Anyone with difficult last name considered changing?

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Red Beard

Red Beard

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I've been considering changing my last name for ease of use in the future. Without giving away my identity, I can say that it is a French-Canadian name which is exceedingly rare in the part of the country I am in, with a spelling that is impossible to guess and a pronounciation that people have trouble with even after hearing it repeatedly.

Everytime I have to use my name with a stranger, in person or over the phone, it is a hassle. I have resorted to answering the question "what is your last name" by simply spelling it slowly right off the bat. Even then it is often misspelled by the listener.

I'm curious, has anyone else dealt with this?

BTW-I would change my last name to my middle name, which is still somewhat unique but easily understood.
 
To clarify, there is another name in my family lineage that is difficult in a very similar way:

Poissonniere

(Its not pronounced "poison-ear" :laugh: )
 
There's a doctor I know back home who is from Thailand. His last name was incredibly long and hard to pronounce so he shortened it when he moved the the US.
 
My grandfather changed our name when we got to the u.s..lol It was Massamaschmerling....once they got it out of the cyrillic and everything.
 
Red Beard said:
I've been considering changing my last name for ease of use in the future. Without giving away my identity, I can say that it is a French-Canadian name which is exceedingly rare in the part of the country I am in, with a spelling that is impossible to guess and a pronounciation that people have trouble with even after hearing it repeatedly.

Everytime I have to use my name with a stranger, in person or over the phone, it is a hassle. I have resorted to answering the question "what is your last name" by simply spelling it slowly right off the bat. Even then it is often misspelled by the listener.

I'm curious, has anyone else dealt with this?

BTW-I would change my last name to my middle name, which is still somewhat unique but easily understood.
Click to expand...


Dr. Evil was of foreign parentage so he likely changed his name. Just make sure you pick something that sounds similarly cool with "Dr." in front of it.
 
considered changing my last name. hard to say but at least it's only 2 letters so it's not hard to spell.
 
I pretty much do the spelling thing as well. I don't think that my name is difficult but many americans do. Anyway, I thought about shortening it by a syllable for years. Till I grew up and realized that no one else in the state of Texas besided my family has that name, and many people think it's cool so I'm gonna keep my unique last name even after I get married. I've had a couple of guys say that If their wife had a cool last name that they'd change their own names to their wives'. So Nope, I'm keeping it. Think about it, you are unique, I bet not too many people have that name whatever it is, so it makes you unique. Sure spelling it out over and over kinda gets old at times, but I do it soo many times it's second nature and I don't even think about it anymore.
 
Legally changing your name because it's too difficult for other people to pronounce or spell doesn't seem like a good reason to abandon your familial legacy, unless you're Bob Hitler, or Dennis Stalin or something. If it's really a problem for your patients or what not, just go with the Dr. Initial route, like instead of Dr. Verylongnamethatshardtopronounce, just go with Dr. V with talking with people.
 
Red Beard said:
I've been considering changing my last name for ease of use in the future. Without giving away my identity, I can say that it is a French-Canadian name which is exceedingly rare in the part of the country I am in, with a spelling that is impossible to guess and a pronounciation that people have trouble with even after hearing it repeatedly.

Everytime I have to use my name with a stranger, in person or over the phone, it is a hassle. I have resorted to answering the question "what is your last name" by simply spelling it slowly right off the bat. Even then it is often misspelled by the listener.

I'm curious, has anyone else dealt with this?

BTW-I would change my last name to my middle name, which is still somewhat unique but easily understood.
Click to expand...

I have a french-canadian name and I live in the province of Quebec, and I have the same problem. However, my middle name is very easy to prononce and it's also easy to spell. I personally think it would be easier for everyone if I only had this one.
 
Rogue_Leader said:
Legally changing your name because it's too difficult for other people to pronounce or spell doesn't seem like a good reason to abandon your familial legacy, unless you're Bob Hitler, .
Click to expand...

I'd think Mengele would be a worse name for a doctor.
 
I am the queen the spelling thing... first and last name. My dad is a doctor and practices in a tiny town where people have a very difficult time... and he has been affectionately dubbed Dr. A. Our town has a lot of foreign doctors... there's Dr. D and Dr. B, too. No need to change your name... just learn to love the first letter 😛
 
Don't change your name, be unique, and make life harder for other doctors when they have to write your name down for referrals or in other forms. How do you spell his name? Come again? Let me see it!!! :laugh:

My name is really complicated too, most of the time when I type it I forget a letter or two.... and I plan on keeping it even after getting married.
 
I never thought that my name was very hard to pronounce, but people always screw it up. It's kind of ridiculous, but I won't be changing my name. It's not like it's long and easily misspelled or anything. Good luck with the name changes. :luck: :luck:
 
Ema said:
Don't change your name, be unique, and make life harder for other doctors when they have to write your name down for referrals or in other forms.
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If its too complicated, you wont get the referral business -- they will send it to Dr Smith/Jones
 
Don't change your name, be unique, and make life harder for other doctors when they have to write your name down for referrals or in other forms. How do you spell his name? Come again? Let me see it!!!
Click to expand...
My favorite is when I get a referral from Dr Confusing Name's office and his own staff spelled his name wrong! Which happened to me a lot with my own darn simple name, come to think of it. Everyone wants to make it harder than it needs to be. That said I am not changing my name to convenience the bad spellers of the world.
 
I'm changing my last name from a very simple one to a very complex and hard to spell/pronounce one. I'm not too excited about that since everyone already spells my first name wrong (K-a-t-y, not K-a-t-i-e) but I got used to that, I'll get used to this.

PS- I'm getting married to a man with what my brother affectionately calls an "Alphabet Soupski" name. In this case it would be "Soupszki" though :laugh:
 
I just changed my last name since I was recently married and a word of advice. It takes a long time and a lot of repetition for a medical school to get a name change correct. I changed mine after I was accepted and I had to change it through the university registrar, the school of medicine registrar, the university financial aid, the school of medicine financial aid, and at the other campus I will attend (it is a special program with multiple first year sites.) I still get information addressed to my maiden name or even a hyphenated name. It is a headache. Although, there is no advice for or against concerning your reason (both my maiden and married name are very "run of the mill" last names) I figured I could share my frustrating experience. Just a heads-up.
 
DrMikeyLu said:
my last name is two letters..and im chinese 🙂
Click to expand...
Yeah. Me too. Considering the population of Chinese people...I think Chinese would be a better guess.
 
Chinese mainland. Although viets also have short names. My friend in hs has a 4 letter entire name.
 
LOL, if short name docs get more referrals... sweet.
 
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