SOCIETY: Don't Use My "Government" Name

I don't think this is anything new, but I've heard about it three times in the last few weeks -- kids referring to their full legal name as their "government" name, as opposed to their preferred or commonly used name.

Sometimes this is just a teenager embarrassed to have his friends find out his full name is Gladstone, not Gladdy.  Other times, it's more about hiding someone's legal identity from law enforcement.  Sometimes abbreviated to "government," as in "Why are you using my government? No one calls me that."

What's it feel like to parents, I wonder, to have children refer to the names they were given as something foreign or unwanted?  What does it say about a view of society when individuals' names -- given and family -- are considered foreign and official rather than personal and individual? 

Comments

[Incident Monitoring]

Even I came across this thing about kids. They don't like their complete and the real name. Instead they change that. Actually I was one of them during my teens.. I didn't liked my name at all..