NYNIAGAR-L Archives

From: evelyn b cooper <>
Subject: News of the Past - Article on Legally changing one's name in 1905
Date: Sun, 13 Apr 2003 09:35:09 -0700

Forwarded from the NY-OLD-NEWS list by permission.

This may be of interest to some trying to research their family name.

Rochester, Monroe, NY
Union & Advertiser
Sat Mar 4, 1905


*
TAKING ANOTHER NAME

Nothing in Laws to Prohibit It - Reasons for Making Change
Washington Star
"Custom has made it almost universal for all male persons to bear the
names of their parents," said an attache of the local court the other
morning. "It seems natural that it should be so. Nevertheless, there is
nothing in the laws of this country prohibiting a man's taking another
name,
and no legal penalty is attached to his doing so. There is always,
however, a
possibility of its being attended with inconvenience and perhaps loss to
himself.
"There is a way by which a man may change his name with the sanction
of
the law, and that is the only safe way. But the law requires him to
assign
some good reason for the change. Men have assigned various reasons for
wishing to change their names. Sometimes a man wishes to drop his right
name
because it is of foreign origin and difficult for an American tongue to
pronounce. This may injure him in his business, as there is such a thing
as
prejudice even in this free and enlightened commonwealth. Or his name may

have in English an absurd or even vulgar meaning and subject him to
unpleasant jokes or it may associate him with some notorious criminal or
be
the counterpart of some name which history made infamous, or it may be
misspelled and consequently mispronounced on his entry to this country.
"Frequently infants are left orphans or abandoned by the father after
the
death of the mother. In that case it is a frequent occurrence for
relatives
or neighbors to take a child and adopt it, giving it their own name. In
that
case the party desiring to adopt must apply by a written petition to the
court to the place in which he lives asking leave to adopt the child and
change its name to that of the petitioner. The order allowing the
adoption
and the change of name must be filed with the court, so that the real
parentage of the child may be subsequently established if necessary.
"When an adult applies for leave to change his name he must give his
place
of birth, residence, age and whether he is married or single and whether
there are any judgments against him or outstanding commercial paper in
the
name which he seeks to abandon. If in any of these cases the court is
satisfied there are no objectionable reasons the order is permitted
granting
a change of name. The order must be filed with the clerk, and thirty days

thereafter the new name may be assumed. The granting of the notice must
within ten days thereafter be published in a newspaper designated by the
court.
"Thus the law protects the person who for good and sufficient reasons
desires to assume a name other than his own. The order of the court being

recorded, all the rights of the individual which may subsequently accrue
to
him under his original name are preserved, his identity being under the
law
fully established."

________________________________________________________________
Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today
Only $9.95 per month!
Visit www.juno.com

This thread:

• News of the Past - Article on Legally changing one's name in 1905 by evelyn b cooper <>