answer:I don’t see any problem. It’s a natural time to make a change. You’re entitled to use any name you like, as long as it’s not for fraudulent purposes. Go ahead and reinvent yourself. That’s what this time of your life is for. (Actually you can do it any time, but it’s easier now than later.) My cousin did exactly that: shed her babyish childhood nickname and started going by her initials when she went to college. My son’s friend did something similar at the start of law school: plucked a new name out of the air (or actually, off a pack of cigarettes, or so he said) and introduced himself that way. Everyone knew him by that name all through law school. When we met his parents at their graduation, it sounded funny to hear them call him by his real name, but other than that, it didn’t matter. I’ve also know youngsters who tried to confer “cool” nicknames upon themselves in this way, only to have it backfire: “My name’s really Robert, but I want everyone to call me Skip. I hated my kid-brother nickname of Boey.” Guess what that kid’s going to be called all through school. I also know two women who changed their names completely in adulthood, one taking on an entirely different stage name and asking everyone to use it from then on, and the other adopting a magical name that she thought suited her better than the one she was born with. It takes a while for friends to get used to it, and your mother may never adjust, but so what?