A woman changed her last name after choosing a random one on Google, all because she felt that her original surname was ‘tainted’.
Lacy Beckett, as she’s now known, toyed with the idea of changing her last name to Maverick before deciding on one of Bennett or Beckett, eventually opting for the latter.
Despite the circumstances surrounding her name change being pretty tragic - as we’ll get into later - she has said that it was the ‘best decision’ she’s made.
The now 24-year-old decided on the name change after falling pregnant aged 21 and not wanting her baby to have a ‘tainted’ last name.
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She’d already been using her last name Nicole on social media, but wanted to change the name altogether to make things more official.
So, she set off to Google and searched for ‘last names’.
Eventually, she came to Beckett and chose that because it was relatively easy to spell, not too common, and not too unique.
It’s a nice middle ground.
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Then, in July 2021, Lacy went to court and made it permanent.
Unfortunately, she lost the baby just a matter of weeks later, but she’s still glad to have changed her name as it offered her the chance to find out who she really is.
The pre-school teacher from St Louis, Missouri, explained: “I got pregnant at 21 and I was planning on giving them my last name.
“I didn’t want something beautiful in my life to be tainted by my childhood.
“I discovered it’s not that hard to change your last name.
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“I Googled last names. I wanted to pick something that was not super common but not hard to spell or hard to say.
“I got it down to Bennett or Beckett.
“I decided on the day I turned in the paperwork on Beckett.
“A lot of people thing that it’s weird but it’s the best decision.”
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In the end, it was a pretty easy process, involving three bits of paperwork and a date with the judge to get her decision properly certified.
“I was so excited,” she continued.
"I came straight out the courthouse and [went] to change my name on my driver’s licence.”
As for the decision-making process, Lacy admitted: “I originally liked Maverick, but people wouldn’t know how to spell it.”
After changing her name, she has sadly been through several miscarriages, but is now ‘focusing’ on herself, though she still wants to have children.
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“I’ve put my focus on my work,” Lacy said.
“My life revolved around finding a man to have a child.
“My name now has a lot more meaning than just changing it. It’s figuring out who I want to be.
“It’s about becoming my own person, doing my own thing and focusing on myself.
“My friends started referring to me as Lacy Beckett straight away.
“It felt really natural.”
She added: “I feel my purpose is to be a mum.
“I’m putting my focus on my career but after that if I’m not in a relationship with someone who I think is ‘the one’ I’m going to pursue it on my own."
Tom Wood