Keeping Birth Name?

[utouto]

I happen to really like my birth name, and think it's fairly androgynous. Others I know seem to think otherwise: that my birth name, Meredith, is very feminine.
What do you think? Is name an issue when passing?

Thanks!

[Clay]

whoo, i'd file it under male, but mostly because i only encountered it once, naming a guy in a very funny story 
but otherwise i can see many think it's quite feminine. then again, what does it matter? shouldn't drop it if you like it, which i can understand.

[SnailPace]

I have the same problem with my birthname, "Alea". 

1. I like it.
2. I think that people would find it difficult to do a name switch.
3. The name means a lot to my mom.

Do you guys think Alea is super feminine?

[Farm Boy]

I don't think Meredith is exactly unisex...  It would probably tip people's perception of you toward "female" if you were presenting androgynously.  Not to say that you shouldn't keep your name, because your name is important.  I really like my birth name as well, so I just changed it to it's masculine form.  Ex: Christina > Christopher.  Just take your time, and remember, you don't have to change your name if you don't want to, and you don't have to make a decision today!

SnailPace- I've never heard that name before, so I couldn't really say..

[Nathan.]

If you like it keep it but to me Meredith is a female name as I have only known of females with that name.

[Mark]

I have only heard Meredith used as female, but then again, I also dont know many people with that name.

[Mark]

I have the same problem with my birthname, "Alea". 

1. I like it.
2. I think that people would find it difficult to do a name switch.
3. The name means a lot to my mom.

Do you guys think Alea is super feminine?

Depending on how you pronounce it, it might be feminine, but like Farm boy said, I've never heard it used before, so it could go either way based on its uniqueness

[Osiris]

I've only heard Meredith used for women's names. Though it is technically a unisex name so there are guys out there who go by it, but there is a strong predominance of women using it.

Alea is considered an alternative spelling to Aaliyah and both are considered feminine names. It's a very popular name for girls now-a-days (both spellings) especially with the well known singer Aaliyah. I don't think you're gonna see a lot of guys going by that name.

As I'm sure other guys have said before it's up to your personal preference. If you like your birth name and don't want a more masculine name then don't change it. You may get comments like how your name might seem more like a girl's name, but there are cisgendered people who go through the same thing to.

[Arch]

Meredith was traditionally male until, I don't know, maybe sometime in the twentieth century. I file it with other names that made the switch, like Evelyn, Jocelyn, Beverly, and Hillary; I would not be too surprised to meet a guy with one of those names, but I suppose most people would--in the United States, anyway. I doubt that there are many male Merediths left, except perhaps in Wales.

Maybe you could go back to a more traditional Welsh spelling and/or pronunciation (in Welsh, the stress is generally on the penultimate syllable).

BTW, I would expect a person named Alea to be female.

[insideontheoutside]

It totally sounds like a name from another era ... and it appears it was used for guys way back when, but in modern day, I would tend to think female if I heard it.

Then again, I knew a bio guy named Shannon once, so go fig.

[zombiesarepeaceful]

Sadly my  birth name isn't androgynous in this country, but in others. I decided with no doubts to change my name, simply cause I can't stand anyone questioning my gender for any reason. At work they think I'm bio male though...cause i told them my mom thought it funny to name me that cause I'm two different nationalities, and they only call me Leo and they know I'm changing my name this month legally. But if I was pre-t and hadn't changed my gender marker yet..that wouldn't fly.

[mistressstevie]

In most English spoken names, the ending vowel sound is more often perceived as either
the more feminine or the diminuative version of any given phonetic name pattern.  Or, at
least that is how I learned it and perceive it. 

If you can add the right inflection to pronunciation, keep it and run with it.  If you can say
it differently and still have it work for you--use that strategy. 

-mS

[GnomeKid]

Meredith, to me, is a distinctly female name.  That being said I think that pretty much any name can be used for either gender if you don't mind the consequences.  I got blood taken [post T - pre name and gender marker change] under the name roseann and the lady not only changed my gender to Male in the system saying "they must have made some sorta mistake" but commented that my parents had sure given me an odd name for a boy.  I'm pretty certain she may have even called it cruel =p  If I could pass as a male using a name that is not only 1 female name, but a combination of two [one of which is a flower which almost entirely excludes it from being a male name] than I'm fairly certain anything is possible. 

As far as Alea goes I'd say pretty much the same thing.  With the exception that while I [like many others] would most likely assume that it was a female name it is uncommon enough that I think that you'd get more "What an interesting name, where is it from, what does it mean ect" questions rather than "Why'd your parents name you a girls name?" type questions.  I'd personally find the latter more annoying.

You may also find your opinion on the whole thing changing over time.  I wanted to change my name to my "female" nickname.  Its a name I've always identified with and never though of as feminine because it was MY name.  I spent hours going through name websites ect. trying to find one that felt right.  I tried a few out in my head that I could have gotten used to, but none of them really felt right.  One day I came across Rowan, and it just clicked.  I felt like a warrior of sorts or something.  Now that I've gone through the legal name change process I'm very glad that I went with a more distinctly male name [although it is technically unisex as well]  It gets annoying hearing "Thats an odd name for a boy" every time you are introduced as though no one had ever yet pointed that out to you before.

ALSO if you pick out an even semi interesting name if someone tells you they like it you can say "Thanks, I picked it out myself!" and they won't be sure if you're just being a jackass or not

[notyouraverageguy]

I personally wouldn't keep mine, I've always hated it.
Both those names sound female to me, but its all personal preference.
If you like it/have a personal attachment to it then keep it, or put it as your middle name.
It shouldn't be a problem after you start T if you plan on taking T.
Once you pass 90-100% it won't matter what your name is.

[utouto]

I personally wouldn't keep mine, I've always hated it.
Both those names sound female to me, but its all personal preference.
If you like it/have a personal attachment to it then keep it, or put it as your middle name.
It shouldn't be a problem after you start T if you plan on taking T.
Once you pass 90-100% it won't matter what your name is.

Great advice!
I plan on starting T at some point, so maybe I will keep the name. If not, I will definitely keep putting it as a middle name in mind. Thanks!

[utouto]

It totally sounds like a name from another era ... and it appears it was used for guys way back when, but in modern day, I would tend to think female if I heard it.

Then again, I knew a bio guy named Shannon once, so go fig.

haha. I believe it was sometime around the 1950s that Meredith became a feminine name. Before then it was male.

[Tad]

You might have to check your laws from wherever you are.

I know that here - you have to change your name to a male name if you want to change your gender, and it's often one of the kind of prerequisites for getting T.

I see Meredith as female.. I've only ever heard of it used as a female name

[sneakersjay]

I do tend to think of Meredith as an F name, but only because all of the Merediths I knew were F.  I guess it's kind of like names like Shirley, Kimberly, Sidney, and Ashley, all of which used to be male names but now are mainly known as F names.

Like the others have said, once you're on T and look male, nobody will care what your name is.


Jay

[Ryan]

I've never heard of Meredith being used as a male name.
I think if you're somewhat androgynous looking (especially pre-T) then your name may be the "decider" for people.

Personally, I would never have kept my birth name. Just hearing it makes me cringe.

[Arch]

Like the others have said, once you're on T and look male, nobody will care what your name is.

Well, I'm not so sure. I took some crap for having a male name when I was presenting as female. Not too often, but often enough to be irritating. They were mostly confused responses from fairly nice people and curiosity-driven inquiries that were put across rather rudely by clueless people. Occasionally, my identity was questioned.

I also had a male coworker named Tracy who got hassled from time to time over his name. And a kid named Robin who was teased, but that was in elementary school.

But, hey, if you like the name a lot, keep it. I liked my birth name because it was unusual, but I always had a different name in my head, ever since I was a wee thing. (I used to be a wee thing, and now I have a wee thing...)