Changing your name in the US is a long, expensive, and stressful process. Because of this, I've been seriously considering keeping my legal name. My preferred name could still easily pass as a nickname for this legal name, anyway. The only problem is that my legal name is a "girl's name", but there's plenty of men with female names, right? The only downside of this is awkward moments if anyone decides to be an ass about my legal name being feminine. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone felt similarly or if someone who has had their name changed could enlighten me of the benefits of the process, because at the moment it just seems like a lot of effort for something I personally don't find to be very vital.
My situation is slightly different, as my chosen name is very different from my deadname. For me, changing it meant I could tell people "no, that's not my name - this is". I could introduce myself as Hunter without having the difficulty of friends and family using my deadname, since I can insist that they call me my legal name (the legal statements on my deed poll include "I absolutely and entirely renounce, relinquish and abandon my former name of X... I authorise and require all persons at all times to designate, describe and address me by the adopted name of Y" - so I can throw this at people who try to say they won't use my name). I didn't like my deadname regardless both due to it being an unmistakeably female name and because it was easy for bullies to use back in school which made me hate it, so I was jumping at the chance to change it (I was planning to regardless of being trans except I was going to swap my first and middle names). Seeing my chosen name instead of my deadname on official documents like bank statements and having it on my license is very important to me as well. It should also be noted, I live in England and it was quite cheap and easy for me to do - I paid £75 online and then my deed poll was shipped to me two weeks later, then was witnessed by one of my University lecturers. If you don't care about your legal name, and your chosen name passes as a nickname for it, then I really don't see a reason for you to legally change it. For some people such as myself it's the right thing to do, but that doesn't mean it's right for everyone since no person's experiences are the exact same. Definitely don't feel obligated if you don't feel it's necessary for your personal journey.
Ah I see! All of that does sound nice. Where I'm from you need to attend a court hearing to have your name changed (on top of an over $100 fee, application process, and then publishing info about your hearing in a newspaper) and just the idea of that makes me so nauseous with anxiety. The rest of the process is just a pain in the ass, but doable. I think I'm comfortable enough with my birthname to keep it legally at least for a while. Maybe someday I'll have less anxiety and it won't be such a big deal. Gender marker change is no problem though, so that's a relief!
