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#144401 06/23/05 07:22 PM
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Jackie Offline OP
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There was an article in our paper the other day about a young lady who felt so strongly about cruelty to animals that she legally changed her name to something like 'GoVeg.com'--the address of her favorite organization's website.
What do you all think about name changes? To me, my name is a deeply-ingrained part of my identity. I did consider at one time trying to get people to call me by my full first name because I have never liked Jackie, but decided it wouldn't be worth the trouble. I don't know--I just can't imagine thinking of myself as "me", if I changed my name to, oh, Calliope or Darlene. Has anyone here ever changed their name? (In real life, I mean.)


#144402 06/23/05 09:55 PM
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i have been considering changing my name for years.

i doubt i will do it--but i do think about it.

i don't mind helen (or my passel of middle names, all unused)
but i 'changed my name' when i married and didn't really want to change it back when i divorced, but i don't really like my current last name or my maiden last name.

I have a friend who did change his name, but he refused to talk about why.. and how its worked for him. (from dike to pike--only a one letter change!)

i think if i did change my name, it would be to Lee-- a family name (but not my mother's or fathers) and a bit ambiguous--. It could be Chinese--(but Robt. E Lee wasn't!) it could be american (see Robt. E Lee) but my relative named Lee wasn't. another family name i could use is Lamb. (no family relation to the writer) but well, 'lamb'? its sound like the answer to 'what's for dinner?'!--all the other family names are very ethnicly irish names. --Lee and Lamb are a bit more, well, neutral.


#144403 06/23/05 10:35 PM
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i don't really like my current last name

What's wrong with Ledasdottir?


#144404 06/23/05 10:39 PM
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Well, if you've ever seen Michaelangelo's Statue of David, I'm proud to say my name does me justice.


#144405 06/24/05 02:56 AM
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One of my old school friends, Thelma, changed her name on the occasion of her 40th birthday...to signify a new beginning. Her name is Eve!


#144406 06/24/05 04:49 AM
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I have a friend who posts here as sjmaxq, and he tells me that some people still call him Max even when they know his real name. Is he "Max" or is he the other one? Or is there a 3rd possibility?


#144407 06/24/05 06:37 AM
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In India there is a (superstitious?) practice called Numerology, where people add the letters of their names and come up with a number. This number could be lucky or not. If it is an unlucky number, they add a letter to their names and change the number to change their luck. So you have spellings like Vijjay for Vijay or Shobhaa for Shobha.
I am not saying it does not work, but I don't believe in it.

Also in India in some communities a woman changes even her first name after marriage.


It is kind of freeing to have whole new name … a whole new start. Though, I doubt it makes you a different person. Perhaps it makes you want to make less mistakes.


#144408 06/24/05 02:39 PM
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> It is kind of freeing to have whole new name … a whole new start. Though, I doubt it makes you a different person. Perhaps it makes you want to make less mistakes. [e.a.]

Nice thought, Avy - doesn't seem to work on this board for those who have changed their name (but not their nature) with mind-numbingly tedious frequency. It seems to confirm the middle part of your surmise, though!


#144409 06/24/05 03:09 PM
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wow Offline
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Jackie ! Intriguing. Are you really Jacqueline?
I have read that in some Native American tribes a male is given a name at birth which becomes his "child name" and when he becomes an adult - usually after a ceremony - he gets a new name which he is known by the rest of his adult life, perhaps the only exception being his mother's usuing his child name - in affection.
Then there is the whole nickname aspect of Jacqueline's query.
I had a boss whose name was Robert but he was known to all as Buzz. It suited him better than Bob or Rob or any variation of Robert.
Anyone care to add a comment/experienc?





#144410 06/24/05 03:27 PM
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i insisted that people call my children by their full names.(benjamin and emily)
many people wanted to shorten Benjamin to benji or to benny. Now as an adult, my son most often goes by Benjamin, but some friends know him as ben. Its so much easier to make Benjamin into Ben. Once a childhood nickname is established, its very hard to change to the full name.
(my son has also taken to using his middle name--a name he disliked as child--as his cyber name.)

my family is filled with confusion because of names..
(there is Elizabeth, who was nick named annabel until WWII--when she picked up the name of "pidge' (short for pidgeon, her last name)--or my own mother -christened Nora Veronica, she is generally known to one and all as Vera--

and then there are the 'common names' that re-appear (call out Billy at a family reunion and up to 5 people could respond!)ditto for Jim/jimmy, or Tom/tommy or Dennis/dinny.

(i am a oner-what a surprize!--as are most of my siblings (my parents intentional effort)the only helen.)
(my sister geraldine 'shares her name' with a cousin-in-law)




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