What are people's experiences with changing your name at work?

Anonymous

August 23,2022 at 8:40PM UTC

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What are people's experiences with changing your name at work?

It's all fun and exciting when you're getting married and want everyone to know. But damn divorce sucks and on top of it now everyone gets to know AND those that don't and go to look me up afterward will just think I left the company. Seems like women are at a big disadvantage here since we are far more likely to change name. I've built a reputation and now will certainly lose some of it when people can't find me in our database anymore.

And props to all the women out there that don't, wish I hadn't, but I still certainly get why people do and would probably do it again.

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Julie HumbirdAugust 23,2022 at 9:47PM UTC
Speak to your IT group. I used to quietly process name changes for divorces or gender transitions. They can keep your old name as an alias for a period of time (or other options). I worked at the same company as my ex-husband when we divorced. I urge you to reach out to any mental health resources you have available. Divorce is not always a bad thing but it really helps to have unbiased discussions with a professional. Hopefully, your colleagues were as respectful as mine were.
AnonymousAugust 24,2022 at 1:33AM UTC
My email will stay connected if someone types it out, but it wont pop up via last name anymore. The bigger issue I'm worried about is our company directory that everyone looks up people on, almost a profile page with professional stuff, I'll be completely gone from if someone doesnt know how to look me up.
AnonymousAugust 24,2022 at 1:01AM UTC
Do what feels comfortable for you.
Some women go back to their original last name, others keep the (formerly) married name.
The only trick to changing your name is to keep reminding people of the change. It will only take a few months. Make a point of advising colleagues, clients, industry contacts and professional associations of the name change. Have your old email forward to your new email for awhile.
You definitely don’t need to explain why the name change.
What you can say to people: “Hi, this is Jane Roe from Acme Company. Before now, you’ve known me as Jane Doe.”
OR
”Hi, this is Jane Doe from Acme Company. I wanted to let you know that my last name has changed to Jane Roe.”
OR
”By the way, I wanted to let you know that my last name has changed from Doe to Roe.”
If you wish, you can also send out updated contact information.
Sample:
I am very pleased to announce that my name has changed from Jane Doe to Jane Roe, effective immediately. Kindly update my contact information to:
[insert updated contact information]