Dear Amy: I’m a 55-year-old man. I legally changed my (first) name when I was 25 years old, mainly because I was the fourth “John” in my family, with many of us sharing the same name. This change had ...

Dear Amy: My legal given name is a shorter form of another common name (think “Jan” and “Janet”). I have always used “Jan,” and my family and friends call me by that name. It is the only name I’ve ...