So what the heck IS my name?

[springa]

Most functional adults don't have a problem remembering their own name.  I don't either, but I do have a lot of trouble remembering my exact name in a certain context.

The trouble started because as the oldest son, my parents gave me my father's first name, but called me by my middle name as I grew up.  So, I have always gone by my middle name, Paul

Comments

[the23]

the impression could also be uh-oh this one of those chancers who goes under aliases and can't remember which lie he told.

i have a friend with a similar issue who had serious trouble with plane tickets because he had booked with a credit card which had one version of his name, yet his photo id had the other or something similar.

my wife's passport is a complete nightmare. before we got married she lost her passport which of course was in her maiden name. they issued a replacement but it was only supposed to be temporary so it expired after a year. of course she didn't find the old one (it had been stolen), and by the time the temporary one expired she was married so she sent the temporary one in for an extension. rather than issuing a new one they amended the old one (after various strange letters back and forth including her swearing that she had investigated the loss thoroughly, etc.) so that the photo page still has the wrong name and expiration date, stamped a big VOID on the note on the back page saying that the passport

[springa]

I've been lucky in that I've never had more serious trouble than a slight dose of embarrassment. I do worry more about getting the names mixed up in cases where I have used only two names, because I think that having completely different first names would look more suspicious than substituting an initial for one of the names.

[cisforcorrie]

My nephew has the same issue, his name is Stanley James (Stanley being my step dad's name), but has always gone by James. He added to the confusion by adopting his own step father's last name, so for the most part goes by a completely different name than that on his birth certificate. Mayhem usually ensues.

[springa]

Ouch. I've never had to worry about my last name - it's the fixed point when my other two names are sources of confusion.

[trinity_gal]

I've changed my surname to [married],
but haven't changed my passport which is still Miss [maiden name] and everything academic, important identity documents/records all over UK are still Miss [maiden name].

More worrying thing is that it doesn't bother people and they never seem to cross check things. No wonder ID fraud gets everywhere.