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I have and I haven't... it has depended on the child. My oldest son was 7 and I didn't think it would benefit him to change his name, so I didn't even bring it up with him. Another son was also seven, and I gave him a new middle name (he helped me choose it), then when the adoption was complete, he decided no one could call him by his old first name; we all needed to use his new middle name, and it's stuck to this day. Two of my girls were around 4/5 when I adopted them... I changed the spelling of one of their names (and totally changed her middle name), but she hadn't learned to spell it yet anyway, so she didn't know. The other, I really changed her full name but picked a name that could have the nickname that she always went by, and she was cool with that... so what we called her didn't change, even tho she had a full name change!
For older kids, if they seemed like they might be receptive to a name change, I'd discuss it with them and if they were cool with it, I'd choose a new name with them. If it seemed like it would cause a big identity crisis or something, I wouldn't even bring it up!
;~) Kelly
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