On Thu, 3 Jan 2002, P Johnson wrote: >I am looking for information regarding the process of a legal name change >for a family. How is this done? Through what type of court? Would it affect >previous records? Any suggestions on how to research/get started on a family >name that has been changed would be greatly appreciated. I had a relative who legally changed his name. In California, the Superior Court for the county in which he lived is where the case/request was filed. [In my relative's case, he did not change the surname - only his given name - to his preferred nickname.]

When I lived in California in the seventies I had my last name "legally" changed to reflect both my maiden and married name with a hyphen in between as the *entire* surname. All I had to do was change all of my important documents to reflect this new name and to start using this new name consistently. I did not go to a lawyer- I just "read up" on it. As an addendum for those who want to "connect" their married and maiden name: I found in the long run that this was not worth it! Some people were highly offended that I did this so that when I went to a new insurance agent, for example, the man took it as a personal offense to HIM! He was furious at my name! When I tried to sign up to teach a college class, a woman in Administration refused to believe that I could do this and would only write my last name down as ONE name- so "pick which one." My brother did the same thing and he has a child who is abhorred that her last name is so "funny." When she is of age, I am certain that she will change her name back to my brother's suname! And what if she didn't? When she married, her last name would be Smith-Jones-Farrell (sort of like an attorney's office!) And what if she married a man whose parents had the same idea? So the newlyweds last name would be: Smith-Jones-Garcia-Farrell!!

A name change due to marriage is something completely different than the types of name changes we're talking about. On 16 Jan 2002, LPurch6636 wrote: >When I lived in California in the seventies I had my last name "legally" >changed to reflect both my maiden and married name with a hyphen in between as >the *entire* surname. All I had to do was change all of my important documents >to reflect this new name and to start using this new name consistently. I did >not go to a lawyer- I just "read up" on it. > >As an addendum for those who want to "connect" their married and maiden name: I >found in the long run that this was not worth it! Some people were highly >offended that I did this so that when I went to a new insurance agent, for >example, the man took it as a personal offense to HIM! He was furious at my >name! When I tried to sign up to teach a college class, a woman in >Administration refused to believe that I could do this and would only write my >last name down as ONE name- so "pick which one." My brother did the same >thing and he has a child who is abhorred that her last name is so "funny." When >she is of age, I am certain that she will change her name back to my brother's >suname! And what if she didn't? When she married, her last name would be >Smith-Jones-Farrell (sort of like an attorney's office!) And what if she >married a man whose parents had the same idea? So the newlyweds last name would >be: Smith-Jones-Garcia-Farrell!!