I recently joined the social media giant Facebook and I’m more frustrated than anything. Their sign up form asked for my full name and I tried to put in D.J. Lein, but I was told that’s not a valid name. I tried a couple different times, but was continuously denied.

I was eager to check out the “infamous” Facebook so I quickly entered Daniel Jay Lein, thinking I could change it later, and moved on. Little did I know how big of a nightmare it is to get your Facebook name changed.

My first request went something like this:

1. I submitted a ticket requesting a name change.
2. They replied with an email asking me to reply so they can verify I’m the guy with the account in question.
3. I wrote back, “Hi, it’s me DJ Lein, replying as requested.”
4. They replied: “Hi, Our records indicate that there is currently a confirmed account associated with this email address. Please try to log in at www.facebook.com with your login email address and password. If you are still having problems, please let us know.”
5. Ummm, huh?

I let a few weeks go by and it only grew on me so I tried a second support request. It went like this:

Subject: Name correction

I’m writing to request a name correction. For my entire life (all 29 years) I’ve gone by my initials, D.J., not Daniel–that’s my dad’s name. Is there any way to make this correction?

I’ve read the horror stories out there about Facebook and name corrections. I’m just trying to connect with people the way Facebook intends and it’s challenging since no one has ever called me Daniel. It’s similar to someone signing up as Jon Doe while the name on their birth certificate is Jonathan.

In conclusion, I sign legal documents D.J. Lein, I sign my checks D.J. Lein, and my website is DJLein.com; why should my Facebook name be any different?

Thanks in advance for your time and your help,
D.J. Lein

Do you think they’ll make the correction or does it just make too much sense? Check back to find out if I get hosed or pleasantly surprised.

UPDATE : Facebook replied on 1/7/09 with, “Nicknames can be used in the form of FirstName ‘NickName’ LastName, but only if they are a variation on your real first or last name, such as ‘Bob’ instead of ‘Robert’. We have made the changes that you requested. Let me know if you have any further issues.” They changed my name to Daniel ‘D.J.’ Lein. Which is good enough, I guess.