Fourth year here. I've always struggled with my (foreign) last name. It's hard to spell, hard to say, and pretty much everyone who hears it for the first time acts like it's ridiculous. My family has been here for almost two centuries and has already changed the spelling at least once and doesn't even pronounce it consistently. The only reason I didn't change it before law school was because I thought it would upset my parents. Then I found out my dad doesn't like it either. And I recently found out that it actually translates to an easy, aesthetically pleasant English name. So I wouldn't be changing my name as much as translating it. And I feel like it would spare my kids the frustration and bullying that I dealt with growing up because of my name.
That said, if doing so would seem bizarre in a way that detrimentally affects my professional reputation, that impacts the net benefit to my family. So while I don't really care if people in my social circles think it's strange, I do care if it impacts my ability to provide.
Thoughts?