Suing under a pseudonym can often be quite valuable to a plaintiff; for instance, someone suing over alleged mistreatment by an employer may worry about becoming known as a litigious employee, and might therefore prefer to sue as a Jane Doe. But there's a strong presumption in our legal system against such pseudonymous litigation, and worry about professional or economic retaliation generally isn't enough to rebut that presumption.
But what if you start calling yourself Jane Smith in your everyday life, and then argue that you've therefore informally changed your name? People are often allowed to sue under names that aren't their official names in government documents. If you routinely go by Bill Jones, for instance, you can sue as Bill Jones, even if your official name is William A. Jones, Jr. Likewise, women often start using their married names some time after marriage, or revert to their maiden names after a divorce, without going through any formal procedures.
Generally, "a person is free to adopt and use any name that he or she sees fit, if it is not done for any fraudulent purpose and does not infringe on the rights of others." Yet it's not clear how far this goes, especially if the alleged name change to a generic-sounding name happens after an earlier denial of pseudonymity.
