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Entry bubble Hannah Montana By Any Other Name...

By: Nancy | March 20, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

Hannah MontanaStop the presses.

Miley Cyrus, aka Hannah Montana, is changing her name. And there's a reason why you might care.

If you don't have a "tween" girl in your family or you neither own nor operate a television set, you might not know actress/singer Miley Cyrus. She plays the television character Miley Stewart, a young teen who, with the addition of a blonde wig and sparkly clothes, secretly lives the life of a pop music star named Hannah Montana.

To add to the confusion, "Miley" is not Miley's real name. Nope. It's Destiny Hope. "Miley" is just a nickname that her real life dad and TV costar, Billy Ray Cyrus of Achy Breaky Heart fame gave her because, as a toddler, she smiled a lot. Smiley. Miley. You get it. And this week, her folks filed court papers to make "Miley" her legal name.

Ok, so why am I going all Entertainment Tonight on you? Well, the subject of changing names happens to be a popular one at USA.gov. Marriage, divorce, adoption, stardom—there are so many reasons to change your name. And there are a lot of places you have to contact in the government if you're adopting a new moniker, starting with your state or county court. Then there are the government agencies you have to notify, from Social Security to the IRS. Not to worry though, USA.gov has a special section with links to all those places, when you're ready to let the world know the new you.

And heck, we're familiar with name changes around here ourselves. Until last year, USA.gov was called FirstGov.gov. Turned out people found USA.gov to be a more intuitive name, and they just plain liked the sound of it better. Under the new name, USA.gov had 100 million visits last year. That's an increase of 12 million from the year before.

So if you or somebody you know is looking ahead to a life event that includes a new name, head over to USA.gov to find out where to start. Like Miley (and us), a new name could change your destiny.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [5] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: change   name   nancy  

Comments (5):

blue comment bubble Posted by Citizen Jmaximus on March 21, 2008 at 08:09 AM EDT

Some guy in Idaho running for senator changed his name to ProLife, I guess wide stance was taken.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Halloween Fun on September 06, 2008 at 04:28 PM EDT

Thanks for the cool information. I included it on my lens where I share stories with other Miley Cyrus Fans.
http://www.squidoo.com/disneyhannahmontana

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blue comment bubble Posted by http://www.kidstvcentral.com on October 01, 2008 at 06:38 PM EDT

Interesting info on the name change and good example to discuss name changes and how to accomplish that. I will post the Miley Cyrus name change info on my site as people would be interested in that and the story behind the nickname Miley. Thanks!

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blue comment bubble Posted by daddyslilgirl18 on November 14, 2008 at 07:25 PM EST

i like Hannah Montana and i love her music. Well i think that changing her name to Miley is a good thing besides everyone calles her that anyway. I think that it is a good idea and it is for the best.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Chris on February 04, 2009 at 11:21 AM EST

I think that parents should think carefully before they nae their child, and not go too far outsdie the ordinary

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