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In reply to the discussion: Icelandic girl fights government over right to use her name; only ‘approved’ names allowed [View all]hunter
(38,311 posts)I wonder if those traditions come from a time and place where naming conventions were limited by law or culture. Sure, the church and state gave you an official name but they couldn't make you use it. I remember as a kid feeling like it wasn't even worth remembering the names of the relatives we rarely visited because the next time we saw them they'd be going by different names.
And I know it's not unique to my family. I once worked with a woman who was called one name by her family, another name by her long time friends and people in the community, yet another name by her coworkers, and none of these were any of the names on her official documents. When she married her long time SO she added yet another name, another Ms. *****. I had to know all her names because I was the one answering the phone. The first few weeks at this job were very confusing. This is probably less of a problem now that everyone can take personal calls on their own cell phones.
BTW, most people call me "Hunter," especially on the internet.