History Main / ShedTheFamilyName

* In the ''Anime/QueensBlade'' franchise, the main heroine Leina Vance is never referred as such by herself, since she doesn't want to be associated with nobility and her family anymore, not to mention [[spoiler: in the sequel, she becomes a masked fugitive, so she doesn't want to be related with her sister Claudette, the new queen]].

* ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'''s Toji Fushiguro TookTheWifesName to spite the Zen'in clan he was born into and abused by. He kept the name "Fushiguro" after her death, even passing it on to his second wife and step-daughter.

* ''FanFic/TheRavensPlan'': After learning that he really is a bastard born of incest, Tommen refuses the opportunity to be legitimized as a Lannister, rejecting his corrupt family's identity, preferring to take the bastard name of Waters. Tyrion is understanding of his feelings and lets him do this, hoping that he'll change his mind later on.

* ''Fanfic/AManOfIron'': When Theon rejects the Ironborn as his people in response to his HeelRealization about their culture, he also abandons the name Greyjoy, instead just calling himself "Theon of Winterfell". [[spoiler: He's later given the opportunity to take the name Bracken (in honor of his close bond with his [[MentorOccupationalHazard late mentor]] Jonos Bracken), which he does.]]
* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/19110040/chapters/45409126 Lessons Learned]],'' Katsuki sheds his last name as part of separating from his AbusiveParents, deciding that he is no longer a Bakugou. He's adopted by Best Jeanist and takes his foster father's last name, Hakamata.
* ''Fanfic/ForgingABetterFuture'':
** Because her relationship with Oliver is so much worse than it was in ''Fanfic/ArrowRebirth'', Thea opts to shed the Queen name in favor of the Merlyn one. She later sheds that one too after learning Malcolm nearly caused her to become a sex slave, and becomes Thea Dearden instead, taking on her mother's maiden name. Subverted in ''Perils/House'', where she retakes the Queen name after her stint in rehab sets her straight.
** At the end of the story, all of Malcolm's actions (including and especially nearly causing Thea to be indentured into the League as a sex slave) convince Tommy to not just renounce his last name in favor of his mother's maiden name Swann, but to get rid of anything and everything connected to the Merlyn name completely. He even goes as far as to change the last name on Rebecca's headstone so it reads Swann, just so her legacy won't be tarnished by Malcolm's actions.

** Later on, in ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker,'' Rey turns out to be [[spoiler:the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine. Understandably, by the end, she chooses to abandon that infamous name and adopts Skywalker as her last name, with the approval of Luke and Leia's Force Ghosts.]]

* Rinoa Heartilly in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''. Born "Rinoa Caraway", she and her father grew distant ever since Rinoa's mother died in a car accident when she was five. By the time she's 17, Rinoa has taken on her mother's maiden name Heartilly as her own to further distance herself from her father.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', after seeing what his stepbrothers are willing to do against commoners, namely [[spoiler:order the death of his best friend's sister, who is a commoner, to kill her abductor]], Ramza abandons the Beoulve name and the title it brings, using his commoner mother's last name for the rest of the story.

* Renne from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'' uses her family name ''once'' in the entire series - when she's jerking the cast around by pretending to be a lost child looking for her missing parents, who aren't even in the same country as her at the time. Given that at the time, she had honestly believed that they had sold her as a SexSlave when she was '''five''', her refusal to be associated with them is understandable. [[spoiler:While she does eventually learn that they had nothing to do with that, and thought that she had been dead for years, she never does retake the name of Hayworth, and instead takes up the adoptive surname of Bright after being taken in by Estelle and Joshua.]]

-->'''Marianne:''' "Get out of my way, Lelouch! Do you even realize what you're doing?!"\\
'''Lelouch:''' "Certainly. This time I will obliterate you and Charles zi Britannia utterly."\\
'''Marianne:''' "You would do that to your own parents?!"\\
'''Lelouch:''' "[[YoureNotMyFather A real parent wouldn't have forsaken me and Nunnally!]]\\
'''Marianne:''' "Rgh..."\\
'''Lelouch:''' "You and Charles ran roughshod over me and the rest of the world to get what you wanted. Now you will pay! Lelouch vi Britannia-Nay, a boy named merely Lelouch commands you! Marianne vi Britannia! Cast aside every single memory you have pertaining to Charles zi Britannia!"

* In ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}},'' Leslie decides to take Robin's last name when they marry for a few reasons, but in part because she's finally given up trying to reconcile with her religious parents.

* ''Literature/AMemoirByLadyTrent'': In the short story "The Long Fall", [[spoiler:Aaron Mornett]] goes by his middle name, Geoffrey, and his [[NomDeMom mother's maiden name]], Foss, [[TheAtoner to try and escape his past]].
* ''Literature/InCryptid'': When [[spoiler:Dominic and Verity]] get married, [[TookTheWifesName he takes her name]], becoming [[spoiler:Dominic Price]]. This is pretty significant as he was the last of his family line, meaning the [[spoiler:De Luca]] name ends with him.

As names are for people in real life, they are an integral part of the identities of fictional characters. They will usually be made up of at least a given name and a last name linking them to one part of their family. Therefore, you can count on any person who wants to disassociate themselves from any family member sharing it by doffing the name that links them. In most cases, this family member is the father, due to long-standing traditions involving the woman's adoption of her husband's surname and the bestowal of the father's surname to all of his children. Unlike your standard MeaningfulRename, which is usually part of the story's narrative and its significance derived from the meaning of the new name, this practice is marked by what is renounced: the part of the name linking the person to his or her despised family member.

This can be done in a variety of forms. In cases where this issue comes up in TheMaidenNameDebate, a much bigger deal will be made over [[TookTheWifesName a man deciding to change his name]] as part of the marriage than it would if a woman were to do the same due to the fact that a woman is usually expected to change her name in any case. And speaking of maiden names, a common practice among characters who do this is to [[NomDeMom take their mother's maiden name]] (or other equivalent) after renouncing the surname they got from their father. If they were adopted, but had bad birth parents, they may take the name of the adoptive family. Others still will take an entirely different name or give themselves an AwesomeMcCoolname. In rare cases, the person renaming themselves will decide to go around with OnlyOneName.

* In a one-off instance, early gay activist Jack Nichols used the name "Warren Adkins" when he was interviewed for an episode of ''Creator/CBS Reports'' called "The Homosexuals". His father, an FBI agent, had threatened to kill Nichols if his homosexuality became associated with the father's career as he could lose his security clearance.

* Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe was born Frank Carlton Ferrara Jr. After his father who left the family when Nikki was very young and whom he never saw again. A strained relationship with his mother as well, he changed his name to start his new life as his music career was beginning. Though in recent years he's said he's dialed down on the resentment of his parents, and expresses remorse that he and his mother never made amends before she died

* Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe was born Frank Carlton Ferrara Jr. After his father who left the family when Nikki was very young and whom he never saw again. A strained relationship with his mother as well, he changed his name to start his new life as his music career was beginning. Though in recent years he's said he's dialed down on the resentment of his parents, and expresses remorse that he and his mother never made amends before she died

* In the ''Literature/DearAmerica'' book ''I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly,'' Patsy is a newly-freed slave, now a supposedly 'free' servant. At breakfast shortly after the war, the former house slaves are discussing what last names they'll take, now that they're no longer slaves. The Cook says she'll take her father's name, George, as her last name, while Patsy's friend Ruth says she and her son Luke will take Johnson, as Luke's father's name is John. Another girl says she can't decide until she gets a chance to speak with her mother, who lives on a different plantation. Patsy herself has a stutter and tends to answer questions slowly, so the Cook tells everyone that she'll take the name Davis, as it's the name of their former owners and most of the slaves on the plantation do indeed do that. Patsy herself is indignant at this, because that's not her name, that's ''their'' name, and decides to take her time choosing a name for herself. It takes her two years and it's after she receives mail addressed to "Patsy Davis," but the name she chooses for herself is Phillis Frederick, naming herself after the poet Phillis Wheatley and the abolitionist Frederick Douglas.

* A downplayed example occurs in ''Series/DoctorWho'' as Kate Stewart, daughter of Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart dropped the Lethbridge part of her name on entering U.N.I.T. because she wanted to progress solely on her own merit.
---> '''Doctor:''' "Don't despair, Kate. Your dad never did. Kate Stewart, heading up UNIT, changing the way they work. How could you not be? Why did you drop Lethbridge?"\\
'''Kate:''' "I didn't want any favours. Though he guided me, even to the end."

'''Lelouch:''' "Certainly. This time I will obliterate you and Charles di Britannia utterly."\\

* In a one-off instance, early gay activist Jack Nichols used the name "Warren Adkins" when he was interviewed for an episode of ''[[Creator/CBS CBS Reports]]'' called "The Homosexuals". His father, an FBI agent, had threatened to kill Nichols if his homosexuality became associated with the father's career as he could lose his security clearance.

* In a one-off instance, early gay activist Jack Nichols used the name "Warren Adkins" when he was interviewed for an episode of ''[[Series/CBS CBSReports]]'' called "The Homosexuals". His father, an FBI agent, had threatened to kill Nichols if his homosexuality became associated with the father's career as he could lose his security clearance.

* In a one-off instance, early gay activist Jack Nichols used the name "Warren Adkins" when he was interviewed for an episode of ''Series/CBSReports'' called "The Homosexuals". His father, an FBI agent, had threatened to kill Nichols if his homosexuality became associated with the father's career as he could lose his security clearance.

* ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'': Cleveland "Book" Booker no longer goes by his familial name, Tareckx. He's estranged from his family who worked for [[TheSyndicate the Emerald Chain]] poaching animals, some nearly to extinction. Book believed that as Kwejians, a species that can telepathically communicate with flora and fauna, they should be helping conserve wildlife. So, he left home, changed his name, and uses his abilities to smuggle endangered species to wildlife preserves.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Diabolik}}'', inspector Ginko brought this UpToEleven: everyone calls him Ginko because he shed both his family ''and his personal name'' to distance himself from his father upon discovering he was a corrupt judge. Nobody knows neither his original name nor the origins of the new one.

* ''Series/SquidGame'': In the fourth game, Ji-young tells Sae-byeok that her full name is just that, Ji-young. When Sae-byeok questions this, she says that she has none, implying that she shed that after killing her abusive father.

This can be done in a variety of forms. In cases where this issue comes up in TheMaidenNameDebate, a much bigger deal will be made over a man deciding to change his name as part of the marriage than it would if a woman were to do the same due to the fact that a woman is usually expected to change her name in any case. And speaking of maiden names, a common practice among characters who do this is to [[NomDeMom take their mother's maiden name]] (or other equivalent) after renouncing the surname they got from their father. If they were adopted, but had bad birth parents, they may take the name of the adoptive family. Others still will take an entirely different name or give themselves an AwesomeMcCoolname. In rare cases, the person renaming themselves will decide to go around with OnlyOneName.

Subtrope of MeaningfulRename. Often overlaps with NomDeMom.

* In ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'', Dr. Mann took her name from Mann's Chinese Theatre to spite her father, who was a jerk and [[spoiler:accidentally caused the [[LadyLand gendercide]] in the process of sabotaging her work]].

* William Patrick Stuart-Houston was born William Patrick Hitler. He was the son of Alois Hitler, Jr. and a nephew of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler himself. Yeah, you can guess why he changed his name.
* Creator/NathanielHawthorne wrote a lot about Puritans, and almost never portrayed that society as a whole sympathetically. He was the descendant of a judge involved in [[WitchHunt the Salem Witch Trials]], and he hated that. So he changed his last name from "Hathorne" to "Hawthorne."

* As Jews traditionally did not have surnames (Jewish people are known by patronymics), often the surnames that Jews wound up with - especially Ashkenazi Jews - were imposed upon them by non-Jewish government authorities. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Jews living in lands controlled by Prussia, Austria, and Russia were forced to take on surnames by order of the government, as a means of assimilation. Sometimes these surnames were of a mocking and thoroughly degrading character. Thus, with the growth of the modern Hebrew language, and the Zionist movement of Theodor Herzl, Jews who emigrated to the land of Israel often Hebraized their surnames. Hence Golda Myerson became Golda Meir, David Gryn became David Ben-Gurion, and countless other examples. Though the practice has slowed somewhat, many Jews today who make aliyah (according to the Jewish Agency, around 15%) still Hebraize their surnames.