If they cared about names, i wouldn't have to keep "return to Sender - Not At This Address" stamping mail for previous tenants of my appartment.
this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2025
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Just yesterday I got one that wasn’t even for this apartment block. I know cuts are happening everywhere in government services, but damn. At least it was just some of those free personalized return address stickers.
Sadly they've always had a hate-on for USPS.
absolutely legal from a mail perspective
the USPS is expected to deliver mail to the address regardless of the name. You can legally make up as many names as you like on whatever parcels and letters you like and if the address is formatted properly they are _ supposed to deliver it_
There are also hundreds of thousands of postal carriers and not all of them do what they are supposed to do every day. Some bend the rules in your favor (i have read of rural carriers illegally discarding junk mail on behalf of their routes) and some might give you a hard time because they don't understand the rules. If you have mail not being delivered due to the name you will have to bring it up with a manager at your local branch.
Yeah, I've mailed stuff to people and written their online user names and they've been delivered. According to one person their mail person was judgey over it but did deliver it. But it would depend on the mail person I suppose.
I'm not a lawyer but I can't imagine this would be problematic from a legal standpoint. For example, I've known several people who go by nicknames or their middle name and their birthday cards always get delivered without issue.
The tricky part is that some mailmen (mailpeople? I'm having a brainfart on the gender inclusive term.) won't deliver mail unless it matches the name on the mailbox. This usually pops up in apartment complexes. In that case, just keep your last name on your mailbox and ensure your mail has a matching last name. Your first name shouldn't matter.
(Postal worker or mail carrier)
Yes! Thank you
mail carrier or postal carriers or just carriers, postie overseas i think
Gendered last names fucking ruin this strategy
Can you explain?
Two eastern european chefs can have the same family name but different spelling of last names,
- Shashlikov, Shashlikovna
- Prostokvashino, Prostokvashiniy, Prostokvashinaya
- See also, the last names of people in the Zelensky family: Parents: Oleksandr Zelenskyy (father) Rymma Zelenska (mother)
Oh, that's really interesting and informative! Thanks for explaining it.
Ah I see. OP did specify that they're in the US so hopefully this is not a problem for them.
I'm in the US and it is very much a problem for me and another trans person even in a state that protects trans rights
Isn't it troublesome on paperwork to have differing last names in the same family? I even found an article saying that most Eastern European families use a singular last name when they come to the US, because differing last names really isn't compatible with the US legal system.
Idk, my sister and I have different legal last names, and my brother has my last name for a middle name.
That must be difficult. Do you think you'll eventually change your last name when you do your legal name change?
Yes
Ashley Mansymann.
I don't see the problem - Ashley's mother and sisters would have the same last name, right?
Yeah but they don't have a problem with it
I'm sorry, I'm having trouble understanding the situation.
The only way this should be an issue is if you’re getting a prescription or other controlled substance (like cannabis or alcohol) delivered to you under a name that doesn’t match your ID. And even then it’s a ‘this is a pain in the ass and I may lose my order’ problem, not a ‘I am going to get fined or prosecuted’ problem.
We aren't completely sure, but one of our partners has recieved mail in their chosen name before even though it's not their legal name, so we would assume so. Generally it probably doesn't matter in most countries as long as the address is correct and you do not need to sign for it, even then, it probably is okay.
The only time when we can think of it being an issue is if it gets held up anywhere due to fees or if they had to take it back to the post office and you need to go collect it and offer proof of your name. Otherwise, we think it would not matter.
I never, ever use my real name for mail if I can help it.
Every piece of mail is scanned. There's a service you can sign up for to see the scans of your mail before it's delivered. I don't know what is done with that data whether or not I am signed up for that service (I'm not).
Why do I care? I don't know. General security practice. Costs me nothing, obfuscates just a bit of the data that's collected by me. Obviously useless.
But yeah, it doesn't matter. Definitely not illegal. Never had a mail carrier give a shit.