So, I’m going off to college relatively soon, and I thought it would be interesting/cool to try a different name, because I will be going out of state. It isn’t that I don’t like my name ([name]Ellen[/name], by the way), but after seeing all these great names on Nameberry, I thought it would be interesting. Has anyone tried a different name before? What did you think of the experience?
My names is [name]Tressa[/name]. My birthname is [name]Theresa[/name], though ive never been called that- my mom wanted me to have a saint’s name, but I’ve been called [name]Tressa[/name] since birth.
I have to say, having a nickname that isn’t the standard nickname of your birth name is extremely confusing for people.
Have you thought of going by a nickname of [name]Ellen[/name] or [name]Elizabeth[/name]?
Here are some suggestions:
[name]Nelle[/name]
[name]Nellie[/name]
[name]Eliza[/name]
[name]Libby[/name]
[name]Elle[/name]
[name]Ellie[/name]
[name]Nella[/name]
[name]Belle[/name]
[name]Liza[/name]
Good luck 
Would you change it legally? If you have no problem with your name and are just looking for a new experience, I wouldn’t change it legally. There used to be another [name]Ashley[/name] where I worked and if one of us got called [name]Ash[/name] we both would look, so I tried to get them to call me [name]Lily[/name] (which is a bit contrived, but I went with it, lol). Nothing legal changed, but it was like a work nickname, I guess. I thought I would love it but I realized I didn’t. I almost forgot to answer to [name]Lily[/name] half the time, haha, it just wasn’t me. I have tried to get people to call me [name]Ash[/name], though, and I do love that (up until recently, I’ve only ever been just [name]Ashley[/name], or a silly childish nickname, Ashlur…). I had a friend who kept her legal name ([name]Linda[/name] [name]Marie[/name]) everywhere she went, but when she went to a new school or whatever, she created a new persona… she was [name]Linda[/name] at one school, [name]Paige[/name] at another, and [name]Akira[/name] when I met her. It’s something you can try, but if you have no qualms with your name, I wouldn’t change it legally. I think it might be fun if you go off to a college where no one really knows you to introduce yourself with a fun, awesome, more interesting name. It didn’t work for me, but it obviously worked for your friend and you might end up loving it.
I know it’s not name related, but if you’re just looking for something different, you could try fabricating an accent. lol. I work at Taco [name]Bell[/name] until I can get a real job (graduated from college last month), and I only ever talk to my customers in my British accent–so many of them are amazed and so intrigued, haha… it’s started so many conversations, and they are all so impressed when they find out I’m really just from Pennsylvania, lol.
Good luck!
I never legally changed my name but not long after starting college, some of my friends (not remembering my real name yet) named me [name]Scarlet[/name] and it’s stuck. In some ways, I feel it suits me better but my real full name happens to sound fantastic as a stage name…
I’ve never really gotten confused, I respond to both quite naturally now and give it either as my name. College is a good place to try out a new self!
My name is [name]Lyndsey[/name] [name]Rose[/name], I went by [name]Lyndsey[/name] in high school, [name]Lyn[/name] in my undergrad college, and now I go by [name]Rose[/name] in my grad school and plan to always. It can be a bit of an adjustment but in the end it worked for me.
I’m an [name]Ellen[/name], too (just graduated in [name]May[/name], though). Never had any nicknames, though once I got to college, a few friends started calling me [name]Elle[/name]. I think it’s cool to introduce yourself with new nicknames or to see what you can do with your middle name or last name. I’d also just see what comes organically, whether it’s someone accidentally calling you [name]Scarlett[/name] and having it stick or having someone else call you by a nn of their invention. I wouldn’t pick an all-new name though. Your parents will visit and call you [name]Ellen[/name] while all your friends are saying [name]Jemima[/name] (my mother had a roommate, [name]Nancy[/name], and when her parents came looking for their [name]Barbara[/name], they wandered around for ages and couldn’t find anyone who knew their daughter!), or you’ll forget to answer to it and that’s kinda odd, haha. And at graduation when they read your diploma, it’s not going to match who all your friends have gotten to know…
So much of college is already going to be a big change. It’s full of growing and being challenged as a person, the way you learn as well as what you learn, being independent, etc. I know all these people who went to college with plans to sort of reinvent themselves (myself included, I guess), but we all feel like we just become more…us. Like saturated, more confident versions of ourselves. I wouldn’t worry or think so much about being called something new when everything else about life is also going to be new. (Some days it might be a comforting slice of home to get called by your own name.) There ARE a lot of great names out there, but [name]Ellen[/name] is great, too: vintage, pulls-no-punches and straightforward, with lots of nn potential: [name]Elle[/name] and [name]Ellie[/name], [name]Nell[/name], [name]Lena[/name] or [name]Lennie[/name], etc. And you don’t dislike your name. If anything, I’d say embrace [name]Ellen[/name], maybe find a neat nickname working with what you got (like [name]Lyndsey[/name]/[name]Lyn[/name]/[name]Rose[/name] above me), and get excited about all the other changes coming.
I love the name [name]Ellen[/name] it is one of my favourites so if I were you I would just find a nn thatI loved.
I go by my last name, Eckles.
When I was in college at freshman orientation, this one girl and I hit it off that weekend and we both had the same sense of humor, and long story short we decided to switch names, so I was [name]Ashley[/name] and she was [name]Kaitlin[/name]. It only lasted for those like, two days obviously, but it was fun to try something new and no harm done! Still, even if you’re thinking about switching to something “unofficially” be sure you really love it because if you change back it will be just as hard for other people to get used to. I had to explain to a few people after that weekend why I didn’t respond when they yelled “[name]Ashley[/name]!” across the quad. Lol!
Oh my goodness don’t change from [name]Ellen[/name] that is a gorgeous name!
Hello, I’m changing my own name as well. =D But legally.
I’ve gone by [name]April[/name] for a few months before, it was fun, and people who knew my old name took to it well after they realised I was serious.
I’m over [name]April[/name] now, and I want to pick one that I’ll love for always.