Someone with your last name commits a heinous crime and their name becomes infamous, would you change that name? Why or Why not?
Because this guy has the funniest name ever 💀
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Because this guy has the funniest name ever 💀
Came here for this, not disappointed. o7
Why should I change? They're the one who sucks!
I guess it depends how common your last name is where you live. If you're a Smith/Johnson/Brown/Williams in the USA, those are pretty common. If you've got one of those names in China, maybe a name change is in order.
If your last name is Summerbell, that's a bit rare, and maybe you need to distance yourself.
It depends on one's name, because said name happened to make people infer one's ethnicity. It's more of an ethnicity thing if you think about it. For Khazars (I'm a crypto Khazar, so I'm convinced), we change our name to hide the fact we're Khazars, because we're wannabe Caucus Eurpoeans, but we come from Turkey originally (and eastern Europe as the Khazars).
Why should I change? He's the one who sucks.
Weinstein might be a fairly common jewish name? Definitely not changing mine, it's very common.
I'd definitely consider it if my family name was Hitler, or something that's a common swear word nowadays to the point that few people even know the original meaning anymore. "Ficker" is a relatively common name in my country, but to contemporary people it's basically "fucker". Many change the name into "Fischer" or use their spouse's name instead.
Well that's an interesting Google to find out that Hitler had a nephew who fought with the US navy against the axis.
A co-worker's last name was Goebbels. I offered him to correspond on first-name basis but he politely declined. I never worked closely enough to find out why he would not only keep that name but also prefer it to his first name.
I am from the Netherlands. The media etc. do not reveal surnames when court cases are being mentioned. I could be wrong but I believe that is set in law.
Greets from the south neighbors.
Here names are redacted as long as court cases run, as the presumption of innocence means they could sue the media if they get threats ztc.
No, because my name is already very common and there are several prominent murderers, war criminals and even traitors who share my name, and I barely rate among them.
Changing your name is an insane amount of work and it is not worth it
I would argue about insane amount, but would agree that it is not worth it.
If you're just changing your name without getting married there's a lot of paperwork, you have to stand in front of a judge, then you have to change all your banking information and everything else that had your previous name on it. And so help you god if you lose that paperwork that says you changed your name if you happen to need it years later it's a huge issue. It's a lot of work to change your name.
I did change my surname late in high school. Maybe it is cause of my country, bur yhat was not so easy. I just wrote a letter to the birth certificate register with a good reason to do so. Once they replied with "you're good to go" I just wen to the passport issuer with that mail and changed my name. What happens next is the problem - change name in all instances - school, work, license, bank and so on.
When I was younger and less involved in this world, it was quick. Today, with all the subscriptions, payments and registrations - screw that. Too much effort.
So, just change it if and when I get married?
Apparently when getting married it isn't quite as easy as I was thinking. But depending on your country it might be slightly easier
It's a lot of work even if you're changing it due to marriage.
Harvey Epstein is crazy bad luck for a name.
For me, it depends on the crime and how common or uncommon the name is but still probably not.
Don't take this out of context but.... I see nothing wrong with Dahmer.
Or Dohmer, with an O
One of the worst US congress members shares a last name with me, but it's also so common that it's pretty diluted. It needs to be both infamous and uncommon, sharing a last name with millions of people ain't that.
Then again, Epstein is kinda common and I can't help giggle when I bring up a certain researcher with that last name and call her model the Epstein model.
Rewatching the Expanse is funny when they mention the Epstein Drive, and its even funnier when
::: spoiler spoiler they literally have a plot point about them trafficking kids into a
islandmoon and do disgusting things... using them to create bioweapons :::Yeah, millions of Johnsons survive sharing a name with a guy who must have been a real prick.
If you Google my first and last name, all the results are about a serial killer who is not me. I include my middle name as often as possible, partially because of that.
Did they rise to prominance after you were born? If not...
I have an extraordinarily rare last name combined with an extraordinarily rare first name, I’m literally the only person who has ever had my full name in the entire history of humanity, I’m keeping it.
Until you meet someone with that exact name
Unless someone in my family with my last name named their kid after me, that’s not going to happen.
An ex of mine had the same name as the wife of a killer. I find it hilarious that when you Google her name, that person comes up. I hope it forever is an impediment to her finding employment. What? No, I'm not bitter.
No, I hope I’d have the self-confidence to own it.
I googled my name and found some old dude with a PhD lmao.
Hell no, people can finally spell it.
Nah, too common.
Same. I'm not a John Smith* but my name is generic enough that it, or something sufficiently like it, has turned up in a number of places, sometimes to my detriment.
Back when I had Facebook (and more people had accounts that would turn up on search), I'd occasionally search my name and find quite a few people with the same across the world... and then freak out a bit because my name's mine, what are all these people doing with my name?
Regular web searches have similar results.
On the bright side(?), if someone comes looking for me, they're way more likely to find the others first, so it might well be in my interests to never change my name, even if I got the urge to do it.
* or am I?
There’s a documentary about this called, “Meet the Hitlers”. Worth a watch
No, this has happened and I did not feel the need to change my name. Nobody even associates my name with his because his heinous crime happens so often in my country.
My last name is limited to my 5 closest relatives. This is due to a bizarre misspelling 3 generations back followed by mostly female descendants.
Have you searched for the name outside your family line? I know you said misspelling but my last name is rare because it was made up by immigration on Ellis Island: they couldn’t understand my ancestor so decided “close enough”. Same thing as a rare misspelling.
Before the internet, we knew of one unrelated person with the same last name but only because he was he was geographically close enough to be in a neighboring phone book. When someone took my Gmail (identical first initial, last name) it was a relative. Now with the internet and person search we’ve found a handful, but only a handful
Yes.
It was changed when my 7-year-old great grandfather was sent to school with the dozens of other immigrants from the tenement building. He spoke his name, the German school administrator wrote what he heard, and that was it.
There are 2 other super-similar names that I assume are related, but without DNA, I can't prove it. I am the family genealogist, so I'm never done researching.
Whoa super cool! I would ask you to say what it is but do not expect you to answer :)
Yeah. I'd like to be able to, but this isn't the kind of society where my opinions should be matched to my body.
I can tell you that the original was Sicilian.
You won't know that it's costing you jobs.
This is a bot ^^
Hell no, I'm waiting for the day one of these psychos makes us famous.
Honestly, pretty good litmus test for filtering out people obsessed with true crime. I'd keep it
If they did it in my county then they would be fairly closely related, like 2nd cousins and their kids or closer.
This would make it harder to change my name
Same. In that case, I'm taking my wife's name.
My whole name - first, middle, and last - is one of those that’s so generic I’m damn near impossible to Google without already knowing other key identifying details. Details that, if you already knew, you probably wouldn’t need to Google me anyway.
Welcome to Port Royal, Mr. Smith.
I'd just change my first name to Dick or Karen instead
Jokes on me there are close to a hundred million people with the same last name as me, I'm not changing
Guess it would depend, but I'm leaning toward no, because it's one thing my father gave me that I will always have, and he passed away over 20 years ago. I'm a Stephen King Constant Reader like my father before me, and Sai King says "do not forget the face of your father."
I live in an area where I'm the only one related to me for hundreds of miles, with the exception of my wife, who took my name when I married her. But there are other people using my last name. No relation. Way I see it, if the wrong people come looking for me, they'll find them first, and they don't know me. Maybe one of them has my first name as well. Maybe that person will be my designated decoy. I'm not on social media, so my face isn't widely known. Some bad dudes come looking for me, these other people will probably catch their attention before I will. I say let 'em have it.
The were 4 other guys in my high school with my name. So no, can't see bothering to change it.
In this age? Change your name anyways. Humans are stupid. Just having a name that is novel is exceptionally valuable, like William Beaver, Maximus Watts, or Richard Rockefeller.
Or Sandeep Dikshit
In ex Spanish or Portuguese colonies, where having 2-4 family names is common, that happening would mean someone in your (extended) family did it
I guess I'd just get married
My last name is lame anyways
You are Khaby Lame?
/j
I used to have a customer named Jeffrey Epstein... I understand not changing it, but oof...
The spelling of my last name is rare enough where I live that I sincerely doubt anybody here, who isn't already part of my family, would be heinous enough to do that.
So, probably not. I already don't really associate much with extended family to begin with, so I'd probably be out of the loop for a long time anyways.
No true Hossenfeffer would ever commit a crime!
I was named after a family member before everyone discovered what a criminal he was. To be clear, my family will not use my birthname. I thought that was a winning story until I met a guy named Chuck. Chuck Manson.
Neither of us have changed our names.
Probably, because my last name is pretty rare. I actually have my mother's surname so I think I'd just change it to my father's.
I will rejoice in being a famous Floopenhoffer!
last name? no because the last name is soo damn common that it would be impossibly to find someone solely by last name alone.
Nah, Ford is straight up overly common.
It's nicely inconspicuous.
Weird this was right below this in my timeline
https://iammarkzuckerberg.com/
that dude is going to see a huge increase of traffic and have absolutely no idea why 🤣
My surname in my area is already associated with really bad things. So yes i am thinking on changing it. It is just hard in my country
The only issue with sharing a name with a famous criminal is on a job application. And if HR can't tell the difference between someone serving a very long sentence in prison and me, I wouldn't want to work for them anyway.
Im less worried about jobs, more worried about some random dumbass punching me upon hearing my name.
There are tv plot points about employers doing a background check, finding the wrong details, so not hiring someone. In real life I hope they would take a few steps to confirm
SIN are used for background checks in my country. As for looking up social media history, I haven't had a social in my name for many years.
Except for the exact spelling I already share a last name with a war criminal president. But since I'm in a different country and the name has a positive association with an author here, it hasn't really seemed like an issue.
Hell, there's a famous singer with my whole name, and I won't even give up music. Why the hell would I change my name over something someone else did?
I have an ancestor who invented a famous sport and a second cousin who set someone on fire and buried them alive.
I share an almost identical name with some right winged POS. But I think the people I run into aren't going to confuse us.
Is your name Karlie Chirk?
Much less known thankfully.
One of my last names was severely misspelled a long time ago so I doubt anyone else not from my family has it, and I wouldn't change it. As for the other last name, it's kinda common so no I wouldn't change it either.
I already share a name with a fairly famous (although now deceased) comedian so I doubt it.
Did that comedian commit a heinous crime?
Don't they all
Probably not. I'm too lazy.
Sure. I have no attachment to my last name.
There are exactly two people in the United States with the same Last, Middle, and First Name as me (It's actually still true if you leave out the middle name). The other one is a few years younger than me, and when we were both somewhere in our 20's (quite long ago), the other one had a bit of trouble paying his bills. Given the unusual name, I had a few interesting calls trying to convince some really unhappy creditors that they weren't me.
A few years later they sold spices, and the multi level marketing spice company really had a problem distinguishing between us. They married someone whose first name is one letter different than my spouse.
Now the biggest problem is they are an elected politician. The good news is they moved to a coast, and I still live in the midwest. If they became more infamous, I would change my name.
If my name was uncommon and had become infamous? Yeah, I think I might change it in that case— it’d be a hard call and I’d have to think it through carefully, but I might come to the conclusion that I’d have to do it. But a common name? While it might get smudged a bit by the villain, there’d be too much dilution for anyone to care.
I feel for you, OP. That sucks.
No, changing one's name is a pain in the ass.