There are many reasons why people change their names these days: either to shed the skin of their previous self — a practice largely popular in the LGBTQ+ community; to reinvent it (just like Astro Teller, the CEO of Google’s top-secret moonshot company X, did), or simply to honor the age-old tradition of taking your partner’s name in marriage. And what should normally be a simple and straightforward process, is often turned into an onerous and expensive affair thanks to the nightmarish bureaucracies that follow.

For u/Caro_Snoopy37, everything seemed a-okay until the moment they had to deal with their credit card company. What should have been a considerably easy transition — knowing that they successfully dealt with what’s now known as the ‘Nine Circles of Hell’ (DMV, social security, insurance, et. al.) — instead turned into a long and arduous fight against the incompetency of their credit card company.

Fed up with the incompetency of the credit card company after changing their legal name, this person showed them how ridiculous their outdated bureaucracies are

Image credits: Pxhere (not the actual photo)

A record 85,000 people in the UK changed their name in 2016 — more than twice as many as a decade ago. Let that sink in. Although no one keeps a tally of how many people change their names each year (at least globally), it’s not difficult to assume the number is much higher today. Not because 1-in-3 transgenders, statistically, change their legal name; but because we, humans, have developed a much healthier and more sophisticated understanding of self-expression in recent years.

To better understand why more and more folks tend to change their name, Bored Panda reached out to San Francisco-based journalist and writer Anneli Rufus, who decided to change her legal name several years ago. “I remember thinking one day, at age five, that if it were ever possible for grownups to change their names, I would change mine from Sharon to Candy. Or possibly Cookie,” Rufus said. This desire never faded but, of course, there were those who didn’t find this as appealing as Anneli, previously Sharon, did.

“My parents were furious and hurt,” Rufus told us. “‘Sharon was the name that we gave you, so you’re throwing away our precious gift,'” she was told. Most people, including her boyfriend, tried to talk Anneli out of it, but, eventually, she persisted. “I still wish I’d been true to my five-year-old self, instead of letting my boyfriend talk me out of ‘Candy’ and “Cookie.’ He said those names were too silly and that no one would take a writer seriously who had such a name.”

Here’s the OP’s full story

Image credits: Caro_Snoopy37

Although Anneli is not particularly happy with her chosen name (“it was literally the stupidest thing I’ve ever done”), she says not enough people entertain this idea. “I would definitely recommend a name change for anyone who truly hates their birth-name, and/or feels that their birth name does not fit or suit or describe them, for whatever reason,” Rufus said. “It’s a wonderful, magical thing to do — because names are so crucial, so powerful. A name is like a password, a mantra, an amulet and/or outfit that we wear every single day.”

How easy it is to change one’s legal name, then? According to Anneli, it’s not as complicated as one might think. “Seven years ago, I added two middle names via a legal procedure, which was actually surprisingly easy.” Still, before shedding the skin of her previous self, there were some who didn’t take Anneli’s decision seriously.

“During the year I spent trying to choose a name, some friends mocked my plans and made fun of me. A coworker who later became a well-known reporter thought it was hilarious to call me all kinds of random goofy names such as ‘Wah-Wah Pedal,'” Rufus said.

People applauded the author for their power play and shared their own horror stories of bureaucratic incompetency

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