Rescue dog, changing her name?

Yes, absolutely you can change her name!

Many shelter dogs, no one EVER (really) knows their name (if they ever really had one, they answered to, and some names do NOT have GOOD associations).

Tell the kids (A+) for picking a name ending in a "Y or "IE" sound (which is automatically HAPPY sounding, when said). Dog training books advise that; Nellie is a good choice!

Say her NEW name (Nellie) & give her a treat if she looks at you! She will be then able to work on "Nellie, COME" in the house, from a couple of feet away = very shortly.

dogs can learn new names. Just use the same name, no variations, and she should respond in a few weeks

Just do it, dog will adjust, the family is the one who will have to live with the name for the remainder of its life.

"So much wisdom here, I've learned A LOT today :)" Don't believe everything you read on YA, while some maybe wisdom, most are not, considering that many are strangers/children, especially when it comes the health/well being of your dog, choose wisely.

Yes just change it... they adapt very quickly and especially when the end of her old name is the same as her potential new name.

We adopted a 10 year old Rottweiler German shepherd mix last year her name was jasmine and we changed it to Cleo which she learned quickly then she got the nickname boog (like the bear from the movie open season) because she looks like him and that stuck so mostly we call her boog now but she will still respond to jasmine, jazzy, Cleo, boogie, or boog

What was the circumstances of her ending up at the shelter? A lot of times animals come in as strays and the name on their paperwork is just a temporary one the shelter gave her.

But even if this has been her name since birth dogs can quickly learn a new name. Just say the name often and give her treats afterwards. Sit, Nelly. Come, Nelly, Good girl, Nelly, etc.

Not a problem. To a dog, a name is just another command meaning you want her attention. Teaching a new name is no harder than teaching any other simple command. Say name, treat. Repeat. Soon she'll be looking to you when you call her new name.

Also, you should realize that a lot of shelters and rescues routinely give dogs new names when they come in. In many cases, they are strays and their name is not known, and in other cases, either they already have a dog with the name in question, or feel the name doesn't suit the animal, so they pick a new one.