Interviewed on HuffPo Live about changing my name

As you may know, my name wasn't always Calvin. I was born Lars. But I changed it, in part because I never liked it, in part because it was tricky in the US (especially my middle and last names - Holger Pind), but mostly because I got really curious about numerology, and wanted to try it out.

Since then I've changed my name one more time, and I'm loving it all the way. The way my life has changed since first changing my name is simply incredible, and completely in line with what the numerology says should happen.

I still don't know how or why it works, and maybe it's just a happy coincidence. I don't care. I'm happy with the change in both name and outcomes, so what's not to like?

Earlier this week I got an email from HuffPo Live that they wanted to interview me about the name change, inspired by a Korean woman who'd changed her name because she wanted to be less Korean, and now changed it half-way back.

My wife's discovered that there's a numerical combination that would be even better for me, and so I might change my name again. Why not, eh? Three times' the charm. In that case, I'd be interested in a last name that brought in a bit of the scandinavian vibe again, if possible.

It's tricky, because as long as I'm changing my name according to Danish law, you can only only choose a last name that's held by zero or more than 2000 people in Denmark, or you have to get written permission from every single person holding that name.

The list of last names used by more than 2000 people contains just 188 names, of which only a fraction is going to match your desired vibe. And it's likely that most scandinavian sounding names are held by at least some people in Denmark. So making that happen can be tricky.

That's how we ended up with Correli. The Italian flair wasn't even intentional. But we were trying to come up with last names that were similar to what we had before (Conaway), that added up to 23, and that were not taken by anyone in Denmark.

Take Hansson, for example, which would be an excellent example of an international name with a Scandinavian feel. 906 people in Denmark are named Hansson. Finding and getting a written permission from all of those would be almost impossible. Hansson by the way adds up to 29, so it wouldn't work anyway, but just as an illustration.

Anyway, here's the clip: