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Why did you change your name? And why did you choose the name you chose? Listeners answer these two questions. Hear their stories of gender identity, family fallouts, marriages, divorces, doxxing, cults, and...just not liking your given name very much.

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Why did you change your name? And why did you choose the name you chose?

Listeners answer these two questions. Hear their stories of gender identity, family fallouts, marriages, divorces, doxxing, cults, and…just not liking your given name very much.

This episode is part of Name Season here at the Allusionist. Hear previous episodes Yes, As In, about having a name that is more usually a noun or adjective; Name Therapy, about the issues people face with their names; and Name v. Law, about the Icelandic Naming Committee and a name change that took 25 years.

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS:

What it means to dead-name a transgender person, and why you should stop.
On the Boring Talks podcast: can you change your name to your existing name?
The Indian man who changed his name to Regret.
In Teen Vogue: how 16 trans people chose their names.
“Choose an old name. Walk around a cemetery reading the headstones.” Thanks for the name-choosing tips, Wikihow.
List of people who are legally mononymous.
The Top 3 Reasons People Regret The Name They Chose For Their Baby.
The transcript of this episode is at theallusionist.org/transcripts/name-changers.

Cool new Allusionist T-shirts and tote bags await at theallusionist.org/merch! Get your multidenominational festivewear with the new Winterval T-shirt, based on the Winterval episode and featuring nods to Christmas, Diwali, Hanukkah, Chinese New Year, Yule and Saturnalia.

YOUR RANDOMLY SELECTED WORD FROM THE DICTIONARY:
xoanon

CREDITS:

Thanks to all the listeners who told me about their name changes. This episode features a fraction of all their stories.
This episode was produced by me, with help from Eleanor McDowall and Martin Austwick, who also makes the music for the show. You can hear his songs under the name Pale Bird.

Find the show online: facebook.com/allusionistshow, twitter.com/allusionistshow, twitter.com/helenzaltzman and instagram.com/helenzaltzman.