How did you pick your name?

[Handy]

Frankly I think the title of this thread is pretty self-explanatory.

I apologize if this topic has been done to death; I searched it but to no avail

Actual transition isn't that far off into the future for me (within a couple years I intend to get SRS and ultimately make it 'official'). That said, I realize I haven't really come up with a name. What everyone calls me (Andy) isn't particularly objectionable, so I guess it hasn't weighed on my mind much; I now find myself with my pants down, clock ticking and no clue what I want to call myself. I've toyed with names vaguely similar to what I'm used to (ex: Ayla) but I'm not sure; I'm hoping something will just POP at me!

So now I turn to you: How did you pick your name? Had you always some particular affinity for the name you chose? Did you just hear it and think, "Yep. That's it". Also, if any FTMs spot this I'd love to hear you guys' opinions/insights as well!

[Shodan]

For me, I just used the name that I wanted to use if I ever had a daughter. Since that's never going to happen at this point, I felt safe claiming it as my own.

[Kylie]

I will be interested to read this as well.  The name I am using now, I picked because no one i know has it and i like Kylie Minogue.  I kind of like it but I would actually prefer Lindsey or Kelsey, but I have close friends with those names and I felt weird using them.  Just not sold on Kylie, but needed to pick something in the interim.  Maybe April, god, I don't know.

[Princess Rachel]

I made a short list of names I liked and eventually picked the one I liked the most which was Rachel, I knew I wanted to have a feminised version of my middle name and I added a second middle name on a bit of a whim after various actresses that I liked.

[Jill F]

Because every Jill I've ever met or seen was totally awesome! 

Actually I'm a Gillian.  My original name started with 'G' and I thought it would be cool to keep that ONE thing.  Had I been born with two X chromosomes, my mother would have named me Juliana (yes I asked her when I was a kid) but my baby sister ended up with that.  Gillian is the anglicized version of that name.  It is also anagrammatical of my full given name.  In fact, G------ -illia- ------n.  All we have to do is cross out some letters.  Now I wonder if I'd be a Julie now if it wasn't taken...  I picked my middle name, Elizabeth because, awesome.  It's like totally regal.  Victoria was my runner up.  I took my wife's last name because she stuck with me and I needed to honor that in a big way. 

Jill out.

[fusstangtroy]

My internal girl seem to know what it was .It rolls off my tongue so natural .Sounds to easy but i am old enough to understand to not question whats right. Must fit me cause no one has thought a another name would be more fitting ...AKA Sara

[fusstangtroy]

I made a short list of names I liked and eventually picked the one I liked the most which was Rachel, I knew I wanted to have a feminised version of my middle name and I added a second middle name on a bit of a whim after various actresses that I liked.

I know this off subject but my wife seen your picture on this post and just went crazy .DOC WHO FREAK .nice back ground .AKA Sara

[Natalatalie]

Personally I wanted to pick a name that i didn't know anyone who had it so they wouldn't think i was copying them or something, and I've always thought Natalie was really cute and i luckily know no one with that name c:

[HoneyStrums]

I Didnt know anybody with it, and it went nicely with my family name.

[MikaylaGC]

It's a good question. I cant even really remember how/why i discovered the name Mikayla. But Ive used it for a long time(online) even before I considered transitioning. It just felt right. I guess the nice thing is we do get to choose a name that we like and resonates with us

[Michelle69]

Mikaela is one of the lesser used female names for Michael, and it's a family name. My great aunt's name actually. And it makes me smile when I say it.
Ann because I wanted the same initial and it is also a family name. Great grandmother.

Also I think they sound good together...
Mikaela Ann

Wanted to use Madeline. My late grandmother's name, the person in my childhood that loved me the most and made me feel that I that I was important. My cousin named her second daughter that though.

So that's it
Mikaela

[Umiko]

becuz i'm an anime otaku, i pick umiko which means child of the sea due to my love of the word and i always wanted to be a siren 

[apriljo]

My old first name got feminized and moved to the middle. It's that one thing I thought I would "keep". I figured I would never use it, but there it is in my username 

For my first name I just got a few friends together. We pulled up a name list from my birth year and started at A. We were going to make a short list of names everyone liked and that no one objected to, then narrow it down from there. Reality, or laziness, kicked in once we found the first one everyone liked. From then on I was April.

[mandonlym]

I wanted to keep my initials so it needed to start with an M. At some point I learned that Meredith used to be a male name in Wales and then transitioned into a female name when it traveled to the U.S. I'm an immigrant who became a woman in the States so I thought that would be appropriately poetic.

[Kova V]

Nikova is a mash up of my entire birth name. I had considered Nikita because I love the old 90's series "la femme Nikita" but I've used Nikova for a while and it has grown on me. I like Kova because its nice and short but my sister calls me niki. Again, I like Kova best.

[LittleEmily24]

I consider myself somewhat of a Cutesy Punk. I'm nice and gentle and trusting/trustworthy, but I will tear a person's heart out if they dare dictate how I should live my life and I don't settle for stupidity. I'm a fighter but I have sometimes an oversized heart.

Because of this I think Emily fits well. In reality it means "hard working" which I use to be nothing like in my male days, but now I work harder in every aspect of my life than I could have ever dreamed before. I also admire other cutesy fighter type girls names Emily or variations of it.

Emma Watson - adorable and unapologetic

Emily Browning - often portrays fragile but strong willed characters, and she's just so cute.

Emma Thompson - phenomenal actress

Emma Roberts - such a cutie in pretty much anything she does and also portrays strong willed characters

Aaaaaaand... Emma Bunton - I was a ridiculously big spice girls fan as a kid and she was my all time favorite. Baby Spice  ^_^.

Plus, it also just rang to me, it felt like it belonged to my personality. My middle name choice was Sofia because I needed a transitional middle name between something so American (Emily) and something so Spanish (Garcia), and I felt Sofia was not only cute but a perfect middle name. I kept my middle name after my mom convinced me to keep it.

I had originally decided on Zooey, but I felt that it was too exotic a name for me. Coincidentally, I had originally chosen Zooey because I mistakenly imagined I was a lot like Zooey Deschannel , and came to realize way later that while I was nothing like her,  her sister's name is Emily lol totally unintentional, I assure you. Kinda blows my mind really.

[Allyda]

Mine was easy. My full birth name is Phoenix Allyda Blackwolf Anderson. I as named after her so, in my biological Mom's honor and because my first name, Phoenix is gender neutral, and Allyda was my Mom's middle I just swapped my first name, and first middle name around because my friends said Allyda (Ally for short) was more feminine than Phoenix. Therefore my name now is Allyda Phoenix Blackwolf Anderson, and my friends call me Ally for short. I still haven't decided yet on the spelling for Ally, whether it will be Ally, or Allie, or even Alli, so I've just been spelling it with a "y" for now. I could use y'alls opinions on this. Which do you think is more feminine: Ally, Allie, or Alli?

Ally

[Jessi Lee 1970]

I picked Jessica as it can be shortened to Jess which will make me turn my head in a noisy room... my birth name is Jeff... for my middle name I chose my mother's middle name, Lee
Jessica Lee just sounds beautiful when I hear it because its my real name.
Love, Jessi

[audreytn]

i knew a girl i used to work with, blonde hair, blue eyes, bubbling with life and always happy.

i like her name and i thought i was bubbly and outgoing after i transitioned so thats what i chose and it fit perfect.  found my middle name by going through a list online till it matched the first name.  the last name was taken from a list of the ten most popular last names in America.  i just wanted to blend in and be normal.  so many others with my first, middle and last name, makes it more difficult for someone to find me or stalk me.  my birth last name was very rare and i stood out like a sore thumb in a pinky factory.

its such an awesome feeling to pick your own name, a name you like and feel comfortable with, that your are happy to be with.  makes it easier to be yourself as opposed to a person with a name they cant stand.

[FalseHybridPrincess]

Its unique sounds cool and suits me well
though I dont use it use it yet I want to be 100% full time first