Rutgers University
Personal Contact Information

Update Chosen Name

Submitting a “Chosen Name” will replace your Legal First Name in the University Search directory and most systems, except those systems that require the use of Legal First Name. Submitting a “Directory Listing Name” will display this additional name in brackets in the University Search directory, along with displaying your Legal Name or Chosen Name (if one was submitted).

Although employees/Students are generally free to determine the names they wish to be known by, inappropriate use of the name change process (including but not limited to avoiding a legal obligation or misrepresentation) may be cause for removal. Your chosen first name must be a name you truly use to identify yourself. The university will not accept a chosen first name that is vulgar or offensive, obscene, fanciful, contains profanity, discriminatory language, or sexually suggestive words, or creates confusion with another person.

If you are a student and also an employee, you will only need to set your chosen name once, and it will be updated for both. You do not need to submit a chosen name on both the student and faculty staff pages. At this time, it is not possible to set different chosen names for student and employee services.

Rutgers University recognizes that members of the university community use names other than their legal names. The university seeks to promote the comfort and safety of students, staff or faculty members who wish to be identified by a name other than their legal name by instituting a chosen/preferred name procedure. For more information click here.

Tooltip Allowable name formats include (but are not limited to):
  • A shortened derivative of a name (e.g,“Peggy” for “Margaret”)
  • A middle name instead of a first name
  • First and middle initials (e.g., “A.J.” for “Andrew Joseph”)
  • An anglicized name (e.g, “Robert” instead of “Xiangu”)
  • A name that better represents the individual's gender identity
  • A name to which the individual is in the process of legally changing
The chosen first name is limited to at least one alphabetical character (A-Z or a-z), and can include the following special characters: apostrophe, hyphen, and periods.
Tooltip Allowable name formats include (but are not limited to):
  • A shortened derivative of a name (e.g,“Peggy” for “Margaret”)
  • A middle name instead of a first name
  • First and middle initials (e.g., “A.J.” for “Andrew Joseph”)
  • An anglicized name (e.g, “Robert” instead of “Xiangu”)
  • A name that better represents the individual's gender identity
  • A name to which the individual is in the process of legally changing
The chosen first name is limited to at least one alphabetical character (A-Z or a-z), and can include the following special characters: apostrophe, hyphen, and periods.