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Comment by LocalH | Hacker News Reader

I've honestly been entertaining the idea that upon adulthood, everyone should receive one free name change if they so wish.

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Why would you put the burden of tech companies' failure to regulate themselves on the victims? Changing your name is not just an administrative thing, it is a change of identity, it is one of the most important bits of your psyche, your internal and external ID, you think of yourself as the person with that name.

Not necessarily. As an anecdote, I don’t think of myself as a person with a specific name. If I look at the mirror and try to say my name it just does not sound like it fits the person in the mirror. Also I can tell different names to baristas in Starbucks etc. It’s not that I dislike my name either, I think it’s a great name overall.

I never gave it particular thought so maybe I’m in the tiny minority though.

That's interesting. One of the first things many cults do in an attempt to wipe out a persons identity is to force them to choose a new name for themselves and to put some kind of penalty on using their old name. This conveniently cuts them off from their whole support network which might question the grip the cult is exerting on the new recruit.

Honestly i dont dislike my name, however i dont define my personality on it. If i am in a group of people that all call me something different i dont care either and represwnt the very same person. Not all people know me by the same name.

Pretty sure changing your name is free most places in the world.

Pretty sure its not. Its also kinda hard to nearly impossible in many civilized countries if you do not have a very good reason.

In Indonesia, the cost is more than Rp 1.7 million (120 USD) more than 10 years ago. Also you need a very good reason to change your name (religion, etc). You can not change your name on your whim.

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