“Autosuggest” is helpful, except when it isn’t. If you’re trying to send an email to Herkwiler McGillicuddy, it’s great that Gmail will fill in his name for you. Not so helpful when it fills in the names of people you’re not in touch with anymore. Or, when you’re writing an email and your last name appears as “Smith” in the “From” field even though you’ve since changed your last name three times (hey, some of us have a past).
The solution to this problem lies in the “Contacts” section of your Google account. Go to myaccount.google.com and click “People & sharing” on the left-hand side. From the screen that appears, click “Contacts.” Your “former” identities will show up there — just delete them, along with anyone else you would like to delete. Now you can truly move on with your life!