What's in a Name (2)?

The question of identity has always fascinated me - probably because I always felt I wasn't quite Canadian being born to new immigrants. As a child, I did not have a Quebecois accent and was asked repeatedly where I was from (despite the fact my brothers spoke with no accent and played with the same kids - I guess everybody assumed I was adopted...). I was puzzled - I don't think I really understood that I was speaking "funny".
Fast forward to my life in Ontario - a disproportionate number of my friends go by a given name that is not theirs by birth. Most are... immigrants or children of, who have anglicised their names. Oblivious to the obvious discrepancy between their origins (a Polish friend called "Ron" not Roman, for example), it took me years to realize that most of the people I knew under one name just gave up being called by approximate names that were not their own and decided to take destiny in their hands. They named themselves with a simple name that people would be comfortable with. Similar to "Pi", the boy in Yann Martel's famous "Life of Pi". I had always assumed names were absolute - had I known they were just an easy way for people to address you, I would have changed mine in grade 2... Mine is rare enough in French, and downright exotic (as in weird) in English.
So it's another absolute that doesn't hold. I read that in some cultures, your name changes as you go through life, so that it reflects more closely who you are. Sort of trial and error?
Still looking for absolutes.