Comment by null_name
4 months ago
my legal last name has been "Null" for a bit over half a year, and I've had no problems. before changing it, I asked a friend whose legal last name had been "Null" for a couple years. it hadn't had any issues. this article (and the one about the British guy) is overblown.
Interesting. Why change it to "Null"?
I needed to change my legal name because my existing one was unavoidable and distressing (trans reasons). I have, have had, and will have too many names to privilege one as "most correct." I've been trans too long to believe government names are "real" anyways, and I also didn't want the association with my birth family anymore. so I wanted an "empty" legal name, something that nobody calls me (but I won't be upset when doctors do), something that represents the rejection of the ultimate validity of itself, and something that sounds cool. I also like being just mildly annoying. $redacted_firstname Null fit.
The funny thing is, the real thing that's caused me problems is that I changed from a name with a middle name to one without. Some systems did not handle this transition well. PATCH instead of PUT, or something.
Thank you for the explanation and further details about the middle name.
I don't think there is such a thing as a "government name". There is a concept of "legal name" which seems to be just whatever name is on your ID. Anyone can change their name on a whim, the only issue is getting that changed on important/vital documents (as well as companies to recognize the name change, for which they have policies of requiring legal documents). There is a public interest in not letting people "change" their names too easily/often as that is a common way for criminals to evade.