Why don't all the girls change their middle name to Belle and all

Someone in the UK who's done it tell us how much and how.: I can answer this one. Last year my sister in England changed her name. The changing of her name was as simple as signing her name. All she had to do was go to our local family solisiters and ask them. they produced a form and she signed it. the difficult thing was having all her mail, banks, clubs, friends knowing she'd done it - easyier than getting a name change through marriage. And it cost around £10 pounds. the boys to Sebastian. They'll be this sudden rush at the solicitor's offices around the world, and eventually this massive phemomenon will reach headline news. There'll be loads of questions: How was it organised? Why? And then when our epitaphs are written, people will say "Ah, the famous 98 B&S Sinister-listee outbreak. I took a degree in it. Interesting stuff." and it'll be like plague victims but much nicer. Bethey I think this is a truly brilliant idea. I have been wanting to ditch my middle name for ages. Someone in the UK who's done it tell us how much and how. The Guidian newspaper posts a thing called Notes and Queries. Within it, some one asked: Are there any names that I am not allowed to use if I want to change my name by deed poll? Could I, for instance, call myself Coca Cola? Would anyone object to me being called Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth the Second? I AM REMINDED of a man who changed his name by deed poll to "Yorkshire Bank plc Are Fascist Bastards" - and insisted on having it printed on his cheques. Darren Maughan, University of Warwick, Coventry (pousq@csv.warwick.ac.uk) YOU can't change your name by deed poll (or by statutory declaration, which is cheaper), whatever your solicitor and others may lead you to believe. In law your name is what you are known by (legitimately including aliases - for example, pen names, stage names, women using both married and maiden names). A deed poll is only a formal declaration of intent, but it has no relevance if you use a different name in practice. Say your name is John Smith. You go into a solicitor's office and execute a deed poll "changing" your name to Elvis Presley (it's happened). If, on coming out of the office, you continue to sign your cheques "John Smith", your name is still "John Smith"; if you start signing them "Cliff Richard" then your name is Cliff Richard. Of course, you need to be consistent, and the bank and the Inland Revenue will require evidence that you really are the person known as what you say you are (which is why deeds poll are taken, for practical purposes, as "evidence"). There is no legal restriction on the name you are known by, but the use of that name is subject to all the obvious restrictions on the use of language generally: obscenity, fraudulent impersonation, electoral malpractice, racism, blasphemy, libel and slander. So you can call yourself "Her Majesty the Queen" as long as you don't pretend to be the Queen. You could probably get away with calling yourself Coca-Cola (after all, you can't really be prevented from calling yourself W H Smith or F W Woolworth or Ronald McDonald) provided that you didn't do it by way of trade or affecting anyone else's, although I wouldn't vouch for the behaviour of courts in the United States. Dr J B Post, Axbridge, Somerset. THE TITLES of the ancient bishoprics and deaneries of the Church of England are protected by the criminal law. Under the Ecclesiastical Titles Act - mainly directed at preventing a rival establishment of the English hierarchy by the Catholic church - misappropriating one of these titles would be an offence. Tom Hennell, Withington, Manchester. A FEW years ago I read of a man who wanted to change his name to his favourite chatline number. However, his bank refused to accept it as a signature for his cheque book on the basis that it was too easily forged. Mark Wilkinson , Uxbridge, Middx. A FEW years ago I read of a man who wanted to change his name to F 731 HDB, claiming that it was cheaper than buying a personalised number plate for his car. Bob Morton, Hale, Cheshire. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister@majordomo.net . We're all happy bunnies humming happy bunny tunes. Aren't we? -----------------------------------------------------------------------