Background:

My family came from Russia when I was a kid. I was Americanized fairly quick. My name is Michael (or mike, I dont care) However, my LEGAL name is the russianized "Mikhail", which not only sucks, but now is interfering with me getting financial aid.

On my license, it says Michael, on my SS card, it says Mikhail. My taxes were filed under Mikhail. My bank account is under Michael, I work under the name Michael, my credit cards are under Michael. My health insurance is under Michael. All my utilities are under Michael. My cars are registered under Michael. EVERY card I have in my wallet, is under Michael.

According to the financial aid lady, I sorta changed my name using "common change" whatever the hell that means. But because my legal name and my "common" name are different, Im having some sort of conflict with the FAFSA people.

So now I need to legally change my name from Mikhail to Michael if I want to be able to afford school.

Which brings me to my question, HOW and WHERE do I change it? Can I just got to my local social security office and ask them for a new SS card with Michael on it? Do I go to a court? if Im way off on the both of them, where do i go, who do I contact, and what steps do I take to change my name?

Time is a factor, I have about 2 weeks to get a deferment (which would buy me time until the Fafsa people get all the crap they need to issue me my money), and I need my name to be changed to get the deferment.

Your name has been Anglicized in common usage (more on this later) to Michael. That doesn't make your name Michael, even though Michael is the English equivalent.

If your name were Jamess due to a clerical fuckup, your name would be Jamess until you had the second 's' dropped.

That being said, common usage (which the financial aid bitch misspoke as "common change") is when you change your name by just using your new one a lot. The best example is when Michael becomes "Mike." It's not just a diminutive for cultural purposes, it becomes in essence a new name which you can use semi-legally. Semi meaning that some institutions will allow it, some won't. Banks are sometimes hesitant to use variations of a legal name, for example. If Michael wants to be "Mike," but, say, William wants to be Bill, Bill might have a harder time convincing paper pushers that he is in fact William.

It gets even harder when you pick a lesser commonly used name, such as Mikhail becoming Michael, which necessitates...

The legal name change.

Go to your county court. Fill out a petition for name change form. This is basically your current name, what you want your new name to be, a few checkboxes, and a signature. File that with the clerk and you'll get a court date. The judge may or may not waive the appearance, meaning you might not have to show up. If you do, you'll get a couple of questions and he'll either approve it or not. If you're not intending to defraud, you'll get your approval.

The judge issues an order granting name change. This is your new ID. You get something like 3 free; additional copies are like 5 bux a piece. Make sure you get about ten of them. Take this and your old ID, certified birth certificate(s), passport if you have one, basically any photo ID you've got to the social security office. They'll issue a new SS card. Take another order to the department of licensing or equivalent to get a new drivers license or state issued ID. They'll change the name and take a new picture. Google US passport and they'll set you up with the forms to change your passport. There's a hefty fee and such. Go to your school and fill out a name change form. If you're already getting FAFSA, go on their website to get a new PIN (it's in the FAQ). Your bank will have a name change form. Anything else, just take your OGNC and there ya go.

Forgot to say that you might have to take an ad out in your local newspaper declaring your intention to change your name. This is done so that the change can be blocked if someone suspects you're trying to rip them off.

Here are some links:

FAFSA
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/faq002b.htm#faq002b_7

Passport
http://travel.state.gov/passport/fri/ChangeName/ChangeName_851.html#

SSN
http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/ssa.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=315

Example petition for name change:
http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/distcrt/name.htm

Thanks for the great help. But my banks account and licenses are in Michael already, I wont need to change a thing except with the SS card and the IRS.

Also any idea how long this might take?.

Interesting, my name on my passport etc is Aonghas but I use Angus just about everywhere else apart from gov. documents and stuff .. never had any problems with it even when we put the wrong name on a flight booking .. should be obvious though I guess with my name that it's the same.

Thanks for the great help. But my banks account and licenses are in Michael already, I wont need to change a thing except with the SS card and the IRS.

Also any idea how long this might take?.

To change your SS, you'll need to file the petition to change name, get your court date, and have a judge issue an order granting name change.

You said you've got two weeks - I can't say for certain. It's entirely possible that you could get it done in two weeks. It's also entirely possible that it'll take longer just for your court date to come. There's no real standard to these things; it depends on how sleepy your county is.

There is an alternative - contact an attorney or paralegal and have them set it up. It might cost more, unless you can get a PL to do it pro-bono for experience, but there's a chance it could be expedited. Again, it's impossible to tell for certain.

Good luck, and my sincerest apologies for this country. It's like a black hole where culture, tradition, and identity go to die. Nobody should *have* to change their name. It's a throwback to illiterate border guards at Ellis.

I'm also gearing up to change mine. I should change both my first and last, since nobody can pronounce either. It's not like I have unheard of names - my first predates the Norman invasion in Britain and the last goes back to the end of the Roman empire in Germany.

Some ancestors of mine fought in the revolution as Americans. 250 years later, I guess I'm finally becoming one.

Interesting, my name on my passport etc is Aonghas but I use Angus just about everywhere else apart from gov. documents and stuff .. never had any problems with it even when we put the wrong name on a flight booking .. should be obvious though I guess with my name that it's the same.

Are you in the UK or US? If you're in the US, I'd say you've been very, very fortunate and are a rare example. If in the UK, they probably have common knowledge of which common Celtic names are what in English. You'd think we would, too.

edit: doh, I see you're in Scotland.