hko 😷🪁Mar 17
Lars Wirzenius

Real name is the name you use and by whom others know you. You can have many, for different contexts. For example, a name within your immediate family, an another among each friend group.

Legal name is the name your government knows you by. Most governments only allow one.

Do not confuse these. Do not say "real" when you mean "legal".

#rant #names

Mar 17 at 5:08amWeb
Show threadMartin Vermeer FCDMar 17
@liw Also, fascists like to put people in boxes without their consent. It's their thing. Legal names are one way.
Show threadOsma A 🇫🇮🇺🇦Mar 17
Most government DOCUMENTS allow only one. Yet different documents from instances of said government may list different legal names for the same person.
@liw
Show threadFlor, troubleMar 17
@liw the only kind of name used for you by a group of others that isn't a real name is the name of a role played character. And even then, the character can become part of the self.
Show threadIrinaMar 17
@liw SO MUCH THIS. Thank you.
Show threadIrinaMar 17
@liw Also, it's a fallacy to think that only trans people, and people who have something to hide or are in some sort of danger, use a name different from their legal name. I'd be just as safe under my legal name (except possibly if my school bullies found me) but nobody would know it was me, because I haven't been using it except in official situations for decades. I do wish it was easy (and preferably also cheap, but difficulty is a greater concern than cost atm) to change one's name in NL.
Show threadIvan Sagalaev Mar 17
@liw people having different names among different groups is a concept very dear to my heart. Thank you for putting it so eloquently into words!
Show threadmeMar 17
@liw obligatory
https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/
Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names | Kalzumeus Software

Classic essay about how software routinely bumbles human names.

Show threadKaliahMar 17
@liw Thank you for saying this. My chosen name is my real name and I get tired of implications otherwise.
Show threadCorvid CroneMar 17

@liw

I like the term "government name" as in, "this is the name the government has for me".

Legal name means the same thing, but feels less specific.

Show threadMarianneMar 17
@liw this set off my Sovereign Citizen alarm bells for a min