[null_name]

my legal last name has been "Null" for a bit over half a year, and I've had no problems. before changing it, I asked a friend whose legal last name had been "Null" for a couple years. it hadn't had any issues. this article (and the one about the British guy) is overblown.

[RandomBacon]

Interesting. Why change it to "Null"?

[null_name]

I needed to change my legal name because my existing one was unavoidable and distressing (trans reasons). I have, have had, and will have too many names to privilege one as "most correct." I've been trans too long to believe government names are "real" anyways, and I also didn't want the association with my birth family anymore. so I wanted an "empty" legal name, something that nobody calls me (but I won't be upset when doctors do), something that represents the rejection of the ultimate validity of itself, and something that sounds cool. I also like being just mildly annoying. $redacted_firstname Null fit.

The funny thing is, the real thing that's caused me problems is that I changed from a name with a middle name to one without. Some systems did not handle this transition well. PATCH instead of PUT, or something.

[RandomBacon]

Thank you for the explanation and further details about the middle name.

I don't think there is such a thing as a "government name". There is a concept of "legal name" which seems to be just whatever name is on your ID. Anyone can change their name on a whim, the only issue is getting that changed on important/vital documents (as well as companies to recognize the name change, for which they have policies of requiring legal documents). There is a public interest in not letting people "change" their names too easily/often as that is a common way for criminals to evade.