confirmation names

[alita7]

Sorry this isn't about baby names but still names so I thought I could post?

When I was 13 I was confirmed as my family is Catholic. I now class myself as an atheist/ agnostic but I was thinking, what's happened to my confirmation name? It was nice to choose a new name for myself but was there any legality to it or is it just there if you want it etc? I've not written it with my name since about a year after as the novelty wore off... but I was wondering if it technically exists or not?

I had a schoolmate whose parish priest wouldn't allow the name Natasha when her parents brought her along for her baptism. A case of pure ignorance.

The same parish had hundreds of Grainnes, Niamhs, Orlas, Emers and Eithnes.

Mine is Catherine......just because I liked it. Still do.
DS1 is Michael after my deceased father, and Ds2 will have Joseph (my dad's confirmation name).

There is no such thing as a "legal name" in the UK.

Your name is the one you are known by. So if you are Alita Smith on your birth cert, and Alita Bernadette Smith on your post-confirmation school admissions, and Alita B Smith-Shaw after you shack up with a partner in a totally unCatholic way, those are all your name which you are entitled to use.

You're not allowed to commit fraud, so you can't apply for jobseekers as Alita Smith and then apply again as Bernadette Shaw, knowing that you are using two names for one thing. But if you are known by both names, and apply for JSA in one and a library card in another, there's nothing unlawful about that. (Although you might struggle to do it technically as everyone wants proof of name now.)

If you want to use your confirmation name you can do so. Some places (like libraries) are unlikely to care if you introduce a middle name having previously not used one. Others (like banks) are more likely to want to see a change of name deed or statutory declaration, but that is for their own best practice not because it's a legal requirement. Even if they say it is!

My confirmation name is Cecelia because I love playing the flute and singing, and she is the patron saint of music. It really doesn't go at all with my other 70s-tastic names!