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Get a Different Name Day

Fun · February 13

A light observance about names: trying on a nickname, a pen name or a new handle, and thinking about the name you already carry.

Get a Different Name Day falls on Saturday, February 13, 2027. That is 109 days away.

Names are handed to most of us before we can hold a spoon. Get a Different Name Day asks what it would feel like to pick one for yourself, even just for an afternoon.

The idea is mostly playful. People try out a nickname at the coffee counter, sign a note with an invented pen name, or ask friends to call them something new until dinner. Some go quieter and simply look up what their own name means, or where it came from in the family.

Trying on a name is an old habit. Writers have used pen names for a long time, performers take stage names, and plenty of people go by a middle name or a shortened form without ever filing paperwork. A name you choose can feel like a costume, or it can fit so well that it sticks.

There is also the practical side of names. A legal name change in the United States usually goes through a court or official process, so most observers keep things informal. The barista does not need a form to write "Marigold" on your cup, and in practice that is where the most people will see it.

It can be surprisingly hard to answer to a new name. The first few times someone says it, you may not turn around at all.

Ways to celebrate

• Give a made-up name when ordering coffee and see if you answer to it.
• Look up the meaning and history of your own first name.
• Invent a pen name and sign a short letter or poem with it.
• Ask family how they chose your name, or what else they considered.
• Let a friend pick a nickname for you for the day.

Dates

All national days on February 13

Also on February 13

• National Cheddar Day
• Galentine's Day
• National Tortellini Day

Categories: Fun days