Legal switch can alter path of person’s life

Before Saladin Allah researched his family tree, he knew that his ancestors didn’t immigrate to the United States by choice.

“They were slaves who were shipped here from Africa and recorded as cargo, along with livestock and barrels of rum,” he said.

The deeper he delved into his family’s history, the more he wanted to change his name, said Allah, who was born Christopher Frank.

He chose "Saladin Allah." Slave owners commonly gave their slaves their last names, Allah said; thus, blacks in his family (and others) had “white” names.

“A name should be a reflection of who you are,” said the resident of Niagara Falls, New York.

No one keeps a tally of how many people change their names each year, said Bruce Lansky, author of several books about names, including “100,000-plus Baby Names.”

He estimates the number at about 50,000 a year.

Marriage and divorce are the most common reasons for name changes. Eighty percent of brides change their last names to their husbands’ names, said the Knot’s 2016 Real Weddings Study of women with an average age of 29.

Even when the name change is the result of marriage or divorce, though, it’s not necessarily the wife adding or deleting her husband’s name.

Because most states allow spouses at least one free name change per marriage, with no expiration date, some spouses take their time.

“We had one client

who was 84 and had never taken her late husband’s name,” said Jake Wolff, co- founder of hitchswitch. com, which takes the legwork out of your name change by creating a packet of documents to sign and return.

“When he died, she couldn’t get the payout from his life- insurance policy because it had to go to her with his last name. So, after 62 years of marriage, she changed her name.”

Others just need some incentive.

“I had one client who paid his wife (whom he was divorcing) $100,000 to stop using his last name,” recalled Anita Ventrelli, a Chicago family law attorney.

Another common reason for seeking a name change? Wanting a name that’s easier to pronounce or spell. That’s why Tom Dlabola of Briarcliff Manor, New York, took his wife’s last name and became Tom Cameron.

And debt collectors were reason enough for Gary Thomas Adams II of Kansas City, Missouri, to change his name to Thomas Fredrick Adams. His name was too similar to that of a relative who was not paying his bills. The name change worked.

Judges understand why you want to change your name if it is the same as a bad guy’s.

“When Saddam Hussein became the most-wanted man on the planet, there was a rush on the courthouse,” said Kenneth Boulden, a clerk in New Castle County, Delaware. “There are a lot of people named ‘Hussein.’”