Name Change

[Maryanne_sa]

I am about to legally change my name and I am in two minds about my surname. Can those who have changed their names let me know whether they changed their surnames or not? and if so, what was the reason.

I am leaning towards taking my mothers maiden name as my surname, and would like to have some feedback on this.

Maryanne, xx

[Stephanie Anne]

Nope. I am proud of my last name and have no reason to change it. It makes me smile when people struggle to pronounce it. If you do want to change your surname, I say go for it. Nothing really comes to mind why not.

[Faith_G]

I kept mine as well. If my family had not been so accepting I might have changed it, but probably not.

[Rianna Humble]

I changed my name completely, partly to make a clean break (with my father's agreement) and partly in a (now vain) attempt to avoid embarrassment to my former political colleagues.

I have occasionally wondered if I did the right thing, but on balance I do believe that I did.

That does not mean that I think everyone should do the same, it has to be a personal decision to change or to retain the same surname.

[CharleneT]

Kept my surname. Could not see a good reason to change it and many reasons not to do so. Mostly because I'm transitioning "in place" and have no plans to move. After living here for 30 years, I'd just confuse all the people who know me !

[BrittneySmith]

I'm keeping mine, as I can't see a valid reason to change it. My court date is upcoming on January 24th, I so just want it be over with.

[Sharon]

It never occurred to me to change my surname as I deeply love my family and still wish to be identified as a member of it.

[sandra-leigh]

I've been working on the name issue.

I may not be TS, but I am heading in the general direction of androgynous presenting more on the female side. I'd rather people be confused towards the female interpretation of me than the male interpretation -- or, at the very least, that my name not immediately give away my gender. For example if I call for a cab and give my name, and the cab driver arrives and sees a "woman", I'd rather the name they saw on their display did not demolish that interpretation. As such I've been thinking about at least a neutral name, preferably one hinting more at female.

Part of my deliberation has been, "If I'm going to change my name anyhow, should I change my last name as well?" I have not yet been able to decide that.

My writing style is fairly recognizable, and I write a lot. If I do not "drop out" of my networks, then I would be recognized under any name. Changing my first name probably would probably be barely noticed by most of the people who read what I write -- and since they know my current name, they would probably continue to think of me and refer to me under that name, using the male pronouns unless I specifically asked otherwise.

My last name is not common (but not spectacularly odd either.) Uncommon enough that if you were to find two people in the same city in my country with my last name, at least one of them would probably be a direct relative of mine. I am known to the (non-retail) businesses I deal with more by last name than by first, so keeping my last name without an official gender change would still have me referred to the same way. Which has the advantage of continued good financial reputation, but the disadvantage of continued referral as male, probably...

I haven't decided yet which would be best for me. And I don't intend to decide until I've had a chance to see whether HRT agrees with me.

[Jorja]

I kept my surname. I had no reason other than to make them realize I am a part of thier family like it or not.

[tanyalynn51]

Im not there yet, and right now dont have a clue. A part of me wants to do what probably would sound crazy to others with friend support- after years of living on the edge of society, I still know most of the tricks of creating a new ID. That, strangely enough, would be my greatest temptation.

[RachelDee]

I guess it depends if u want to give yourself a totally separate identity or/and distance yourself from your old one as much as possible. Which people my have cause (or need) to do.

My only concern other than my first name, was my middle name. What someone else said about having a name that works for both male and female was interesting as I too have decided upon a name that *could* be unisex.

I took a variation of my current name (Robert) which was Robin (or Robyn... Does the Y look better? More feminine?).
I thought this would be most helpful in that time between transition if a name didn't give away as either gender. I have not officially changed it yet, but I know where/how and will do it as soon as im able.

I can see why it could tempting to take another surname though. To do a total transformation of your name.

[Frances]

It is not allowed in my province as far as I know. Some friends had their request denied.

[Rianna Humble]

I took a variation of my current name (Robert) which was Robin (or Robyn... Does the Y look better? More feminine?).

I believe that the feminine version is with the Y - that's the spelling my niece gave to her daughter.

When you do the deed poll, don't forget to do on ethat changes your title as well otherwise you will end up transitioning as MR Robyn xxx

[Megan Thomas]

When you do the deed poll, don't forget to do on ethat changes your title as well otherwise you will end up transitioning as MR Robyn xxx

In the Uk would you use the title of Miss or Ms on the deed poll? What did you do Rianna?

[RachelDee]

That's a good point Rianna, and one that caused me to hold off. Ms (or Miss) could cause me issues (and with important things like banks). I am not exactly very 'miss' right now, in voice or appearance. Name change is on hold for the moment, but I have everything i need to do it when I am able.

I was going to use 'Ms' btw. I also thought that Ms is just a modern (and shorter) form of 'Miss'?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ms.

[Rianna Humble]

In the Uk would you use the title of Miss or Ms on the deed poll? What did you do Rianna?

I used Ms - so I went from being Mr Robert John Hull to Ms Rianna Joyce Humble


That's a good point Rianna, and one that caused me to hold off. Ms (or Miss) could cause me issues (and with important things like banks). I am not exactly very 'miss' right now, in voice or appearance. Name change is on hold for the moment, but I have everything i need to do it when I am able.

I was going to use 'Ms' btw. I also thought that Ms is just a modern (and shorter) form of 'Miss'?

Ms is a more recent term that makes no assumption about marital status. Unfortyunately, here in the UK at least, "Miss" definitely assumes an unmarried person and "Mrs" assumes a married person. To such an extent that companies who offer change of title with the deed poll stress that although you are legally entitled to adopt the title Mrs in this way, you must specify on any legal document that you are not married.

In my job, I refer to female clients as "Ms" unless they specifically ask me to use an alternative title - I have not had anyone object so far, but when they specify "I am Mrs xxx" or "I am Miss yyy" then I will use that term to designate them.

[Megan Thomas]

I used Ms - so I went from being Mr Robert John Hull to Ms Rianna Joyce Humble

Thanks for that answer. I'll now know how to do my own name change in due course :)

[Maryanne_sa]

Thankyou for all the replies about a name change. My own family have so far not accepted Maryanne, thus the reason for thinking about doing the surname change as well. One complication I have is that, although I have permanent leave to remain in the UK, based on being married to a UK Citizen, I don't know what the effect will be when I come to apply for citizenship which will be in a years time with a new female name. (It is 3yrs in total I believe, once you have permanent leave - if you are married to a UK Citizen), otherwise it is currently 5 years, so I suppose it is conceivable that I would have to wait another two years.

My present thinking is that I will just go ahead and do the name change anyway, and worry about the citizenship bit when that comes around.

Are there any UK members who might know something about this? Rianna?

Take care,

Maryanne

[Victoria Anne]

Maryanne I kept my surname as it is who I am , I am proud of that name. I saw no reasonn to change it all as I am Victoria and have always been Victoria no matter what name I used to go by so it stands that I am and have always been M----- so no need to change

[danielleb]

I've been contemplating this issue, though it remains a fairly distant milestone for me, as of now.
I was adopted at birth, so I really have no ties to my name or any heritage that it may carry, so I would love to let go of it. More importantly to me, it feels like a decleration that I am acting for myself and not pandering to anyone else's wishes/desires about who or what I should be.:)
It's obviously a deeply personal issue, and circumstances are different for all of us.

[Hope]

I'm planning on keeping mine. Mostly because I have no qualms with it, and it would be a HUGE hassle to change. I don't have any serious family connections, and I talked about changing the spelling of my name (it is a common name with a few unconventional variants that would indicate national heritage I identify more closely with than what I have now) before I got married and had a few diplomas printed with it - but I never did, and by now, it would be a big fuss to change. So I don't feel the need.

[Deborah_UK]

When you do the deed poll, don't forget to do on ethat changes your title as well otherwise you will end up transitioning as MR Robyn xxx

If you use the statutory declaration (cheaper than deed poll) you don't need to use the title.

With regards the OP I kept my surname - made my signature on official documents so much easier, only had to change the front initial :)

[Deborah_UK]

Thankyou for all the replies about a name change. My own family have so far not accepted Maryanne, thus the reason for thinking about doing the surname change as well. One complication I have is that, although I have permanent leave to remain in the UK, based on being married to a UK Citizen, I don't know what the effect will be when I come to apply for citizenship which will be in a years time with a new female name. (It is 3yrs in total I believe, once you have permanent leave - if you are married to a UK Citizen), otherwise it is currently 5 years, so I suppose it is conceivable that I would have to wait another two years.

My present thinking is that I will just go ahead and do the name change anyway, and worry about the citizenship bit when that comes around.

Are there any UK members who might know something about this? Rianna?

Take care,
Maryanne

Maryanne - with regards the citizenship issue, as long as you send in your stat dec/deed poll with your application then the Nationality Directorate will take the application in your new ID, it may be worth getting your legal document into the Home Office as soon as you do change your name so that they can change your records.

I know its not quite the same, but I had no problems getting a new passport in my new name post-transition.

Edit Maryanne - this link may assist you http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/nationalityinstructions/nisec1prosec/ then go to the pdf file "names"

[Melody Moore]

I dropped my family name because it was my father's name and I wanted to break
that association with my father for personal reasons, so I changed my entire name.