Have you/would you change your own first name?

I did it last year, I've been known to friends by the dimminutive of my name (which also had a chavvy 'different' spelling) and now that is what is on my passport and driving licence, it was already on degree certificate and bank accounts so now everything is in the same name.

I used a free deedpoll. if you pm an email I can send you the text.

Sorry, a few years ago.

Interesting thread...I know two people who have changed their name. One did it about 25 years ago after getting divorced, long before I met her...when she talks about her life before she did it she refers to herself in the third person, which is a bit mind-boggling, but shows you how a big a deal changing your name is. Not surprisingly after all this time, everybody calls her by her chosen name.

The other converted to Islam a few years and took a new name accordingly. Her family use her old and new names interchangeably.

I have always wanted to change my name I dislike it, its common. I considered using one of my middle names instead as they are far more classic and I prefer them. However, I've never changed it as haven't wanted to upset my mother.

For what it's worth, I think Alix is a really nice name!

Aouch.. I have to say I am bit concerned about DS' name, which is Alec - not Alex ;) We had strong reasons to use it but are currently more and more aware that it may v well become a burden for him. Hope he will like it..

I was in a school where I shared a name with 5 other girls, so at 13 I changed the spelling of my name ever so slightly (think Alex to Alix!). I've now been known longer that way than my original, even my family know me by it. My passport is in the old name (have to remember when I fly!), everything else is in the new name. Never regretted it, suits me much better!

Englishwoman: I just meant that this kind of names makes me feel like the parents went into a lot of trouble to find an unusual name and I find it quite cute. Of course, it does not necessarily mean the baby is special to them and more often than not also shows how special they feel themselves, but it somehow makes a positive impression on me. The difference may be that the first category of parents choose something not too unusual (e.g. Alix, Ginevra, Althea..) and the others go for the most unusual name they can find (e.g.: Apple, Septimus, Seven &co).
I am not saying either that classic names make me think "did not bother at all", it just does not have the same "cool" feeling.

I agree with those who are saying try it for a while and see how you feel since I can see both sides having read all the posts. My DM changed her name by DP to the one of the many short forms on it saying she hated the long version even though she gave it to me as a middle name! I do think people change too. Through my childhood and teens I was always known as nikki but would punch anyone in the nose if they called me that now! I don't think there is anything wrong with Alix but Alice is lovely too.

... in fact I may add it to my shortlist of names for my imminent new arrival (I have Alex on there for a girl, but I prefer this as it's a bit more interesting).

Mad Alix is a lovely name. And I don't think wacky at all. I have a name which is very unusual, I've never met anyone else with it (I checked it out on the stats- only 10 born last year), and everyone always comments on it and asks where it came from etc. It has never never bothered me. in fact I love that my name is different. People tend to pronounce it incorrectly at first also but that's never bothered me either. I don't really get why it bothers you.

Agree with Norks actually.My relative who name changed,had self confidence issues,before the name change,and self confidence issues after it.Perhaps he just had 1 less thing to fret over,I dont know.

Do you think that this is more about your self confidence than it is about you (perfectly lovely) name?
Do you wish you were the sort of person who could say (or even just think) "yeah, my name's Alix, what's it to do with you"?

I must say I sometimes think "Why have you not CHANGED that name...but that is mostly when I meet Mr Pratt or Ms Smellie.

I think Alix is a pretty, not too way out name. It would not even make the tiniest blip on my 'odd-name-ometer'.

BUT

Do you truly think you will be more confident if you change it? Or are there other ways of making yourself confident that are not just attached to your name?

I know an Alix in her mid-thirties, maybe it is more common than you think? Fwiw I have never thought anything of her name, as in I didn't think 'what a weird name' when I met her, I didn't think anything different to if she had been for example a Kate or Emma.

Could you call yourself Ali, or Lexi perhaps?

The only issue I see is that if you are the kind of person who worries what peiple think of you, and are self-conscious about your name anyway, would you feel even more self-conscious having to explain to all your friends/acquaintances/colleagues that you have changed your name?

(darn mobile posting!)
...by her old name, and after a year or so, just stopped responding if people didn't use her new name. She introduced herself to all new people with her new name and now a good few years on, we all call her her new name (except mum who sometimes forgets).

FWIW, I preferred her old name and can't understand why she changed it, and there was a lot of talk about it amongst family, but at the end if the day, she was unhappy before, and she's happier now, and for that, the inconvenience to us to remember was worth it.

My sister changed her name in her mid 30s. It was a bit of a shock as I never knew she hated her name before! She changed it by deed poll and corrected everyone when they called her by her

thegreylady I think my self conciousness about my name was made worse by where my parents moved the family to in the middle of my childhood - very, erm, "down to earth" place, rural, we were already "incomers" and everyone was called Sarah or Fiona or Emma or, if they were a bit posh maybe Catherine or Elizabeth ... my name got "You're not from 'round 'ere are ya?" ... Ironically I live overseas and am beyond a shadow of a doubt "not from 'round here".

It has given me a preference for classic names that are gender specific, at least in their full form - I hate, hate, hated people not knowing whether a girl or a boy was going to turn up from my name too, and getting post addressed to Mr as a teen - again it wasn't usual to have a gender neutral name, I expect it's fine for kids now that it is more common; though when I was teaching a class group with a male and a female Ashley came to me for citizenship and the class already called them "Ashley Girl" and Ashley boy" poor kids!

I think Alix is OK but those who don't know it is a French name (I didn't) may well assume it is a (deliberate) mis/ invented alternative spelling of Alex, I guess that is one of the things that could have made it a hard name for the OP?

I can't find who posted that whacky means the baby was special to the parents - I don't agree, it may sometimes, but more often it means the parents thought "How cool are we giving our baby such an off the wall name" - or just that they didn't bother thinking about how the name would affect the baby in later years. Sometimes more thought has gone into choosing the "right" classic name than into calling a baby Apple or Pebble or Fluffy-Little-Pippkin :o (I don't think Alix at all falls into the wacky category though, just saying I don't think wacky means parents who cared more about the baby than others, sometimes the opposite, I'd think parents who thought their baby's name as all about them, the parents, like the poster who's DH wanted to call their child Decibella once (I think that was on chat) because he was a rock musician - made me hope the baby turned out to have a strong vocation to be a librarian :o

Reading the title of your thread, I was a bit surprised when you said your name was Alix, I have always thought of this name as very elegant, rare but not too unusual and with nice historical references. One of my all time favorites! But then again, it might be a French thing..

I do not think that a name should influence who you are and do not believe that people make assumptions about you personality when seeing your name (except maybe "class" associations in the UK?). My mouthful of a first name is hyphenated and Magdalena is only its second part, but I have chosen as a teen to be addressed by it only (2/4 of my siblings did the same, btw, we all have that kind of odd names). My middle names are a lot worse than that (even includes Pauline...) so not many options available here since you cannot change your name in France except through a very long legal process.

There are only my parents now who call me by my "entire" first name now, everyone else seems to be relieved to have 4 syllables to say instead of 6.
Weirdly enough when choosing DS' name, I agreed to go with a first name with high teasing potential in the US and added 2 "normal" mn in case he would rather use any of them later. Probably made a wiser choice with DD whose first mn is her only "weird" name.

Perhaps you should try asking people to call you Alice, just to see if it would work for you? Going for the closest name may not be what you are looking for, since you mentioned you expected a complete change of "life" from it.
Oh and about "wacky" names: I have always thought that it was nice, it shows how much the baby was special to the parents.

For what it's worth, I love the name Alix! I've always thought it's really sophisticated. However, I can understand that it is unusual for people who come across it for the first time and that has obviously had a negative effect on you over the years.

I definitely don't think it's too late to change your name - especially to Alice. Why don't you do it by Deed Poll on your birthday as a bday present to yourself! Alice is also a very lovely name btw.

The only concern I would have is that you will have to explain to a lot of people (not just friends and relatives, but bank, hairdresser, gas supplier etc etc) that you have changed your name and will no doubt then get questioned as to why. If you are already sensitive/anxious about the whole name thing, would this cause more distress for you?

As an alternative, (and this may sound weird) have you considered getting some therapy to deal with your feelings? A lot of people end up with anxiety/issues about things that stem from their childhood (I think you mention the name thing becoming a particular issue around the age of 10) and this can be dealt with through CBT or hypnotherapy. Many people have to spell and correct people on their names, but they don't necessary associate negative feelings with it as you do. If you could change your internal response, then maybe it wouldn't be such a big issue any more. Just a thought! x

I am a Mary, but not really religious, (my mother is protestant) not Irish, not in my 80s, but people assume all of those. When I became Mrs Mary xxx I aged about 30 years overnight.

I have always hated it because it carries so many connotations. If I did change, it would be for my middle name - Alice! (thoroughly outed myself there) but I am now in my mid-thirties, and there are so many other things I could change which matter more than other peoples' initial reactions. When they are used to me, they know what I am like, and the name doesn't matter. I can only assume that the same applies to everyone.

Have you though about just having a professional name - and just using it at work. I can't think anyone would have a problem about that.

I knew a man who changed his name in his early 20s. He had a name that was incredibly popular a few years before he was born, so much so that it unfortunately became a bit of a joke... a great name in its way, but he couldn't affect people's reactions to it. So he just changed it - to his middle name which is timeless and has never been fashionable or out of fashion. he went the legal route, and as people greeted him he just said 'Hi! Just to let you know, my name is X now'. I lost touch with him so don't know how it affected him. I know several people with his original name who haven't been bothered by it, but that's not the point.

I have always liked my first name, and I still enjoy it now. I sometimes feel it's a bit feminine for me, I almost don't feel pretty enough for it, but it's certainly possible to feel happy with your name.

Do you really want to be Alice or do you think it sounds like less of a change? My own view would be, if you're going to change your name it would actually be easier to go with a name that sounds different. So my advice would be only to change to Alice if it's a name that you feel really suits you.