Legal name change?

[Anima]

Well, tis something I've been thinking about for a long, LONG time.

And no, not my forum name, but my ACTUAL name.

After a very long time, I've grown tired of my name, and with alot of girls at my school that run around with the same name as I, it gets very confusing...

Therefore, I want to change my name to something more unique, something that would make me stick out from the crowd.

(Also, I tried to ask the same thing on a forum I hadn't been on for a long time, only to be back-lashed with stuff like "You don't just change your name, because you're bored of it, that, in my opinion, is a completely wrong reason.", even when I was COMPLETELY serious about it... and yes that was an actual quote. They even ridiculed some of my name choices.)

Therefore, I think it might be better for me to talk about this in a more FAMILIAR forum.

And this doesn't restrain to me, anyone else out there considering a big decision can talk about it, too.

[Deleted]

I don't see anything wrong with changing your name, as long as one is serious and not being rash about it.

If I may ask, do you have a particular name in mind if you were to legally change it?

EDIT as I had forgotten to post this: Like Dashe said below, there are quite a lot of complications involved in changing your first name, including legal and financial matters. Not to mention the fact that you are currently underaged (unless the legal age where you live is 18), which may mean needing your parents' permission.

[Avegodro]

Sure Anima go for it and change your name to something that suits you better.

[Anima]

Aug 3, 2011 10:46:08 GMT -5 @steffie said:

I don't see anything wrong with changing your name, as long as one is serious and not being rash about it.

If I may ask, do you have a particular name in mind if you were to legally change it?

Well I have a list here, but here are the ones that appeal to me the most:

Aurea
Leaf
Lyra
Sonata
Spirit
Ziza

When I said I wanted an exotic/unusual name, I wasn't kidding.

[Dashe]

First off: Do you have the money to fund a legal name change? Did you research how much it costs for your region, and have you got a lot of credit cards, licenses and other official accounts in your current name that you'd have to modify? Do you know if any of these cards would charge you a fee to get it replaced? I recently read an article somewhere about men who'd wanted to assume their wives' last names, often with good reason, who had trouble getting the information on their cards changed. Apparently most credit card carriers and a lot of banks make you leap a ton of legal hurdles if you want to change the name on your cards and aren't a woman taking her husband's last name. Heck, my mom even had a lot of trouble with that when she was trying to go back to her maiden name, and eventually gave up even though her maiden name is much more pronounceable (and about half as long). If you are serious about this, you'll definitely want to do it before you get a lot of credit cards and accounts you'd have to change.

Also, are your parents okay with it if you're underaged? How about your real life friends?

As long as you're sure of it, go ahead and change your name, just don't rush into it. As someone with an exotic/unusual real name, I had to miss out on a lot of things most people take for granted, like novelty personalized theme park mini license plates. And being able to introduce myself to someone and get something like "nice to meet you" instead of "...Really?"

You'll also probably want to make sure it's easy to pronounce and spell for all potential parties involved. Especially anyone who might have to guess at how to say your name just from seeing it written down, or people who have to write your name down for any kind of phone application or validation.

[Anima]

Well thankfully, I don't have credit cards quite yet, however, I am aware of the birth certificate, social security, and other things I have to modify, in order for the name to be official.

Plus I've done my research on how much it costs to have my name legally changed in my state, it takes up quite a pretty penny.

And I have talked about this with my parents before, as well as my sister [she too had her name legally changed].

[Raijin]

Wow, your parents must be flattered. Any of their children not hate the name they were given?

Well I'm the wrong person to give any advice on a name change since I'll never even change my screenname much less my real one, but I do think this is something that should be entirely up to you. It doesn't seem like the sort of thing you should be putting up to vote from other people. You're the only one who has to live with the name, it means significantly less to the people that have to learn it. Even less to us, the people who know you more by your screenname than anything.

[Anima]

I know I know, but It's just something I wanna put out there, else my brain shuts down on me.

No really. It's happened before.

[rivers]

Just don't name yourself something dumb like Chlamydia, and I think you'll be okay.