> Legal Name = Name on your birth certificate Wrong, at least in the US. Common law precedent allows you to use whatever name you like, regardless of what's on

> Legal Name = Name on your birth certificate Wrong, at least in the US. Common law precedent allows you to use whatever name you like, regardless of what's on official documents, as long as you're not doing it for fraudulent purposes. If you decide one day that you want to be "John Pfeffenheimer Gramblekins", you can go ahead and use that name in legal agreements and on your bills, as long as you're not trying to trick anyone into thinking that "John Pfeffenheimer Gramblekins" is a different person than your previous name. The same principle stands behind common-law name changes after marriage.