How did you decide on a name?

[V]

My mother named me

Ditto for me.
Guess I was very lucky in that respect.

[HappyMoni]

Do you want attention surrounding your name or do you want no questioning of it in public situations? Some of the names you mentioned  will bring with it the need to explain or talk about it. (With the "Val" theme, I knew a man we called Uncle Valley or Vallie or Uncle Val.) With my name Monica or "Moni," I like the flexibility. With strangers I say Monica. No questions because everyone is familiar with the name. Moni was good during pretransition because it was non gender specific enough if someone heard it. I give people the choice, but I prefer Moni. It is cool because it is a very uncommon name. I have liked the name since I had a crush on a girl when I was 9 years old.
Moni

You could scan the baby name lists for ideas, maybe look for some old time names that are not quite common now.

[Jin]

Back in the day the kids all started calling me "Jin" I had a habit of popping up unexpectedly and disappearing quickly. And something about rubbing me to get wishes granted. I think they were referring to the mythical "Djinn" of Alladin's Lamp fame but were a bunch of semi-literate rednecks who couldn't spell. Anyhow, it stuck and works well when I am in either gender. (I tend to switch back and forth a lot. On any given day I never know which I will be until I step out of the shower and see what clothes my wife has laid out for me).

[Micki]

My first name and middle name are easy enough to feminise and are pretty much gender neutral so that's what I always use.

[Aubrey1day]

My father loved a band named Bread and they have a song called Aubrey... It took me much longer to settle on a middle name but I ended up going with "Kay" which was my mother's middle name.

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[elle’s bells]

I literally had to write a name on a card at a transgender support meeting and I just wrote four loops which looked like a cursive e l l e. 

[BirlPower]

@WolfNightV4X1 You mentioned Valentine but wouldn't Valentino be the male version of that name? I think Valentino would be a great version of Val.

I don't really use a female name as I don't venture out in girl mode and if I did it would be some time before I needed to use a name but I've thought about it. I could feminise my male name to the name of the tall blond female warrior in game of thrones.  I quite like that even though I'd look like tyrian if I stood next to her.

Hugs
B

[jujubes1986]

Val is a pretty name

[Heita]

I just go by the shortened version of my birth name, I like it and that version is also the shortened version of the male form of my name. And I started to pick it just because abroad people where having problem with my (easy, I swear! ) full name.

[arice]

I haven't changed anything but if I do, I intend to use the masculine version of my name. I grew into the name and made it my own... so it fits me as a person.

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[ainawa88]

I asked my mother when I was very young what name she had picked out (while she was pregnant with me) for if she had a female child. I never forgot it, and that's what my name is now.

[NordicSofia]

Well, I'm pre-everything but couple of years ago I began to feel a need to have a female name to present my inner self.  At the time when I joined Susan's the choise was Sofia, but lately I have been thinking some other options too.

I think a name is just something that feels right and suits your personality. I like names that are both international and national in a way, I don't prefer too exotic names or versions of my male (hey, male name belongs to some guy who I'm really not...)

[CaRenaetx]

I had always loved the name Cassandra Renae, it flowed, it clicked.  When my girlfriend (now wife) learned of all this, on our second date, her first comment was "Pretty name, but I ain't calling you Cassie".  Her sister is named Cathy and they grew up in Europe where cassie was how her sisters name sounded spoken by the locals.   So I go by Renae.  A safe compromise

[TX16]

I don't really like the genderbent versions of my birth name, so I didn't even consider them as a possibility. Trent just kind of, fit. I've liked the name since I was younger, it wasn't one that I just thought was the best name ever, but it was good. So when I started thinking of a more masculine name for myself, my mind went straight to Trent and it stuck.

[redhot1]

Chelsea or Ellie, those would be the names I pick if I were to transition (I haven't yet seen a therapist, so I didn't quite figure out my gender yet). I might be open to more options, but I pick these two choices arbitrarily and they seem to click now for some reason, despite that they are detached from my birth name.

[Black13]

Sylvia... well.  Sylvia Plath, whose writing I don't adore but I can relate to the suicidal ideation, as I see this as a way of killing myself without needing to die.  Sylvia Kristel who, upon accidentally seeing her in Emmanuelle 4 when I was quite young, awakened a strange mix of intense attraction and deep, aching sadness that took quite a few years to fully understand.  Sylvia Rivera, a big name in trans activism, who fought against her own establishment when they started to suck up to The Man.
Sylvia is not just who I am, but what I am.  It is the metaphorical death of something my mind has been trying to reject since I first understood the life I felt condemned to.  It is the liberation of myself, in the face of all that has been demanded of me, and a constant reminder not to compromise my truth.  It is the mourning of a life I missed, the celebration of the life I have chosen, and the foundation upon which I will build the life ahead of me.

Whew... waxing rhapsodical!

[Wanda Jane]

I don't remember where I picked it up but ever since I was very little I always knew I'd eventually be Wanda. Most people ask if I'm just going to go with Roberta. You do the math. I am still working on a middle name. My current one is not gonna work. I'm thinking of Ruth or Mary for my mother and grandmother respectively. I'm open to suggestions, though, if anyone comes up with something catchy to go with Wanda.

[Artesia]

@surge98b

Try Jane or Rei and see how that sounds with it to your ears.  To me it flows well.

[Rachel_Christina]

I kept my name and just changed it to the female version, Christine, and Rachel is the name I would have been called had I been a girlat birth, its my mothers Grannys name. I would have called myself Rachel other than I don't want to throw away the name my father gave me, it may be all I have left when I come out to him :/

[naa]

My parents gave me a gender neutral name.  I've tried a bunch of other names, including the three my mother had in mind if I'd been born a girl.  But really, nothing is sticking mentally.

I haven't 100% decided, but I'm leaning towards either keeping my gender neutral name, or changing the spelling to make it the female form.