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Can you get your real legal name changed to the pseudonym that you want? Maybe I think it's for people who want a fresh start in their writing career. Is it taking things too seriously if you do happen to change your legal name to your pseudonym?

As far as I know, you can legally change your name to whatever you want; however, make sure you do not alienate family friends. Your parents may not be happy that you are not happy with the name you are given. LOL.

Oh absolutely I just hope Dreamie Alexander fits the mold

I prefer using my own name - DATo Diomedies DATonian. (That's DAY-toe for the hearing impaired).

This seems like an extreme step! I mean, tons of people have writing pseudonyms but still keep their real names, too. In fact, some authors (George Orwell, Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll, George Eliot...) are far better known by their pen names, but they still retained their real names. I think a real name can help protect your private life and can help separate your personal life and work life. That being said, you can legally change your name to anything you want! I think it's somewhat expensive, and I know it's trouble to get all your stuff changed over--driver's license, insurance, official records, etc... But, if you really want to do it and your family is down, then I'd say... Go for it!!

Personally, the only reason for using a pseudonym is to write in a genre that is different from the one you write in with your real name. I would see no point into making a legal change unless your rename was Azore Hezakiah Mudd and you pseudonym is Jeffery Strong - or something to that effect.

I actually have the same real name as a well-known song-writer. I can't even Google my own name because all the results are about HER. But there are many different ways to use your real name for writing, right? Like, use your middle name instead of your first name. Use both names. Use initials. I would only use a psuedonym if I didn't want people to know my real name to keep my private life separate from my writing life. And in that case, there would be no point to change it...

ALynnPowers wrote:I actually have the same real name as a well-known song-writer.

If you Google my name, you get about a million hits. There are writers, singers and an actor or two, but over the years I have managed to put enough out there that my name comes high on the list of Google results, enough so that people can find me. I have a story about one of the other Mike McManuses. Some time ago I was close friends with a man who acted in commercials for a living. He also did small roles in films. He looked very much like Mike McManus the actor who used to also do commercials, so they would often be called to auditions for the same part. My friend used to joke that he had two best friends, both named Mike McManus.

If I ever use a pseudonym, it's for the purpose of privacy. If I would have wanted the world to associate that particular piece with my real self, I would have used my real name. Simple as that. However if you are having a change of heart and want everyone to know that in fact, you and your pseudonym are one in the same, I think there should be an easier way to go about that. You could have printed in your book an addendum, and then from then on write in your legal name. I do know that legally, you can change your name to whatever you want, or in the case of Prince, whatever symbol you want, but I think you should be very careful with that. You don't want to erase who you currently are for someone you have imagined yourself to be. To me it's almost like becoming your alter ego. But the thing about alter egos is that one cannot exist without the other. They feed off each other. If you decide to do it, I hope that it works out, but I feel that they are for the use of privacy, and I myself would never change my current name, to my pseudonym. Hope all the best for you!

I want some friends I can go level with or take some ops. Hard to find people on during my play time because I'm in the USA. I am currently Protopharma but I can switch on my own to whichever faction. I prefer anti-city.




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MikkyHarren

My real name actually pulls up multiple pornagraphic pictures and suggestions, so I would never use it when publishing a book.

MichaelMcManus wrote:

ALynnPowers wrote:I actually have the same real name as a well-known song-writer.

If you Google my name, you get about a million hits. There are writers, singers and an actor or two, but over the years I have managed to put enough out there that my name comes high on the list of Google results, enough so that people can find me. I have a story about one of the other Mike McManuses. Some time ago I was close friends with a man who acted in commercials for a living. He also did small roles in films. He looked very much like Mike McManus the actor who used to also do commercials, so they would often be called to auditions for the same part. My friend used to joke that he had two best friends, both named Mike McManus.

That's kind of awesome! Do you look like any of the others? The woman I share a name with oddly looks a lot like me! Or... rather I look a lot like her (she's older!).

-- 02 Oct 2014, 00:26 --

Tiffany4188 wrote:My real name actually pulls up multiple pornagraphic pictures and suggestions, so I would never use it when publishing a book.

That is both hilarious and disturbing. You could change the spelling of your name. My niece's name is actually spelled Tiphani.

ALynnPowers wrote:That's kind of awesome! Do you look like any of the others? The woman I share a name with oddly looks a lot like me! Or... rather I look a lot like her (she's older!).

-- 02 Oct 2014, 00:26 --

I would say that none of the other Mikes look like me, but we are not completely dissimilar - I mean, we are all of Irish descent.

MichaelMcManus wrote: I would say that none of the other Mikes look like me, but we are not completely dissimilar - I mean, we are all of Irish descent.

That makes sense.
I wonder if I can pull off some relation to Austin Powers....

I actually have legally changed my name. I only changed my first name, though. My birth name, which I'll refer to as M-word, was a name that I came to hate. I think it had to do with the pronunciation of it, especially from my late grandmother, who said it with a country twang. (Sorry, Granny. Rest in peace.) Then I just couldn't deal with getting mail and phone calls (from businesses and such) and having to have the name on my official forms of ID, etc. So I went to court and had my name changed. Meg is my legal first name now.