ashes2caches:

big shoutout to trans people that decide to change their last name too. sometimes you’ve just gotta throw the whole name out and start from the beginning.

In Minnesota (only the last few years I learned this isn’t everywhere in the USA) you can change your whole name as part of getting married. (At least you could as of a few years ago, and i see no reason it would have changed since I last interacted with the system)

it’s so smooth. not even a separate application, it’s just part of the marriage license – one spot on the form for “full name before marriage” and one spot for “full name after marriage,” and that’s it. No extra charge or extra paperwork or anything if you decide to put a new name in that second field

just a part of the same process that lets married women take their husbands’ surnames traditionally….. except it’s just extra streamlined and extra versatile

take your partner’s last name, or hyphenate them together, or trade them, or make a portmanteau, or pick a whole new surname for both of you, or two whole new surnames if you want– and why stop there, you can change your first and middle names too. Whatever your own cultural tradition demands, or start a new one. Why not.

In fact the biggest restriction on this is if you have a criminal record. Because it’s such a great way to change your name that they realized criminals might be getting married just to create a new alias