A Catholic Name Change

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guilfordgirl

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When I became Catholic, I took the name Agatha for confirmation. A few years ago, I converted. I wanted to change my name legally, to include Saint Agatha’s name. I am the first person to convert and the only Catholic in my family right now. When would you use your saint’s name? If you converted to Catholicism, do you need to put your patron saint’s name on all of your legal documents? Thank you :confused:
 
If you legally change your name to include Agatha, then yes, you would put that name on legal documents. Otherwise, confirmation names generally aren’t considered part of your legal name.
 
PS – congratulations on coming home to the Church 🙂
 
My wife actually changed her name to include her baptismal name (this was to anglicize her name since she is from another culture - she was baptized as an infant). She went through the legal process to do so.

My father incorporated his confirmation name as a second middle name by assuming it. He did not go through the legal process but simply used it all the time and was therefore able to put it on his ID (he may have been confirmed before first applying for his ID, however, which could have simplified the process).
 
Normally Catholics do not use their chosen saint name beyond confirmation, except maybe to ask for that saint’s intercession or to have a private devotion to that saint. It’s just a custom, not a legal name. In our parish, the practice of choosing a saint’s name was done away with about ten years ago.
 
When I was received I chose to change my name by use, though I may eventually change it in law. I double barrelled my first name, putting first and middle names together, and took my confirmation saint for my middle name.
 
I want to legally change my middle name to include my confirmation name. I would hyphenate it my original middle name and then my saint’s name. But it costs money and takes time so I’ve never gotten around to it. :rolleyes:
 
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