I should point out that the
rules governing name changes, at least in the UK, seem to be fairly relaxed.
I have no real reason to do this other than constantly joking with my family that I'm going to. And true, actually changing names is more interesting (and better suited to my choice of thread title). I remember one man in a choir I used to sing in who'd changed his middle names to "The Magnificent" so that on his credit card it said "C The Magnificent Phillips". Now that was amusing, if really stupid-looking.
