Is This Allowed? (name Change Issue Nj)

Location: New Jersey Illegality level: Unsure!

Mildly humiliating situation I'm experiencing. During some sort of manic episode, I legally changed my last name. I am literally East African and from a muslim family, and for some reason which is too embarrassing to explain in depth, I changed it to something with a similar affect of say “Johnson”. This name held no meaning to me other than assimilation (for some reason, even though I was born and raised in the USA) and I regretted it exactly one week after the change and have been hiding it since then. I won't lie, this officially happened October 2025.

I’m sure this may technically be illegal, but I have not notified the Registrar of Vital Statistics, nor the DMV/Motor Vehicle Commission because this is especially painful and deeply shameful for me. I did notify the Department of Treasury solely because I did not want to have a new court hearing if I failed to do so in the 45 days which were required. (Legal Question #1)

This means: My place of work has only my birth name on file, licenses and certifications for work only have my birth name, my university only has my birth name, my passport is still in my birth name, my social security card and valid state issued ID are in my birth name, as are my bank accounts, car registration, car loan, my rental lease agreement EVERYTHING. I have not changed a single thing because, again, I immediately regretted it.

I have NOT hidden my name change on anything like a background check or attempted to falsify records because that's silly and would land me in prison where my family would find out and everyone would think I'm insane (sure) and also a criminal (not true I love following the law. I don't even walk through exit doors because they serve a finite purpose)

So my question - in the state of New Jersey, is what I’m doing

a.) illegal for one b.) am i able to file for a name change once more without a waiting period, and similarly - am i able to file for a name change once more if i only have documentation in my birth name as far as SSN/ID/Birth Cert go? (Legal Question #2)

I previously bought ten copies of the final judgment with the golden seal because, again, I was manic or having some sort of psychotic break. I still have about eight.

I genuinely wish they did a mental health assessment on people doing this, but alas. Before anyone asks, no of course not. I did not consult a single person on this change, I quite literally just randomly applied for it then got paranoid that if I backed out I would be arrested for not showing to court - then I accepted my fate and was okay with it, then the regret hit.

If I can by all means go back to my name without it being much of a hassle I’ll be doing so and actually filing the paperwork correctly this time. I have to update this with my job eventually and I’d rather be embarrassed by having to return to the court with the same judge than be embarrassed when my family finds out I randomly went from "Abdirahman" to "Johnson". I also don’t want anyone to ask me if I got married, I’m literally 20 and not even dating.