What's in a name? Mhairi Macfarlane discovered why one man changed his - and is now much happier because of it.

RON Haycock, 61, was met with surprise and curiosity when he announced to colleagues and friends that he would be henceforth be known as Rinaldo Frezzato.

The switch to a distinctly Italian name triggered many questions with some wondering whether he was trying to sound like a Premiership footballer.

But the truth couldn't be more different.

Mr Frezzato explained that his new name was in fact printed on his birth certificate, which was issued in Italy before he emigrated to England with his mother.

Tragically, when he was just six, his mother died of cancer, and he was adopted by an English family who gave him a new name.

He said: "At that age I was very aware of my own identity. When I was taken to my new home my adoptive mother asked me what my name was, and (when I told her) she said, No it isn't. From today it is Ronald Haycock'.

"I didn't want my name changed but they didn't listen to kids in those days. There was no talk about it in my family - it was like a part of my life had been deleted."

The former history teacher said he got used to his English name, but by his teens, when he was questioning his identity he became uncomfortable with it.

But, fearful of upsetting his adoptive parents, it wasn't until they had both died three years ago that he traced his blood relatives and found cousins and an aunt living in a village in Italy - an experience he found overwhelming.

Mr Frezzato said: "I would say to someone who was searching for their natural parents or birth family to be quite careful because it isn't necessarily a joyful occasion because you find people you have had no connection with all your life.

"I spent all my life with no-one who looks like me or related to me, and to see people who looked like me was traumatic."

Mr Frezzato's new-found relatives instinctively called him by his Italian name, which prompted him to adopt it once again.

He added: "You can go your whole life and feel like you have somebody else's name. So I changed it back and now I am much happier. It is part of my identity."

Mr Frezzato, who is secretary of the National Union of Teachers in Waltham Forest, said that some good has come out of his name change.

After hearing his story friends who were in the process of adopting decided not to change their adoptive child's name.