In the US that might be the case, that doesn't make it so in other countries.
In Germany the scenarios in which you are allowed to change your name are all defined by law. While you are allowed to change your name for resocialization or as a protection against harassment, you can get search results removed for reasons that wouldn't allow a name change.
Furthermore changing your name takes quite a bit of effort, asking a search engine to remove search results is a much simpler process.
To be clear, my original post was normative. As a policy, the law should favor name changes over a right to demand Google remove a search listing.
> Furthermore changing your name takes quite a bit of effort, asking a search engine to remove search results is a much simpler process.
Simpler for you, but not for the search engine! Or for society as a whole. More to the point, it should not be easy to erase your name from the Internet. The right to be forgotten is easily abused, and it should be invoked as a last resort not the first.
In Germany the scenarios in which you are allowed to change your name are all defined by law. While you are allowed to change your name for resocialization or as a protection against harassment, you can get search results removed for reasons that wouldn't allow a name change.
Furthermore changing your name takes quite a bit of effort, asking a search engine to remove search results is a much simpler process.