Legal name change?

[pluripotent]

This question is mostly directed towards the ladies in medicine (by virtue of being most statistically likely to change their names, due to marriage). However, it is also for premeds, medical students, and physicians with more culturally-laden names. (I myself don't have an Anglo name.)

 

Do you intend to change your legal name in the future? For example, if you get married, do you intend to take your husband's last name (or wife's last name, whatever your inclination)? An advisor of mine decided to keep her maiden name, because she had published several articles by the time she married, and it was way less work to keep the name than to retroactively change it by contacting all the journals (not that you CAN, for some journals).

 

Or, if your name is a mouthful like mine, would you take a more common Anglo name to make it easier for patients to address you? "Easier" of course depends on your patient population, but my name tends to get butchered on a regular basis even among people of my own cultural background, so I come from a position of exasperation and therefore my view is biased.

 

Would you maintain your cultural name as your legal name and allow/ask people to address you by your Anglo name? The most common example in my experience are Chinese who retain their Chinese name as their legal name but ask to be called by an Anglo name on a day-to-day basis. Some append the Anglo name as their first name and use the Chinese name as a middle name. (I wonder how Jackie Chan is addressed on his passport. His Chinese name is nothing like his Anglo name. Like, even the Chan part doesn't match up.)

 

Thoughts?

[Renin]

This is a big issue for me, because I'm technically registered under my Chinese name, instead of an Anglo name. I have an Anglo name on my citizenship papers, but not on my birth certificate (and hence not on my driver's ID or passport).

 

I am going to change my name to (Anglo Name) (Chinese Name Hyphenated) (Last Name)

 

I wanted to change my name to Grace Chen, because all asian girls I know are like called Grace. HAHAHAHA. I think it's pretty

[__bdas51]

This is something I wonder about too..

 

But what I want to know is if you actually have to change your name for your articles... cause the way I see it.. that was your name. There are government documents stating so... so is it really necessary to change it on your articles.. or is there a crucial disadvantage here that I'm not seeing, like will people actually say "no that's not your name so there is no possible way on earth that that was you"

[pluripotent]

Oh! Oh! I love you! You feel my pain!

 

I picked an Anglo name based on the 100 most popular names for my gender in the year of my birth, excluding the top 10 names for being "too" popular. As this left me 90 names to choose from, that was pretty okay by me.

 

I was also going to go with (Anglo Name) (Ethnic Name) (Last Name), in the end. I should have done it years ago, but I never could decide on an Anglo name I liked. Plus I don't want to change because I have one of the old red-white OHIP cards and I don't want to get a new one that has to be replaced every five years .

 

What would be your timeline for changing your name, Renin? I mean, this would have been wayyy easier to take care of if I could have made up my mind when I was sixteen, before I had all sorts of legal documents and loans appended to my legal (Ethnic Name) (Last Name), and before I graduated... now I have to get a new diploma, haha. I was thinking of doing it sometime in the middle of first year meds.

 

The advantage depends on how you style yourself, regularly. For example, if you are legally Sing-Chi Chow, but introduce yourself as Stephen, then it behooves you to change your legal name to Stephen Sing-Chi Chow (if his name sounds familiar, see Shaolin Soccer). Even in a Canadian atmosphere, how you are perceived is coloured by what name you introduce yourself. More than that, think of future job applications/interviews: if you introduce yourself as Stephen, but your legal name is Sing-Chi, your interviewer might not make the connection between the two.

 

Unless, of course, you go around saying "my legal name is Sing-Chi, but please call me Stephen." My experience is that this gets really tiring, AND people can't remember which one you prefer OR your face. Kind of lose-lose .

[Renin]

I want to get my name changed before I get my MD.

 

I have not had a problem with people going ... wait, that's not you! Unless they're from Fed-Ex! Tee hee!

 

I remember considering changing my surname when I was engaged. At the time, he was of Ukranian descent and had a very non-asian last name - I think it would really confuse people!

 

"Oh, Dr. Smith, the asian one!"

[thehumanmacbook]

I legally changed my name to my Christian name - my chinese name is a bit hard to pronounce, so it's become my middle name instead. If you feel uncomfortable or you view it as inconvenient sometimes, I really don't think for me it's was a bad (nor hard process) choice to change it.

[quackster]

I'll be keeping my maiden name. 1. Because of my publications and 2. Because I like my last name.

[pluripotent]

I agree it's not a hard process to change your name. (In Ontario, you only need one document, and you only have to fill out 4 parts out of 7 if you're an adult). The fiddly exasperating part that takes forever is changing everything else in your life to match your new name.

 

- driver's license

- passport

- diplomas (including your high school diploma)

- bills (cell phone, cable, hydro, water, you name it)

- bank information, including loans

- credit cards

- health card

- other stuff you forget about until it comes up and you don't have your legal name change document with you so you have to come back another day and waste your time

 

Oh! Another reason I've held off on changing my legal name is because I hadn't applied/been accepted to medical school yet. All my references/verifiers knew me by my ethnic name....

 

But now I'm free! I'm free! BAHAHAHAHA.

[future_doc]

In the Province of Quebec, it takes a good year plus and they won't allow a change of the first name or surname if they consider it is a 'mere preference' - they want a real connection to the name and even proof you have already been using the name or evidence of a very substantial connection to whatever name you have chosen. And the reasonable explanation given in the posts above just would not cut it. Moreover, they make it as difficult as possible b/c serious explanations, they consider a mere preference and it becomes a test of endurance.

[psychoswim]

In the Province of Quebec, it takes a good year plus and they won't allow a change of the first name or surname if they consider it is a 'mere preference' - they want a real connection to the name and even proof you have already been using the name or evidence of a very substantial connection to whatever name you have chosen. And the reasonable explanation given in the posts above just would not cut it. Moreover, they make it as difficult as possible b/c serious explanations, they consider a mere preference and it becomes a test of endurance.

 

Yup.. My ex was Iranian and he was considering changing his legal arabic name for his persian name. It would have been incredibly difficult, if even possible. His older brother in the US did it easily though.

[ellorie]

I've thought about it. My last name isn't impossible, but it's quite a mouthful and it has some ethnic/cultural connotations that don't really apply to me. For instance, I once introduced myself to someone who replied with "Wow, I really expected you to be more ethnic".

 

But in the end, it's my NAME and I've had it for so long that I can't imagine changing it. I wonder if it might just be easier to have people call me by my initial - Dr S instead of Dr S____________.

 

But first I have to GET my MD, so I have bigger fish to fry for at least a few years.

[MedDream]

I'm not in med school, but my family changed our Dutch last name to the Anglo version and still I get it mispronounced about 90% of the time. I almost want to change it back to the cooler Dutch version and then they really have a reason to mispronounce it haha.

 

Another interesting idea... my mom never formally changed her name when she married my dad, she just started going by his name. So her degrees and official stuff still have her name on it, but most other things have my dad's last name on it. I dunno, it works.

[CREA.tive]

In the Province of Quebec, it takes a good year plus and they won't allow a change of the first name or surname if they consider it is a 'mere preference' - they want a real connection to the name and even proof you have already been using the name or evidence of a very substantial connection to whatever name you have chosen. And the reasonable explanation given in the posts above just would not cut it. Moreover, they make it as difficult as possible b/c serious explanations, they consider a mere preference and it becomes a test of endurance.

 

That's quite surprising! I didn't know it was that difficult to change a first name. I personnally know a girl who completely changed her first name in Quebec (from a Chinese one to an Anglo name). I don't think it was very difficult for her...

[sparkles3288]

I'm defintely changing my last name. I'm getting married in under a year and it sort of sucks as i'm currently publishing under my maiden name and have a few papers out there with it, but my name is a huge mouthful and usually quite confusing so i'd rather go with my fiancee's easier name, haha. I would hyphenate, but ...like I said, it would just be way too long!

[future_doc]

That's quite surprising! I didn't know it was that difficult to change a first name. I personnally know a girl who completely changed her first name in Quebec (from a Chinese one to an Anglo name). I don't think it was very difficult for her...

 

Quebec is nows making what should be simple quite difficult. They even want documentary evidence that the requested first name has been already used by the applicant. They are now against anything they choose to consider merely preferences. I expect your Chinese friend did not do the change during the last 12 months. Truth is stranger than fiction.

[Doctor_Strangelove]

This is a big issue for me, because I'm technically registered under my Chinese name, instead of an Anglo name. I have an Anglo name on my citizenship papers, but not on my birth certificate (and hence not on my driver's ID or passport).

 

I am going to change my name to (Anglo Name) (Chinese Name Hyphenated) (Last Name)

 

I wanted to change my name to Grace Chen, because all asian girls I know are like called Grace. HAHAHAHA. I think it's pretty

 

It's actually pretty weird when Asian people have English names... and oftentimes it's things like Cecil, Violet, Grace, or other uncommon posh English names (there's also Kevin which is quite popular lol). I find it kind of lame to drop your real name for some phony English name just so it looks better on a CV or something. I mean I understand it's hard to pronounce but you don't see Greek people for example with some legitimately messed up names doing the same thing. Bleh, just a personal rant I guess.

[DanInVan]

I love my name. It's who I am. Professionally, I'm going to keep my name. If it makes a difference to my future husband, I'd consider changing it for social situations - or if his last name was really awesome. I've been me for 27 years, and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

I have a French name, if it makes any difference.

[psychoswim]

I intend to keep my name, and so does my sister I think.

[MarathonRunner]

I took my husband's name when we got married. It was just something I wanted to do. He didn't care whether I kept my maiden name or took his name.

 

Sure, all of my diplomas and awards are in my maiden name, but that's okay. I mean, I still have my birth certificate if I ever need to prove that the person indicated in them is *me*, and I've never had any problems, even though my undergrad transcripts are still in my maiden name.

[proton]

If I get married I'm going to add the last name on, no hyphen. Then my maiden name would sort of be like a middle name, it would still be on my degree, and maybe patients could refer to me by the second last name. that gets around the publication issue too.

[Renin]

It's actually pretty weird when Asian people have English names... and oftentimes it's things like Cecil, Violet, Grace, or other uncommon posh English names (there's also Kevin which is quite popular lol). I find it kind of lame to drop your real name for some phony English name just so it looks better on a CV or something. I mean I understand it's hard to pronounce but you don't see Greek people for example with some legitimately messed up names doing the same thing. Bleh, just a personal rant I guess.

 

But no one calls me my Chinese name.

 

Even my parents have nicknames for me ... so it's like, just words on a birth certificate.

 

Everyone calls me the english name, so shouldn't that be my "name"?

 

PS: I should be Violet Grace now

[pluripotent]

It's actually pretty weird when Asian people have English names... and oftentimes it's things like Cecil, Violet, Grace, or other uncommon posh English names (there's also Kevin which is quite popular lol). I find it kind of lame to drop your real name for some phony English name just so it looks better on a CV or something. I mean I understand it's hard to pronounce but you don't see Greek people for example with some legitimately messed up names doing the same thing. Bleh, just a personal rant I guess.

 

This statement doesn't sit well with me, and I'm going to try to reasonably explain why. Not in the most absolute rational way, just reasonably.

 

For one thing, the Anglo name either truly becomes that person's name, or already is their name in daily use, as in Renin's case. Just because it says one name on a piece of paper doesn't make that the only truth. In fact, taking the Anglo name legally brings the abstract paper part in line with the practical reality of life. Even if it were a "lie," which I do not concede, using it makes it real.

 

For another thing, sometimes people will do this not only to make themselves more at home, but also to make others around them more comfortable, because it's the expected thing to do. Do we imagine that women who take their husbands' surnames are being phony or lame? By extension, if it's culturally expected (by Canadians at large, and the ethnic culture itself) to take an Anglo name, what exactly is so unusual about it?*

 

The racial aspect is also omitted here. In answer to the example, few would assume that a young Greek person with a very Greek name is a "nasty immigrant whose English is barely passable!!!11!", for the basic reason that it's European in origin. (Note I say "young," because everyone judges old people, which is a different kind of unfair, that is not within the scope of my argument.)

 

But man, does Canadian society at large judge names like Sing-Chi Chow or Atul Gawande. I've had employers say to me that my English is very good, to which I answer that I grew up here. They do a double-take and mention that most peers of my ethnicity/age group take "English" names. Even people of my own culture, whom I am meeting casually, ask my why I don't have an "English" name. The feeling I get from that... let's say it sucks sweaty gorilla-cow hybrid balls covered in maggots.

 

In some cultures it's common, whether because of colonialism or assimilation or just plain preference, to take Anglo names. To call that phony or lame or weird is to say that no matter what these people do, they will never be "one of us."

 

You get me coming or going. If I keep my ethnic name, I will always wonder if you think I'm an ethnic person who hasn't assimilated enough. I will wonder if you look at my name in a list of physicians and pick the doctor with the "English" name instead. If I change my name, I will always wonder if you are secretly thinking to yourself that I'm a phony. And my friends, who have grown up using their Anglo names- are they phony too? Are they just ethnic minorities who don't know their place?

 

It makes me really sad to be judged whether I resist OR accommodate the dominant Canadian culture.

 

* Note I do not state that people have to/should/ought to take each other's names upon marriage, or that KEEPING your ethnic name is "weird" since changing it isn't, etc. Only that 1) it is statistically likely for a woman to change her surname to her husband's. And 2) in some cultures, a large proportion of people will take an Anglo name, also statistically speaking. I make no judgments about the morality of it either way, I only state that some significant proportion of people do it, and it is reasonable! (Butt covered yet? )

[kylamonkey]

Hm. A few thoughts I have on this:

 

1. A female researcher I know got married, published a few papers, then got divorced. Now she is back to using her maiden name and may get married again in the future. If people want to look up her work, they may have to look under 3 different names. Not good.

 

2. In high school, my best friend and I made a pact with each other that we would keep our maiden names if we got degrees before getting married. So far, neither of us are married but we both have degrees.

 

3. I had a friend in high school whose last name had been changed when she was a little girl from a very russian name to an anglicized version. Her dad was a lawyer and he found it better, professionally, to have a pronounceable last name.

[Renin]

This statement doesn't sit well with me, and I'm going to try to reasonably explain why. Not in the most absolute rational way, just reasonably.

 

For one thing, the Anglo name either truly becomes that person's name, or already is their name in daily use, as in Renin's case. Just because it says one name on a piece of paper doesn't make that the only truth. In fact, taking the Anglo name legally brings the abstract paper part in line with the practical reality of life. Even if it were a "lie," which I do not concede, using it makes it real.

 

For another thing, sometimes people will do this not only to make themselves more at home, but also to make others around them more comfortable, because it's the expected thing to do. Do we imagine that women who take their husbands' surnames are being phony or lame? By extension, if it's culturally expected (by Canadians at large, and the ethnic culture itself) to take an Anglo name, what exactly is so unusual about it?*

 

The racial aspect is also omitted here. In answer to the example, few would assume that a young Greek person with a very Greek name is a "nasty immigrant whose English is barely passable!!!11!", for the basic reason that it's European in origin. (Note I say "young," because everyone judges old people, which is a different kind of unfair, that is not within the scope of my argument.)

 

But man, does Canadian society at large judge names like Sing-Chi Chow or Atul Gawande. I've had employers say to me that my English is very good, to which I answer that I grew up here. They do a double-take and mention that most peers of my ethnicity/age group take "English" names. Even people of my own culture, whom I am meeting casually, ask my why I don't have an "English" name. The feeling I get from that... let's say it sucks sweaty gorilla-cow hybrid balls covered in maggots.

 

In some cultures it's common, whether because of colonialism or assimilation or just plain preference, to take Anglo names. To call that phony or lame or weird is to say that no matter what these people do, they will never be "one of us."

 

You get me coming or going. If I keep my ethnic name, I will always wonder if you think I'm an ethnic person who hasn't assimilated enough. I will wonder if you look at my name in a list of physicians and pick the doctor with the "English" name instead. If I change my name, I will always wonder if you are secretly thinking to yourself that I'm a phony. And my friends, who have grown up using their Anglo names- are they phony too? Are they just ethnic minorities who don't know their place?

 

It makes me really sad to be judged whether I resist OR accommodate the dominant Canadian culture.

 

* Note I do not state that people have to/should/ought to take each other's names upon marriage, or that KEEPING your ethnic name is "weird" since changing it isn't, etc. Only that 1) it is statistically likely for a woman to change her surname to her husband's. And 2) in some cultures, a large proportion of people will take an Anglo name, also statistically speaking. I make no judgments about the morality of it either way, I only state that some significant proportion of people do it, and it is reasonable! (Butt covered yet? )

 

One snarly patient took one look at me and said: "I don't understand a word YOU PEOPLE say. I want a new doctor."

 

I guess it doesn't matter what your name is, but the colour of your skin.

[Doctor_Strangelove]

This statement doesn't sit well with me, and I'm going to try to reasonably explain why. Not in the most absolute rational way, just reasonably.

 

For one thing, the Anglo name either truly becomes that person's name, or already is their name in daily use, as in Renin's case. Just because it says one name on a piece of paper doesn't make that the only truth. In fact, taking the Anglo name legally brings the abstract paper part in line with the practical reality of life. Even if it were a "lie," which I do not concede, using it makes it real.

 

For another thing, sometimes people will do this not only to make themselves more at home, but also to make others around them more comfortable, because it's the expected thing to do. Do we imagine that women who take their husbands' surnames are being phony or lame? By extension, if it's culturally expected (by Canadians at large, and the ethnic culture itself) to take an Anglo name, what exactly is so unusual about it?*

 

The racial aspect is also omitted here. In answer to the example, few would assume that a young Greek person with a very Greek name is a "nasty immigrant whose English is barely passable!!!11!", for the basic reason that it's European in origin. (Note I say "young," because everyone judges old people, which is a different kind of unfair, that is not within the scope of my argument.)

 

But man, does Canadian society at large judge names like Sing-Chi Chow or Atul Gawande. I've had employers say to me that my English is very good, to which I answer that I grew up here. They do a double-take and mention that most peers of my ethnicity/age group take "English" names. Even people of my own culture, whom I am meeting casually, ask my why I don't have an "English" name. The feeling I get from that... let's say it sucks sweaty gorilla-cow hybrid balls covered in maggots.

 

In some cultures it's common, whether because of colonialism or assimilation or just plain preference, to take Anglo names. To call that phony or lame or weird is to say that no matter what these people do, they will never be "one of us."

 

You get me coming or going. If I keep my ethnic name, I will always wonder if you think I'm an ethnic person who hasn't assimilated enough. I will wonder if you look at my name in a list of physicians and pick the doctor with the "English" name instead. If I change my name, I will always wonder if you are secretly thinking to yourself that I'm a phony. And my friends, who have grown up using their Anglo names- are they phony too? Are they just ethnic minorities who don't know their place?

 

It makes me really sad to be judged whether I resist OR accommodate the dominant Canadian culture.

 

* Note I do not state that people have to/should/ought to take each other's names upon marriage, or that KEEPING your ethnic name is "weird" since changing it isn't, etc. Only that 1) it is statistically likely for a woman to change her surname to her husband's. And 2) in some cultures, a large proportion of people will take an Anglo name, also statistically speaking. I make no judgments about the morality of it either way, I only state that some significant proportion of people do it, and it is reasonable! (Butt covered yet? )

 

Hmm you do make a good point. I mean don't get me wrong, my last name is pretty long and foreign, though not REALLY hard to pronounce if you actually read it rather than just see the Z that it starts with and give up right there lol. My first name is very short so it can't really be messed up, but I do agree on the thing you mention about the doctors list and patients picking the English sounding ones... I won't lie... I just thought about it and I'm guilty of having done that once myself hah!