I’ve been scouring the internet looking for a criterion to decide but have yet to find one.
I’m an [name_f]Asian[/name_f]-American looking to change my name. I have almost zero ties to my heritage, and my current surname just doesn’t feel like me. I want to move it to a middle name.
My first name is [name_m]Daniel[/name_m], I go by [name_m]Dan[/name_m]. I’m stuck between the following:
They are both nice surnames but personally, if I was choosing a brand new surname I would choose one with the minimum chance for practical hassle, i.e. one with only one potential spelling, one that’s very familiar in your culture ([name_u]North[/name_u] American I guess since you don’t identify with your heritage culture), easy to pronounce, unlikely to be misheard etc etc.
Since [name_u]Reed[/name_u] could be [name_u]Reid[/name_u] and [name_u]Grey[/name_u] could be [name_u]Gray[/name_u] I personally wouldn’t choose those (although they are perfectly nice surnames to be born with).
[name_m]Daniel[/name_m] [name_u]Bay[/name_u] has a nice sound (though [name_m]Dan[/name_m] [name_u]Bay[/name_u] doesn’t so much, to me). I prefer [name_m]Dan[/name_m] [name_u]Reed[/name_u] or [name_m]Dan[/name_m] [name_u]Grey[/name_u], especially [name_u]Grey[/name_u]—so love [name_u]Grey[/name_u] as a surname. If you don’t mind spelling it out often—at least it’s short!—that would be my pick. You could always say “[name_u]Grey[/name_u] with an ‘e’” if the situation arose.
Since your choices so far have been short, simple nature names, here are a few more that would be easily spelled and work OK with [name_m]Dan[/name_m]: