Should I change my last name to cut ties with Nparents?

[Advice Request]

My Ndads last name is "White" and my Nmoms last name is "Flynn" but I have no ties to anybody on my Ndads side of the family. He has 10 siblings I think, and many cousins that I've never met, but I've only met one of them when I was young, so I'm not close to anyone on that side. My moms family I'm a bit closer to. It's a small family, but I love my siblings and am close with quite a few extended family members. I'm debating changing my last name because I feel like I'm burdened with it. I feel ashamed to have it. My Ndad was so abusive and I can't even hear my last name without thinking about him.

My mom is really terrible too, so I don't want to change my last name to hers. I really just think that this will make it easier to start over when I move out of state next year so that I don't feel an attachment to either of them. But at the same time, I don't want to upset any other family members. my moms side may be upset that I changed my last name from my siblings. I feel like they may even deny my name change altogether, but I really feel like this is something I should do. I'm having trouble deciding if I should just start over with a new last name or keep my current last name to "hold on to my roots" in a sense, and still share a name with my brothers.

Any advice?

Posted Feb 25, 2016, 1:54 AM UTC

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