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Always worth remembering that there's no law that you have to use the same first name that's on your birth certificate. You can introduce yourself to people as

Always worth remembering that there's no law that you have to use the same first name that's on your birth certificate. You can introduce yourself to people as whatever you want and people will call you that, they won't ask for ID. So you might as well choose the official name name that the average bureaucrat in your jurisdiction is unlikely to misspell, and use other name(s) in different cultural or linguistic contexts.

vintermann 3y ago
Yes. It was common to translate names in the past. There wasn't this same idea that you had one fixed, official name either (admittedly, that became a tendency early in western Europe). If going by different names in different contexts makes things easier for the people you care about, why should it matter that it makes things harder for some distant bureaucrat?
Hasnep 3y ago
While that's true, there are situations where it can backfire. For example, I've had people send packages to me using the name everyone calls me, but when I go to pick it up at the post office, it doesn't match the name on my ID.
- HorizonXP 3y ago
  My legal first name is Xitij. Everyone knows me as Ritesh. It does not appear on any of my identification. I've dealt with this for 38 years.
  - Hasnep 3y ago
    I agree it's not really a problem, if it was I would ask people to call me by my legal name or change my legal name to my preferred name.
    - OJFord 3y ago
      How do you resolve the post office issue then, just out of curiosity? Show them a chat on your phone where people are calling you the written name or something? And the address should match still so actually why do they care anyway?
      - HorizonXP 3y ago
        It is very rare that anyone truly cares. I’ve only had this be a real issue with flights when someone uses my preferred name even though I tell them not to, and it inconveniences me while I try to fix it. Most people get it when I tell them, “no one calls me Xitij, it’s impossible to pronounce.”
      - Hasnep 3y ago
        My legal name is close enough to my preferred name and my surname is pretty unique in the UK, so they believed my explanation. I'm not sure what I would've done if they hadn't...

vintermann 3y ago

Yes. It was common to translate names in the past. There wasn't this same idea that you had one fixed, official name either (admittedly, that became a tendency early in western Europe). If going by different names in different contexts makes things easier for the people you care about, why should it matter that it makes things harder for some distant bureaucrat?

Hasnep 3y ago

While that's true, there are situations where it can backfire. For example, I've had people send packages to me using the name everyone calls me, but when I go to pick it up at the post office, it doesn't match the name on my ID.

HorizonXP 3y ago
My legal first name is Xitij. Everyone knows me as Ritesh. It does not appear on any of my identification. I've dealt with this for 38 years.
- Hasnep 3y ago
  I agree it's not really a problem, if it was I would ask people to call me by my legal name or change my legal name to my preferred name.
  - OJFord 3y ago
    How do you resolve the post office issue then, just out of curiosity? Show them a chat on your phone where people are calling you the written name or something? And the address should match still so actually why do they care anyway?
    - HorizonXP 3y ago
      It is very rare that anyone truly cares. I’ve only had this be a real issue with flights when someone uses my preferred name even though I tell them not to, and it inconveniences me while I try to fix it. Most people get it when I tell them, “no one calls me Xitij, it’s impossible to pronounce.”
    - Hasnep 3y ago
      My legal name is close enough to my preferred name and my surname is pretty unique in the UK, so they believed my explanation. I'm not sure what I would've done if they hadn't...