I appreciate the additional context, that seems much less unreasonable. And I like your suggestion of requiring doctors approval via transitional care if they’ve been convicted of a serious crime, that way name changes are still possible in situations where there’s a need beyond just making it harder for others to identify them.

Otherwise, I think folks should just be free to change their name cause they feel like it. But allowing name changes for people convicted of serious crimes does come with safety implications that need to be balanced with the freedom to identify legally with a name that you choose, cause both of those things matter.