Went to the courthouse this morning to file for my name change. I've always planned on eventually taking my mother's surname, but the legal process is a pain in the ***, especially bc of then having to get a new birth certificate, driver's license, passport, etc

I thought I had plenty of time and there was no rush. I just wanted to get it done before getting my PhD so I wouldn't be Dr. [last name], because my father has a PhD and when I hear Dr. [last name] I think of my father. My mom has a PhD too, but I don't mind the idea of having the same title/name as her.
In academia it's generally a good idea to have all your publications under the same name if you can, but it doesn't have to be your legal name. So I've been planning to publish under my mom's surname from the beginning. I thought I'd have plenty of time, but last week I found out that some of my work from undergrad is being submitted for publication and I'm being listed as a coauthor. I contacted the corresponding author about the name change, so it'll be published under the name I'll be using.

But because of this I decided I should probably get around to having a conversation with my PI (prof whose lab I work in/my PhD advisor) about it. He was supportive, as I knew he would be, and he didn't ask me to explain my decision or anything. He did recommend that I begin the legal process ASAP though, so my university stuff will be tied to the name I'll be using. And he's right that that will make things easier down the line, like having my official university email address be the name I'll be using, etc.

I really don't want it to be easy for people to find out what my name used to be. My father's surname is very unique, and googling brings up his academic work and a court record from my parents' divorce that has way more info about my personal/family life than I'm comfortable with future students and colleagues finding.

So I filed the paperwork to initiate it and I have a court date mid November and now I have to get a notice type thing published in a local newspaper for 4 consecutive weeks. Fun stuff.

My mom is pleased, but my grandmother, who absolutely loathes my father, is practically giddy. Like she even offered to pay the filing fee (I wouldn't have asked, but it's very much appreciated because it's $435 just to file in CA!!! not even including the $65 to publish in the newspaper. And it's not going to be cheap to get the new license, birth certificate, etc. either)
They both knew I was planning to do it eventually, but I think there was still doubt as to whether I'd actually go through with it. Like the original email about the submission of the paper I'm a coauthor on used my current name, and when I sent a screenshot to my mom (bragging a little, it's my first publication, after all) she actually said "guess it's too late to change your name now" like not in a passive aggressive way, it was teasing but like accepting that she thought I wouldn't be changing it. And I responded with a screenshot of the email I'd sent to the corresponding author and told her I'd just talked to my PI and was actually about to initiate the legal process.