Name Change Machinations

"Almost no names are 'English', tell me about the origin of your name..."

RobWords, 03-14-26, 939K subscribers

Reply by my avatar @tardigrade9493, 1 hour ago

My name is self-originated.  I took my ancient, variously sourced given names, Ann and Marie, then combined them into Annmarie.*  To do this I filed paperwork in an American court for permission to change my name, I appeared before a judge to affirm that I had not changed my name for fraudulent purposes, and I paid for documentation from the Court of my name change.  Then, I applied for and paid for a new birth certificate with my new name on it.  I obtained an updated social security card, driver's license, and so on.  Throughout this lengthy process I consoled my disconcerted family that my name change in no way affected my relationship with them.  I still loved them and I hoped that they would accept my change of name.  I argued with friends and acquaintances to not tease or forget my new name.  I worked steadily to change over every financial, educational, and employment record to my new name.  Now I am very pleased to have changed my name, the new one suits me best.  BTW, my name always was Ann Marie, but with the advent of computerized records in the late 20th century the computers' name data fields did not accept spaces which reduced my name to Ann, hence people at that time stopped giving me the fullness of my name, calling me Ann, which was irksome.  I corrected that with the process detailed herein.  I hope that it has been of interest to you to see some of the interpersonal machinations that language goes through in order to change.

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*  Quite rare.  "The name Annmarie is quite rare in the United States, ranking as the 1083rd most popular name with an estimated population of 30,497 individuals. It is predominantly used as a girl's name, with 100% of Annmaries being female. In 2024, there were 74 female babies born with the name Annmarie, making it the 1,004th most common name for women. The name has been used since 1915, with a total of 18,747 females given the name over the past 200 years."  Source: MyNameStats.com

Name Change Machinations

reply to RobWords by Annmarie Throckmorton, screencapture 2026