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From: avi@pegasus.UUCP (Avi E. Gross)
Newsgroups: net.legal,net.women
Subject: Re: Name Changes (mine was free!)
Message-ID: <2580@pegasus.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 31-Dec-69 18:59:59 EDT
Article-I.D.: pegasus.2580
Posted: Wed Dec 31 18:59:59 1969
Date-Received: Fri, 13-Sep-85 04:29:43 EDT
References: <139@rruxa.UUCP> <10060@ucbvax.ARPA> <1515@peora.UUCP> <5648@tektronix.UUCP> <678@tpvax.fluke.UUCP> <Re:> <Name> <Changes> <1081@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP>
Reply-To: avi@pegasus.UUCP (60545451-Avi E. Gross;LZ 3C-314;6241)
Organization: AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft NJ
Lines: 27
Xref: watmath net.legal:2327 net.women:7396
Summary: It was part of my citizenship ritual

Many years ago, when I stepped in front of a judge to become a citizen of
the US, I asked him to change my first name to Avi. There was no charge. He
just issued my papers with the new name. Interestingly enough, that piece of
paper is the only legal piece of identification I have (other than things
like passports that were issued when I used my citizenship papers for ID).
There does not exist any piece of paper that says that "Emeric Gross"
changed his name to "Avi Emeric Gross"!

When my parents left Romania, they were not allowed to take extraneous
papers with them -- minor things like marriage licenses or birth certificates.
I was listed as a write-in on my fathers passport consisting of my name and
birth-date. This was traded in for a "green-card" a year later when we
arrived here. I actually changed my name "by usage" in school. Every year I
crossed out "Emeric" and replaced it with "Avi" on my report card. Starting
in the sixth grade, the school silently capitulated in this passive battle
and started using Avi.

If my daughter ever wants to change her name when she is older, I would be
willing to help her. Why should we be stuck with names chosen for us? I
don't identify with my Romanian name since I was never called by that name
anyway. It was given to me because the law mandated giving such names in
another country. Of course, if I had to choose a name again today, I would
probably choose a more "American" name than Avi :-)
-- 
-=> Avi E. Gross @ AT&T Information Systems Laboratories (201) 576-6241
UUCP: suggested paths: [ihnp4, allegra, cbosg, ahuta, ...]!pegasus!avi
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