Do i want to be Katie Perry? Help!

Only you can say who you are, a name isn't your whole Identity. If you want to go by Katie Perry do it. I don't think you'll really get too many comments - honestly my last name is Pringle and I used to get a lot of slack for it growing up, but now that I'm an adult nobody says anything. Its possible you might get comments but you could just make jokes about it or don't respond to it - then people will stop making comments. Plenty of people in the world have the same name, I'm sure there are hundreds or thousands of other Katie Perry's.

You're over thinking it.

I would probably hyphenate. The Katie Perry thing would bug me a lot. And the super long name is only noticeable when written down since you don't go by Mary or Mary Katherine.

Keep your own name! Or have him take yours

I think it would bother me too, but I guess it really depends which part(s) of your name you are attached to.

What about shortening Mary to May? That way you're not using the same name as his grandmother but it's still a version of your own name? Or would you consider Kat or Kath? My mother in law is called Maria but is always called Ria, perhaps you could be Erin from the latter part of your name? Or Kate? Kate Perry is less likely to be associated with the singer?

I think you also have to consider that Katy Perry the celebrity may not be well known years from now. I mean, no one really knows for sure but it's possible that people will forget about her. At the same time, you are the only one that truly knows how much it would bug you. Your feelings are always valid when it come to your own name. I also like the suggestion of Mary Kate.

I understand where you're coming from, you definitely want to have your own identity. I think the important thing will be that those who matter most to you will know your identity of Katy Perry and won't think of the singer first. You'll likely get it from strangers and/or people that you talk to on the phone, but I think everyone has a frustrating thing that people say to them. I go by PJ and constantly get "TJ, BJ, DJ???" or I beat them to the punch and say, "Yes, like pajamas" - so you could always go that route too, "Katie Perry, like the singer except I spell Katie with an IE."

Is keeping your own name out of the question?

Plenty of people have the same names as celebrities (spelled exactly the same). The fact that the spelling is different I think makes it less of a big deal than you are making it, but its going to be your name and you have to like it. The name Katie Perry sounds nice and rolls off the tongue (its not like the name itself is offensive) and if the only reason not to like it is the association with a current celebrity (who doesn't happen to be a wildly controversial sketchy figure) then I wouldn't get too worn out over it. It's not like you are changing your name to Bill Cosby or Matt Gaetz.

I also once had a student whose mother had the same first and last name (and same last name as her husband and son). So her name was something like Marcy Marcy. I NEVER would have done that to myself but for some people taking on the husband's name is important and the last name itself isn't always ideal.