Use names, legal names and paranoia

[ksej]

So I am basically too much of a scaredy cat to get a legal change of name just yet for a whole bunch of messed-up reasons, but I'm completely uncomfortable with my legal name and use it as little as possible. I keep ordering things online and registering for stuff as Mr Nick Kiddle, but I have weird feelings about it, like it's not really me and I'

Comments

[nasha_sasha]

You ll get used to Mr.
Like I did to Miss.

* * *

Now even in my dreams I am a miss :)

[natalie_456]

yeah, you're not alone here. I plan on changing my name soon - i have started using my chosen name on forms and such and fingers crossed it wont cause any problems... however i've got a really long birthname (10 letters) where if you use the first 6 letters you get an uncommon name which is slightly feminine (but according to a facebook search, a male name)

.. oh well there goes that theory! At least in the UK theres A) no gender marker on drivers licenses and B) chip and pin machines

[abigailb]

In England, you can go around using whatever name you like, so long as it is not with intent to deceive. Deed polls and statutory declarations are not so important in themselves, but are bits of paper that you can provide to people who do not understand this fact.

[the_local_echo]

exactly.. legally, your name is whatever people use to refer to you, and people can quite commonly go by multiple names, with or without documentation to back it up. It is just that many organisations ask for documentation as a way of cutting down on frauds and scams, so that they have some confidence that you really are who you say you are. There's no "central database of names" or anything like that.

If you really wanted to you could write a stat dec that said you were going to use another name without renouncing your former one, or all kinds of funky things. I remember when I was growing up there was a guy who changed his name via deed poll/stat dec to "Yorkshire Bank Plc Are Fascist Bastards", just so that they would have to write that on the cheque when he closed his account. I expect he changed it back afterwards.

[emmajnation]

I was collecting something I'd ordered off the internet from the post office and they asked me if I had "Mr Kiddle's ID"

Before I changed my name, this situation occurred quite often, but I thought that the card the postie left says if someone is collecting the item on behalf of someone else, the addressee should sign the card and the collecting person can then provide their own identification. It seems a bit odd for them to expect the addressee to give their ID to someone else.