How I came up with my name

[shortNsweet]

I've always kinda gone back and forth on what name I should adopt. I can't decide if I should use an alteration of my real name or use the name I would have been given if I had actually been born female. How did you choose your name?

[ngkhmynh]

Fortunately, I am Vietnamese, and my name is sort of unisex. I guess American name is more unambiguously masculine or feminine

[Felix]

I chose the first first name I came across that felt comfortable, and I'm changing my last name to match my daughter's last name. I picked a middle name last minute, and named myself after a couple people who helped me past some transitional milestones.

I really didn't want anything to do with my birth name. It's not a bad name, but it makes me feel bad. I spent 30 years trying not to cringe when I heard it.

[Devlyn]

I chose Tracey at work one day while cutting traces on printed circuit boards. Hugs, Tracey

[stldrmgrl]

I've always held the name Amy close to me, as it has always felt meant to be.

[Felix]

I chose Tracey at work one day while cutting traces on printed circuit boards. Hugs, Tracey

Omg that's kind of awesome.

[Kelly J. P.]

 I chose Kelly because it's one of those names that sounds "Bouncy," which is a very important part of my personality. The middle was changed to my old first name... it was gender-neutral... and my last name changed to make the rest of it sound important and awesome.

Shrug. I'm happy with it... it stuck... and my mom picked it out. Win-win

[Jayr]

I asked my parents to just give me a new name.
Since they're accepting, I don't see why they wouldn't
deserve to choose my name.

My mom likes Jayson, my dad calls me Jay, so Jayson makes sense.
They aren't completely sure just yet though. Still debating.

Whatever. They have until my 18th birthday to pick.
Which is in march, so they have time to think.

For sure it's gonna start with J though.
They want me to keep my initials.

[Padma]

I'm cheating - I was ordained as a Buddhist 14 years ago, and my Buddhist name Padmavyuha is gender-neutral (being in Sanskrit, it all rides on how you pronounce the last syllable). People seem happy to hear Padma as a woman's name, especially since Harry Potter (and there's always Padme from Star Wars).

[Joan/Jonas]

Well like my intro says Reinette or Joan work...um Reinette was a joke from a few years back and it stuck and I like the sound and look of it...Joan is my bestie's suggestion which is odd since I did not come out to her she just knows me well enough to see my conflicting shtuff....

[JulieC.]

I can't remember how I came up with my name it's been so long ago.  I have been using Julie as my female name for 30 years.  I probably choose it just cause I think it fit and it did keep my initials the same.  My parents have passed and I never asked them what they would have named me if I was born a girl.  But I have a good idea since I was named after my Grand fathers (first and middle).  So I think my name would have been Carmela Mary.  Yuck!  I like Cami as a nick name.  I've never picked a middle name.  I don't know...neither of those names goes well with Julie.  I'll have to come up with something else.

[spacial]

When I was about 6 years or there abouts, I recall, standing in front of one of those huge mirrors which cover a wall. I wasn't in class, for some reason, probably sent out.

Anyway, I do recall, looking at my body and clothes then trying to imagine it was actually a girl, looking back at me. It worked, the joy of being that young.

Anyway, I continued the fantasy and imagined someone standing over me, asking , well, young lady, what's your name?'. I just replied Jill. No idea where it came from.

So that's who I am. Perhaps always have been.

Jill

[Devlyn]

I thought we were posting about our forum names, my bad. When I told my friend my new name was Tracey, she made a face and said "That name doesn't fit you at all." She suggested two names, I picked the one I liked better, added her middle name and came up with Devlyn Marie. Hugs, Devlyn

[Mx.Fox]

I couldn't find a neutral name i liked that felt like me. but i did hear a name that had no gender associated with it so i used that. As far as my middle name goes i used my childhood best friend's middle name because of how great she was with me suffering though puberty.

[shortNsweet]

There definitely seems to be a trend going here. Most people seem to pick a name that either somehow comes to them or is important/special in some way.

[LexiToPeter?]

Mine's not set in stone yet, but I'm definitely leaning towards Peter. Right now it's between Louis and Peter, Louis being a variation of my nickname "Louie", but I think Peter will be it.
EDIT: I forgot to actually answer the question. i choose mine because I've always liked the name, and it just felt "right", you know?

[My Perfect Requiem]

The name Erin means peace or tranquillity in Gaelic, and since I found out that I'm trans I've taken a shine to the word tranquillity... The weird bit is that I chose my new name before I knew what it meant, it just seemed right~
-Erin

[Rebecca Perez]

I love names. I hated my boy name my whole life so I jumped a the chance to finally pick a name I like. I tried using the first name that jumped into my head thinking maybe my subconscious knows my name, but it was the name of a person my wife really disliked so it had bad attachments. Then I decided to make up a list and starting crossing off names of people we knew, names that were important to me, and have an attachment to something else that was important, and finally a name that felt right and reflected my personality. I am pretty geeky, and a scientist so it came down to Lauren or Tara. Lauren was very classy feeling, but Tara seemed like the type of person who read comics and books on physiology. 

[Andris]

Well...
I picked András ( = Andrew, André), just all of sudden, at first this name came into my mind...
Also the origin and meaning of, makes it real cool.
I could not say what my parents would had given me... as they wanted a girl (me) so much that they forgot about a male name.

However I've always used Fritz (Frici) as a nickname and I liked it... the Hungarian full form "Frigyes" is kinda old-fashioned, rare and ugly and everybody would came up with some "are you German?!" stuff... I don't want it at all. Then one of my friends often calls me Zsolti (nick from Zsolt, name of Hungarian origin) to keep the initial. (I'm originally Zsuzsanna - it's Susanne, yeah...    ) But I don't like that because it's one of the most-used male names here, it sounds like a bouncing frog or whatever. Eww. 

[caseyyy]

It just seemed right. It has a similarish sound to my birth name, but the initials are totally different and it's a coincidence.