Great Falls daily tribune., 1920-03-31
HASKIN LETTER
CHANGING NAMES.
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN

the change Of name printed in local
newspaper once q week for three weeks.
At the end of that time, II nobody comes
forward to object--and nobody ever does
and you 90 forth with whatever name
you have picked out. Considering how
easy it is, we wonder that there are so
many people with names that are un-
melodious. to say the least.
The lawyer mentioned earlier in this
letter tells as his favtorite story the old
British anecdote Of couple named Ross, ts,.,s
'This combination" he says, was voted
very pretty by the romantic mid -Victo-
rians. But when Wild Rose grew up,
she met and married man named Bull,
and Wild Rose became Wild Bull, to the
horror Of her aesthetic friends"
'.rhe record does not show whether
she changed her name or not" the law
Victorian England as now'
Tell IS another" we suggested.
Il cant vouch for the truth Of this
one," he said reflectively, 'but I've
heard of girl whose parents were
named Bride. and who was christened
June. This girl grew up and married a
man named Bug. 1 hardly believe that
"You know" he said ut isn't neces-
sary even to have the court grant a pc
tition to change name. Any one can
alter his name at any time. and it is not
an offense unless the person has intent
to defraud. or is assuming an alias for
purposes Of crime.'
THAT so?" we murmured. I'VE know
man named Julian who has always
wanted to be named Mike. He'll be glad
to know"
The attorney shook his head II
wouldn't advise any one to wake up in
the morning and say, Well, I think I'll
change my name today to something dis
tinguishing or sporting A change Of
names requires readjustment Of rela..
business associates. Sometimes it makes
trouble.
Il know a case where two firms al
most came to blows. An official in one
of the firms changed his name. Soon
after he called at the office Of the other
firm and sent in his card. The president
glanced at it. Never heard of him. Tell
The visitor regarded the message as an
insult to his firm, and it was months be-
fore the matter was Strengthened out"
Besides the chance of losing few of
your friends, the chief danger Of taking
new name is in connection with prop
erty and other legal matters. OF course,
II the court grants decree Of change,
inheritance or property is not affected.
But if you change your name in a flash
of inspiration over night, you may find
yourself some day trying to prove that
you are the man you used to be in order
to save your share Of the family jewels.
This sounds like a far-fetched movie Sc
rial but it has been known to occur.
Most immigrants who wish to Amer
icanize their names do so when they OBJ
tain citizenship papers. At this time a
man is permitted to make any altera-
tions desired. and his name automatically
becomes whatever he signs on the pc
pers. These changes are legal, just as if
made by petition to a court.
There are no statistics to show how
many people yearly Americanize or
shorten their names. Figures would un-
doubtedly be astonishing. Names are
occasionally altered by law in other coun-
tries, but America is the only field where
this pastime IS conducted on large and
flourishing scale.