11 Year Old Has Changed Her Name

I went to school with my friend for 6 years before I learned that she used her second name Anne ...rather than her first name Elizabeth. Wish I’d have thought of it and I would now be called Ann I instead of an awful common fifties name...chosen by my 4 year old brother on the day I was born. I’ve never forgiven him or my mum.

My eldest son was known by his middle name, and when he changed schools at seven years old told the teachers he wanted to be called by his first name. fine by me ,I still call him by his middle name but no one else does.

I discovered only recently that my wife doesn't use the first name she was christened with.

A class mate caused a real storm when we were all asked for our middle name. She was top of the class and was never in any trouble but she refused point blank. She was sent to the very intimidating headmistress and eventually the girl’s mother had to be called in. The moral of this story is don’t name your child Sally Caprice! She went up in our estimation no end!

Talking about changing names because they were ‘common,’ a lady I know persuaded her new husband to become a Smyth instead of a Smith.
Pretentious? Moi?

I don't like either of my given names. I was registered Edna Julie (not really) all official documents are Edna Julie also GP however, I have always been known as Julie even by my parents. I was Julie from day one at primary school my bank account is J.E. xxxxx why mum didn't register my birth as Julie Edna I have no idea.

I think the following came from the Readers' Digest years ago but it still makes me smile.
Asked to fill in his full name and title on an official form, the response was Mr R.B. Jones.
The form was returned requesting that the full names be written
His response: Mr R(only) B(only) Jones.
Their response: Dear Mr Ronly Bonly Jones,

up to her i was known as my 2nd name for 20 years then when i left school home and made my way in the world changed it to my first name so my family call me by my 2nd and any friends or new acquaintances know me by my 1

My DH changed his name when we retired and started a whole new life. He said he never had really liked his given first name so now uses his middle name. It took a bit of time for family and close friends to get used to, but he's known by his middle name now and his first name only appears on official documents.

I rarely come across the names frequently heard in my junior school days. Molly ! Brenda ? Shirley? Freda?

My Mum preferred to be known by her middle name. My grandmother decided to use a different surname in her youth because she thought hers was rather common. Not by deed poll, she just asked everyone to use her new chosen name. And my MIL was always known as Pat even though her birth name was Daisy, which she hated. She didn't have a middle name.

I tried using my middle name for a while when I started dating. It didn't last long because after I'd introduced myself as M***, I promptly forgot and didn't answer to it. It puzzled my boyfriends no end!?

Is this so unusual.?I do not like the names my parents gave me so I sign in to GN using what would have been my preference for Christian names.

DH was given a first name which was a family name on both sides. His mother didn’t like her brother who had that name and so DH was always called by his second name. Caused lots of problems in the past, especially when he started a new job and was addressed as “Tom”. Never having used the full name he didn’t answer to the diminutive ?

I’ve always been known by my middle name, which is a nuisance when anything official crops up, medical appointments etc, because they always use my first name. I now just answer to either.

I had an aunt who was christened Bessie, which she disliked because it was a diminutive rather than a complete name. She changed it to Elizabeth when she was about 18. I have no idea if it was ever official, but I always knew her as Elizabeth.

My father (her brother) also disliked his name, which was exactly the same as his father’s. He used a different name at work, though not in private life.

My children have two names each, one relatively unusual, one more ordinary. The idea was that if they disliked the more unusual name, they could choose to use the more ordinary one. Neither has done so.

We had a Brenda on our street who’d now be late 50s, GreenGran. I must admit the name seemed a bit old for her. It’ll probably be back in fashion soon though, never fear!

trendygran in my youth I knew a family of four girls, named Jean, Joan, Jacqueline and Joyce. I wonder how they sorted their mail?

Our adopted daughter had two names when we got her. We chose a new first name, and gave her the first name that her Mum had chosen, as a middle name. We later found that the name we had discarded had been her birth Mum's name, and regretted not keeping that instead. DD is glad we didn't as she dislikes it.
DD also decided to change her Christian name, on the spur of the moment, when she started senior school. She informed the teachers that her name wasn't E...... but C........, but was swiftly shot down! She likes her name now!

I was born just as the war started, and my Mum used to joke that names were rationed, so I only got one. Apparently my aunt chose my name, as they couldn't decide on one. I was rather peeved at that news! My name, Brenda, seems to have had a very short shelf-life, and I have never heard of a Brenda younger than her late sixties. I would be interested to hear of any.

Glad that my two granddaughters have middle names as their first names begin with the same letter. Luckily their second names begin with different letters. Using both initials is the only way to addresss birthday cards etc.,without putting full first names . So far they haven’t said anything about changing their names. They are 13 and11.

My MIL was named Margaret after her mother, but chose to use her middle name because she didn't like her first. She then named her only daughter Margaret, why?? At 8yo Margaret junior then chose to use HER second name. Seems daft to give a child a name you never liked yourself, even if it was after her GM.

My husband called by his first name by his birth family, but by his 2nd name by me and everyone else. My son had 2 friends who were brothers - they both decided to use their 2nd names when they didn't have good experiences at school and started home schooling instead.

I always wanted a middle name. Somehow I managed to convince my teacher at primary school that I was Margaret Susan Christine, and I loved seeing the register, with mine the longest name on it!

Obviously they didn’t check birth certificates in those days!

Both my parents used a variety of first names at different ages, which gave me quite a task when writing their obituaries, given there were friends and relatives from all stages of their lives present at the funerals. Dad was Frederick, but was known from birth by his mothers maiden surname (not even a given name) until he went into the Forces and became Fred. Later he was Dick and finally Frederick. Mum loathed her given name of Nellie and used her middle name of Helen in the Forces. Then later in life she became Nel and finally Ellen!

Bizarrely your first names are more important legally so if you do change them make sure you either register the changes and certainly (if you decide not to bother) make sure the name you book your airline tickets etc matches your passport.

No one in my family going back several generations has kept their given first name. My DD has three first names and wishes she had used the third one - but is called by her surname by most friends and like me, doesn't plan to change it on marriage.

When we were planning our wedding my husband and I decided to use the names we are known by (middle names) for the ceremony. So as we left the church following the wedding we whipped around the back into the church hall where the Registrar galloped through the wording of the service using our given names - otherwise we would not have been legally married! It cost us extra to have the Registrar present, but otherwise we would have had to either use our given names during our wedding ceremony or have a Registry office wedding beforehand.
On legal and medical documents we are both still known by our given names, which is very frustrating.

At the ripe old age of 19 I changed my name completely to one of my choice. My Mum was a little confused/hurt at first then no problem.