Name Change on facebook & other online places?

becky659 · June 2012

I know this is likely the most insignificant question ever asked here, but what is the etiquette for changing your name on facebook and other unofficial online places?
Do you wait until you're name is legally changed, or is it normal to go ahead and change all your information online as soon as you want to/have access to a computer/have time?
Is the same day of the wedding too soon/weird?

LeiselEB · June 2012

I don't believe there's an etiquette rule on this. Your Facebook name is not official in any way, so you can change to whatever you want whenever you want.

Summer2011Bride · June 2012

I personally would find it odd to have someone going by their new last name even on FB before they are actually married. I would wait to change it until after it's legal (meaning your marriage; your name change won't be legal until you change with SS office), even if that means you do it on your wedding day.

I changed mine the next morning on FB because we came back to the hotel room and crashed after the reception. The next day we both changed our statuses to married and I changed my name on FB.

LeiselEB · June 2012

Haha soon soon!! I have zero good pictures at the moment so I may wait until the pro pics are in. Which hopefully won't be terribly long.

Kate61487 · June 2012

Ditto summer; I think you can do it whenever but I'd side-eye it if it was before the actual wedding. I don't think it's necessary to wait until you've legally changed your name, that can take a couple weeks since you have to wait to get a certified copy of your marriage license.

ETA - as for changing it the day of the wedding: It's technically fine, but if I saw a friend do it I might be thinking "seriously, you don't have something better to be doing right now than being on facebook?" It makes me think of that couple who changed their status on the alter, which I think it just asinine

MyUserName1 · June 2012

I changed mine the morning after the wedding. No one is going to give a second thought to whether the name change is "legal" yet.

kateguess22 · June 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_name-change-on-facebook-other-online-places?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:8b473e32-dbd8-4490-a534-cebef425eea6Post:deddba54-9fcc-4711-b2b5-061e75f7f405">Name Change on facebook & other online places?</a>:
[QUOTE]I know this is likely the most insignificant question ever asked here, but what is the etiquette for changing your name on facebook and other unofficial online places? Do you wait until you're name is legally changed , or is it normal to go ahead and change all your information online as soon as you want to/have access to a computer/have time? Is the same day of the wedding too soon/weird?
Posted by becky659[/QUOTE]

Anytime after your wedding is fine, it doesn't matter if you've legally changed it or not yet. The same day of the wedding isn't too soon but you probably wouldn't be using something like facebook on the day of your wedding- you'd be too busy to even think of logging onto any website!

SparrowSong · June 2012

Agree. After the ceremony is fine. Don't need to wait for official change through the DMV, Social Security etc.

I'd think someone spends way too much time on fb if they literally had it changed that afternoon, minutes after the ceremony. But I'm sure people often do it that night or that weekend, the next time they log in.

becky659 · June 2012

Thanks guys!
We're having a morning wedding with a short reception, so we'll be in our honeymoon destination by dinnertime. I imagine we'll have a little facebook-status-changing party in our suite that evening.
I'm kindddddd of excited for us to have the same last name (if you couldn't tell!).

Mrs.B6302007 · June 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_name-change-on-facebook-other-online-places?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:8b473e32-dbd8-4490-a534-cebef425eea6Post:5b2d28cd-e99c-4218-bd80-d4074541af23">Re: Name Change on facebook & other online places?</a>:
[QUOTE]Thanks guys! We're having a morning wedding with a short reception, so we'll be in our honeymoon destination by dinnertime. <strong>I imagine we'll have a little facebook-status-changing party in our suite that evening. </strong>I'm kindddddd of excited for us to have the same last name (if you couldn't tell!).
Posted by becky659[/QUOTE]

Is that what the kids are calling sex these days? ;-)

becky659 · June 2012

Ha!
I'm not sure about everything we're going to do that night, but no sex-athon would stop us from taking 5 minutes to change our statuses after a two year engagement!

pokepoke27 · June 2012

Mrs. B - too funny!

I changed mine the next day because H and the ILs were discussing what they wanted to do for the day and I logged on to FB to look at pics people posted and decided to go ahead and change it.

Mrs.B6302007 · June 2012

And then you have to come in with your SN. makes it even funnier. =-D

angelsong21 · June 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_name-change-on-facebook-other-online-places?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:8b473e32-dbd8-4490-a534-cebef425eea6Post:56d6a48d-d22b-4b20-a25a-0542ff3b4528">Re:Name Change on facebook amp; other online places?</a>:
[QUOTE]Haha soon soon!! I have zero good pictures at the moment so I may wait until the pro pics are in. Which hopefully won't be terribly long.
Posted by LeiselEB[/QUOTE]

<div>I haven't been incredibly active on this forum but ever since you posted pictures of your dress, I've wanted to tell you how gorgeous this is on you! I am sure your pro pics will be amazing! </div><div>
</div><div>OP, I changed my name on FB the next morning. You don't need to wait until you change it legally beyond being married (ie after the ceremony is fine). I won't have my SS card or DL changed for a few more weeks. I tried to do this before but when I sat down at the SS office, the lady informed me I simply don't exist. So now I have to get my long form birth certificate and such before I can even begin to get my name changed. Ugh.</div>

Mrs.B6302007 · June 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_name-change-on-facebook-other-online-places?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:8b473e32-dbd8-4490-a534-cebef425eea6Post:615cd593-920d-458d-b33e-f8fda7122973">Re:Name Change on facebook amp; other online places?</a>:
[QUOTE] I tried to do this before but when I sat down at the SS office, the lady informed me I simply don't exist.
Posted by angelsong21[/QUOTE]

I bet that was an interesting and confusing conversation. ;-)

mkrupar · June 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_name-change-on-facebook-other-online-places?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:8b473e32-dbd8-4490-a534-cebef425eea6Post:2f549745-4f29-4b27-84d3-6d22a3d7837d">Re: Name Change on facebook & other online places?</a>:
[QUOTE]I personally would find it odd to have someone going by their new last name even on FB before they are actually married. I would wait to change it until after it's legal (meaning your marriage; your name change won't be legal until you change with SS office), even if that means you do it on your wedding day. I changed mine the next morning on FB because we came back to the hotel room and crashed after the reception. The next day we both changed our statuses to married and I changed my name on FB.
Posted by Summer2011Bride[/QUOTE]

I'm pretty sure OP meant legally in the, all the name change paperwork is filled out and filed sense, not in the "I want to change it even before walking down the aisle" sense. I don't know anyone who would think to change their name on FB before going through with the actual ceremony.

becky659 · June 2012

Yeah, mkrupar, that would be pretty strange, going by your new name before it was actually your new name.

Loopyseven · June 2012

Ditto everyone who said anytime after the ceremony is fine for the FB stuff. Anything official (banks/credit cards, etc) you should wait until you've legally changed it with the SS admin and DMV.

Oddly enough, it was super easy to change my name at my banks (only one of them even wanted to see the marriage certificate, none needed the updated ID) and on my credit cards (did them online no documentation required) but my points card with my hair salon wanted to see a copy of the marriage certificate before they'd update my name. Cause OMG what if someone wants to steal my product points... or something?

Winnertag1 · June 2012

I would probably change it the next day, or whenever I got home from my honeymoon. All my friends who have gotten married did it after they got home from their honeymoon, but I dont think any of them went on FB between the time they got married & till they got back.

mrskristinyc · June 2012

I took my last name off a few weeks ago (for a non-wedding/name change related reason) and just have Kristin Michelle as my name. I'm still deciding if I want to keep my middle name or have my current last name become my middle name when we get married.

It's silly, but not having my current last name on Facebook now is actually helping me get used to the idea of having a different name. (I'm really excited about changing my name, but it'll still be an adjustment!)

angelsong21 · June 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_name-change-on-facebook-other-online-places?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:8b473e32-dbd8-4490-a534-cebef425eea6Post:a276ef3f-56f6-4c41-ae5b-bcca16a4ee43">Re:Name Change on facebook amp; other online places?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re:Name Change on facebook amp; other online places? : I bet that was an interesting and confusing conversation. ;-)
Posted by Mrs.B6302007[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>lol, something like that. ;) </div><div>
</div><div>It was so much fun sitting there for 2 hours only for them to pull up my SSN and only see my first initial, last name, and no DOB. No wonder I could never eFile my taxes. Now i'm just trying to figure out how I passed employment screenings and could even file my taxes at all over all this time!

</div>

lily_721 · June 2012

I changed my name and we updated our relationship status the next morning. I honestly didn't think about it until I saw all the tags and wedding pictures posted by friends and family.

abbitha7 · June 2012

I changed mine on FB the next afternoon, but this made me think of a girl I went to high school with. She changed her name and her status literally minutes after the wedding, and posted pictures she took in the car on the way to the reception. She also posted some pictures DURING the reception. I couldn't help but wonder why she didn't have anything better to do!

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