I had an almost jarring occurrence of this happen when I graduated with my BSME. My first name is traditionally associated with old rednecks. I sent out a hundred or so resumes before I got any response at all - an offhand comment about duct tape engineering.

For whatever reason, that clicked with me. So, I added my middle name to my resume and had a job within a week. I've been going by my middle name professionally ever since.