to mention the fact that people could seldom pronounce it correctly. How hard is it to phonetically repeat a name? Pretty hard for most it would seem. And always having to repeat it, over and over. Needing to use aliases like 'Tim' or 'John' in order to not waste yet another minute of my life going through what seemed like speech therapy with a complete stranger. To this day it doesn't really feel like my own. Maybe it's because I've never even felt comfortable in my own skin. I feel as if I could forget it tomorrow and not miss a thing. It's funny because objectively it's not a bad name... maybe I dislike it because it's associated with me

My name is foreign also...and in English...it refers to a jumping toilet.
I won't give it out exactly though...how humiliating.
Ahahaha...
;-;
I would like to change it; I'll include my legal name as my middle name to respect my grandma's choice, but I don't know how I would explain it to my family and people that already know me...

 

[mintymint]

I'm sorry Luna, but I lol'd at 'jumping toilet.' You put a very strange image in my head

It's what you want, right? That's a pretty **** good reason. If it's something you've thought through and want to pursue, then the people in your life should be willing to accept it. Choosing a name's gotta be tough though.

 

[Lonesome Crow]

Sure why not. if it bothers that much. Then change it.

My birth name is actaully way different than the current name I got or go by at the moment.
Actaully my birth name sounds pretty cool.
In english...mmm there's no translations of it in english. hahahaaa
The meaning of it is Sunshine or Guiding light.
My mother told me I was borned in the morning during the sunrise....that's why she gave that name.
It's still on documents ..It's Satit
I have a nick name...but people would totally go apeshit and have a field day with it, if not spoken in native launage.

My currrent last name gets fucken bucther.hahahaa
It's actaully my mother's maiden's name...but somewhere in translation it got totally screwed up.
People can't pronounce it correctly or the way it's spell to being with anywho...So much for fucken intelligent people.hahahaaa

Poeple know me as Michael or I go by Michael becuase I'm such a fucken angel. I'm the defender of Faith..so don't fresia with me. Hahahaaa
Only my mother or women in my life calls me Michael...especially if they're pissed off at me..hahahaaa
The name is okay. i don't really like it that much. It's too common of a name.
I would rather go by Satit or Sat to shorten it if people can't prononce it correctly.
Hell..I'll even would rather be call Sunshine.
But I've been called every name in the book..anywhere from basturd to Son of a ***** !!! hahahaa
I settle for Michael today.

The other name I get call by more often than not....
All my GFs oe ex-wf calls me "Honey"..that's becuase they can't remember my fucken name. hahahaaaa
Women that flirts with me calles me Sweetie or Love.lol

One of my aunty changed her name for simular reasons.
her name was Bettsy...Like Bettsy the cow.
She said it brought back too many bad memories when she was a child becuase kids were making fun of her.
So she changed it

 

[mintymint]

This may sound weird, but I think that if I can learn to feel more comfortable with myself, I can learn to feel more comfortable with my name as well. Like I said, it's a nice name... the fact that it's used mostly when interacting with people (which I'm very poor at) is probably why I'm not terribly fond of it. I don't think changing it would help me in my situation, and I have no desire to do so. I guess I'll keep working with what they gave me. It's just a name. It's a nice name. I'd like to learn to like it. Adia sounds nice btw


I understand where you're coming from though. Even in its native language, my name is really more of a girls name XD It's like I can't catch a break

 

[Lonesome Crow]

Adia sounds totally smexy...
It's not common.
Yes, very soft and sweet sounding.

 

[dead]

Hey luna.

i may not be the best person to give advice, but if you don't feel connected to your name you should change it. your name is the word for the essence of YOU.

on the other hand no name change will free you from yourself.
no matter by what name, you will still remain yourself.

 

[Punisher]

If it will make you happier, I think you should change it. You can always change it back if you regret it.

 

[Badjedidude]

If I changed my name, I would want to be Agamemnon.

 

[Obsidian]

I agree with previous posters, go for it! I think I might do the same one day, not because I really dislike my given name, it's just that I've always found nicknames and stuff that we pick for ourselves much more genuine and interesting.

 

[Minus]

If the name bothers you then change it. I would change mine if i felt that it would get me beyond past traumas.

 

[Steel]

It's your name... if you're not happy with it, change it!

 

[dead]

If the name bothers you then change it. I would change mine if i felt that it would get me beyond past traumas.

yeah :/ i was naive enough to think it would work :/ did somewhat... but... no amount of changing anything external really works for me. :/

---

If I changed my name, I would want to be Agamemnon.

now that is cool.

 

[Badjedidude]

now that is cool.

Agamemnon is the most manliest, jaw-ripping, sweaty, barbaric, gloriously powerful name I have ever encountered in my life. It would probably take a few years of battle and hardship for me to earn it, though....so until I can manage to resemble a Greek god, I imagine I'll have to stick with Steve. haha

 

[edgecrusher]

i also agree with the others. if you dont like it that much, change it. just make sure you pick something you like, something that will stick for the rest of your life. theres also the whole thing about people having to now call you something completely different. when you said "jumping toilet" that put a weird image in my head. im very curious about what it is now. its foreign is it? if so than to many others it might sound cool if you dont say anything about jumping toilets to them.

 

[kelbo]

I don't want to identify any more with that broken, young self in school.
I want to almost...take on another identity.

What does your parents/family think about it? Have you spoken to them?

I always think surely parents name a child a certain name for a reason and would be upset if they changed it. However I could be completely wrong....and family/parents aren't everything. So if it will truly make you feel better and more confident, then why not? Why don't you just change part of it? See how you feel with that?

I want to change my last name, it is my fathers surname and I don't want to be associated with him anymore. But after lots of thinking about it - changing my surname wouldn't even make that much difference...all I need to know is for myself that I am not any part of him or around him, nor do I like him.

A name change won't just suddenly change your pereceived perception of yourself, you will still think of yourself the same unless you work on that first.

 

[nerdygirl]

You're worried about how your parents would feel about you not wanting to be a leaping toilet? Look, if family members criticize your decision, you should start asking them how they would feel if their names made them sound like toilets jumping around. Geeze.

 

[Lost Soul]

...
...
...

When I hear my (legal) name, all I remember is my broken, young self alone in the school halls...bullied and taunted relentlessly.

My legal name...
People often mispronounce it; I remember how I would feel my stomach sink when hearing it over the intercom...how the speakers would ruin it and make it sound uglier than it was.

Recently, I had someone (a colleague of 46 years old) burst out laughing when he heard my name. Combine my first and last name - and hilarity ensues.

I don't believe that a name defines who we are - it is a label that we use to identify one another.

But I don't want to be identified any more under my legal name.
It's almost like...I want to close that chapter of my life.

I don't want to identify any more with that broken, young self in school.
I want to almost...take on another identity.

One of the reasons I wanted to change my name is becuase I don't like who I am. I wanted to change my name so I can appreciate it more I hate my first (real) name.

I had wanted it to be Hank Katts for awhile becuase it was the main character of my favorite TV show (Katts And Dog) which is an old Canadian Police show about a K-9 police officer and his dog Rudy and how they solve crimes. It was in the late 80's/early 90's. I had watched the re-runs until they were canceled after the year 2000. a few months after I got the game Zelda: Twilight Princess, I had become really obsessed with Midna (one of the main characters in the game, who is an Imp)

I really liked the name (and still do). I thought it'll be easier and cheaper to change just my first name then my first and last name. I know changing my name won;'t change my personality or who I am, but at least it's one think I'd like more.

It takes awhile to get your name change and it's a huge step, also costs a lot too. My folks would never approve even my first name.

 

[Silvernight]

Ok, I admit that jumping toilet is just... LMAO. Though I don't quite understand how come it means 'jumping toilet', as in who would in their sane mind call their child that? Anyway, if you're embarrassed by your name and hate it, it's perfectly reasonable to change it. Just be sure to make a good choice, so that you like it for years to come. I've read that names like everything carry a certain energy and when someone changes their name, their personality can change accordingly. No idea if it's true, never changed it and don't know anyone who did. I'm kind of impartial towards my own name, it's really not bad, though I'm not particularly attached to it. Funnily enough, I prefer my online aliases, they're kinda more fun. I even used to be seriously annoyed when various people online started calling me by my true name after I told them instead of my aliases.