I always liked my maiden name. Berlingo. It's fun to type - the way the keys roll under your fingers. The "lingo" always made me think of that Bingo song from childhood. It was unusual, but not hard to pronounce like Chiara is. And it really shouted my Italian roots from the treetops.

When I married C, I didn't really think twice about taking his name. For all my feminist leanings, I do have a rather conservative side. Or rather, perhaps it's better put saying there are some traditions I am proud to hold on to. So, I became a foxy lady (which always made me giggle).

When I got divorced, I thought long and hard about changing my name back. I didn't really want to keep the association with C. But everyone in the IA industry knew me as Fox. I was published under Fox. Plus, it's a pain in the ass to change your name. There's a lot of paperwork and plus they charge you for the privilege if it's because of a divorce (it's free when you get married). So, I remained foxy.

Now that E and I are engaged, I've been thinking about my name again. E says that he doesn't care what name I use as long as it isn't the one I have now. I can't really say that I blame him. I have no problem becoming an Ogan. My initials will be CFO -- an upgrade or promotion of sorts. :)

What I keep thinking about, is how to let everyone know about the name change? What name do I put on the invitations? I'm thinking of using Chiara Berlingo Fox, dropping the Florence cause 4 is just too many names. That way folks who know me now will realize it's me, and family and such will also realize it's still me. Emails are easy enough to redirect. Same with domain names. But what do I do with all the logins I have that use Fox in the name? It's going to be strange to keep using that name in some places but not others. Of course, my NY Times account still uses Berlingo. heh.

Then part of me says, how many of my friends have other friends named Chiara? I mean really. It's not like I live in Italy. Perhaps it won't be as confusing as I fear it might be.