Can you change your name just because you don’t like it And the answer appears to be "yes" in Virginia and "no" in New York. The Virginia (67) involved two women who wanted to take their maiden names (68) even though they were still married. The lower court in Virginia (69) their request for change of name on the (70) that Virginia law, like that of many states, allowed a married woman to (71) her maiden name only after she was divorced. But the Virginia Supreme Court (72) the lower court saying that there was nothing in the law (73) indicated that a name could only be changed after (74) . The court then pointed out that (75) the common law, a person is free to adopt a new name as (76) as it’s not for a fraudulent purpose or to cheat creditors. (77) you live in New York, however, you (78) well have a more difficult time changing your name. A woman named Copperman went to (79) to have her name changed to Copperperson. She explained that she believed in the feminist (80) and felt that the name Copperperson could more properly (81) her sense of human equality than could the name Copperman. (82) New York Supreme Court Justice John Scileppi did not agree with her reasoning and refused to (83) the change-of-name request. He wrote that "the possibilities are (84) endless and this would truly be (85) the realm of nonsense." So Miss Copperman, (86) she gets married, or move to Virginia.