After you changed your name, was it awkward? Tips?

[dsmgirl]

I have a question for those of you who have legally changed your name. How did you get other people to adapt to that? Was it awkward telling people to call you a different name? What if they say "that name doesn't fit you"? I'm still in high school, so not only will I have to get my classmates to adapt to my new name, I have to get my teachers to do that too. I'm at a loss as to how to do that. If I let people to keep calling me by my current name, it would render the whole name change pointless. Also, did you feel like you have to explain your choice? It's not compulsory, but you just get that pressure compelling you to explain, then you end up blabbering too much? What's a graceful way to deal with this situation?

Please give me advice. Thanks!

 

[Jackolantern]

If your current name is distinctively foreign and your new name is common among Americans, an easy explanation is "I just became an American citizen".

 

[König]

an easy explanation is "I just became an American citizen".

That does not explain the decision to change the name. The era of conformism is gone - nobody changes their names just because they become American citizens. Many people from Western countries just modify their names to reflect the English spelling (e.g., Johann -> John, Пётр -> Peter, etc). Some just change their names to accommodate native speakers or to appear more American (e.g., Wei Liu -> Richard Johnson). When somebody asks why you changed your name, they probably mean some deeper personal reasons.

I guess I was lucky to be in the first category, so I just explain that I simply converted my native name to English spelling, but in essence they are the same (both stem from one Greek name). Never felt awkward about it.

 

[Vorpal]

I changed my last name during naturalization, but I kept my first name. For my last name, I chose something that started with the same letter as my previous last name, but is a lot more westernized. As far as my first name is concerned, it's easy to pronounce and people have been using it to address me my entire life, so I kept it.

In all honesty, having to explain my new last name was a bit annoying at first. However, everyone got used to it quickly. I have no regrets my decision.

 

[Vorpal]

Some just change their names to accommodate native speakers

Most definitely. In junior high school, I had a classmate named Artyom (Артём), who preferred to be addressed as "Arthur" to make it easier on native speakers.

 

[Jackolantern]

Some just change their names to accommodate native speakers or to appear more American

But that's really the same underlying reason. If somebody said they changed their name because they became a US citizen, it's not literally just because of becoming a US citizen, it's understood that the underlying reason is US citizenship solidifies their expectation to live in the US for the rest of their life, so they wanted a name that seems more American and will be easier for other Americans to spell and pronounce.

So if the name change is from something distinctly foreign to something common in America, most people will understand the underlying reason without further explanation if you say "because I became a US citizen".

 

[dsmgirl]

Thanks for all of your input. Any one else would like to give me other tip?