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Journalism of Courage
Thousands of newly arrived migrants in the UK, including Indians, are adopting common British names to avoid “discrimination” and mispronunciation.
Indians bearing the surname Shital prefer to be known as Sheet while Arabic names such as Karim and Muhammad are being changed to Kevin and Michael, according to a report in The Sunday Times.
The trend is part of a boom in name changing, fuelled by websites that allow people legally to rename themselves by deed poll within a few hours, usually for about 30 pounds.
About 70,000 people are expected to change their name using either the UK Deed Poll Service or the Name Change Company this year, two of the most popular services in Britain, th report said. In 2001, the number of such people was fewer than 20,000.
The paper said Chinese people have anglicised their names by adding prefixes such as John, Jason and Sue. In one instance, a refugee from Uzbekistan called Avlar Jon Akherov became Adrian Barry Roberts. In another case, a young Polish woman with an 18-letter surname opted for the brevity of one of Britain’s most common names — Hall.
The migrants coming to the UK are adopting common British names to avoid either discrimination or poor pronunciation, the report said.
“We saw a lot of Muslims change their names after the 9/11 attacks, but in the past few years it’s become much more widespread,” said Mike Barratt, chief executive of the UK Deed Poll Service. “Often people are just sick and tired of having their names mispronounced. We’re seeing a 20 per cent increase, year-on-year.”
The rising divorce rate, civil partnerships and second marriages have also driven up the numbers of people who are changing their names.
The report said more than 500 people took a new name in Ireland last year — a 60 per cent rise in five years. Public records show many migrants have added a Celtic flavour to their names.
