A short clarification on names

Bechinger / Bechinger-English / English

I am writing and publishing this because it is definitely one of the Frequently Asked Questions of my professional life.

Since the beginnings of my artistic career, I have generally used the name Bechinger or Bechinger-English. However, my legal name, as in the name that’s on my passport, is English.

As in the word English itself.

Around the time of my coming of age, beginning my artistic career and studying, I was embarrassed by this name. Being half-German and fairly identified with the continental part of my roots, I cringed using it. Imagine how it was for my mother: she had a thick German accent, yet through marriage, became “Mrs English”, but I think she saw more humour in it than I did as a young artist.

The name itself has an interesting history — it comes from parts of the world that speak English but don’t consider themselves as such, and as far as our genealogy goes, we seem to be Irish Englishes.

Anyway.

Using my mother’s maiden name, I used Bechinger-English and then simply Bechinger for most of my non-bureaucratic purposes and artistic identity. While settling in the UK, this was very exotic, but it blended in when I came to Austria.

For a time, I intended to change my surname to Bechinger or Bechinger-English officially, and my daughter carries Bechinger in her surname.

I continue to contemplate finalising a name change, yet after years of living in a German-speaking country, I find myself feeling more British than ever. Maybe the grass is always greener, as they say.

Anyway — if you see one name on a poster and another on an invoice, I hope this explains something.

Love,
Sebastian