How do you just...pick a new name?

[Aidan_]

Well I asked a bunch of my friends what they'd name their daughter and I have emerged with the name Mirabelle. It is apparently a very old name from the Middle ages, but hey, doesn't hurt to try to revive it! Assuming it sticks, I mean.

Now my surname isn't as easy as just asking friends.

[A]

If you want to change but still feel a connection with your family, you can try looking at your aunts', uncles', grandparents', mother's names. Personally I'm still hesitating between keeping my old last name or taking my great-grandmother's, which sound better, and with who I have more of a connection than with my father. My father will probably get angry and disown me, however. He's a thickheaded person who understands nothing.

[long.897]

Well, you do have a rare name. Foreign and rare names do this effect. For example, mine is French (where I live people speak French) (Ariane - OMFG I said it). I would not expect english people to pronounce it correctly (Ah-ree-ah-n). They will most probably do something like Ey-rye-ey-ne.

I've been leaning towards Ariana, I love it.  It's doubly awesome because I love Greek history, and it's a nod to my Welsh heritage. 

[alia]

Mirabelle is wonderful!

I'm using Alia right now as my first name in femme mode, but I think I might just keep Ryan. Ryan Alia (surname). I find myself saying things like "Hi I'm Alia. Or Ryan. Dude I don't care just call me Ryan."

Alia holds a special significance for me. I've always been fascinated by the name- it comes from my favorite character in my favorite novel. St. Alia of the Knife! That being said, I could also go for Jessica, her and Paul Atredies' mother. Chani is too much. I always told myself that if I was ever a parent (MOM! I'm so stoked to be a mom. Eeek!) I'd name my kids after characters from that book as well, so maybe I should just save Alia for my Daughter, and use Leto for my son.

Ryan is nice and ambiguous, and Seattle's a small town, and I work in a small industry, so peeps are going to figure this s**t out real fast. Stealth has never been particularly attractive to me.

All your names. All your names. All your names, are now belong to us.

Seriously though you guys have adorable names. Mirabelle! Gush. Mira is Spanish for "look" (mirar means "to watch" and belle means, of course, beautiful. Seriously that's the cutest name I've ever heard.

[Cruelladeville]

*I would not expect english people to pronounce it correctly*

I knew 'exactly' how to pronounce it, actually, but then again I'm genetically Irish....

Le bon sens n'est pas aussi commun..... 

[Alexmakenoise]

I chose Alexander in order to revive an old tradition in my family of first-born sons with my surname being named Alexander.  I'm the eldest sibling, so it seemed appropriate.  Then my dad explained that there was nothing special about Alexander - it was just the Scottish tradition of the first-born son being named after the father.  So if I want to follow that tradition, I should take my father's name, which I can't see myself doing.  Apparently, trying to pick something family-related can complicate things.

I also asked my parents what they would have named me if I had been a boy.  They said they considered Alexander, but decided they didn't like it, so they went with Christopher.  I don't know why, but Christopher just doesn't seem to suit me.

If I don't go with Alexander, I want to choose a traditional male name that is familiar yet not extremely common, and not associated with any particular age group.  (I think it's problematic when you can guess what decade someone was born in based on their name.  This is the case with my birth name.)  I think I'll probably come up with a few options and ask my friends and family which one they like the best.

[A]

There is always something, somewhere, that publishes a list of the most popular names this year, in order. Look for the (year of birth) one and look towards the middle. You will get names that are frequently used but that you will not find classes with 4 of them. Then try the bottom of the list. They were chosen several times, so they are familiar, but not common.

You can try this with other lists, too. Like, this year's list, 1995's list, etc.

Oh, for example, here's a graph of my name. It was apparently most popular in 1998, so I will be named like 12-13-year-olds, which is not too bad. It would basically mean that by giving me this name, my parents would have been slightly "visionary".
http://www.lesprenoms.net/Ariane.html

[PixieBoy]

I chose my name, Elias, because it would keep my initials (E.C), and my middle name will be Cornelius, to keep the E and the C and to keep at least one of my original names (I masculinized my middle name). I have always liked the name Elias, so that's also why I chose it. I think that my parents won't hate it, at least.

[Elsa]

after a lot of thinking I think the name Alexia would suit me as it has the same meaning and initials as my male name although I would have preferred a Gaelic/Scottish name a its kinda a family tradition ...   

[Rachel Bellefountaine]

Well, Rachel wasn't actually my original choice of name. When I first came out to my family and friends I picked the name Chandra, because it had all the letters of my birth name. At the time it didn't bother me to have a name that was similar to my male name, but the more I started using it the more uncomfortable I was with it. I started looking into other names, via baby names website, and Rachel was one that caught my attention. Eventually I narrowed the list down to Rachel and Sarah, and picked the former, along with the middle name Lynette. This time I am quite happy with my name, which is now my legal name, though I occasionally come across another name, and will be like "Ooh! What if I had I picked that name?". lol. One of those names was Juliet, which I actually took on as a pen name.