![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Just wrote something elsewhere that I wanted to keep. (Context: calling people by their 'real names', which phrase I hate with the burning passion of a thousand suns.)
You know, the more times I witness variants of this argument, the more appealing the concept of changing my name legally is. I could pick something that actually sounds like me to me and stop having quite so many, ". . . wait, was that directed at me?" moments. I even know what I'd do if I could be arsed doing it.
(Word count for today: 798, and that's section 40 and done. Yesterday's was 98 on 39, which finished it.)
- The only purpose the legal name serves in my life is to fill out legal forms for people who have no need to know who I actually am and to receive checks. I'm not kidding when I say that I don't always remember to answer to it; it doesn't belong to anyone who lives here, it's just the address for the body. Calling me 'Heather' feels about as personal to me as calling me 'Lewis Street'.
You know, the more times I witness variants of this argument, the more appealing the concept of changing my name legally is. I could pick something that actually sounds like me to me and stop having quite so many, ". . . wait, was that directed at me?" moments. I even know what I'd do if I could be arsed doing it.
(Word count for today: 798, and that's section 40 and done. Yesterday's was 98 on 39, which finished it.)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
My ex-boyfriend the wolf, thinking he was being witty, replied, "I thought your middle name was Anne."
I, having thought of that comeback already, responded, "Anne means grace."
(It does.)
(So clearly, and this would be the point of this comment, 'Elynne' means 'Whimsical Perversity'.)
From:
no subject
(Oh, and the whole "real name" thing baffles me oft as well. From a different angle than you, I think. To me, is all just labels. What matters which label, so long as content is transmitted?)
From:
no subject
It's so nice when someone sets up one of my jokes for me.
I've got a certain amount of understanding for that position as well. But then again,
Good to see you around, by the way. Been a while.
From:
no subject
I've been around the whole time. Just, you know, not saying anything. I don't have much worth saying, most of the time. I tend to forget sometimes that people think I'm not here anymore when I'm all quiet.
From:
no subject
It hurts when some of my in-laws address something to me with a wrong last name, because they don't know me well enough to not make the assumption that I took my husband's last name when we married, and because they drift back to that assumption even after being told. They are trying to view me as someone I'm not, someone who follows more of our society's gender roles.
I don't think someone's legal name is necessarily their real name, and I think people can have multiple real names, or none, but I think the concept of real names is useful, because for each person there are names that aren't real. Calling someone by their hated rival's name is often worse than calling them "Hey, you".
From:
no subject
I had my wallet stolen once, and that was such a pain in the butt. I really don't want to go through that again for a dumb reason.
From:
no subject
Just looking into my career options here . . .
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
Conversely, I do take a certain pleasure in telling new acquaintances that "Vicki" is my "real name" and therefore (a) they need to spell it correctly, and/or (b) they are not to call me "Victoria" because that isn't my name. But that's using their ideas, more than believing in them. I'll answer as happily to Redbird.
From:
no subject
And that's Neal, and it's not a habit I've been able to break him of. ;)
From:
no subject
I've thought about changing mine, but I haven't found a name that really fits well enough to stick. Plus, well, effort.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
I didn't choose this first name, and I don't like it much. And the person who contributed the last name doesn't come within a million miles of deserving me to honor it. The only things I like about it are that it makes a nifty web page title and the last name identifies telemarketers really well. :-P
A lady I hugely respect decided quite a few years ago that her family of origin meant nothing to her, so screw her legal name. She sat down, made up a name she liked, and changed it to be legal, just like that. I wish I had the guts to do that.
Though I already know people with the first names I like best, and it would seem really weird to change to that, like I was some kind of desperate wannabe. :P
What would you change yours to?
From:
no subject
I identify telemarketers by whether or not they refer to me by
I'd change mine to Kiya. With maybe a bunch of other names; I'm a firm believer in the 'have lots of names so you can pick from them' philosophy of naming.
From:
no subject
Ayup.
I'd change mine to Kiya.
Pronounced how?
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
I agree, your given name is something that has been forced upon you by society and by others. If it's not you, change it!
I like my name okay. It sort of does describe me.
From:
no subject
Got a memory like . . . one o' those things you drain rice in.
From:
no subject