How did you pick your name?

[D'Amalie]

I really like the name Pauline and kind of wish I went with it.  Overall, I think Paulie is a better choice in that it's more gender-neutral.  I don't think I'll ever pass and having a gender-neutral name may work better, should I ever decide to use the name outside of Susan's. 

Your reasoning is valid.  I too used a femme version of my given name.  I do use my name with my health care folks though.  Meaning "Richelle."

[Mariah]

I picked my first during my first go at transitioning. I decided second go around it was the right name. I don't recall how I came to the decision. I suspect it has to do with it being a variant of Mary. My middle name was also in a form, biblically inspired, and I love the fact that it is a palindrome. Hugs
Mariah

[ChrissyRyan]

Well, some of us have a name that has been traditionally given to a male or a female.  Sometimes we have names that have variants that would primarily be given to a girl, or we have names that would be primarily given to a boy.  But the short version of the name is often used for both females and males.  Then there are names that are more often given to males but are sometimes used by females, and vice versa.

But, this does mean we want to keep that given name.

[Gina P]

I had wanted to keep my first initial 'G' and just spent several months searching through names till I found one I liked. I had also been fond of Gina Davis, so this seamed a nice choice.
Gina

[Jessica_K]

I always liked Jessica as a name so it was obvious that I would choose it. I also wanted a name that was not associated with my deadname. My original initials was REK and I hated that. I did not add a second name so I became JK, better. Then when I got married I added my wife's name so I became JK-H or as I put it just JKH much better.

Hugs
Xxx

[KathyLauren]

I wanted to keep my initials.  I also wanted something similar to my given name.  And it had to be something that was plausible as a name for someone of my age.

There isn't a feminine version of my old first name.  (Well, technically there is, I found out, but it's hideous.)  Kathy is as similar as I could get without using the hideous one.  I had to choose between it being short for Katherine or Kathleen.  I went with Kathleen as the Irish version because I am Irish.  It was also my mother-in-law's middle name, so I picked up some serious brownie points there.

My middle name, Lauren, is a recognized feminine version of my old middle name.

[Faith]

I wanted change, so first and middle are both new and not original initials.

As for how I 'got named', well, it was here. I asked for suggestions that people thought fit my posting personality. Faith got suggested here (you know who you are, and so do I) and it gave me a warm flush fuzzy feeling. Then I went though middle names looking for a fit.

The second part is, when I told my wife what I wanted for my new name she just stopped and looked at me and said, "[her sister] and I and discussed that name for [insert our middle daughter's name here]".

We opted for a different name for our middle daughter, based on my input, and I ended up with one that had a special meaning for my wife. I don't remember ever hearing it as a possibility but maybe I did and was subconsciously drawn to it. It's worked out very well and still suits me. I would never consider a different name.

[SashaXtina]

I picked my name, Sasha, when I was 11 years old (long before I came out), right when I started middle school, because it was my favorite name of a person I went to school with at the time. I went to an extremely religious middle and high school, but after I came out, she was quite supportive of me and I wound up thanking her for inspiring me with her own (birth) name. She was thrilled and it was quite endearing!

My middle name, Christina, is the female form of my dead name to pay homage to my deceased father and my living mother who (for whatever reason) *really* wanted that name for me. So now, Sasha Christina it is and it's been that way for ages!

For the record, I really love reading everyone's stories on here and glad I could contribute mine.

[Sarah B]

I can only generally describe how I came about my names as I'm a very private person.

I was at the swimming pool where I trained and of course the thought of what would I call myself if I was a female.  I changed all my names, the first name came about because I wanted a name where one could not turn it into a nick name.

Well that idea fell flat on its face, as my eldest brother fixed that of course, it is gender neutral, it suits my overall appearance, there are several famous people with it as well and it was a name of a dear friend who was also a swimmer before I changed my life around.

It was pretty popular in the year I was born around about 33 on the most popular baby names at the time, so all in all I believe I picked a damn good name for me.

Yes I did consider Sarah to be my first name and one of the reasons why it was considered seriously was because my mum said to me one time that if she had a daughter then she would have called her Sarah.

When I considered it, I thought it did not suit my profile and it did not rhyme well if I used it as a middle name.  Still to this day I believe I should have used it a one of my names.  I'm not going to change my names now in anyway, because if I did it would cause me headaches all around.

The second name is based of a Greek mythology and it rhymes with my first name.  I have a third name, it also is of Greek origin, so all in all I have 3 female names and they appear on my formal documents with either 2 or 3 depending on the type of document.

Since I left my family and friends to live my life.  I did not want them be able to find me so I had to drop my previous surname as it was rare and I adopted a very common surname.

Now that I know that my family accepts me unconditionally, the question arises do I go back to my former surname, the answer is basically no because I have too many document that would need to be changed.

Well I think that about does it on how I changed my names.  Changing ones name is a personal endevour.  Depending on ones journey, it's important that one that you change your name and you change all your documents accordingly as soon as possible.  It will cause you the least amount of grief.

Kind regards to one and all
Sarah B

[Sarah B]

Fixed that for ya! 

Hugs, Devlyn

Oh you cracked me good and proper

Best wishes
Sarah B

[Kay226]

I experimented with several names. Kay seemed to resonate with me. It is a simple name and I am not flashy. I just want to be the lady who lives next door and wears jeans, a sweatshirt and running shoes.

[D'Amalie]

Hi, Kay!  

[Jessica_K]

I experimented with several names. Kay seemed to resonate with me. It is a simple name and I am not flashy. I just want to be the lady who lives next door and wears jeans, a sweatshirt and running shoes.

My wife's name is Kay, chosen by her parents because it cannot be shorted. Well that did stop her friends elongated it instead. And I have shortened it to K

Hugs
Jessica xxx

[Sarah B]

My wife's name is Kay, chosen by her parents because it cannot be shorted. Well that did stop her friends elongated it instead. And I have shortened it to K

Hugs
Jessica xxx

Yeah I can sympathize with that. Friends and family certainly elongated my name.  thereby giving me nicknames which I tried to avoid when deciding on name.

Kind regards to one and all
Sarah B

[Rachel]

I liked the name Rachel Lynn. If I went with ethnic it would have been Rakel Lyn.

[LauraE]

I knew from the beginning that I was going to borrow my grandmother's maiden name. My middle name from my great-mother.

Laura

[Sarah B]

Hi Kay

I experimented with several names. Kay seemed to resonate with me. It is a simple name and I am not flashy. I just want to be the lady who lives next door and wears jeans, a sweatshirt and running shoes.

Yes, what you wrote resonates with me deeply a simple name that suits oneself and who lives next door.

Best wishes and hugs
Sarah B

[jamieh]

I wanted to keep my initials.

Similar here with initials.  My given name is James and I've never disliked it really other than that it's a male name.  When I was a kid I used to secretly practice my signature as Jamie.  I'd crumple up or tear up the paper into tiny pieces and flush them lol.  Jamie just always felt like my real name, even if only in secret.

I chose "Madison" as my middle name for a few reasons. Again same initial as my given middle name, but I've been in love with the name Madison and "Maddy" ever since reading Ethan Frome in high school (even though she was Mattie, not "Maddy" Silver, I found Mattie and Maddy to be really cute girl name)....plus I love early American history and James Madison's writings.

[D'Amalie]

I knew from the beginning that I was going to borrow my grandmother's maiden name. My middle name from my great-mother.

Laura

I love that!  I'm stuck on my family history. So, I gave my youngest son the maiden names of both my paternal great grandmothers.  I hope he forgives me!  Renz and Matheiu  My names are femme conversions .

[Sarah B]

Hi D'Amalie

I love that!  I'm stuck on my family history. So, I gave my youngest son the maiden names of both my paternal great grandmothers.  I hope he forgives me!  Renz and Matheiu  My names are femme conversions.

Naming your son in this way, not only honors your great grandmothers, but shows your respect as well.  Kudos to you D'Amalie.

Two of my names I could of feminized, but not possible at the time as information was scarce on how to do this.  In fact I never new about feminization of names was possible and one name was not possible.

Best wishes and hugs
Sarah B