Ask Lemmy

Why should I change? He's the one who sucks.

I have an extraordinarily rare last name combined with an extraordinarily rare first name, I’m literally the only person who has ever had my full name in the entire history of humanity, I’m keeping it.

Changing your name is an insane amount of work and it is not worth it

Harvey Epstein is crazy bad luck for a name.

For me, it depends on the crime and how common or uncommon the name is but still probably not.

No, because my name is already very common and there are several prominent murderers, war criminals and even traitors who share my name, and I barely rate among them.

An ex of mine had the same name as the wife of a killer. I find it hilarious that when you Google her name, that person comes up. I hope it forever is an impediment to her finding employment. What? No, I'm not bitter.

Hell no, people can finally spell it.

No, I hope I’d have the self-confidence to own it.

• I went to school with a kid named “dick”. Not Richard or rich, but he insisted on “dick”. He was the first to joke about his name and he laughed about it. I don’t know how he truly felt but everyone loves the comedian, and even bullies couldn’t make fun of him
• I just got a new coworker with the same name as a famous comedian, and same deal. His intro speech started with “not that one”, and he can quote movie lines with the best of us. Actually I haven’t worked with him so know nothing else about him. I remember his name and that he has a good sense of humor
• my name Isn’t at all common but there’s a professor in Chicago with the same name, who has authored a bunch of text books. Does it count that I sometimes joke about my “alternate life”?

No, changing one's name is a pain in the ass.

Nah, too common.

My whole name - first, middle, and last - is one of those that’s so generic I’m damn near impossible to Google without already knowing other key identifying details. Details that, if you already knew, you probably wouldn’t need to Google me anyway.

My last name is limited to my 5 closest relatives. This is due to a bizarre misspelling 3 generations back followed by mostly female descendants.

No, this has happened and I did not feel the need to change my name. Nobody even associates my name with his because his heinous crime happens so often in my country.

The were 4 other guys in my high school with my name. So no, can't see bothering to change it.

I guess I'd just get married

My last name is lame anyways

Honestly, pretty good litmus test for filtering out people obsessed with true crime. I'd keep it

The spelling of my last name is rare enough where I live that I sincerely doubt anybody here, who isn't already part of my family, would be heinous enough to do that.

So, probably not. I already don't really associate much with extended family to begin with, so I'd probably be out of the loop for a long time anyways.

Probably, because my last name is pretty rare. I actually have my mother's surname so I think I'd just change it to my father's.

Jokes on me there are close to a hundred million people with the same last name as me, I'm not changing

I already share a name with a fairly famous (although now deceased) comedian so I doubt it.

In ex Spanish or Portuguese colonies, where having 2-4 family names is common, that happening would mean someone in your (extended) family did it

Probably not. I'm too lazy.

Guess it would depend, but I'm leaning toward no, because it's one thing my father gave me that I will always have, and he passed away over 20 years ago. I'm a Stephen King Constant Reader like my father before me, and Sai King says "do not forget the face of your father."

I live in an area where I'm the only one related to me for hundreds of miles, with the exception of my wife, who took my name when I married her. But there are other people using my last name. No relation. Way I see it, if the wrong people come looking for me, they'll find them first, and they don't know me. Maybe one of them has my first name as well. Maybe that person will be my designated decoy. I'm not on social media, so my face isn't widely known. Some bad dudes come looking for me, these other people will probably catch their attention before I will. I say let 'em have it.

There are exactly two people in the United States with the same Last, Middle, and First Name as me (It's actually still true if you leave out the middle name). The other one is a few years younger than me, and when we were both somewhere in our 20's (quite long ago), the other one had a bit of trouble paying his bills. Given the unusual name, I had a few interesting calls trying to convince some really unhappy creditors that they weren't me.

A few years later they sold spices, and the multi level marketing spice company really had a problem distinguishing between us. They married someone whose first name is one letter different than my spouse.

Now the biggest problem is they are an elected politician. The good news is they moved to a coast, and I still live in the midwest. If they became more infamous, I would change my name.

Sure. I have no attachment to my last name.

I was named after a family member before everyone discovered what a criminal he was. To be clear, my family will not use my birthname. I thought that was a winning story until I met a guy named Chuck. Chuck Manson.

Neither of us have changed our names.

I share an almost identical name with some right winged POS. But I think the people I run into aren't going to confuse us.

One of my last names was severely misspelled a long time ago so I doubt anyone else not from my family has it, and I wouldn't change it. As for the other last name, it's kinda common so no I wouldn't change it either.

I have an ancestor who invented a famous sport and a second cousin who set someone on fire and buried them alive.

Hell, there's a famous singer with my whole name, and I won't even give up music. Why the hell would I change my name over something someone else did?

Except for the exact spelling I already share a last name with a war criminal president. But since I'm in a different country and the name has a positive association with an author here, it hasn't really seemed like an issue.

The only issue with sharing a name with a famous criminal is on a job application. And if HR can't tell the difference between someone serving a very long sentence in prison and me, I wouldn't want to work for them anyway.