Question Home

Position:Home>Genealogy> Legally change my last name?


Question: Legally change my last name!?
I asked a similar question and many people helped me, for which I'm grateful!.

I have a last name that I have been very unhappy with for most of my life, and I want to change it legally!.

Here's my question:
I found out the procedure for legally changing your last name, but it involves a judge's approval!.
If you want to legally change your last name out of DESIRE (in other words, NOT for divorce, marriage or a similar reason) what are the chances that they will approve your request!?

If the judge won't approve your request, what recourse do you have!?
Will I be stuck with this last name for the rest of my life!?

I know that if I were to marry, I could take my husband's last name, but that won't help me! First of all, it doesn't look like I'll ever get married, and second, if I were marry, I want to keep my identity, not be an extension of my husband!. If I had a surname I liked, and I got married!.!.!. I would keep my own name!.

Nobody understands why it bothers me so much, but I really hate it!. It is Jones (for practical purposes)!. No offense if that's your name, but I have always hated it, and I've never been able to identify with it!.
I hate having a generic name!. My first name is also and EXTREMELY common name!. In every school I have ever attended in my life, there have been three or four other girls with that same full name!
I don't want a name that sounds weird in left field, but I got so SICK of being just one of many Sarah Joneses!. I want a name of my own and not some communal name that I have to share with a disproportionate number of people!.

I feel like a nobody, and I feel like I don't have any sense of identity!. I have no sense of individuality!. I would like to have a unique name, a special name just for me!. I would like to be an individual, not a nobody who blends into the woodwork!. I don't want to change my first name, even though I don't like it, because it was picked out for me and if I were to pick out a first name for myself, it wouldn't have any sentimental value!.

I have Spanish ancestry (not completely, but some)!. I am VERY proud of it (nothing wrong with other nationalities, its just that I identify with the Spanish culture, or latin culture in general)!.

My great-grandfather was from Spain and had a really beautiful last name!. I would like to legally change my last name to my great-grandfather's!.
Spain is part of my heritage and part of who I am, and my love for latin culture sets me apart!. It's "me!." Jones isn't "me!."

Other people don't understand why I hate it, but I hear "Sara Jones" and I just cringe!. It doesn't sound like music to my ears!. My grandfather's last name is so beautiful, that it sounds like music!.
I am very passionate about the latin culture!. I speak fluent Spanish and have always loved latin stuff, the language, the culture, etc!. I have lived in latin America and I identify with the culture!. It would mean a lot to me to have a Spanish sounding last name, not only becuase it ismy heritage but because I identify with the culture!.
I'm really proud of being of Spanish descent but with a name like Jones, people don't know!. When hyou're proud of something you want people to know about it, and people always assume that I'm an anglo-saxon!. Nothing wrong with being an anglo-saxon, but!.!.!.!. I'm NOT!. I get tired of people making assumptions about me!.

I hate the name, and don't identify with it, and it's generic and I've never had a sense of identity!.
I have decided that I want to go to court and officially take my great-grandfather's last name!.

Je repete (I repeat)!.!.!.

If you change your name out of DESIRE will that be a detriment in court!?
If the judge won't approve my request, what recourse do I have!?
I don't want to be stuck with a name I hate forever!

Maybe no one else understands how I feel, but it makes sense to me!

I'm sorry I've written so much but I had to get this off my chest!. It really bothers me a lot!.

Thanks!Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Move to Great Britain, here, there is no legal requirement, it is better here aswell as there is no wall mart and you can get cars thad to more than 1 meter (a unit of measurement that the rest of the world started using nearly 100 years ago) per gallon!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

When you fill out a name change petition, there will probably be a question about why you want to make the change!. If you say that you want the new name in order to honor or commemorate an ancestor, most judges will probably consider that a good enough reason to grant your request!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

From what I can tell they usually grant it!. My brother changed his last name and the judge granted it!. It wasn't a cheap process thoughWww@QuestionHome@Com

You really don't have to " Change Your Last Name" legally or any other ways, if such a thing truly exist!. You don't think a criminal chooses a name and then goes to a court to " Make it legal" do you!?
You too can just pick a name and use it, and it will become an aka ( also known as)!. It is like :
John Smith aka Billy Joe Higgins, but the only ones that would know your real name would be law enforcment if they ran a check on you, and you can use your aka on your social security card so all the records ( credit and all) are linked to the aka!. The aka is creating a person, par se, but using everything from the model it was created from, the real person!.
Or do the lawyer / court method like you were referencing initially!.Www@QuestionHome@Com