If you were adopted or were a foster kid, did you change your name? If you are an AP, did you change the..?

Question

....name of your child?

Answer 1

My daughter's natural mother and I chose her first name so that no changes would be necessary.  Only the last name changed on the amended BC and we also have a copy of the original BC.

Answer 2

I wouldn't change the child's first name unless it was either the child's desire to (I know especially in cases of abuse, the child may not want to continue to be called a name they associate with that abuse, and some children just want a new name in their new family situation) or if it was an issue of safety that the child must not be able to be found and contacted because of ongoing risk. Doesn't matter if I like the name or not; it's the child's name, not mine.

With the same exceptions as above (child's preference or safety) I would probably keep the original last name as an additional middle name and add our family's last name. If the adopted child didn't want to share our name and wanted to keep the original name only, that would be fine, and we would do it that way-- but my preference would be that we shared our family name too. However, the child's preference would outweigh my preference if we disagreed.

Name changing is something I think the child should have the major say in, if that child is old enough to comprehend the situation, because a name is such a personal thing.

Answer 3

I was adopted at age two from foster care.  My first name and last name both were changed upon the adoption.  I later made the choice to change my name back, as I never was comfortable with my new first name.  

Answer 4

AP here.

No, we didn't change the names of our children.  We just tacked on our family name at the end.

Answer 5

My entire name was changed upon being adopted.

I changed my surname BACK to my family name at 24.

Answer 6

My parents kept the first name my mother had already given me.  I took on their surname though.

Answer 7

We weighed this decision very carefully. Our adoption was just finalized last week. My daughter is the biological mother but lives out of state.

She fought with children services but when she saw it was a losing battle she signed her rights over to us to avoid having a stranger adoption.

We changed the last name only to make it easier when she goes to school. She will know her birth name, but since her name will change if she ever marries that isn't such a big deal.

Answer 8

We kept their first names, let them choose their own middle name, and we all changed our last name, even my partner and I.

Answer 9

My name was changed (not that my parents were given any information that indicated that I HAD a name), and we gave my son family names, but kept part of the name his mother gave him as his middle name.

Answer 10

My sister adopted a little boy a few years ago.

He was given to her with a name, but it was more than rediculous.

Yes, she changed it, but kept it as similar as possible :)

Hope it helpss x

Answer 11

im adopted and before my name was deana (c**p) (my birthmom spelt it wrong, was meant to be deanna) and was adopted at 10 months old. My mum and dad changed my name to lucy but used deanna as my middle name and i took on their last name. im happy they did this cos deanna totally would not suit me!

Answer 12

yes, but his name was "baby boy ******"

Answer 13

We changed our sons name. His given name was *Tom* and we changed it to *Thomas* He as 8 years old and OK with the change. If he did not want to change it, we would have left it alone. We also gave him the choice of keeping his last name or taking our last name. His last name is the same as my bio-children so it wouldn't have been a big deal to keep it the same. He chose to change it though.  

Answer 14

If the child is more than a few months old, I think they should keep their name, unless it is a crazy name that will cause like social suicide later on, and if over the age of 2, talk to them about it.