Kansas statute 77-109 states:
77-109. Common law. The common law as modified by constitutional and statutory law, judicial decisions, and the conditions and wants of the people, shall remain in force in aid of the General Statutes of this state; but the rule of the common law, that statutes in derogation thereof shall be strictly construed, shall not be applicable to any general statute of this state, but all such statutes shall be liberally construed to promote their object.

Clark v. Clark, 19 Kan. 522, 524-25 (1878) states:
it cannot successfully be denied that a person has a perfect legal right to call himself by any name he chooses, and so long as such name identifies him by reason of his being thus known in the community in which he resides, he would have a perfect right to sue and be sued by such name."

In re Application to Change Name, 706 P. 2d 480 - Kan: Court of Appeals 1985 states:
It is well recognized that in the absence of a statutory or constitutional provision to the contrary, the rule of the common law still remains in effect in this state. K.S.A. 77-109; Board of Neosho County Comm'rs v. Central Air Conditioning Co., Inc., 235 Kan. 977, 981, 683 P.2d 1282 (1984). Furthermore, the common law regarding name changes was that so long as no 627*627 fraud was intended, any person, including a minor, had the right to change his name without legal formality by simply using the new name. Laks v. Laks, 25 Ariz. App. 58, 540 P.2d 1277 (1975); In re Staros, 280 N.W.2d 409, 411 (Iowa 1979), and cases cited therein. Since there is nothing in the Kansas statute which abrogates this rule, it would seem that petitioner could have accomplished her name change without any sanction by the court. However, it has also been held that statutory provisions setting up a legal procedure for name changes are intended as aids and affirmations of the common-law rule and not as an abrogation or substitution for the informal procedure.

MATTER OF CLARK, 450 P. 3d 830 - Kan: Court of Appeals 2019 states:
[A]ny person has the right to a name change under the common law by simply using the new name.

Before the Legislature enacted the current statutory name change provisions, the common law allowed any person to change his or her name without legal formality by simply using the new name, as long as the person intended no fraud. See 10 Kan. App. 2d at 626-27, 706 P.2d 480. The statutory name change provisions are "intended as aids and affirmations of the common-law rule and not as an abrogation or substitution for the informal procedure." 10 Kan. App. 2d at 627, 706 P.2d 480.

Affidavit