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Original poster

Adult name change?

20 replies

Camdenlife33 · 29/03/2018 21:20

Has anyone changed their first name? What was your experience like and how did you decide on your new name?

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CotswoldStrife · 29/03/2018 21:26

Not me, but a friend decided to change their name - started to get friends to use it, but for some reason couldn't face telling their family so went back to their original name shortly afterwards!

Original poster
Camdenlife33 · 29/03/2018 21:35

Oh no CotswoldStrife Grin not assuring!

I’m 21 and I want to change my name but it’s so hard to settle on one as I’m constantly thinking is it professional etc enough. And there’s certain popular names I love and can’t really use as I already know people with them. So difficult! I hate my name and really need to change it before I graduate

OP posts:
RosieCotton · 29/03/2018 23:12

I always hated my first name. I spent all of secondary school convincing people to use my middle name instead. I didnt want to use a completely new name as i felt it would be to big a change but people drop middle names all the time i didnt see why i couldnt drop my forename. I started in secondary achool as there was only me and one other person who went to my school and i found the clean break and new start worked well with using a new name.

I simply informed my school (along with my mom) that my preferred name was now Anne and i wouldnt be answering to my previous forename.

I used my middle name for 10 years then legally changed it be deed poll.

CotswoldStrife · 29/03/2018 23:18

Sorry! If it helps, friend was a lot older than you are and I think it was linked to a fresh start in her mind.

TatianaLarina · 29/03/2018 23:18

G’wan tell us your name.

What alternative names do you like?

BonnieF · 29/03/2018 23:24

George Osborne did. His original first name was Gideon, but he changed to using his middle name when he was a teenager.

harrietm87 · 30/03/2018 15:12

Are you going to choose something completely new or can you use a middle name or a family name or something?

One thing to think of (possibly, it may not matter to you at all) is how common your new name might be among people of your own age. I remember reading commentary about how Caitlyn Jenner should have chosen a name that would have been usual for women of that generation, or a more classic name, as no woman of his/her age would ever have been called Caitlyn. Obvs very different circumstances but might be worth factoring in somehow.

DarkRoomDarren · 30/03/2018 17:18

A friend of mine did. She changed it to her middle name when she went to university. Her original name was something which I think is now a bit dated (think Claire or Julie - nice enough name, but not fashionable at the minute).

She is still her original name among family though, which can get confusing!

RapunzelIsHere · 30/03/2018 17:28

What is your name OP? I’m interested and it might give us some ideas of what names you want to avoid.

NewImprovedNinja · 30/03/2018 18:26

Yes, two friends (from different areas of my life) changed their first name to something quite different and have been known by their new names for some years now. One of my friends is in her fifties and only her 80 year old mum refuses to accept her new name, but she can live with that.

Marioki · 31/03/2018 16:00

A friend of mine did though she kept the same initial as she didn't want to change her signature.

Beeziekn33ze · 31/03/2018 19:02

Harriet - Dylan Thomas's wife was Caitlin

mondler · 01/04/2018 12:13

My Aunt did it when she moved to a new area and had a fresh start 10 years ago. All she did though was extend the name by a couple of letters but it totally changed the feel of it and made it far less common (she hated having so many people in her generation with the same name). She has no regrets in changing it.

Do you have a middle name you could use or a name with a special meaning?

Diamondjoan · 01/04/2018 12:26

A family member did it some years ago as she needed a fresh start with her life. It raised some eyebrows at the time. Years later when I see her there’s a split second when two names pop in to my head and I have to consciously select!

Zaya71 · 02/04/2018 11:11

I know of two people - one originally named Beryl, who hated it and was always known by Ber. When she went to uni she introduced herself as Beth, which is close enough to her original nn to not be too confusing. The other was named Ann, who wanted a more exciting name so changed it to Ann-Marie. A lot of people just assumed Marie has always been her middle name.

spiney · 02/04/2018 11:16

My grandmother changed her name to her middle name when she was just a child. She just stopped answering to the first one.

If it is important to you go for it. You only have one life.

PickledLilly · 02/04/2018 12:52

I’ve gone by my middle name since I was 16. My family all still call me by my first name but all my partner, friends and colleagues all know me as my middle name and that’s the name on my passport etc.

Lymmmummy · 03/04/2018 19:29

Have known 2 - one a working class man who was given a rather pretentious posh name who changed it when he moved to a different part of the city - his original name was Vivian and he asked to be called Vic when he moved

Funnily enough I had a friend called Julie which I think is a nice name but was just v v popular she always wanted to change it to Julia but never did

Movablefeast · 03/04/2018 19:36

I was very surprised when I discovered that my friend Lauren was originally called Lori. I only found out when I met an old friend of hers who said "yes, I've known her a long time, back to when she was Lori". Lauren really suits her.

squoosh · 03/04/2018 19:57

What is it about your name that you hate so much?

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