I'm thinking of changing my first name... Are you happy with yours?
By Greenery8
@grenery8 (16096)
Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
April 5, 2025 5:59am CST
My Christian/Catholic name is Valentine and i want that to be my new name. Why would i change my current one?
Well, it makes me sad that my personal name is connected all of a sudden and in recent years too much with nationality of other countries and one people say it in one accent and others in other and i don't like that; when i warn them it's in other accent, they call me with other accent on purpose. When i was a kid, one girl in primary school class said my name wasn't Croatian and i don't remember that but after graduating from college and meeting all sorts of people, not always good, they made some not so comfortable comments about my name again and i don't like proving myself or feeling bad.
Working a seasonal job one summer a few years ago, my employer went that far and asked me where my parents met. I remember i cried at the beach cause that was a discrimination; i knew what he meant. I said to him why are you asking me this and that isn't nice but he persisted, that he has nothing against minorities. And, yes, he fired me after several days.
My mother wouldn't tell me clearly did she decide to call me this current name on her own or was it my grandma's idea from my father side and she was not a native Croat but my mum sometimes change the accent of my name, forgetting or being clueless i don't like it cause, when it has a different accent, it is like i was not born here and that hurts me too.
Not sure which documents i need but i want to be left at peace with my first name. Some close people can still call me by my actual name but i want a new one. I suffer with many things and i shouldn't with this one as well.
P.s. i'm in the middle of changing my name and i chose a shorter one, not valentine. i am thankful that this community is supporting me while i received not a single support from the only family member that i spoke with. i don't speak to her anymore, i blocked her. she never wanted to know me and her toxicity is killing me, literally.
7 people like this
6 responses
@grenery8 (16096)
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
7 Apr
@rakski i hope so too. I've received info where to do it and it doesn't need a lot of documents but i didn't receive an info how much is it.thank you. It is a little bit emotional thing cause,name should be our identity but i don't want hardships connected to it anymore.
2 people like this
@Juliaacv (53167)
• Canada
5 Apr
I'm sorry for the discrimination tha t you have faced.
If we allow ourselves to be open minded, we realize what a very rich and diverse world we live in.
I go by either Julia or Julie, but when someone calls me Jules.......I am very quick to correct them.
When speaking with someone last week they commented on my name, Julia and asked if my middle name was Anne, which I advised them that it was. He quickly told me that Julia Anne means queen, that she reigned as the Queen of Luxemburg. He told me that he was from that country, and I told him that my mother's parents lived there before immigrating to Canada. But I also told him that it was a good Irish first name, as in our family plot there are many ladies with the name Julia Anne.
1 person likes this
@grenery8 (16096)
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
6 Apr
there is a saying here or just in my region that name doesn't make anyone bad but in a big city, there are more people and they have the prejudice, a lot of it. i already have a regional accent and i won't ever go back to my region so, i want to make my life a little bit easier. also, we had a war from 1991 - 1995 and yes, i fear everyone cares about nationality the most. thank you. i thought it would not be that hard cause i'm a native croat but it gets harder and not sure when to tell my mum about this.
before changing or when i change it. i'm glad you corrected them. i think my current name is after war name and it happens that other country neighbours have it too but i am getting tired of prejudice and discrimination and my mum was always oblivious and left me to handle it on my own. this is just a thought but a strong one; my id will be outdated next year so, maybe i'll do this too.
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (84188)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
15 Apr
I learned to live with the name I was given and now professionally write online as RasmaSandra
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (187086)
• United States
6 Apr
I've never liked my name. I think there was a song by the name of Linda which came out about the time I was born. I hope you are happy with your name change.
1 person likes this
@Dreamerby (7894)
• Calcutta, India
7 Apr
@grenery8 yeah I mean its weaird people who will hire you for a job want to know your family history!! Like its totally unprofessional. He isn't a hgood employer.
1 person likes this
@grenery8 (16096)
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
8 Apr
@Dreamerby it might be strange to the employers but they should not comment it cause it's private. i don't care. i'm in the middle of the process of changing my name; attached all the papers today
1 person likes this
