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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/28396
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

You have a few options, all of which are (in my view) perfectly reasonable:

- If you're using an intimate narrative style (with access to only one character's thoughts at a time):

- If you're using a less intimate style (with the freedom to communicate things that the characters don't know; think _LOTR_) or a semi-intimate style (where you can communicate things that they know, but which aren't immediately on their mind; think _Harry Potter_), you may be able to simply explain. After this, it shouldn't matter what name you call her, as long as you're consistent. You establish the change has occured, then write confidently in the knowledge that the reader now understands this.

> Word on the street was that Tabatha, now calling herself "Maria", would be coming to the party too. Exactly what had stopped Maria from attending the last three parties was anybody's guess, and a subject of hot debate among all but the very quietest members of the group.

OR

> Word on the street was that Tabatha, now calling herself "Maria", would be coming to the party too. Exactly what had stopped Tabatha from attending the last three parties was anybody's guess, and a subject of hot debate among all but the very quietest members of the group.

- If you're trying to capture the surface level, and express her as a chameleonic character, it might be appropriate to switch the name around according to who she's speaking to (or even arbitrarily). Doing so will (I think) do one of two things (depending on how consistently you characterise her):
  - If her behavior is very consistent, it will give the impression that her name is irrelevant (she's still the same person underneath). This is a little like how religious figures such as God and Satan have many names - it communicates the idea that their identity is deeper than a name, and though names may change their identity will not.
  - If her behavior is noticeably different depending on who she speaks to, it will give the impression that she has no true nature, or that her true nature is so obscured as to be hidden even from the reader.

Ultimately, it depends on your stylistic choices, and the impression you're trying to give.

Original score: 4