changed their names

Whether it’s about making gender or ethnic background more ambiguous, adding a middle name or creating an entirely different persona, it’s easier to avoid the administrative headache of altering your name legally and just create a new moniker online.

But optimising your name is tricky. Many recommend shorter alliterative names or those that roll off the tongue (a la Kim Kardashian or Brad Pitt), while others love catchy gender-neutral names. Ultimately, the goal is to create an identity that helps you get ahead.

What’s changed?

In his historical research, University of Southampton economics professor Corrado Giulietti discovered that European immigrants who Americanised their names when arriving in the last century enjoyed more career and financial success than those who did not.