Have you ever had a name change? First, commonly known as, surname? How about ancestors?

[uppityperson]

Have you ever had a name change? Either first/commonly used name or surname? Was it as a nickname? Was it changed after you got married, or divorced, or adopted or some other legal type thing? What about your ancestors? How about forums and/or hobbies/work?

My paternal line surname was changed when they immigrated to the USA. I went, briefly, by a husband's last name before it was too weird and my uppityness asserted itself. I was known by a diminutive of my name when I was a child, and still called that by a parent. I've been known as "x's mom" over the last number yrs. I am known as "uppityperson" on DU and another name on another anonymous forum. I have a stage name for stage name.

I considered changing my name to a more "girly" name when I was a kid, and then had an different name as a teen to give to people who bugged me for my name and I didn't want them to know who I was.

How about you?
(edited to clarify "stage name")

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Yes, I've had a complete name change

I have been given two spiritual names which I use as first and second names. I am married and took my husband's last name.

But my niece has taken it one better than me, I think. She, too, has a spiritual name and she has it AND her birth names on her driver's license. Her husband took HER last name when they married.

[NMDemDist2]

2. only when I used a stage name

and it was never a 'legal' name change

I did finally change my last name to husband #3's (yes, we're still married) but kept my maiden name as my middle name

ie

NM A. Democrat became Mrs. NM Democrat District


did that make sense?

[uppityperson]

10. I had an argument with husband #1 about name changes.

I wanted to keep my maiden name as my middle name, he said that wasn't possible, that wasn't legal, that wasn't how it was to be done, he always wanted to have someone take his name, etc. I told him to get a dog. We were young, dumb, totally unsuited for each other.

[pacalo]

3. Yup. Dutch ancestors removed "van der" from my maiden name.

[TahitiNut]

4. I didn't know that my birth certificate had my first and middle names reversed until I was 14.

Growing up, I was called "Mickey" (like Mantle not Mouse, thank you!) - a nickname for "Michael" which I thought was my first name. My schools did too. When it was time to get a work permit, I got my birth certificate out of the cedar chest. "James." Huh?? Did I have a dead twin brother? Nope. "James Michael..." Oi! It's been a nuisance ever since.

[uppityperson]

11. Having those 2 first names, I wonder if I can guess your folk's religion.

Or maybe your age, since that used to be popular. So you are J.Michael, not Mickey, eh? I had a friend who was a John Michael, went by Mike.

[TahitiNut]

21. In school, I NEVER had a class without both a 'James' and a 'Michael'.

Us 'Mikes' had to be distinguished by last initial and sometimes even that wasn't unique. I have a friend my age who also goes my 'Mike' as his middle name, but his given first name is 'William' ... so we call each other (and his wife calls us) 'Willie' and 'Jimmy.' It's a bit of a hoot around others who don't know the code.

:silly:

(Yes... Lutherans ... and I was born during WW2.)

[suston96]

5. Name change? Yes. Thanks to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella....way back then....

They kicked Sephardic Jews out of Catalan, Spain, whose last names were changed to Catalano or Catalan wherever they ended up, mostly in Europe.

Oh, that was in the late 1590s. I traced one of my ancestors to Palermo, Sicily in 1615?.

Yeah, that makes me Jewish on my father's side. Maybe.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

6. Name was changed on Ellis Island

Just a mis-spelling, no big deal.

Probably some clerk told the ancestor "Is this your name? If so, you can get on the ferry to New York City. If not, you can go stand in that long line to get it corrected."

Ancestor: "Yes, boss, that's my name", as he heads toward the ferry.

:hi:

[uppityperson]

12. My Polish paternal line was changed at Ellis Island also.

Now my last name sounds close to some mafia people, which is amusing. I just found out why people mishear my last name and haven't come up with a good answer yet as to why there is only 1 letter different. I haven't found anyone with the not changed surname, but relatives tell me there are some.

[ipfilter]

7. I want to change my name.

My parents decided to call me by my middle name. This has caused all sorts of confusion for my entire life. When someone calls me by my first name I don't even answer. I would like to make my middle name my first name and just use my initial from my first name.

[Oregone]

8. Yes, my first name was incredibly embarrassing and negatively conotated.

After a few thousands years I finally convinced myself to drop Lucifer. Its worked well so far.

[catnhatnh]

9. Yes

My drivers license is issued to R F followed by my last name. All my life I have been known to family by a diminutive of my first name which is slightly unusual. Unfortunately my last name is a common given english name which caused problems as people would look at my name and assume I was (last name) R. as opposed to R. (last name). Now my license ends errors and over-familiarity and if I hand it to you the only possible address to me is "Mr. Allen". Past co-workers and some friends call me Cat.

[Bobbieo]

13. My father changed his name when he became a citizen and I have no idea

what his real name was. I will never know. It doesn't bother me and never did but I have no idea of his family's health history - cancer etc!!!

[JuniperLea]

14. Changed it when I got married...

And changed it back when I got divorced.

But to my family, I'm just Juniper... or June Bug... Lea is really my middle name... old English for "meadow"...

[catnhatnh]

16. And yet still ever popular

in the New York Times crossword puzzles....I think it's nice.

Edited to add soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l52zvuv7i6s

[JuniperLea]

26. I loved that song when I was a kid!

Thanks for reminding me.

I guess I still love it... had to listen twice:)

[LanternWaste]

15. From Cassini to Cassiano to Smith.

In the past 150 years, my family's name has morphed from Cassini to Cassiano to Smith.

For the most part, I think I use my Christian name almost exclusively-- except on DU. :)

[uppityperson]

20. Well, that was quite a change.

Looking for anonymity here perhaps? Is Cassini or Cassiano popular surnames, like Smith?

[LanternWaste]

24. Family history says the name was changed

"Is Cassini or Cassiano popular surnames, like Smith?"

Family history says the name was changed from Cassini to Cassiano upon the arrival in TX from the Canary Islands to better fit in with the majority population (Latino) in San Antonio, and then changed again when the demographics of the area became more white.

I don't think that Cassini was the most common of surnames in its original land, but I don't think it was unique, either.

[AlCzervik]

17. yes on my side and my husband's side, his surname was shortened and the italian was removed

my surname was shortened and the jew was removed.

[NNN0LHI]

18. My Italian family name got all fecked up when my ancestors checked into Ellis Island

Happened a lot. That is how we ended up with so many Smiths and Jones. If the guy checking you in couldn't figure out what you were trying to say you automatically became a Smith or a Jones.

Don

[H2O Man]

19. Yes. n/t

[pink-o]

22. I changed my own first name. It used to be Nancy

But that name held no meaning for my parents--I was child number 2 and since they already had my sis, they were certain I would be a boy. They hadn't even picked out a girl's name--so when the doc handed my mother her 23 inch long, 6 pound newborn girl, she came up with Nancy at the spur of the moment. Nancy grew to be 6'1" tall by the time she was fourteen in 1969--duh! Like the signs weren't obvious. Nancy always thought the name belonged to someone petite and spunky, and she (I) had problems with girls' names that don't end with "A", hence the name is now Anja.

As for my last name, anyone who has it comes from the same Shtetl in Lithuania. There's a notorious stockbroker who has it--he's from Australia who got "Martha-d" for insider trading on Qantas stocks, so when I was just in Sydney I never had to spell my odd Jewish name. And it ends in --kin (Jeez, I'm givin it away!) but my grandfather stuck an "ess" on the end of our branch so it would sound more like "Hopkins" or "Perkins". Lots of people don't realize it's Jewish--at least not outside of Down Under!

So both names went thru the change machine. My middle name is hideously ugly--Ruth--and I've kept it for all my life. Go figure!

[MurrayDelph]

23. Not me, but my ancestors

My father was born in another country. When he became a citizen he legally dropped his middle name: Wolf

One of my grandfathers had showbiz aspirations, and legally changed his name from Schneidkraut, which means I am descended from a long line of Cole Slaw.

[Gin]

25. I used my Baptism Cert. as proof until I was 40....name listed is Virginia

I ordered a copy of my BC and found out the name on it was Celine. So I changed it to Virginia.

I guess my mother was confused and forgot what she wrote on the BC.

I never heard of another Celine until Celine Dionne.(sp)???

[lumberjack_jeff]

27. My real name is Ted. Ted Hitler. n/t

[Urban Prairie]

28. My Great-Great Grandfather's

Surname was changed along with his siblings, when his mother, a widow, married another man and they all changed it to his. They had two children of their own after marrying, one of whom died at a young age of consumption (tuberculosis) which was the eventual cause of death for many of my ancestors in the 1800s. I met some of my relations (second/third cousins) who had descended from my great-great-great grandmother's siblings, and one female who was near my age and was a third cousin asked me to be her prom date.

I also met some relations with the same surname as mine, who were my "step-cousins" and also family-owned and operated a medium-sized office-supply company back when I was an independent group health insurance salesman, and after several meetings with them and many hours I spent gathering applications, calculating premium costs and negotiating coverages, they sent me a letter stating that after we talked about our common ancestral roots, they discovered that I was not a "real" relation to them and the deal was off...pricks!! Guess it would have been better to deny any family connection to them.