Legal status of your name

[Charlie F]

Heh, loads of people get my name wrong the first time too.

I'd suggest just not letting it bother you, it's not really a big deal. All it means is that you have to say "No, it's..." every time you meet someone new. It's probably not worth changing your name over, it's just a mild inconvenience.

[Corri_aka_Drew]

Wow, I know how you feel. My last name is phonetically Italian.
where i makes an ee sound. and c makes a ka sound. I get it mispronounced, (and mispelled) so often, that I am considering having an accent mark added to the i.

[Peachy]

Originally Posted by Drew

I get it mispronounced, (and mispelled) so often, that I am considering having an accent mark added to the i.

...just to find out that the accent mark gets dropped in 99% of the cases because people are too lazy to write it, don't have a key for it on their PC or don't understand its significance.

I once had a professor with a Greek last name who explained to us that stressing the second syllable of his name (as most English-speaking people do for most words) means you call him a "donkey". So he's in a worse position than you are.

Peachy

[ade]

i think that under british law the only thing that matters is what a person is known as. pretty loose, i know but, since there are many people who use aliases and nicknames, the law tends to follow the names a person goes by, or is known by, rather than what is on their birth certificate.
the thing to do is set a precedent early on. once you are known by whatever name you choose, that name then has a legal and non-legal standing in any other uses.
i think that's how it goes, anyway.

[Peachy]

Originally Posted by ade

i think that under british law the only thing that matters is what a person is known as. pretty loose, i know but, since there are many people who use aliases and nicknames, the law tends to follow the names a person goes by, or is known by, rather than what is on their birth certificate.
the thing to do is set a precedent early on. once you are known by whatever name you choose, that name then has a legal and non-legal standing in any other uses.
i think that's how it goes, anyway.

My passport actually has a field "religious name / pseudonym". So I'd still have to use my legal name, even if the entire world knows me under my artists' name. So "Elton John" would still be "Reginald Kenneth Dwight" as far as his legal name is concerned.

Peachy

[Martin]

My last name is extremely Dutch. English people often mispronounce it and write it wrong if they hear it.

My first name is the opposite. Technically most Dutch people mispronounce it (I just take it in that mispronounced form) But everyone spells it wrong (English and Dutch).

My second name contains a th so it'd never be said right by anyone that speaks mainly Dutch. I don't think it'll have any problems for the English speaking people.

[Footed P.J.]

I know a Dutch girl named "Marjolein", but it's not mar-jo-LANE, it's something i can't even grasp, like Mario LINE, or something. I dunno.

I first name is a cinch, if a bit unusual. My last name was made up by my parents. So NO one gets it right.

[ayanna]

Originally Posted by Footed P.J.

I first name is a cinch, if a bit unusual. My last name was made up by my parents. So NO one gets it right.

Ummm...your parents made up your 'last name'? I've heard of people making up names for their children before...but never their last name!

As for pronouncing names...very few people mispronounce my real first name...or my last name either, for that matter. Actually...more people have problems with my online 'nick' than my real name.

[MarkFox]

In the UK you can call yourself whatever you like, so I could for example, call myself:

"Lord Mark Fox The First Duke of Leicestershire and Protector of the Throne"

But it would mean nothing; the only name that has any legal meaning is your legal name, fairly obviously. Your passport, driving licence, birth certificate and similar must carry this regardless of how much you may or may not like it.

Anything that serves as identification in a legal context or from which you are identified must also carry your legal name; for example, my bank statements must carry the name "Mr Mark ..... ....." not "Lord Mark Fox etc" as otherwise, they would not be legally mine - if you sign a contract under a pseudonym then the contract isn't even worth the paper its written on.

However, that doesn't mean you couldn't be held to it - if you signed your mobile telephone contract in the name of "Mickey Mouse" then complained when Vodafone sent in the debt collectors to your address after you fail to pay, they can *still* recover the money for services to which you have used but not pay. The sting in the tail is that they will be entitled to recover the phone and terminate your contract, and charge costs for doing so as well!

Additionally, there are some specific cases where it is illegal to use a pseudonym:

1) When dealing with financial matters, such as banking. This is considered money laundering.
2) When dealing with the police or security services.
3) In court or court proceedings.
4) With postal mail - oddly enough, if you use an alias, and receive post addressed under such an alias, it is not yours to open. If you chose to do so, you are breaking the law - this is seen as interfering with the Queen's Mail, and is actually treason!

MarkFox

[Footed P.J.]

Originally Posted by ayanna

Ummm...your parents made up your 'last name'? I've heard of people making up names for their children before...but never their last name!

Welcome to my family, and my life.