Icelandic girl fights government over right to use her name; only ‘approved’ names allowed

[happyslug]

86. By law they have to

The Actual Statute is 54 P.C.S. Section 701 (b). Originally written in the 1920s, but in the 1920s had only what is now called 701(a), which said people MAY go to Court. The Courts of Pennsylvania then ruled that since the law uses the term "May", it means people "May" go to court to change their name but did not have to. When that section was codified in the 1970s, the General Assembly added section "B" which just repeated what the courts had long ruled. About 1998, the General Assembly added rerstrictions as to felons changing their name (adding 54 Pa.C.S. Section 702 (C))

54 P.C.S. Section 701(b) :

Informal change of name.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), a person may at any time adopt and use any name if such name is used consistently, non-fraudulently and exclusively. The adoption of such name shall not, however, be in contravention of the prohibitions contained in section 702(c) (relating to change by order of court).

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/54/54.HTM

Notice I mentioned "bureaucracies" have a problem with the above law, but it is the law.

As to tax authorities, not a problem if you pay your taxes, they rarely care about anything else. Except for Income Taxes, tax collectors do not even care WHO pays the taxes, as long as the tax is paid (Income Taxes tend to be personal, and if someone else pays your Income Tax, that payment is Income, that you owe Income Taxes on, thus if someone else is paying the Income Taxes must that person must include the money paid as taxes as income when calculating how much tax to pay).

As to licensing authorities, most just want to see that you are using a name consistently and for Non-Fraudulent purposes. Once you show that, they will change the name on the license.

For example, my Father used the name Henry for 65 years till he had to get a copy of his birth Certificate. By then I knew the Social Security Rule, they wanted a Birth Certificate OR a letter from your state's Bureau of Vital Statistics that there is no record of your birth. This regulations reflect the fact that many people born in the US never had a birth Certificate. Rarer now then it was prior to WWII, but true even to day.

When he made the application for a Birth Certificate, it came back with the name "Wilbert", a name he NEVER used, We then sent it back with the back filled out , for that is the form to change a birth certificate. A few weeks later the corrected birth Certificate came back. No court action was or is needed to this day in Pennsylvania to change a birth Certificate. Thus even at that level it is not hard to change your name. Penndot dislikes it, but will accept it to even change your Driver's License. This is due to Penndot accepting that you have changed your name consistently and for non-fraudulent purposes. Please note, with Penndot we are discussing people over age 16 (if the teenage has a parent's permission to drive) or 18 (if the teen driver parents refuse). I was responding to a person in regards to a much younger person (Teenager or younger) that decides to change their name. Most such teenager or younger people do NOT owe taxes OR have any form of license. Thus not a factor in their lives and NOT a factor in this thread.