Chosen Name/Changing Chosen Name

At UMBC, we use two name types, Primary Name and Chosen Name:

• Primary Name The name that is captured when you enter the university and a record is created. The Primary name is often loosely referred to by staff as the official name or legal name; this practice is not endorsed because it implies that the name has been verified. 

• Chosen Name Is the name identified by a person as the name by which they’d like to be referred within the UMBC community. This was previously referred to as Preferred Name.  

UMBC recognizes that any student, faculty, or staff member may choose to identify themselves within the University community with a chosen name that differs from their primary name. As long as the use of a chosen name is not for the purpose of misrepresentation, the University acknowledges that a chosen name should be used whenever possible in the course of university business and education. Chosen names will be used in campus communications (including email and mail sent to your home and mailing addresses) class and grade rosters, and online self-service advising and academic information.

If you would like UMBC to use a chosen name that is different from your primary name (for example, Bob instead of Robert), you can easily do so on your myUMBC profile.  Note that this will only affect internal university processes, like the Campus Card, class roster, or Blackboard, and will not change your primary name with the University, where the use of the primary name necessitated by University business or legal requirement.