I changed my surname when I got married, to my wife's name (quick primer for
newer arrivals; I'm a man).
Changing your name is a good experience. The funniest thing you note is
people reacting to you differently. I changed my surname from Evans to
O'Regan, and suddenly people (who hadn't known me before) were pointing out
all the Irish characteristics I possessed.
However, I would never change my name to something easier to spell, or
pronounce, or to anything more common. One of the best assets you can have
these days, in the massively crammed namespace of the net, is a weird name.
I've noticed it with my first name since I was a knee high to a grasshopper.
People remember me when I'm in a list of names; it means I get slightly more
personal treatment for no good reason. Job interviews are a particular case
in point; I introduce myself as Emlyn, and people say "ah yes, I remember
your application", because they notice the name. Another thing I like is
that people immediately assume I am going to be a bit eccentric, which is
lucky.
If someone has to ask you to spell your name, or makes the gaff of mistaking
you for the opposite gender, you've got it made. They will not forget you.
I've got a good friend, with a weird name; I've known him since our parents
lived in a group house together when I was 1 and he was just newly popped. I
lost him in the last year; we both move around a lot and don't talk that
often, different cities, so none of the contact details I had for him were
correct. I couldn't even find him in a phone book, because he's always in
group houses; never has the phone in his name.
I jumped onto ICQ the other day and looked him up. Only one person existed
in the world with that name; it was him. He told me he had lost my details
too; we might never have found each other again if not for that name.
My wife & I chose the name Lachlan for our new son (three months old now). I
didn't realise it was such a popular name! Luckily, I found the spelling
Lochlainn (which we have used instead), it's irish, matches the surname, and
will cause him hell with spelling it out to people forever. But, it'll stand
out. As soon as someone thinks "how do I pronounce this", they've thought
about you, and will remember you.
A good test of appropriate name weirdness: If you can find a name you've
chosen on any off-the-shelf "personalised" merchandise (you know, mugs,
badges, those dumb plaques for your bedroom door), then the name is no good;
try again.
I can't say much about the outrunning of embarrassing posts; I'm still busy
posting them. I wouldn't worry; people understand you change, and it
demonstrates that you learn. Fewer people do learn than one might think;
it's a good thing to be able to prove!
Much of life is about standing out from a crowd. Any edge you can get is a
bonus. This is not a good time to be called "John".
Emlyn
(apologies in advance to the "John"s)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eliezer S. Yudkowsky" <sentience@pobox.com>
To: <extropians@extropy.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2000 12:54 PM
Subject: Re: Reintroduction
I've been thinking of switching recently - either to my middle name, or
to something completely new, like "Ben Abard". (Short, easy to spell,
and close to the beginning of the alphabet.)
Partially this is because my current name is so hard to pronounce. But
the other reason is a harsh necessity for all children of the digital
age...
...outrunning the posts you made when you were fourteen.
--
sentience@pobox.com Eliezer S. Yudkowsky
http://singinst.org/home.html
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