MIGRANTS who come to the UK are abandoning more than just their homeland. Thousands of new arrivals are adopting common British names to avoid discrimination or just poor pronunciation.

Arabic names such as Karim and Muhammad are being changed to Kevin and Michael, while Indians bearing the surname Shital prefer to be known as Sheet.

The trend is part of a boom in name changing, fuelled by websites that allow people legally to rename themselves by deed poll within a few hours, usually for about £30.

Chinese people have anglicised their names by adding prefixes such as John, Jason and Sue.

In one instance, a refugee from Uzbekistan called Avlar Jon Akherov became Adrian Barry Roberts. In another case, a young Polish woman with an 18-letter surname opted for the brevity of one of Britain’s most common names - Hall.

“We saw a lot of Muslims change their names after the 9/11 attacks, but in the past few years it’s become much more widespread,” said Mike Barratt, chief executive of the UK Deed Poll Service.

“Often people are just sick and tired of having their names mispronounced. We’re seeing a 20% increase, year-on-year.”

About 70,000 people will change their name using either the UK Deed Poll Service or the Name Change Company this year, two of the most popular services in Britain. In 2001, it was fewer than 20,000.

The rising divorce rate, civil partnerships and second marriages have also driven up the numbers of people who are changing their names.

There is also a great uptake of hyphenated names, a tactic often used by parents who remarry to encourage step-siblings to feel part of a family unit.

More than 500 people took a new name in Ireland last year - a 60% rise in five years. Public records show many migrants have added a Celtic flavour to their names.

Last year Abdullah Elfayoumi became Abdullah O’Fayoumi, while a person arriving with the name Petrova changed it to O’Leary. A Valeri Inatov is now known as Nicholas Kenneally.

Many British citizens who were born overseas have had to change their names after being caught out by the English alphabet.

“People have often ended up using different spellings of the same surname on birth certificates for siblings,” said Janet Chadwick, a director of the Name Change Company.

“We have known one family have four spellings of the same surname. This can pose real issues when it comes to obtaining passports.”

Not all names are changed by those who want to fit in. In the past few months, a 23-year-old man from West Yorkshire became Rolf Harris. A carpenter from Gloucester called Robert Sullivan adopted the name Daddy Fantastic last year.

Samantha Holloway, a 20-year-old from East London, recently found it difficult to obtain work or a new passport after renaming herself HMP Holloway, after the women’s prison in Islington.

Going Native

The name changes made by immigrants include:

- Karim to Kevin

- Avlar Akherov to Adrian Roberts

- Musamma to Ryan

- Mohammad to Michael

- Abdullah Elfayoumi to Abdullah O'Fayoumi

- Shital to Sheet

- Guang to Edward

- Sergei to Benedict

- Cakiqi to Reid

- Carlos De Sousa to Temple Tobins

- Awela to Evelyn

- Aliaksei Vikhrou to Alex Vickrow

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