Why The Name Change?

I’ve been asked a fair bit over the last year why I decided to change my name to Vicki Broadbent, so I thought I’d write a quick blog explaining.

Post-nuptials, I would use my married name when it came to my passport, bank account, driving licence and other formal documents but as my credits and bylines as a TV Director, filmmaker and journalist were under Vicki Psarias, I felt it too bold a move to change my ‘career name’ once hitched.

It would have been like starting again in an industry where I’d worked hard to build a reputation after my MA, writing, directing, and winning awards for my filmmaking work. It didn’t make sense, and my feminist husband Peter understood and supported the fact I wanted to retain my maiden name.

When I started this blog back in 2010, I assumed I’d return to the TV world, which I did for a few months before realising this creative, flexible and financially secure online career suited me better. I had no idea how long it would last for though.

A decade later, writing under the name Vicki Psarias here (a name that quickly became synonymous with Honest Mum and is even the entry on Wikipedia), I felt ready to ‘rebrand’, as it were.

My youngest son and biggest fan, Xander (he’s so proud of my job, bless him, he even told his new teacher about it yesterday urging her to, ‘check out honestmum dot com’ ) would often ask why my book Mumboss had my Dad, his Grandad’s surname and not his, the family name, on the cover, and expressed wanting us to all to have the same name.

By the age of 40, I was more than tired of spelling and pronouncing Psarias (understandably) to pretty much everyone who required it so coupled with Xnader’s wish, thought it might be time to consider a change.

My maiden name ironically translates to the easy, ‘Fisher’ in English and I often wished as a child that my Dad had changed it when he came to the UK to study at university.

…Perhaps feeling fed-up of sounding out your name is a weak excuse for change but after needing to explain that, ‘no, unlike the English language the ‘Ps’ isn’t silent’ and needing to provide my heritage, pretty every time I mentioned my name coupled with Xander’s wish, I broke and opted for what I assumed would be the far easier alternative of Broadbent. I was a little misguided to be fair. While Broadbent is undoubtedly easier to say, I often have people (hilariously) asking if I’m called Vicki Broadband (a surname that doesn’t exist as far as I know but would have suited me well) and I still find myself spelling out my married name, particularly on the phone.

Yes, to some extent my cultural heritage was lost when I took on my husband’s name (his ancestry is English and French) but my top priority was unity for my family and Xander was thrilled when I told him. That kid.

What name do you go by?