Susan's Place Transgender Resources

How were you all able to choose such a beautiful name?  :) I mean, there are literary a lot of names out there to choose from. There's a few names that I am considering, I'm also considering the name that my own mother had reserved for yours truly, until I was born physically in the wrong body.  :( Also, how difficult is the process of legally changing your name?

I didn't have to choose, my friend named me: Devlyn Marie

This should help with your second question.  :)

https://www.susans.org/wiki/Category:Documentation_changes

Hugs, Devlyn

When I was a teen I met a girl called Sonya, she was pretty and very talented at different stuff. I really liked her but her parents wouldn't let her have a boyfriend so it never went anywhere.  Years later I would think about how similar I would look to her if I was a girl, and I had always thought she had the coolest name I had heard for a girl.
I like the movie 'Red Sonja' because its about a fierce female warrior, I also liked Sonja in the underwold/lycan movies (Victors daughter). Although the name can be spelt Sonia, Sonya, or Sonja - I chose the latter to include the J that is the first letter in my original name. The name Sonja means wisdom so that's a bonus also.

Good luck choosing yours,

Sonja.

@Devlyn So lucky lol I guess I'm in the same boat in a way, my mom did have a name for the real me after all. Thank you for the link and thank you for your service to our nation.  :)

@Sonja Thank you Sonja, I really like your name and the story behind it. I was only aware of Sonja from Underworld because it's one of my favorite movie series that I haven't seen lol I have seen parts from all of them and really enjoy them, but because of my busy schedule I mostly only get to watch movies while going to bed. As you might imagine I fall asleep halfway through anything I "watch" if I ever get that far into a movie lmao

Maybe once I get to upload my picture everyone here can help me choose a name that suits me, I'll also be sure to post the names that I have in mind  ;)

I was fairly practical about it. I chose a name that:

- Shared the same initial letter as my birth name.

- Had two syllables (my surname has a single syllable and I wanted an iambic flow).

- No-one else I knew already had.

- Looked at popular girls names for the year of my birth so that my name would be typical for my age.


That only left a few options, and I just chose one I liked. X

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@Megan Wow, that's a smart way of choosing and certainly narrows down the endless list of names to choose from.  :) I also feel that I do not want to take anyone else's name and if I can avoid doing so I will, unless of course I really, really, fall in love with it :icon_giggle: I will definitely take your useful tips into consideration, thank you Megan.  :)

I wasn't that uncomfortable with my male name but it was clearly masculine and there wasn't a real feminine equivalent. One day I was walking through the parking lot at work and I saw my name on a customized license plate. It's fairly close to my birth name, uses all the same letters but it's clearly feminine. I hung on to the name for a while and when I finally had my first group therapy session, I was asked what name I wanted to use. I tried it on the group, they liked it so I kept it

I have a fairly masculine personality (for a girl, not for a guy) and I'm out with my friends, but not in public or at work, and I wanted something gender-neutral that I could use both before and after going full-time, so I looked up gender-neutral names, made a list of the ones I liked, and ended up choosing Robin. My middle name's going to be Rebecca, because it's my favorite girl name and I used to go by Becky to the few people that knew my secret 2+ years ago. Still haven't settled on a last name yet, but I don't want to keep the one I have due to family issues.

I actually chose my name before I actually figured out I was trans. See, in middle school I had this friend who was an artist, and they decided to draw our entire friend group with an opposite-gender version of ourselves. Originally, mine was named "Sam" but I didn't think that was close enough to my deadname ("Sarah"), so I decided to look up a more masculine version of my name (with the same original language and meaning). Turns out, it's Sariel. It means "prince of god" or "god's command", depending on the translation. It's also the name of an archangel, which is pretty cool. Thus, the so-called "genderbent" version of me was christened Sariel.
Around the end of that year, I figured out I was a man. I started using Sariel as my name a year or so later.
3 years later, I am legally Sariel, and have been so for nearly a year. I remember telling one of my friends that it turns out the "genderbent" version of me was "Sarah" all along!

When I was daydreaming about whether or not I might be trans, the totally silly idea popped into my head that I'd have to learn a new signature.  That got me thinking about names that were similar to my male name.  My male name, Keith, had no female equivalent, so I opted for Kathy.  My middle name, Lawrence, had a couple of female possibilities, and I opted for Lauren.

When I signed up here on Susan's, that was the name I used.  As I got used to using it and having people call me by it, I liked it more and more.  So when the time came to "lock in my final answer", that's what I used.  It kept my initials the same, kept my signature similar, and allowed people who started to misname me to switch gears in mid-stream and correct themselves witout it being too obvious.  I also like that Kathleen preserves the Celtic heritage of Keith.  (Keith is Scottish.  Kathleen is the Irish equivalent of Catherine.)  Kathy was a common name in my birth year, and Lauren, while less common, is plausible as a middle name, since the actress Lauren Bacall was popular around that time.

@Denna I have the same problem, I'm comfortable enough with my current name, but eventually I will need to change it because it is a masculine name. My name also does not have a feminine equivalent so choosing now will definitely help me soon enough whenever I become physically female. I am also hoping for the same result on here, I typically have a hard time making up my mind lol  :)

@DustKitten First off, I love your username I really like cats and almost everything to do with them. I was also thinking about choosing a gender neutral name because I feel that in a way I have to acknowledge somehow that I was wrongly born a male and then figured out later in life that I'm actually a female, if that makes any sense. I also feel that I'm also kind of masculine, but only because of the way I that I was raised (as a male) and once I begin HRT I will begin to transition into my true self, personality and everything. I'm not sure about my last name, I might keep it the same; hopefully someday I'll get married and take on a new last name.  :)

@Inbredupus That's an awesome story behind your name angels ,I think, look awesome and they are incredibly powerful beings as well. I'm not an artist, but I've always been curious about how I would look if I was a female and I was finally able to get a tiny glimpse of what I might look like. I used an app on my mobile device that allows you to take a picture of yourself and apply makeup and hair lol I realize it's not that accurate, but I now have a semi-decent idea of how I will look soon enough, in fact I will use one of those pictures as my avatar once I am able to.  ;)


@KathyLauren

Quote from: KathyLauren on July 04, 2018, 06:08:17 PM
... the totally silly idea popped into my head that I'd have to learn a new signature.  That got me thinking about names that were similar to my male name.  My male name, Keith, had no female equivalent, so I opted for Kathy.  My middle name, Lawrence, had a couple of female possibilities, and I opted for Lauren...  As I got used to using it and having people call me by it, I liked it more and more.  So when the time came to "lock in my final answer", that's what I used.  It kept my initials the same, kept my signature similar...

Thank you for that eye-opening comment Kathy, I never thought about tiny details like coming up with a new signature, looks like I have a lot more work cut out ahead than I at first suspected. However I am sure about this and I'm very optimistic about my decision and my future. I guess it truly is a rebirth as they say, I can't wait to experience all of the joy it's small details, that also means that I will have to brace myself for the worst as well.

There was this girl I fancied at the church my family attended, right about the time some lady was asking me my name I saw her walk by so I took to running down the hall calling her name

This naturally caused a bit of confusion for awhile, so some people called me by my first name, others by middle name and then some folks would call me by her name

I thought it hilarious, but my mother was not quite so amused LOL

@V M   Wow that is soo funny lol My mother would not find it funny at all if that were to happen to me. I mean when I was like 4 or 5 years old I would tell her that I'm a girl and she would just outright deny it and tell me to shut up, that I am a male. I have just always, ever since I have memory, felt that I should be a female, but because of both of my parents and the rest of my family I have forced myself to live as a male. There hasn't been a single day in my life that I haven't thought about, fantasized, about being a female. That desire to be my true self grows stronger by the day and  now that I'm 24 and finally about to finish college (with a lot debt of course) I can't wait to move out of town and get the best job out there with my degree. I also want to begin HRT as soon as possible to maximize my physical change from male to female and I am very optimistic about the results that I will see.


Sorry I didn't mean to ramble lol I just get so frustrated that I did not begin sooner, that I have been a coward and  did not have the courage to confront my family in my earlier years. That I still have a giant phobia regarding coming out of the closet to my family, I already know how they will react... this is very difficult so it must be the correct path.  :)

Ryan being my middle name from birth, it feels like the perfect surname for me. I didn't want to carry on the family last name bc I don't speak to them anymore, so here's to starting a whole new legacy!

The name Jezebel just came to me though. My first name at birth started with a Z and also had 7 letters and 3 syllable, so it just spiritually feels like a variation of my original name.

I'm the kind of girl that everyyyyythingggg has to mean something lol so Jezebel Ryan it is


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My name is close to my old male name. I just changed the spelling a little bit and It just fit. I wanted to keep the same initials so that made it even easer. I was on the fence for a while with my middle name (Haley or Helen). I ended up with Donica Haley. I think that rolls off the tongue mush better.

I just added 3 letters on to my old name Paul,  ''ine'' and became Pauline, a feminine version, my parents christen me Paul, but if I was born cis-female they would have christen me Pauline, so you could say, I transition from Paul to Pauline.

I have been thinking a lot about this recently, I always liked Rose, because I have an insane love of perfume and fragrance and I am English (An English Rose), but it doesn't feel me. New person, so new name and I am leaning to Tess. From "Tess of the d'urbervilles". I know I picked something that suited me when I find myself practicing my signature :-)

I used a combination of factors:

• Found the popular names for my birth year and sorted alphabetically): https://www.behindthename.com
• Used my sister's first name (Melissa) as a guide for symmetry (first choice was Melinda)
• My male middle name was my dad's first, so I used my mom's middle for mine which used the same initial - yay!
• Keep my current initials just for ease of some who already called me MJ, which I liked anyway
• The name needed a iambic flow and not appear named by a silly parent (I've heard some real doozies)
  

Names are a very personal thing, but no one should have to worry about getting it right first time. Find one that appeals to you (for whatever reason), try it out at home, then try it on friends or family if you can. If necessary, use the opinions of others as a guide, and eventually you'll find a stellar name that will fit perfectly. :o)

@lunaJ

Quote from: lunaJ on July 07, 2018, 09:08:51 AM
Ryan being my middle name from birth, it feels like the perfect surname for me. I didn't want to carry on the family last name bc I don't speak to them anymore, so here's to starting a whole new legacy!

The name Jezebel just came to me though. My first name at birth started with a Z and also had 7 letters and 3 syllable, so it just spiritually feels like a variation of my original name.

I'm the kind of girl that everyyyyythingggg has to mean something lol so Jezebel Ryan it is


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I don't think that my first name would be a good last name unfortunately lol  :icon_giggle: I have a similar belief that everything is connected somehow, I've been called a nutjob for it haha. I really like your new name but I don't think it will suit me so your name is safe lol. ;)

I'm sorry about your family, I believe I will be on the same boat as you in regards to not speaking with family anymore. I think they'll hate me or just not want me to affiliate with them anymore after I "come out" to them. I'm just going to take it step by step, hopefully they will understand and not hate me for being born in the wrong "gender".

@Donica I am 100% with you on wanting to keep the same initials, it would make things easier I believe. Unfortunately my name is so masculine that it would be difficult to shape it into a female version.  ::)


@pretty pauline  Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of adding or subtracting letters from my birth name to feminize it. My mother did have a female name ready for me though, I might end up taking that as my new name.  :)

@NC_Rose That is a beautiful name I have an aunt named Rose and Iv'e always wanted to be named that too lol, but I would just feel awkward, anyways I don't feel like it suits me at all lol. Tess sounds lovely and now I will have to look up "Tess of the d'urvervilles".   ;)

@Melanie Jean OMG! Lmao I really need to be careful with not messing up my name, I don't want to be that one person who has a weird funny looking name that was chosen by silly parents!  :icon_giggle: Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of having supportive family & friends to "practice" anything with.  :(  It is the reason why I decided to come here and become true friends with all of you.  :) 

Part of the reason why I started this thread is to find inspiration for my new name and gain tips on finding it (which has been working out a lot better than I expected, thank you all for your tips and support!), soon I will post some details so that we can hopefully find my real name lol.  :D

My wife is having a hard time with the thought of me changing my name, the sheer amount of paperwork is daunting, especially as a naturalised citizen. She also has the fear that it will be losing "me" when I change it. I feel it's becoming "me" by finding my true name, but I understand her concerns. My name is "Andy" which could be used as a female context, but when I hear it, Its a reminder of who I was, not who I am.

Who knew that something as simple as a name, could mean so much! We were given these names at birth, but when we transition, we get to choose who we want to be, which is liberating and very powerful.

I chose the name Ariel. She was my first crush and I haven't seen too many people with that name. also it's two letters off from my dead name. (gabriel).

Quote from: Ar-bar-bar on July 12, 2018, 06:08:42 AM
I chose the name Ariel. She was my first crush and I haven't seen too many people with that name. also it's two letters off from my dead name. (gabriel).

Hi, Ariel!

Welcome to Susan's.

Thanks for jumping it!  That's a pretty name.

Please feel free to stop by the Introductions forum (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/board,8.0.html) to tell the members about yourself.  Here is some information that we like to share with new members:

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I was going to reply a few days ago but realised I hated the name I was using. Fortunately I hadn't posted yet to I deleted the accounts and spent a bit of time finding a name I liked even if it only a temporary one. 

I originally chose a name that would allow me to use my male nickname but it didn't feel right.

I ended up writing down a list of names of women from sci-fi shows and a few non nerdy names that I liked. As much as I liked many of them Samantha was the only one that felt right. I also had someone that knows me well help with taking away names that didn't suit me. I really wanted to use the name River, I really like it and it has the advantage of being connected to two awesome characters but after sleeping on it I had to agree it didn't feel like me.

It's still very early days for me though so I imagine I might feel differently at some point. Only time will tell. 

When I admitted to myself I am what I am and decided that I would need a new name, I spent half a day at work going over all kinds of options trying to find one that "Sounded Right".  I went through names of actresses and names from literature.  Names from movies.  Names of women I knew in the past and names of girls I knew as a kid...  NOTHING fit.

So a half hour before I was due to get off work and make the trek home, I gave up because that's when I would start getting depressed anyway.  I drove home thinking about fifty thousand different things having nothing to do with a name and when I get there I do what I always do.  I go change into my casual clothes in the bathroom in the back of the house.

I finished changing and found myself just blankly looking at myself in the mirror and then hear a common call from across the house in the living room.  "(Insert Male Name Here)!!!!".  My wife wanted help with something so I look at the bathroom door and shout back "I'll be right there!!!!"

I look back in the mirror and say out loud to myself without a thought to latch onto, "Alright Erin.  Time to go be a husband."

I giggled to myself all the way up the hall.  It stuck.

I have since come out to my wife (three weeks ago) and she is NOT processing well.  So, it's still a name I use here on Susan's and I have told my new therapist and my cousin.  But no one else yet knows.  My wife doesn't want to know.

Quote from: SamanthaMelody on July 13, 2018, 11:23:21 AM
I was going to reply a few days ago but realised I hated the name I was using. Fortunately I hadn't posted yet to I deleted the accounts and spent a bit of time finding a name I liked even if it only a temporary one. 

Hi, Samantha!

Welcome to Susan's.

Thanks for jumping in with your perspective.  Susan's is a great place to try out names. 

Please feel free to stop by the Introductions forum (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/board,8.0.html) to tell the members about yourself.  Here is some information that we like to share with new members:

Site Terms of Service & Rules to Live By (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,2.0.html)	Standard Terms & Definitions (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,54369.0.html)	Post Ranks (including when you can upload an avatar) (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,114.0.html.)
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It was actually my mom who suggested the name Julia. My boy name was Julian and she said it would be easier for people to use Julia rather than an entirely different name. That was the ONLY help/advice my mom ever gave me concerning transition.

I can remember, when I was about four, my mother telling me that I couldn't be called Mary because I was a boy (she knew that because of my teeth).  I can't remember why I asked to be called Mary.  It cropped up a lot, though, as in "Mother Mary", "Mary had a little lamb" and "Mary, Mary, quite contrary".  It was also still a common girls' name in the 1950s and 1960s.

If I were starting from scratch, I would use a name that sounded nice when used with my surname.  I wouldn't necessarily choose from a list of names popular at the time of my birth.  However, I wouldn't want to use a name that was definitely invented by someone else AFTER the time of my birth.

Quote from: NC_Rose on July 12, 2018, 05:45:37 AM
My wife is having a hard time with the thought of me changing my name.....

My wife is starting to feel more comfortable with me changing my name. I see my male name as being who I was, not who I am. I also had issues with an abusive mother when she thought I was "different" so I have bad associations with being called "Andrew" I have always gone by Andy, my mother still calls me Andrew and I hate it.

Chatting with my wife, she realises it now. I feel the male parts of me are "ugly" when I step out of the shower and see myself in the mirror. The same goes with my name. Its not me. Choosing my name is taking control of me and is my decision and reflects who I am, not who my abusive mother forced me to be.

I have come to terms with my mother, she's a different women and old and frail, she's not the women I knew and has blacked out all memories of my childhood. I don't feel angry any more and I wish her well. When I change my name, it will sever the ties to memories which are nothing but painful.

Choosing a name is incredibly powerful, it means more than just changing a signature, it reveals who we are inside and tells people "this is who I am".

Hugs all

When I was very young my mum told me that had I been born a girl it would have been Emma.

After I came out, I told my mum that I'd chosen Emma in honour of her. Anyway she tells me that my name wasnt going to be Emma and that I'd obviously misremembered, but she liked the name and told me to stick with it

Em x

I never really chose my name.

When I first discovered my true identity, I briefly went with the male version of my birth name. That lasted all of two seconds - and then I already took Alexander as my second name. I said I'd go as Alexander only after full transition, but as I said, I ditched the other name pretty soon.

I never chose Alexander. I just knew, if that makes sense? It just felt right.

For my ftm transition I chose the name John. Cause it was simple, international and I had no bad vibes to it. Also cause it's kinda timeless, like equally popular for the past 100 years. I carried that name for 9 years. I also chose the additional names Eli, from a book character I liked, and Mikael, from my father.

For my detransition, instead of going back to my birth name Sara which I still hate, I picked a new name: Laura. Mostly cause it starts with the same two letters as my surname so it gives a nice flow to my full name and I can have the initials "L.L.", cause of the vibes I get from it, and it just... idk, resonates with me. I feel like a Laura. It's a bit more rare of a name where I live, but still a "normal" name and spelling, and that appeals to me. For middle names this time around I'm taking back Irene which was my former middle name pre-transition (from my mother), and also adding Anna which is the name of my alter personality (DID thing). At first I thought I'd only add her name if we'd integrate/merge, but then I thought why not add it already. We're technically the same person either way.

So my current name that I chose for my ftm transition when I thought I was a guy is 'John Eli Mikael' and my new name will be 'Laura Irene Anna' followed by my surname.

I'm gonna go through with the process of changing my name legally again now. Or well, next week. Been practicing my new signature now. It will be the third time I'll do a name change, and hopefully the last time. How difficult that process is depends on your location. Here in Sweden, not that difficult. Just fill in a form, send it, pay the price of it, and wait for an approval.

I haven't decided if I'll change my name or not but since you're looking for a female name I would suggest looking for something in a different language and use the persentation of that word.
For example: sea in irish gaelic is farraige.

I asked my late wife, whom totally supported my transition, to give me a name. She chose Violet Rene. I changed my name to Violet after she passed away, but I had to choose my middle name so I modified my counselor's name and chose Raechel. Violet Raechel Rene! I love my new name and I also changed my style of signature.

Matthew (Matt) always just felt right. I toyed around with other names, but they all didn't seem to fit. My middle name, an old friend chose, saying Taylor suits me well.

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@Ar-bar-bar You're one of the lucky women that can easily change the name, but  I keep seeing posts about taking on a crush's name. Maybe it's a start? I'll post some names soon  :)

@SamanthaMelody Samantha is a beautiful name, I'm sure it suits you well  ;)  I've been looking at names from the media as well and there are a few that I like, but they're too close or the same as some of my relatives. I feel like it would be awkward sharing a name with someone who decided to hate me for being me  ::)

@ErinJohnson Just one day?  :o lol Iv'e been at this for months haha, hopefully I will also get a sudden realization about what my name truly is  :D
I wish you well on your journey of transitioning Erin  :)

@bloo11 Really? Just like that and boom! Name changed! lol I don't think it will be that simple where I'm at, haha, but that won't stop me from getting around to it eventually. Cye is a cool name, how do you pronounce Kyla? I also read it as "Kayla"   :)

Quote from: NC_Rose on July 12, 2018, 05:45:37 AM
My wife is having a hard time with the thought of me changing my name, the sheer amount of paperwork is daunting, especially as a naturalised citizen. She also has the fear that it will be losing "me" when I change it. I feel it's becoming "me" by finding my true name, but I understand her concerns. My name is "Andy" which could be used as a female context, but when I hear it, Its a reminder of who I was, not who I am.

Who knew that something as simple as a name, could mean so much! We were given these names at birth, but when we transition, we get to choose who we want to be, which is liberating and very powerful.

Now that I think about it, the name is basically everything I mean, how else would we be able to identify someone? This whole name change suddenly feels so much more like a giant step in my transition process, it now holds a lot more weight than just, "oh I'll just choose a new name". It's now like I'm seriously choosing who I will be for the rest of my life, who I will be known to the world as, who I will be...

It's truly a powerful decision and now I realize that if I've been thinking about, daydreaming about, being the opposite gender, ever since I can remember,  then it means I truly was born in the wrong gender. I mean, "regular" guys don't "obsess" over being the opposite gender, do they? Sure I was born a as a dude, but the reality is that I feel like I was supposed to be born as a female and with my name change I feel like I'm a step closer to correcting that problem :)

Hi Curiouscat94x,
When I was in primary school whenever I day dreamt of being my girl self I was always Christine. Later when I ended up having a gender identity crisis at 46 years old it was adjusted to the Scandinavian version - Kirsten. My legal name is Kynun John - en femme is Kirsten Janelle.
Perhaps you had a favourite girl name as a child ?
You raised an interesting topic by the way!
Kind regards, Kirsten.

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Signed it over to my mothers responsibility, which seemed fair. I didn't really want control of it, I wouldn't have had any originally so, up to her.

The temptation to go overly prissy and feminine might have resulting in something really tacky. It seemed more authentic that it would be something chosen by her generation for my generation, instead of my take on what subsequently became fashionable, or was otherwise pleasing to my ears but of the wrong generation and background. Either of which would be synthetic as a result.

Originally, it was supposed to be Samantha. She'd gone off it in the intervening years, so it isn't.

Randall is actually my last name and sounds more masculine then my first name. I haven't decided on a new name yet as right now I'm just focusing on losing weight until January for top surgery and I've been on pins & needles waiting to hear from the pharmacy any day now that I can pick up my testosterone.

@Julia1996 I wish my mom could give me advise lol unfortunately she does not like the idea of me being myself. Julia is a very nice name, in Spanish Julia would be the feminine version of Julio, which is my birth month. I don't think I look like a Julia though.  :)

@Mary T We can just say that we're time travelers and that is how we have names from the future lol  :P

@emma-f Ultimately I believe that I will end up using the name my mother was going to call me had I been born correctly. Another part of me tells me that I should be original and take control, but I don't know  :-X

@AlexanderDS I hope to find my own name in such a way where I just feel it. Like I said in a previous post, I've been at this for months and can't pick a name lol I did manage to narrow my search a bit though  :)

@SallyChoasAura That is an interesting concept. I can definitely broaden my search for a new name, I can already think of several names :)

@Violet Sorry about your loss I know how it feels to lose loved ones, everyday just gets better as we try to move on and our loved ones will always live through us. My ex-girlfriend is by far the only person who I'm out with, slowly but surely I will eventually come out to the world. Step by step I will not fall, she has accepted me for who I am and I am very thankful to have her as a friend. I feel bad as I did break her heart, but she understands. I will definitely ask her for suggestions, soon I will post a new list with possible names  :D I just need to narrow it down a bit I'll definitely need to create a new thread for that though :)

@am3579 I will also need to ask a friend for help lol hopefully I can find a name that suits me well enough.  :)



Off topic: I've been replying with "@name" and combining several replies into one post. I feel like if I reply to everyone individually the thread will become extremely clustered, or that I'll have too many posts. Is replying to everyone individually (as I originally intended) better? Or is grouping several replies into one post good? Sorry I'm new to this world of forums haha  :)

In choosing my own name, I don't like to stand out or be the center of attention, so I wanted a name that was fairly common.  I also didn't want it too similar to my old name as I didn't want to hear the new one but think about the old one.  So I went through the top 200 names from the year I was born and picked out around 10 in total that I liked, including the name my parents had planned for a girl, and Meg/Megan, which I'd also used before online and in video games because I happened to like it.

I tried making full names with them, signing them repeatedly, and pretending to introduce myself or be called by someone.  I did that with each of them for at least a couple days, and narrowed it down to 4 that felt better than the rest.  One of them I didn't really care for the origin/meaning of, and of the three left, Megan just felt like the best match for me.  I did like the name my parents had picked in general (it was one of the finalists), but it just didn't feel like as good of a match for who I am now.

I didn't have any sort of instant 'ah ha!' moment where I suddenly recognized the name for me, it was more just trying out a number of options that I liked or had used before and seeing what felt like the best match.


Some questions to think about that might help you narrow your choices:
Do you want to pick your own name?  Or do you want someone else to name you (parents, friends, etc.)?

Do you want something unusual that stands out?  Or do you want a common name that blends in?

Is it important to you to keep any connection to your old name?  Or do you want to avoid too much of a connection?

Do you want to take the name of someone you care about or admire?

Do you care about the origin or meaning of the name?  Do you want to choose a name based on meaning?


If you can narrow it down to a handful, then maybe just try each one out for a while and see if any seem to feel better than the others?  You can certainly do that here, but I found it helpful to have those I was out to in person call me by candidate names as well.

I originally spent ages trying to pick a name I liked but in the end, once I finally came out to my family, my mother suggested some names and I felt it would be better if I went with one of those. I still haven't picked a middle name. The whole name thing for me has been weird because, growing up in the military, all my friends just used last names and at work they just use my last name. My last name is Morgan, which would be perfectly feminine, but it would probably be silly to change my name to Morgan Morgan or just use a single name so I still haven't legally changed it and probably care less about my name than many who transition.

There are millions of really nice names that's true though for me I just use my real first name and middle name, it's easier and obviously much more familiar to me and I genuinely really like it.

My friend Monique gave me the name Amanda a little over a year ago and I went with it.  She was the first person to tell me I could pass and has transitioned herself.  Amanda is easy to spell, feminine, and works with my age/background/lifestyle.  It comes from Latin and means "Worthy of love"  :angel:

I thought about my name for years before settling on Danielle. I didn't look for something cute or dainty.  I didn't just want to pick any name.  I wanted something that felt like me.  Danielle isn't exactly a feminine variant of my birth name, but it's close.  And it's not about coming close to my birth name.  It's all about feeling like me!

I've been thinking about a name for a while, but nothing has really popped out at me. My birth name is Tyrone and to the surprise of most people when they hear that I'm white XD. So as unique as it is, doesn't give me much to work with, and my middle name is no better. So I've done as others suggested earlier and looked at top name charts for my birth year. There are a couple I like, such as Valerie or Heidi, but I'm not sure those names would be a fit to my personality, or like I said its not a" yes, hands down thats it" kinda feeling. The struggle is real lol.

Quote from: StealthStilettos on August 20, 2018, 03:55:02 PM
I've been thinking about a name for a while, but nothing has really popped out at me. My birth name is Tyrone and to the surprise of most people when they hear that I'm white XD. So as unique as it is, doesn't give me much to work with, and my middle name is no better. So I've done as others suggested earlier and looked at top name charts for my birth year. There are a couple I like, such as Valerie or Heidi, but I'm not sure those names would be a fit to my personality, or like I said its not a" yes, hands down thats it" kinda feeling. The struggle is real lol.

You might want to look at this link (https://www.babble.com/baby-names/girl-names-that-start-with-T/) for some ideas. I don't know how you feel about it but Tory kind of jumps out as a possibly for you. Starts with a T and isn't a real common name.

Quote from: Dena on August 20, 2018, 07:49:44 PM
You might want to look at this link (https://www.babble.com/baby-names/girl-names-that-start-with-T/) for some ideas. I don't know how you feel about it but Tory kind of jumps out as a possibly for you. Starts with a T and isn't a real common name.

Just be aware that it has political connotations in some countries.

To be perfectly honest: the name started out as Lexanta, a character that I would port to every role playing game I would play in if people didn't mind me playing a girl or if it was online and no one wanted voice chat (easier in the early days of online play). Essentially she, and still is, me.  She would always be essentially the same person, just in different settings.

In retrospect, I now know and realize that this was a part of me trying it's damnedest to get out and be expressed (bigender).

Back on topic: I would often go by Lexie or Alexandra while playing, which made the name sound derivative. I got so used to that being my female name that I can't think of it being anything else. Alexandra feels right.

As for just where Lexanta came from: it just popped into my head one day. Kinda like I was making a character and my brain told me "This is her, now and always." 


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I used to watch Rocky and Bullwinkle and as they say. "Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat" Actually it was not that difficult. My dead name is Don, my sisters name is Donna and so I chose Dawn. I chose Oday to go with it because it surely was the "Dawn of a new day"

Quote from: DawnOday on August 20, 2018, 09:16:14 PM
I used to watch Rocky and Bullwinkle and as they say. "Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat" Actually it was not that difficult. My dead name is Don, my sisters name is Donna and so I chose Dawn. I chose Oday to go with it because it surely was the "Dawn of a new day"

@DawnOday 
DawnOday - I love your name! I think it Rocks!  ;)

Sonja.

Sonia...Thanks love. I like your name too. You are very kind.

Quote from: Dena on August 20, 2018, 07:49:44 PM
You might want to look at this link (https://www.babble.com/baby-names/girl-names-that-start-with-T/) for some ideas. I don't know how you feel about it but Tory kind of jumps out as a possibly for you. Starts with a T and isn't a real common name.

Thanks for the link, still can't decide though, and would probably have to pass on Tory, knew a few guys that had that name lol so seems masculine to me. Guess I want something not too common, but not to rare either. But it's hard cause lots of names I like I also associate with certain people. And doesn't need to start with a T.

First off, a very big thank you to everyone who has replied and will reply! I really hope that this thread will help others as much as it has helped me.

I didn't reply to everyone, but please know that your reply is just as important as the rest that I did answer. I get overwhelmed and all jittery when there's a lot of people in a single place. Yes even on the internet :)

Everyday I get closer to discovering my true name. I would be most comfortable using a Spanish or Italian name. My birth name begins with the letter R and I am definitely curious about female names that begin with the same letter.

I found a website where you can type in your first name (I used my birth name) and it supposedly describes you, well I tried it and surprisingly enough, it described me pretty darn accurately. If y'all are interested and, of course, it's allowed, I can post the link to the website.

Anyways, here are a few names that I like, they are in no particular order. Please do give me more suggestions other than the ones below lol :)

Araceli
Lorena
Maria
Marisol
Zenaida
Sofia
Virginia
Sandra
Julia
Catalina (it has the word cat, I like cats lol)
Elena
Elvira
Erendira (Eren for short)
Julieta
Lucia
Luciana
Rocio
Vanesa



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Quote from: CuriousCat94x on August 23, 2018, 05:51:15 PM
First off, a very big thank you to everyone who has replied and will reply! I really hope that this thread will help others as much as it has helped me.

I didn't reply to everyone, but please know that your reply is just as important as the rest that I did answer. I get overwhelmed and all jittery when there's a lot of people in a single place. Yes even on the internet :)

Everyday I get closer to discovering my true name. I would be most comfortable using a Spanish or Italian name. My birth name begins with the letter R and I am definitely curious about female names that begin with the same letter.

I found a website where you can type in your first name (I used my birth name) and it supposedly describes you, well I tried it and surprisingly enough, it described me pretty darn accurately. If y'all are interested and, of course, it's allowed, I can post the link to the website.

Anyways, here are a few names that I like, they are in no particular order. Please do give me more suggestions other than the ones below lol :)

Araceli
Lorena
Maria
Marisol
Zenaida
Sofia
Virginia
Sandra
Julia
Catalina (it has the word cat, I like cats lol)
Elena
Elvira
Erendira (Eren for short)
Julieta
Lucia
Luciana
Rocio
Vanesa



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@CuriousCat94x 
For some reason the name Marisol stuck with me after reading that list. Plus it has an R in it.
I now a girl called 'Mari' ( Maa Ree (Maa as in baa baa black sheep))I don't actually know if thats her full name or not, but its a possible shortened nickname for Marisol too... 
Would it be pronounced marry-sol  or mary-sol  or maa-ree-sol ?

anyway thats my 2 cents...  :D

Sonja.

Quote from: CuriousCat94x on August 23, 2018, 05:51:15 PM
Everyday I get closer to discovering my true name. I would be most comfortable using a Spanish or Italian name. My birth name begins with the letter R and I am definitely curious about female names that begin with the same letter.

A few more Spanish and Italian R names if you're interested:  Rosa, Rosalina, Ramona

Quote from: CuriousCat94x on August 23, 2018, 05:51:15 PM
Anyways, here are a few names that I like, they are in no particular order. Please do give me more suggestions other than the ones below lol :)

Araceli
Lorena
Maria
Marisol
Zenaida
Sofia
Virginia
Sandra
Julia
Catalina (it has the word cat, I like cats lol)
Elena
Elvira
Erendira (Eren for short)
Julieta
Lucia
Luciana
Rocio
Vanesa

In case it helps, I really like Catalina, and I'm also fond of Maria, Marisol, Julia, and Elena.

I still keep second-guessing my own name choices, and I don't want to add too many more options to an already hard decision for you, but you did ask, so here's a few other name ideas:  Adriana, Alejandra/Alessandra, Carolina, Giana, Mercedes, Valentia/Valentina, Violetta.

I chose my real name (instead of the one my parents chose for me) when I was like 15.  I had always known about me, earliest memories of anything amiss with my gender was around 5 and I was openly talking about my feelings with my mom when I was around 10.  I never really thought too much about names then, just whether I was a sin or crazy or something.  An incident with my dad caused me to bury myself and any expression of my real gender ceased to be displayed.

As I entered high school, I started to express myself a little here and there.  My friends maybe thought I was gay or something, but I never really discussed my GD issues.  I had a close friend, Wendy, with whom chit chatting was totally normal...then one day while we are bantering about a movie, she stops what she is doing and suddenly exclaims, "OMG, I just figured it out...you're a chick!".  I was stunned!  How did she figure it out?  Am I that obvious?  Who else knows?  What should I do?

In that moment I decided there is no reason to hide from her...I feel safe to tell her my deepest and darkest secret.  She listened and after I finished off what I needed to say, she called to order a meeting of the chick clique.  We all agreed if I am a girl, I need a girl name.  We set out to find one that fit me.  After many hundreds of rejected proposals, I finally uttered Katie.  All of us mulled it for a few seconds and then it became obvious that name was ME. 

That name was from a distant memory, when my family lived in Costa Mesa...so I have to have been under 6 years old.  A family friend (still so to this day) was brushing my hair and had me in a dress in the guest room.  She felt like a big sister as she was a few years older than me.  Her name was Katie and the memory was pretty vivid to me.  I remember thinking that I was actually her little sister.

Anyway, at 15 my name was chosen and for a year or so I used it a lot among my close friends.  Even when I was deep cover as a guy, the name stuck (just spelled it different).  I even started my own small business in the mid 90's utilizing it, though on the surface it was just initials.

I guess my point is, sometimes we have our name the whole time and when it is presented outwardly...the right one will often just click with not only ourselves but our peers as well.

Quote from: kaitylynn on August 24, 2018, 06:48:19 AM"OMG, I just figured it out...you're a chick!".

Wow!  Just wow!  I wish I had met someone that intuitive when I was young. :')

Quotewe are bantering about a movie, she stops what she is doing and suddenly exclaims, "OMG, I just figured it out...you're a chick!".

Kaity you've made my day :laugh:
What a wonderful story :)

For me, I still not choose name, just don't think about it much right now, have different priorities. But I know how I will pick it - I'll just open list and write the names I like, then examine it few times and pick which one I like more.

Quote from: Sonja on August 23, 2018, 06:05:28 PM
@CuriousCat94x 
For some reason the name Marisol stuck with me after reading that list. Plus it has an R in it.
I now a girl called 'Mari' ( Maa Ree (Maa as in baa baa black sheep))I don't actually know if thats her full name or not, but its a possible shortened nickname for Marisol too... 
Would it be pronounced marry-sol  or mary-sol  or maa-ree-sol ?

anyway thats my 2 cents...  :D

Sonja.

Lol I'm not very good at spelling out name pronunciations. I would say that it depends if your talking in English or Spanish, English would probably sound more like marry-sol, the Spanish would sound more like maa-ree-sol.

Anyways it turns out that my mother simply named one of my siblings the name she was going to assign me had I been born correctly.

Marisol is a good choice, but a few people I know have that name and I would feel awkward when the time comes haha :D


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Quote from: kaitylynn on August 24, 2018, 06:48:19 AMsometimes we have our name the whole time and when it is presented outwardly...the right one will often just click with not only ourselves but our peers as well.

I do feel like my name is somewhere inside my mind, but just can't see it :/ ugh lol it will come when the time is right. It's annoying, like whenever you're thinking about something, but all of a sudden lose the thought [emoji846]

I listed a few names that I like, but I'm not sure that I look like any of them. I don't really feel it except for a few of them and a few of them are taken by a few people I know [emoji75]

I have always known that I wasn't born with my body matching my gender, but I never really thought I would transition because of my family. Because of that I never even attempted to find my true name. Now I have the courage to begin my transition, when I finally come out to my family, I hope for the best, but I definitely expect the worst.



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Don't rush it will come to you.Keep bouncing the ideas though. There are some lovely Spanish names out there
I bet your subcocious picks one!
All the best, Kirsten


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Quote from: Kirsteneklund7 on August 24, 2018, 11:13:55 PM
Don't rush it will come to you.Keep bouncing the ideas though. There are some lovely Spanish names out there
I bet your subcocious picks one!
All the best, Kirsten


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You're right, I shouldn't rush this and especially because it's one of those major changes. I would not want to be stuck with a name that feels odd and not like myself, but yes I can really feel the name being there. I just can't see it yet, it's like that itch that you just can't locate. [emoji23]


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I know what you mean.

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Quote from: CuriousCat94x on August 25, 2018, 06:53:30 AM
You're right, I shouldn't rush this and especially because it's one of those major changes. I would not want to be stuck with a name that feels odd and not like myself, but yes I can really feel the name being there. I just can't see it yet, it's like that itch that you just can't locate. [emoji23]


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Kirsten is right, take your time choosing your name, its got to feel right to yourself when you say it. its likely your subconscious will keep bumping the name for you, in the mean time keep a lookout for names in books, movies, the net, etc something will eventually strike you as being appropriate.

Sonja.

While I believe that if and when I transition I will keep Kymmie. It actually came from the name of a person who worked for a vender for a place I worked. I saw Kymi and kind of liked it. Lorain just came because it kind of flows. 

I think I would have my full name: Kymberlee Lorain

Kymmie

I don't know if Elle is my final name but the story of how I adopted it is deliciously stupid. I was at a group meeting and they gave me a name tag and I didn't have much time to write so I just started scribbling loops which looked like letters in script and then I read it and said, "Elle. My name is elle." It's possible I could still settle on something closer to my given name or something less happenstance but for now it works. My nickname has been "Boo" since college though, and I really don't use any other name whether I'm presenting male female or other.  ;D

When I first came out to my mother, she told me what my name would have been had I been born properly. The following Christmas she gave me a silver bracelet with my first name engraved on the front and my middle name on the back... I wear it every day.   Please don't laugh... Sarah Lee

Quote from: Sarah1979 on September 06, 2018, 07:38:56 PM
When I first came out to my mother, she told me what my name would have been had I been born properly. The following Christmas she gave me a silver bracelet with my first name engraved on the front and my middle name on the back... I wear it every day.   Please don't laugh... Sarah Lee

Why would we laugh, Sarah?  That is beautiful.  I love it that your mother supports you in your journey.

Lol, my dad really liked Saralee food... but I do like to cook, so I guess it fits :D

Quote from: Sarah1979 on September 06, 2018, 07:38:56 PM
When I first came out to my mother, she told me what my name would have been had I been born properly. The following Christmas she gave me a silver bracelet with my first name engraved on the front and my middle name on the back... I wear it every day.   Please don't laugh... Sarah Lee

Laugh???

More like cry!

I expect a majority of us would LOVE to have that same story. It's really beautiful, both the story and your sentiment of wearing the bracelet still...

Kate

 Oh there's more to it, but I'll wait to put it in my official transition thread when I start HRT.... or restart I guess.

Quote from: Sarah1979 on September 06, 2018, 07:38:56 PM
When I first came out to my mother, she told me what my name would have been had I been born properly. The following Christmas she gave me a silver bracelet with my first name engraved on the front and my middle name on the back... I wear it every day.   Please don't laugh... Sarah Lee

Beautiful name, I can only hope to come up with something even half as beautiful :)

Can't wait for your transition thread [emoji846]


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My name took a lot of thought because I wanted it to come from my heart. I remember the night I came up with it like it was last night.
I never liked my original name at all (yuck). I always liked the name "Bobbie Ann". Well there's a country song that has the exact full name in it by Rick Trevino so I didn't want to ust it. So I just kept the "Bobbie" part. 

For a middle name I took my brothers name who had passed away and used part of it "Lee" because I Love and miss him.
So in the end I came up with "Bobbie LeAnn" and now everytime I hear someone call my name it puts a smile on my face.


Love
Bobbie LeAnn


P.S. I guess I need to get someone on here to change my forum name.

When i was around 13 years old i woke up one saturday morning from a dream and remember someone calling me by my name in that dream. was the happiest day of my life.. and the name has stuck with me ever since..

I saw mine reading around the internet and loved it. I hadn't been looking, or even really accepted why I was unhappy. I remember thinking, "if I was a chick, that'd be a good name." I wasn't planning on changing my name, just cutting off the obviously masculine part, it was almost androgynous. But as I got further along, I felt like a cleaner break was needed.

Mine was never inspired mine was never found. It just always was. I never know why this name was always with me. But it is Rosa rivian.

i changed mine last month via deedpoll

reason i moved foward more quickly than i had planned was i got a new job and they call me by my new name so they dont confuse people or clients so i took the plunge with my first pay

cerys was a name i really love and nomi as last name was stolen from sense8

lot of people ask why i did not use the feminine version of my dead name and keep my surname but i wanted a break and a fresh start

My name is a compromise with my mother. Originally I had decided on Rachael so I could use the same first letter as my male name. Mom didn't like it. I then finally said how about Lisa? That worked. Now I need to find something to replace my middle and last name which are too masculine. I'm just terrible at names though.

Lisa

My parents had picked out a girl name and a boy name. They had told me I would have been named Debbie if I was a girl. Well I was, so I let them have the name they had picked.

I had a few rules of thumb.

1. Had to have same initial as old name.

2. Must have two or more syllables.

3. Must not be the name of any family member, past or present.

4. Must not be the name of any present friend or pet.

5. Must be from a list of common girl names from approximately my generation.

6. Must not be an androgynous name.

Once I had those ideas, the internet helped me find mine pretty quickly.

I tried it on with my partner, and she liked it too. Done.

~Dee.

I wanted to keep my initials if possible, and since I actually like my birth name(aside from it being totally masculine), I wanted a name that sounded similar. Madison was one of the most popular names for the year I was born, and I fell in love with it pretty much immediately. Also works because I don't know of anyone with the name, which was another big factor for me, to not take a name of a family member or friend.

There was actually another name before it, but I forgot to write it down and could never remember it. I am still up in the air about "Madison" though, since I do want my parents to have a say on it if they are willing.

I rarely, if ever, went by my birth/dead name as I grew up. I was homeschooled, and all the social groups/clubs/teams I was involved with didn't care if I went by a nickname. So instead of Alexandra, I was Lexi or Lex (which I still go by to my family and old friends, though new friends have become fond of Alex instead of Lex, and so have I). As a result, by the time I realized/accepted I was trans at around 16/17, I felt far enough removed from my birth name to choose Alexander as my "real" first name.

My middle name was a gift from my mother's side of the family, with my grandmother and great grandmother both having variations of it, so I respectfully stuck with a masculine alternative. Thus, I fell in love with the name Alexander Jules.

My last name was shortened, both because the original was cumbersomely long and for other, personal reasons. I think my 4-1-1 syllable name suits me a lot better than my old, 4-3-3 one, too. Unfortunately, I'm not done yet; I'm waiting on the energy/opportunity to change everything into my future, married name, as my spouse's last name is very nice and also one syllable, but the endless paperwork and phone calls are hard. :(

As far as changing my name the first time, I was lucky enough to find an LGBT advocacy group that helped me do it for free. They filled out all the paperwork with/for me and all I had to do was sign, date, and deliver it to the courthouse. That, too, was pretty easy; my case worker kept me company until I went into the courtroom, I watched a bunch of people finalize their divorces, and got to share my happy moment with a beautiful trans woman who felt twice my height (in high heels, no less). I wish I could have learned her full, new name, but she walked up after me and my caseworker was on a time crunch for us to finish filing my paperwork. I didn't think to ask at the time, and it's been so long that I've forgotten the woman's first name.

I made a list of names I liked and then went through them in my mind and in front of the mirror. My favourite name was Skye but I had already named my daughter something similar and that would not do. In the past I went by Angela but that name was destroyed for me when I was made to look like a drag queen by a professional make up artist. My wife called me Momo but that was not a suitable name for a European.
I wanted a name that wouldn't stand out too much when I was called at the doctors.

So I whittled it down to Jenny or Alice. My mother's name is Jane and Jenny sounded too close to that. So I went with Alice. But the reason Alice was on my list in the first place was because the Adventures of Alice speaks to me. The notions of not feeling like oneself and lots of other little sayings in the books. I recently read a darker retelling of the tale that spoke to me even more. Plus I like the song by Shinedown and the theme tune for the Tim Burton movie.  So Alice it was.

I debated on Lucy for a while because that was going to be my name. My parents were convinced I was a girl and had only decided on Lucinda or Lucy for short, when I came out with the wrong bits, there was a big argument about what to call me. My father wanted Patrick but my Grandmother refused to allow him to call me after the dog. Eventually they decided on Nicholas but I hate that name with a passion. The notion of being Nicola is just not an option for me. I don't want to be reminded of it because when I have to use my male name, it causes me dysphoria. However, in the end I rejected Lucy for two reasons, 1) my father sometimes uses it as a pet name for my sister who isn't called Lucy, and 2) I still want Skye in my name somewhere and Lucy Skye is a porn star using a name that is referenced from the Beatles song. 

I will probably take Skye as my middle name but when I finally come out, if my family reject me, I may consider changing my surname to Skye. It will be a discussion to have with my wife and daughter when the time comes. I may even consider changing my surname to my wife's maiden name if that would make her happier to stay with me.

Someone sent me a random text message "Hi Eliza!" It was the wrong number that seeing that notification gave me so much gender euphoria that I went with it.

I've tried names like Keri, Elia, etc. but none of them fit me. They were too... soft? My mom would have named me "Shirley" if I were assigned female at birth, but that name really doesn't suit me. It runs into the same problem as the other names.

I like the name Eliza because it sounds adventurous, fun, and also feminine. I also like that I share a name with Eliza Thornberry LOL

My name is kind of a play on words as well as a homage to God.

Natalie means Christmas and it's the day we celebrate gods birth on earth. Then my middle name has always been Noel. Noel is Christmas and can be traced back to the Latin word natalis.

So I chose Natalie.

Rene is not actually my name just a handle online.

Quote from: NatalieRene on February 03, 2019, 08:22:55 PM
My name is kind of a play on words as well as a homage to God.

Natalie means Christmas and it's the day we celebrate gods birth on earth. Then my middle name has always been Noel. Noel is Christmas and can be traced back to the Latin word natalis.

So I chose Natalie.

Rene is not actually my name just a handle online.

The nice thing with Dietlind is that it is not common, and I don't need any extra handle.
I I would have been the girl my parents were dreaming of, I would have been named Ingeburg (my sister was Ingrid)
It is kind of funny that my Jewish mother wanted her kids to have Nordic/Germanic names (my dead name was the male version of Dietlind).  It could be that she did not want us to stand out in the crowd?

These replies are very interesting. My parents would have named me Helen as my first name but I would have gone by my middle name which was to be Claire. The issue with that is that I hate the name Claire. For some reason I just despise it. Maybe because it's a reminder of who I could have been but wasn't. ANYWAY back to the subject at hand. So I thought maybe Helen would work. It didn't obviously but that's where Eva came from.

PS Sorry about the rambling.

Quote from: debrferguson on December 16, 2018, 07:30:21 PM
My parents had picked out a girl name and a boy name. They had told me I would have been named Debbie if I was a girl. Well I was, so I let them have the name they had picked.

Hi Deb, you are looking hot Girl! @debrferguson Where is that picture, the White House? Miss you!
Moni

My name is in my heart, I had a sister stillborn 10 years before I was born and I took her name feeling for years that she was part of me and it's now her time to live through me.


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I chose the name Sophia because it was as clear as a lightning strike, the wisdom I gained when I first heard the word transgender. Sophia = wisdom in Greek. Plus, I've always liked the name!

Quote from: Andie1963 on February 07, 2019, 09:44:02 PM
My name is in my heart, I had a sister stillborn 10 years before I was born and I took her name feeling for years that she was part of me and it's now her time to live through me.

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@Andie1963 
Dear Andie:
     I am so very glad that you have become a member here and this is your very first posting.   I am happy to see that you found the Susan's Place Forums.

    As you post on the forums you will be able to exchange thoughts and comments with others that are experiencing many of the same things that you are.   I expect that you will be getting many members offering their thoughts and suggestions as you continue to post here. 

    This is the right place for you to be to find out what others may have to say that may have been in your circumstances and with your questions and concerns.
    There are a lot of members here that will be able to identify with your situation and as you continue to feel free to share with all of us.

    I also want to warmly WELCOME you to Susan's Place. 
You will find this a safe and friendly place to share with others and to read about others similar trials, tribulations, and successes.

    As you are certainly aware you can share with others and involve yourself with some give and take with other like-minded members.  When frustrated or if you have successes you can share it here if you wish and receive support from others and offer support to others. ....
     ***There is a very good chance that you might find that you will make some new like-minded friends here. 

    Please come in and continue to be involved at your own pace.
   
    I have attached important and informative LINKS that will help you to navigate around the Forums and will allow you to enjoy the features here.     
Please look closely at the LINKS in RED, answers are there to many questions that new members ask.

Again, Welcome to Susan's Place.
Danielle

Here are some links to the site rules and stuff that all new members should be familiar with:
 

Site Terms of Service & Rules to Live By (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,2.0.html)	Standard Terms & Definitions (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,54369.0.html)	Post Ranks (including when you can upload an avatar) (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,114.0.html.)	Cautionary Note (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,82221.0.html)
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@Andie1963     
Oh, and another thing Andie...
Please plan to write a post and tell us more about yourself in the Introductions Forum (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/board,8.0.html) so that other members will be aware of your arrival... therefore you will be able to share your thoughts with more members here.
     
Thank you again for joining Susan's Place and being involved in the Forums here.
Best wishes to you,
Danielle
NOTE: Now after all of this Greeting Stuff I will let everyone have their thread back so they can pursue answers to their questions.

My sister in law named me as a derivative of my male name some 30 years ago. She always said I had the mind of a woman, and treated me as one. My middle name I share with my daughter, and it retains my original initials. I have a problem though, I am not officially out to my family, and my daughter's mother in law has the same name. She has claimed the title "Nana Ally" which I dreamed of having.

My name was basically picked by mother. I always knew the first girl in the family would have been called Rachel.
We never had a sister and so when I transitioned and was using a different name mum said that she wanted to use it, which was a blessing.
I still feminised my old name and turned it into Christina as I know it was my dad that gave me that name.

I go by Rachel, and I love the name and feel it suits me perfectly X3

QuoteHow did you choose your name?

Momma did that ;D

I thought I had already posted in this thread, but apparently not.

I chose names of fictional characters with whom I identified and who inspired me. I also changed my last name, because the one I inherited has always been a source of great pain. I didn't intend this at all; but my new name is like one of those Russian matryoshka dolls: the last name is very common, the middle -- which I go by -- reflects my outward feminine manner and nature, and the first, which I don't use, reflects my inner fire -- the person few people get to see.

I love it.  :D I think a good name is one that says "you," but is also one that you can grow more fully into. Being and Becoming.

My dead name is actually gender Neutral. I actually work with a woman who has the same name. That said I have hated my name since I was a child. I always asked my mom why she picked it. I guess she had a couple ideas, but after I was born she looked and me and knew I was Jordan.

Like I said, I never liked it growing up. Working with a cis female named Jordan has made it to where I am referred to as "Boy Jordan" and she is "Girl Jordan". This happened after I had already picked my new name, so it didn't play into my decision, but it definitely cements my dislike for that name.

When I first started to come to grips with who I truly was the first thing I did was talk to my wife about it. This was after the first time I came out to her and let her believe it was a fantasy of mine and not the truth. We laid in bed one night and went through scores of female names. We disqualified names of people we new closely. We actually settled on Danielle as my female name. I think it is a beautiful name and my wife liked it. About a month after picking that name we met a transwoman working at Walmart who went by that name. She since changed it 3 or 4 times and after 2 years has detransitioned and presents male with a male name.

After I went back into the closet, build my female persona online. I wanted some a super feminine username, and tried a few things with Danielle. I presented as Danielle Jordan at first. After some time I didn't think any of the combinations I chose truly worked for me.
I decided LacyPink was a very feminine handle. It has lace and pink, both of which I have always seen as super girly! As happens most of the time online people shorten your username, and I began being called Lacy on a regular basis. I knew it was the right fit when I was in the airport waiting for my plane to attend a work conference.
I was sitting in my seat and overheard a conversation between two people. One was named Jordan. Usually when you hear someone use your name you kinda start paying attention by instinct. It took me about ten minutes before I actually paid attention and looked behind me to see if they were talking to me!
10 Minutes later someone that was boarding where waiting on the last member of their group. One of the women yelled "Lacy!" I immediately looked up and thought she was calling my name! That is when I knew I was Lacy.

My wife isn't a huge fan of the name, but I love it. I have my Dad's first name as my middle name. It is possible to create a feminine version of his name, but I do not think I will change it. I feel like I want to honor him even though is has zero support for me.

My mother had once told me that if I had been "born a girl" that my first name would have been Amanda.

Hi Amanda  :icon_wave:

Welcome to Susan's Place  :)  Glad to have you here, join on in the fun

How about stopping by our Introductions (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/board,8.0.html) Forum and introducing yourself so more folks can get to know you a bit better  ;)

Here are some links to the site rules and stuff that we offer to all new members to help them along

Site Terms of Service & Rules to Live By (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,2.0.html)	Standard Terms & Definitions (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,54369.0.html)	Post Ranks (including when you can upload an avatar) (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,114.0.html.)	Cautionary Note (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,82221.0.html)
Reputation rules (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,18960.0.html)	News posting & quoting guidelines (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,174951.0.html)	Photo, avatars, & signature images policy (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,59974.msg383866.html#msg383866)	Membership Agreement (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,216851.0.html)

Hugs

V M

Quote from: CuriousCat94x on July 03, 2018, 09:57:27 PM
How were you all able to choose such a beautiful name?  :) I mean, there are literary a lot of names out there to choose from. There's a few names that I am considering, I'm also considering the name that my own mother had reserved for yours truly, until I was born physically in the wrong body.  :( Also, how difficult is the process of legally changing your name?

In my family all the girls (there are five of us, yes five!) have the same middle name as my mother. I was super thrilled when she told me that she wanted me to take her middle name as well! So, the first criteria when choosing my name was that it would pair well with my middle name (Beth).

The second criteria was that I obviously didn't want to pick the same name as anyone else in my extended family or circle of friends. This actually blocks quite a few really good names because my extended family is gigantic! (Mormon families, lol) Rachel, Jessica, Emily, Amelia, Lara, Krista, Kirstie, Laurie, Nicki, Sara, Heather, Amber, Jennifer, Mary, Kaitlyn, Elizabeth, Nancy, Michelle, Kathleen, Abigail, Debbie, Laura (again), Cindy. Those are all the ones I can remember.

I asked my Mom what my name would have been if I was AFAB and she said Samantha, but I wasn't interested in a name with a gender neutral diminutive, so I settled on Angela.

Quote from: KathyLauren on August 20, 2018, 07:54:46 PM
Just be aware that it has political connotations in some countries.

I barely googled the name "Tory" and ran into said "political connotations".... I know, I know I'm replying almost a year later, no excuses here haha.  ???  ::)  :D

@Dena  Tory is a beautiful name, but I don't think there's a Spanish variant to it.  :'(  That being said...

I'm thinking about changing my name to.....  Julia

Julia because it is similar to my "rebirth" month, July. It is also a somewhat common name in both Spanish and English, but I'm not sure it suits me, what do y'all gals & guys think?  ??? :-\ (assuming this thread is still alive :D)

P.S. Thank you all for replying and sharing your stories. I hope to continue reading more in the future and that this thread will help others out somehow.

Sarah is my "online name." My real name is something else - I won't be disclosing it here.

With that said, I had two rules for picking a name...

1) It couldn't be a name of any of my relatives, good friends or wives/partners of good friends. That eliminated a LOT of potential names.

2) It had to be a name consistent with my personality and cultural heritage: down-to-earth, not too girly nor too formal, English/Scottish.

With those restrictions, I came down to a list of four names from which I picked one. My name isn't tremendously common, but it's not unusual. Although I am not yet presenting female, I have told several people what my new name is, and they all agreed that it was a good choice for me.

"Sarah"

Cynthia was a popular girls name when I was growing up, I had many friends that had this name. It always resonated with me.

C -

It was rather simple. I always liked the name Jamie as a male name and at the time I wanted something gender neutral, because I thought I was fluid. I also had written a story when I was growing up about a guy called Jamie, so I wanted to connect with the lonely closeted trans boy in me, to be very honest.

I was picked on a lot in school and my first name, Charles, got many locker room laughs with the variations of it with my last name. So at 19 I changed it to my middle name and only went by it, like my father did.  Never used my first name after that.

So when I transitioned in 1990 I just used a feminine version of that name.  At first they let me add it to my name on my ID. Then, in 2002 a doctor signed a paper, allowing me have my gender changed on my ID. But my Social Security still retained my birth gender.

Then in 2011 a bill was passed that made me change it all back. So after having a completely female ID for 9 years and living female 21 years, I had to go back to my birth name, Charles.  After having too many problems with everything, I finally went back to living male. For eight years now I have lived this half-existence that I have no clue how to live. 

Then, at the end of 2017, a series of events happened and I found myself on a trans roleplay site being changed into a girl in virtual life.  When trying to choose a middle name, I chose Louise, my mothers middle name.  On the site I eat a lot of reuben sandwiches and have a sister named Reubeca.

While on that site I found out the bill that made me change my name actually led to another that makes it even easier to not only have the ID name and gender changed, but the birth certificate too. So I told my wife that I didn't want to go back to the feminine version of my name. She came up with Ruby. So I went with Reuby Louise. Louise is actually hers, her sister's, and their mother's middle name. So I feel I am honoring a lot of people with my new name.

Good thread here.

ReubyLouise

My parents always said had I been born male i'd have been named Ryan.
I never much minded the name but i'm not sure it's ME. Maybe a middle name?

I'm honestly tempted to just keep the shortened form of my first name which it turns out is gender neutral. Obscurely, (the masculine version is dutch) but still realistically could be a male name.

So.. Jen Ryan? Not sure that flows lol.

I also toyed with going by Jin, the mispronouciation of my short form name. I originally started going by the shorter form of my name when we moved to the UK because I got sick to death of people purposely mispronoucing it (it's not even a wierd name! they just couldnt help themselves in mocking my accent! jerks )
I got tired of the awful nasal "Geeeee naaaaaah" they'd call me so I shortened to "Jen" and got misheard as Jin which i found far far less irritating.
I actually found Jin kinda cute. Buuuut it's a Japanese name and calling myself that feels a bit weeaboo. Ahem.

I've always really liked biblical boy names but to be honest I don't know if I want to totally change my name. I'm used to my name, it's my name and I dunno, it feels wrong personally for me to go by something totally else. So i'll probably just stick with Jen/Jin (20 years on people still can't understand my accent ahahahaha)

I doubt i'll do a new signature if I get that far either. I didn't even change my signature when i got married. Nobody can read my scribble anyway.

to be honest i'm not sure how far i'll take this. I'm still getting used to pronouns and the whole concept that i've been sort of repressing my whole life.

it's funny though because for ages i've wished I could stop "being me" and in a way, transitioning is sort of like being reborn isn't it? I'll still be me, but... not quite me? I dunno. Sort of like a butterfly emmerging from a crysalis.

I finally have that ability to emmerge reborn and i'm scared of it and keep trying to talk myself out of it. *headdesk*

Quote from: F_P_M on April 10, 2019, 05:12:53 AM
My parents always said had I been born male i'd have been named Ryan.
I never much minded the name but i'm not sure it's ME. Maybe a middle name?

I'm honestly tempted to just keep the shortened form of my first name which it turns out is gender neutral. Obscurely, (the masculine version is dutch) but still realistically could be a male name.

So.. Jen Ryan? Not sure that flows lol.

How about make it Dutch, Northern German, Skandinavian, and call yourself Jens?  There is no doubt for any person from these areas that you are male, but most Americans would not know this for sure?

I have considered that for sure heh.

I'll figure it out. Whatever feels right and natural. Tbh I don't usually get called by my name anyway these days. I get called silly nicknames.

My 'chosen' name is actually the name my parents would have given me had I been born AFAB. I have tried other names, though. Namely when I joined these forums. When coming out to my mom recently she had some hold-ups calling me by my chosen name, though. =/ I don't know if she's simply not "ready", or if we may actually have to pick something else.

Recently, I've noticed that my chosen name is an incredibly common choice for trans woman, which makes me think I wouldn't mind going with something else after all. It's sad, because I didn't choose the name like the others did, it was pretty much chosen for me. But, in the end, no one would know that difference. If I could avoid one of the most cliche trans woman names, that might be nice.

I'm keeping my birth name, as I was fortunate enough to be born with a gender-neutral one.

I haven't completely settled on my true name yet but i have a good idea of what it will be.

My mother decided i was a girl until i was born with a penis and ruined all her baby shopping.  she had a list of names she liked.
Jenni and Maggie were top of the list so one of those will be my first name. My mother is ambivalent about it. I could change it to Charlene Dainty McMuffintop for all she cares but I like both of the ones she had picked and I think she secretly likes that and just doesn't want to push me in any direction.

My daughter, Anilesa Rae, was stillborn 13 years ago.
Rae will be my middle name. Her mother and i both cried when i asked her if i could use it without upsetting her. We've always stayed close and she's been my biggest cheerleader on this journey so far.

I've always gone by my middle name so I think I'll just go by Rae in general. But the sound of Maggie Rae or Jenni Rae has a great ring to it in my ear.

All that being said my advice for anyone struggling to find their name who is at a dead end is to pretend for a while that you are having a child of the gender you feel. Imagine having to come up with that name. Whatever motivates your choices in naming your child will steer you in a good direction for finding your own name if you don't have an obvious one that you want. The love you would feel for your child should be akin to the love you feel for your new, and rather infant, self even though many of us loathe ourselves in many ways.  So this trick not only helps you pick a good name with good meanings it also helps exercise that self love that you know intellectually that you deserve.  <3

You could easily be a Julia with that face. Or a Juliana, Luliana, Julianita, Jovita, Lulija, Julita,  etc. Your photo is very beautiful with dark curly hair and soft cheeks paired with full lips and deep eyes.  I think it could be a great fit and if you like Julia there's a ton of variations when you start looking at all the romance languages it's used in that are really exotic in their pronunciations from spanish french and italian to greek romanian and even russian. It's a name that flows very latin off the lips but still carries a modern softness to it's acoustic assumption. I won't tell you what name you should have but if you're looking for votes of confidence in that one you've got mine. :) <3<3

Quote from: CuriousCat94x on August 08, 2018, 09:41:38 PM
@Julia1996 I wish my mom could give me advise lol unfortunately she does not like the idea of me being myself. Julia is a very nice name, in Spanish Julia would be the feminine version of Julio, which is my birth month. I don't think I look like a Julia though.  :)

@Mary T We can just say that we're time travelers and that is how we have names from the future lol  :P

@emma-f Ultimately I believe that I will end up using the name my mother was going to call me had I been born correctly. Another part of me tells me that I should be original and take control, but I don't know  :-X

@AlexanderDS I hope to find my own name in such a way where I just feel it. Like I said in a previous post, I've been at this for months and can't pick a name lol I did manage to narrow my search a bit though  :)

@SallyChoasAura That is an interesting concept. I can definitely broaden my search for a new name, I can already think of several names :)

@Violet Sorry about your loss I know how it feels to lose loved ones, everyday just gets better as we try to move on and our loved ones will always live through us. My ex-girlfriend is by far the only person who I'm out with, slowly but surely I will eventually come out to the world. Step by step I will not fall, she has accepted me for who I am and I am very thankful to have her as a friend. I feel bad as I did break her heart, but she understands. I will definitely ask her for suggestions, soon I will post a new list with possible names  :D I just need to narrow it down a bit I'll definitely need to create a new thread for that though :)

@am3579 I will also need to ask a friend for help lol hopefully I can find a name that suits me well enough.  :)



Off topic: I've been replying with "@name" and combining several replies into one post. I feel like if I reply to everyone individually the thread will become extremely clustered, or that I'll have too many posts. Is replying to everyone individually (as I originally intended) better? Or is grouping several replies into one post good? Sorry I'm new to this world of forums haha  :)

At first I thought I would want a name based on my old name, but I decided I wanted to distance myself from it, so I went with a name I loved the sound of, Alice.

Alice is also a personality I associate really strongly with, and she's always been my favorite character from any book.
My girlfriend likes to call me Ali and it makes my heart flutter when she uses my name, so I think I chose right!

Quote from: aliceafterall on April 16, 2019, 04:31:43 PM
At first I thought I would want a name based on my old name, but I decided I wanted to distance myself from it, so I went with a name I loved the sound of, Alice.

Alice is also a personality I associate really strongly with, and she's always been my favorite character from any book.
My girlfriend likes to call me Ali and it makes my heart flutter when she uses my name, so I think I chose right!

I can relate to this as I stare down the rabbit hole and wonder how far it goes for me. I have a feeling that the further I go into this transition the more correlations I will find with Alice in Wonderland.

Quote from: Rae321 on April 15, 2019, 07:25:56 PM
I haven't completely settled on my true name yet but i have a good idea of what it will be.

My mother decided i was a girl until i was born with a penis and ruined all her baby shopping.  she had a list of names she liked.
Jenni and Maggie were top of the list so one of those will be my first name. My mother is ambivalent about it. I could change it to Charlene Dainty McMuffintop for all she cares but I like both of the ones she had picked and I think she secretly likes that and just doesn't want to push me in any direction.

My daughter, Anilesa Rae, was stillborn 13 years ago.
Rae will be my middle name. Her mother and i both cried when i asked her if i could use it without upsetting her. We've always stayed close and she's been my biggest cheerleader on this journey so far.

I've always gone by my middle name so I think I'll just go by Rae in general. But the sound of Maggie Rae or Jenni Rae has a great ring to it in my ear.

All that being said my advice for anyone struggling to find their name who is at a dead end is to pretend for a while that you are having a child of the gender you feel. Imagine having to come up with that name. Whatever motivates your choices in naming your child will steer you in a good direction for finding your own name if you don't have an obvious one that you want. The love you would feel for your child should be akin to the love you feel for your new, and rather infant, self even though many of us loathe ourselves in many ways.  So this trick not only helps you pick a good name with good meanings it also helps exercise that self love that you know intellectually that you deserve.  <3

I'm sorry for your loss Rae, this must be very difficult for you. We never experienced a still birth, but have had multiple miscarriages and we're unable to have children. I too always went by my middle name. My now legal name is Jamie Kyla, and I was so happy to finally go by my first name because it was inconvenient to always have to correct people. My niece was named after me, Kylie, and her middle name is after her dad, Rae. So Kylie Rae  :laugh: Rae is s great name. Oh and I chose Jamie for safety reasons. I want an ambiguous name and wiki showed Jamie as 50/50

Quote from: gracefulhat on April 20, 2019, 09:55:22 AM
I'm sorry for your loss Rae, this must be very difficult for you. We never experienced a still birth, but have had multiple miscarriages and we're unable to have children. I too always went by my middle name. My now legal name is Jamie Kyla, and I was so happy to finally go by my first name because it was inconvenient to always have to correct people. My niece was named after me, Kylie, and her middle name is after her dad, Rae. So Kylie Rae  :laugh: Rae is s great name. Oh and I chose Jamie for safety reasons. I want an ambiguous name and wiki showed Jamie as 50/50

Thank you.  It was very hard.  She died 3 days before her delivery date and it had a profoundly immense impact on her mother and I and our parents.  It was like a black hole that pulled all the joy and life from living for a very long time. But over time it bonded me much closer with her mother and my parents and a grown up version of myself than anything else ever could have.  She became an eddifice of understanding, empathy,  and love in which I still grow to this day and her loss has become less of a terrible memory and more of a defining event that helps me relate to myself and understand my world better.  In fact her loss and my father's have helped me to come to terms with who i am today.  I know in my heart that both of then would want to,  deserve to,  and would work hard to know the authentic me that is Rae and to deny them that out of fear and transphobia was a heist,  robbing them of their daughter and mother.  I can't repay that because it's too late but i can give that to everyone else i still have and everyone else who will ever know me.  It drives me forward now one step at a time, with breaks for crying of course.  So no matter what first name i take i have known since i first accepted my identity in a sobbing fit on the floor of my office that this was my true name.  Every fall her mother and I visit her cairn by a river in the mountains of central Idaho for her birthday and this will be the first year we both do it in our authentic skin. 

Sorry to go on and on,  this isn't my grief thread and i apologize to everyone who just wanted to read about picking names. But this is why i advice the child naming excersice for choosing a name.  That bonded love is something that we owe to ourselves and our names should be special for us as they will be us in a way that nothing else will because we'r send then out into the world as our emissaries when we attach them to our missives.  And to your thought of ambiguous names,  i go by Roy in my professional life and everyone misnames me Ray literally all the time so i have a suspicion that this will be a hilariously easy way to transition professionally because my clients have never met me and only a few will notice a shift as that guy they always call slowly gets replaced by this girl who develops in their ears.  Phone jobs are a blessing in this time i tell ya! XD
And while I've only ever known male Jamies personally ive always thought it was a feminine and beautiful name.  Not to mention it looks good on you.  <333

Quote from: Rae321 on April 20, 2019, 11:23:15 AM
Thank you.  It was very hard.  She died 3 days before her delivery date and it had a profoundly immense impact on her mother and I and our parents.  It was like a black hole that pulled all the joy and life from living for a very long time. But over time it bonded me much closer with her mother and my parents and a grown up version of myself than anything else ever could have.  She became an eddifice of understanding, empathy,  and love in which I still grow to this day and her loss has become less of a terrible memory and more of a defining event that helps me relate to myself and understand my world better.  In fact her loss and my father's have helped me to come to terms with who i am today.  I know in my heart that both of then would want to,  deserve to,  and would work hard to know the authentic me that is Rae and to deny them that out of fear and transphobia was a heist,  robbing them of their daughter and mother.  I can't repay that because it's too late but i can give that to everyone else i still have and everyone else who will ever know me.  It drives me forward now one step at a time, with breaks for crying of course.  So no matter what first name i take i have known since i first accepted my identity in a sobbing fit on the floor of my office that this was my true name.  Every fall her mother and I visit her cairn by a river in the mountains of central Idaho for her birthday and this will be the first year we both do it in our authentic skin. 

Sorry to go on and on,  this isn't my grief thread and i apologize to everyone who just wanted to read about picking names. But this is why i advice the child naming excersice for choosing a name.  That bonded love is something that we owe to ourselves and our names should be special for us as they will be us in a way that nothing else will because we'r send then out into the world as our emissaries when we attach them to our missives.  And to your thought of ambiguous names,  i go by Roy in my professional life and everyone misnames me Ray literally all the time so i have a suspicion that this will be a hilariously easy way to transition professionally because my clients have never met me and only a few will notice a shift as that guy they always call slowly gets replaced by this girl who develops in their ears.  Phone jobs are a blessing in this time i tell ya! XD
And while I've only ever known male Jamies personally ive always thought it was a feminine and beautiful name.  Not to mention it looks good on you.  <333

Rae I hope you will start your own story thread soon.

Lol, is my laundry getting on nerves yet?  I swear i didn't drink all the booze and i have nothing to do with that mess in the bathroom! 🤣
Actually i have. 
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,245864.0.html
Im going to post my progress and thoughts there as i go. 

Let's try to stay on topic friends

Thank you

V M

Quote from: V M on April 20, 2019, 02:31:47 PM
Let's try to stay on topic friends

Thank you

V M

You are quite right, thank you for reigningme in a little.  I recognized that i was hijacking the thread and apologized but you know how sometimes you start creating a trainwreck and yet can't stop...?

Soooo on topic. I didn't quite get from your post, when you worked out your female name did you assume the name of that girl from church? And if you did, did she ever know?  I have wondered about how cis freinds and family feel when we name ourselves after them. They're always so happy when children are named after them but an adult assuming their name feels like it would be treated differently.

I chose the name Zoey, because of a YouTuber/Twitch streamer that I really admire. She is very open about being a lesbian and highly supports anyone in the LGBT community. Her and her partner are super cute together. She has a very bubbly personality and I am always cheered up when watching her streams or videos.

Quote from: Megan. on July 03, 2018, 11:05:20 PM
I was fairly practical about it. I chose a name that:

- Shared the same initial letter as my birth name.

- No-one else I knew already had.

- Looked at popular girls names for the year of my birth  . .

@CuriousCat94x I did somewhat similar but you must keep in mind things change, and choices can too . . . 

        Both my 1st and middle names have feminine equivalents after starting there one can look at " babynamewizard dot com" and see historically related names in their "Sister & Brother Names" tab. I decided to keep initials and perhaps just change middle to "Chloe" ?

I'm a bit of a nerd, lol, and I named myself after a Dungeons & Dragons character I made up.  I created a non-binary character named Riley and had a great time roleplaying them...sort of subtly testing the waters before finally coming out to myself and my friends and chosen family.  It's silly to some, that I would choose a name from a fictional character I created, but in a way that character was actually me far more than even I realized at the time.  When people started asking me if I had a new preferred name I didn't even hesitate and simply said, "Riley".

I'm agonising over this.

on the one hand, keeping my initials would be waaaaay easier and part of me likes the idea of just masculinising my birth name (both first and middle) and rolling with it because it'd be "familiar, just a little different" which appeals to me and would be a lot easier for everyone to adjust to.

but another part of me wants to incorperate the name my parents would have given me had I been a boy. Problem is, that has the same first initial as my husband and he doesn't like shared initials because it makes mail really confusing.
And Mr R and Mr R really WOULD be confusing.

So right now i'm leaning toward "The same but different" approach

Just always loved the name Carrie.....and so does my GF , go figure.

IWish

I brought this up with other half, he vetos Ryan because Mr R and Mr R is too confusing ahahahaha.

I'm leaning toward Jenner Marin purely because it's SO CLOSE to my birthname (Jenna Marie) that anyone accidentally deadnaming me I probably won't even notice and because the short form is identical, it should be easier for everyone to adapt.

Gotta love the lazy approach to renaming hahahaha.

My parents always said they'd have called me Ryan had I been a boy (I asked when I was young apparently. I wonder why, a lot of my cis friends haven't a clue what their parents would have called them because they never asked but I did and loved that I knew my "boy name" )
I assume, as my grandfather did this EVERY grandson that was born, would have suggested Samuel as a middle name (the name he went by, not a clue why as it wasn't his birth name or his middle name or anything, he just liked it and decided to go by it)

So Ryan Samuel is likely to have been my name.

And I like it, it's a nice solid name but yeah, Husband doesn't want two Rs and his middle name is S too so it'd be R S and SUPER confusing.

He does have a point. Also I figure it'd be WAY harder to get everyone to swap to a totally completely different name. It'll be SO MUCH easier to just stay "Jen"

I choose the name Kalandrina when i was looking for a name for an online game i played 20 years ago tho it was spelt Calandrina at first. But over the last 20 years the C gave way to a K and has since stuck and is the name i now go by. Its also highly unique as i only every seen 1 person use it and its easily shortened by friends as Kally. My 2 middle names, and yes i went for 2 probably because i had 2 male middle names i choose Kayleigh Emilia.

I asked my partner to name me.  I figured that's how most people get named - somebody who loves you decides and you have no choice in the matter.  My partner is Indian, and so he chose a Sanskrit name for me: Anil (pronounced "Uneel").  It means Air, and is the name of a God of the Wind.