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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Would you change your birth name?

35 replies

Augustbutterfly · 09/08/2021 15:09

Would you change your birth name if the name represented a religion that you don’t follow anymore. Imagine everyone you meet assumes that you follow that religion because of your name and judges you if you act outside of the religious expectations, would this bother you and make you consider changing your birth name to make your life easier and create some distance between yourself and those people?

P.s I posted about the baby name Mina on another thread xx

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DinosaurDiana · 09/08/2021 21:39

It’s your name. Change it if you want, you don’t need a reason.

LadyLolaRuben · 09/08/2021 21:38

Yes I would change my name if I felt it didn't represent who I am and it gave a conflicting first impression to others. Life is too short. Be who you want to be

JustFrustrated · 09/08/2021 21:21

I'd change mine just because I don't like it

If I had to deal with people assuming something as intrinsic as a religion about me.... definitely.

Chicchicchicchiclana · 09/08/2021 20:40

A very niche question. It's not quite the same as "would you change your birth name for whatever reason".

Be interesting to see what replies you get.

DacwMamYnDwad · 09/08/2021 20:37

I can also think of some who were known by their middle name but now use their first name.

Something like Alison Jane Smith was Jane all the way through school but is now Alison.

DacwMamYnDwad · 09/08/2021 20:34

Yes, if I could think of a name I preferred.

I know people who have changed their name.Two of them because they were converted to a religion.

Original poster
Augustbutterfly · 09/08/2021 20:28

@CoalCraft What you have described is a very good example of the situation that I’m asking for opinions on!

OP posts:
CoalCraft · 09/08/2021 19:38

Hard for me to relate, really, having a very ordinary name and not being religious, but I could see certain circumstances where I would see it understandable. For example, if I was a man named Abdullah, but was not Muslim, I might be tempted to change.

I think just using a non-religious nickname would be simpler though - e.g. "Mo" for Mohammed, "Sam" for Osama.

whatausername · 09/08/2021 16:45

No, definitely not

Ari202 · 09/08/2021 16:43

If I liked my name then I wouldn’t change it.
If I didn’t then I would.