I've pretty much always liked my name - it's not too common, easy to spell/pronounce and I think it sounds pretty. I've always wondered if I hated it, if I would change it?
I think it would somewhat depend on my parents - how would they feel if I wanted to change it? And whether the name was truly awful or simply not my taste.
Would you change if it you dislike(d) your first name?
papaya / 10570 posts
No, I don't think I would..... I always hated my maiden name and I made the mistake of telling my mum this on the run up to my wedding (in an "I can't wait to change it" context). Well she was really upset - so I can't even imagine how hurt she would be if I ditched the name she gave me.
GOLD / coconut / 8266 posts
I wouldn't change it unless it was really obscene or spelled incorrectly.
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
I would only change it if it had the potential to hurt me professionally (Princess, Rainbow, some ridiculously spelled name, etc.).
pineapple / 12566 posts
I'm not a huge fan of my name. I wouldn't ever go through with changing it, probably because I have no idea what I would pick if I could.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
@Cherrybee: aww!! Well, I truly dislike my married name - DH knows, I think he's sad I don't like it but it is what it is - I did take his name anyway but I kinda wish I had kept it at least a middle name.
pomegranate / 3105 posts
I dislike my first name, only because a TV ruined it for me, which in turned made sure I was severely picked on as a kid, but I wouldn't change it. I dislike my married name but I've gone through the motions of that already.
bananas / 9628 posts
@lawbee11: my SIL has one of those as her legal first name 
My FIL suggested I change my first name since it doesn't sound very nice with their last name... No. I love my first name! If I hated it, I wouldn't hesitate to change it!
pomegranate / 3858 posts
My mom changed her name legally when she got married. She was named one name at birth, but her dad said he would always call her something else (a nickname for her actual name). She was never called her actual name, and always forgot to sign it on cheques and forms, so when she got married she changed her name legally to Nickname MaidenName HusbandsLast!
GOLD / pomelo / 5737 posts
Maybe to a nickname or something but not just another random name!
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
@mrs. bird: hahaha omg it's totally different thing to suggest someone ELSE to change their name. smh
honeydew / 7303 posts
If my name was something awful I definitely would. Something made up or just not namelike. Definitely!
bananas / 9628 posts
@Mrs. Pen: yeah... he's a peach like that. he also doesn't know my first name, he calls me andy, which is not my name. although, andy does sound a little better with their last name
bananas / 9899 posts
I like my name. I guess if I hadn't liked it I probably would have changed it. I was happy when I got married and had a good reason to change my last name which I never liked.
I wouldn't really care what my parents thought. It's my name.
grapefruit / 4311 posts
I don't like my name at all simply bc it's so common, but I don't have like venom hatred for it. Just a "meh I'm so so boring" feeling, which isn't enough for me to change it. Plus what would I change it to?
pineapple / 12526 posts
@Mrs. Pen: @Cherrybee: I hate DHs last name. Im not gonna lie that it factored in to my decision to keep my maiden name.
And yes, I would. I know someone who changed his and he legally swapped his first and middle names. I never liked my name as a kid because it was fairly common, but it's grown on me as Ive gotten older. I still dont love it, but I dont hate it.
nectarine / 2115 posts
I have never really cared for my own first name. It is very old-fashioned and anytime I introduce myself for the first time I inevitably get, "My great-aunt/grandmother/elderly deceased relative's name is ---!" That gets old fast!
I love my middle name, and considered going by it in college, but felt that it would be too hurtful for my parents if I did that. So no, I wouldn't change it, but have often wished I could.
pomegranate / 3244 posts
I don't know what I would do, but I do know two people that changed their last name. One did it because he was trying to make it as a musician and his last name was semen-spelled that way. He changed it to his mom's maiden name, which made sense since his dad had long been out of the picture. The other person is a girl I went to high school with whose last name was a synonym for prostitute, and she was mercilessly teased throighout middle and high school. It didn't help that she dressed rather provocatively. The day she turned 18 she walked into the courthouse and changed it. I haven't thought of her in years, I hope she got the fresh start she needed in college 
pomelo / 5607 posts
I've changed what name I go by multiple times. Went by one nickname of my first name most of my childhood, switched to my middle name around 8th grade, then to my full first name briefly, then to a different nickname from my first, and finally to a more grown-up version of that last one, which I've used for over 10 years and don't intend to change. I never asked family to change what they called me, and they still call me by my childhood name or occasionally my full first name. I guess I'm glad I changed it when I was too young to even think whether it'd hurt my parents feelings, since I would worry now, and I really dislike my childhood nickname. Thankfully I honestly don't think they cared, since my mom admitted she never loved it either and wished pretty quickly that they'd called me by my full first name from the get go.
That being said, a legal change is a much bigger step. I'd have to really hate it AND have no good alternatives like I had. My step-MIL HATES her name, has never gone by it, and actually it turns out spent the last 40+ years pronouncing it wrong (we found out last year at Thanksgiving- it's french, can't really blame her), but she kept it. She was able to use a decent nickname from it, so I guess she decided it wasn't worth it. And I expect that's what I'd do. Heck, at this point I think she enjoys being able to shock people with how weird it is!
coconut / 8430 posts
I think I would just go by a different name. If I still felt strongly about it after awhile I would get it changed legally. I know a few people who adopted English names at some point in their lives and their parents have no problem with it.
Also, if I moved to a foreign country and my name was something obscene or strange there, I would probably go by something else. I once knew a girl whose name was a homonym for one of the parts of the boob. I always wondered if she knew...
coconut / 8279 posts
If I really hated it, yes.
My husband changed his last name to mine when we got married. His father was abusive, and a terrible person and the name carried a lot of painful memories.
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
It's hard to imagine hating my name, but one of my grandmothers hated her given name (Reba) and changed it.
I would probably just opt to go by something else, though. Many people do!
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