Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I saw this thread on the FTM, thread and thought it would be a great idea to do one of us girls.

How did your name come about, for me i love comic books, so i was trying to go for a name for myself that a comic book character had that was unique and had a nice sound to it, i was thinking of Diana...my mom didn't like that, so one day i was watching tv and i saw this really pretty girl named Kimberly.

I liked the sound of the name and i took it on as a silly wish that if i name myself Kimberly, maybe someday i will be pretty too...*sigh*.

My username is the real name of Wonder Girl/At one time false identity.

When I had my awakening and found clarity and acceptance in who I am, I felt immense peace, joy, and happiness in who I was. Sure, I was still frightened by the road ahead, but for the first time I felt like real lasting happiness was in my grasp.

So when choosing my name, I wanted to pick something that carried the meaning of a happy future. 'Joy' was out as one of my high school friends had that name and it just felt weird. But when I found 'Alaia' for the first time I fell in love with the name. It is a Basque name, and literally means 'joyful, happy'.

Interestingly enough, I later learned it is also an Arabic name that means 'sublime'. I like that too because I feel that gaining self acceptance and authenticity in who I am to be of the highest spiritual value.

I named myself after anarchist philosopher Emma Goldman.

I found my name by looking through every single letter of this baby name site. I narrowed it down to 5 names and then eventually I found mine through those five, which coincidentally is the same month I was born so it kind of ended up being perfect. And my mom really loved it too, she even has a cute nickname for me now.

My username is based off the oracle of Delphi since I've always been fascinated by that era of history, the mystical and mythological stuff. And I've also always been into the theme of the royal courts and nobility from the renaissance era so it just seemed like a nice combo name.

Quote from: paula lesley on August 30, 2014, 03:22:05 PM
I simply added an "a"  ;) Genius !   ;D

"Andya"... damn, doesn't work for me;
I need a new algorithm!

I asked my parents what I would have been called and they said Erin, I liked it but it didn't quite seem right so I looked for similar names. I'm currently considering Eris, the Greek goddess of discord who started the trojan war with a gaudy piece of fruit.

Quote from: Handy on August 30, 2014, 03:39:29 PM
"Andya"... damn, doesn't work for me;
I need a new algorithm!

What if you pronounced it like the French before adding the a? Andre-a?  :laugh:

Quote from: paula lesley on August 30, 2014, 03:22:05 PM
I simply added an "a"  ;) Genius !   ;D

me too!  My parents were going to call me Heather Michelle if I was born female.  I have 2 "infamous exes" named Heather.  I didn't like Michelle because I got teased with that name as kid whenever I did something femme-ish.  Adding the  A might also make pesky paperwork with the old name on it easier to explain off if needed.  Plus, I just like the name...

When I was young, I was told that I would have been named Kathryn Elizabeth after my grandmother. Secretly I called myself that. But then my sister was born and she was given the name Kathryn Elizabeth. So at age 14 I began simply calling myself Elizabeth. Repression and trying to be a guy followed and for years I simply let the name Elizabeth lurk in the back of my mind.

When I finally began therapy and began to transition, I initially chose Elizabeth Marie just because I liked the sound of it. But my sister wondered if there was something that would uphold my mother's intentions towards me. My male name was David (beloved). So with her encouragement I began looking at names and discovered that Cara is an Irish name that means pretty close to beloved friend. Armed with that, I discussed with her the name Cara Elizabeth and we both agreed that this would honor both my mother's intent towards me (beloved) and my grandmother (by sharing middle names).

So when my legal paperwork is done, I will be Cara Elizabeth. :)

I picked my name (which isn't Jane) when I was about 4 years old. A girl with the same name moved into the neighbourhood and I thought it was the prettiest name I ever heard. That's over 60 years ago now  ;D

same name just added ie

When my wife and I were naming our daughter I really liked traditional girl names, but my wife wasn't having it.  So when it came time to rename myself it just came to me...Katherine Elizabeth.  Kate, for short.

I also liked Olivia, Margaret, and Gretchen.

My parents were never able to pick out a girls name when they were pregnant with me, despite all the docs saying I was going to be a girl before my mishap of birth.  For now, I shortened my given name into its common nickname, but spelled as the feminine version, Dani. 

The name I've pretty much settled on is definitely not common.  I found it when exploring the Dictionary of Celtic Mythology.  I have an affinity for ravens and I really liked the idea of being named Raven, except I am a brunette....  So I found Branwen, a sacred white raven of Celtic mythology, to which I also have a nickname of Wren.  My middle name is the same as my first born's, Dawn.  My wife sees me as being a Dawn and I trust her, plus I like having my daughter being/having a namesake with me.

Two funny things with my name:  One, my oldest girl (a stepdaughter, not my firstborn) told me she thought I was a Wren, before I told her the name I like and it's nickname.  Two, my aunt is pregnant with her fourth child.  She was favoring Branwen as a name if it's a girl, until she was shocked to learn I was leaning towards that name.  She was (jokingly) upset with me for taking that name.  :P

I'm actually thinking of having my name format be the same as all three of my girls, which would make it Branwen-Dawn [insert middle name here].  But then what would my middle name be?  I kind of like being called Dani, but it doesn't sound right as a middle name (and I hate Danielle, which sounds just as bad to me anyway).

Okay....that's my story and I'm sticking to it!  :P

I asked my mum to pick one that I liked from a list of about 10, she picked one that wasn't on the list and said that I'll always be her Nic or Nicole

My name is in honor of a friend I lost to a car accident when I was a child... Her name was Noleen.. so when i came time to pick name for my cross dressing name which later came my legal name.. that name was the first one that popped in my mind.. and I went with it.

I want to feel, I let her live on in my life as a woman.. I am the woman she would have become. I think me as a woman would have been a lot like her... she was also very girly.. loved wearing dresses and painting her nails...

My name, we it came about as me starting with Shea, but it had to masculin of a tone not to mention i worked with a guy named Shay.... so my wife said Sheala, and i instantly fell in love with it.

My parents wanted to call me Kate if i was born a girl but i didnt feel like that was "me" so i took it on as my middle name instead :D. what i ended up doing was searching for top 100 baby names for my country and my birth year and slowly narrowed it now til Lauren jumped out at me.

it was love at first sight haha :D
so Lauren Kate i am and my parents are happy i kept their initial preference (we have a family tradition of calling each other by our middle name rather than our first name so everyone wins) :)

 My entire life is an unending tragic romance so it's fitting that I'm named after the most famous one.

Johanna is the free feminine side of "John" which I suppressed for so many years.  I will legally correctly the error of "John" in due course of transition events.

Johanna, a free woman.

Don't tell the shrinks but I just knew my name was Mary.

Keeping the initial makes paperwork easier but I didn't.

Well, this seemed like a nice thread to "announce" my name in. I have decided on Cosette. There are a number of reasons--illegitimate daughter, not her actual given name in Les Mis, the derivation of the French meaning "little thing." 

:) Cosette

I got my name because I joined Susan's. Really!

I was asked to pick a username, and I realized I had not put much thought into it.

Tori sounds enough like my old male name, but over time, I realized how much I also enjoy Victoria as a full name. Also, I have not known a person named Tori, who ruined the name for me.

At the time, the only trans woman I knew had taken the name I always identified with, Sara.

My parents would have named me Amanda if I were FAAB, but it can be a torublesome name for a trans woman (a man duh).

Since I had quite accidentally picked a first name that stuck, I asked my parents to come up with a middle name.

I am now Victoria Rose, but you can call me Tori.

Quote from: Tori on August 31, 2014, 02:27:20 PM
My parents would have named me Amanda if I were FAAB, but it can be a torublesome name for a trans woman (a man duh).

OMG, that's the funniest thing I've read in a long time!  You totally rock.

Years ago I asked my mother what my name would have been had I been born a girl and she told me Heather Michelle. So it seems only fitting that I take the name she would have given me so she gets to name me twice. :)

I got my name from an office door.

I saw it there when I walked into a building on campus when I was a grad student: "Paige". So I says to my therapist soon thereafter, "I've started thinking about Paige for a name". I just never stopped thinking about it and made it my legal name about a year ago.

It's a troublesome name for a developer who works on web pages. And an aspiring author who is asked how many pages she wrote. Or meetings where we all are to get in the same page but gosh golly gee I love my name. My male name never felt like it was mine. Paige, is me. :)

Allyda is actually my first middle of my given name. Because I was born IS, my biological Mom gave me gender neutral names. My full given name is Phoenix Allyda Gene, Blackwolf Anderson. So when I had my gender markers changed a while back this made things a little easier. I do plan to shorten it in the future after my SRS and other surgeries to Allyda Phoenix Blackwolf, or Allyda Phoenix Anderson. I just haven't decided on which last name I wanna use.

Ali :icon_flower:

Hello, fellow Noncomformants.

My (future) name actually came as an alternative of baby names that Wife and I were speculating about one day.  We both decided that we liked Jude as a girl's or boy's name for Child 1 or 2 (but not Child 3, that one'll be Gabriel/Gabrielle).  I pondered to myself about what name I would choose if I could transition; Jodi popped in my head and wouldn't leave.  So that's the name that I chose, especially since it was uncommon (I hadn't met a Jodi before except watching a movie with Jodi Foster in it) yet not a "giveaway" as to what I am.  Plus, it's the same first initial as my current name.

Since then I've met three Jodis.  :l  One of which is the girlfriend of a good friend of my BFF (who doesn't know that I'd rather go by "Jodi" myself! lol)  I should figure out if she's a Jodie or a Jodi.... Hmm...


Toodles from TN,
Ales/Jodi/Jodie/Argh!

The answer is that I really don't know  :laugh:

Back when I still identified as bigender a bigender friend suggested that it was time to pick a girl name since referring to me as "her" was becoming awkward. I had never thought about doing that but it was definitely time.

So, I studiously set about the task. I looked and looked through lists of girl names and didn't like a single one of them. Dejected, I finally sat the task aside and went on with other things I needed to get done.

Back then I would get to work around 6:30 or so. One morning I was driving into work bleary eyed and not thinking about a single thing. As I turned a corner the name "Eva Marie" popped into my head. Voila! I had my name.

My mind quite often works in "background mode" - it ponders issues and problems and comes up with answers at a later time - I do a lot of my computer programming work this way. Apparently my mind had been chewing on the issue of my girl name for all of that time without me being aware of it and finally came up with an answer.

My name is just the girl version of the boy name I was given when born, I often would ask my parents to call me Michelle which didn't go over good at all back in "those days".

And of course with a boy name that has a natural female version of it you get teased as you grow up and are often called by the girl name...that was actually music to my ears and the joke was on them ;)

Quote from: Donna Troy on August 30, 2014, 02:04:28 PM
I saw this thread on the FTM, thread and thought it would be a great idea to do one of us girls.

How did your name come about, for me i love comic books, so i was trying to go for a name for myself that a comic book character had that was unique and had a nice sound to it, i was thinking of Diana...my mom didn't like that, so one day i was watching tv and i saw this really pretty girl named Kimberly.

I liked the sound of the name and i took it on as a silly wish that if i name myself Kimberly, maybe someday i will be pretty too...*sigh*.

My username is the real name of Wonder Girl/At one time false identity.

Kimmy sweetheart, could you be any more beautiful! Your avatar pic is SO pretty :)

i think a mother or father should name their children and those who want a new name , say one that is more girly or for any other reason , that is something that is important to parents your name . an individual shouldnt choose their own name their mother should choose it or keep the name your parent named you and make it feminine changing your name to something completely different altogether i would feel sad if one of my sons changed their name because each of their names means something to me which is why it was specifically chosen . a name should always be given by mom that is her place to give you any name maybe im old fashioned i dont know but its just the way i feel ... i think that could effect the relationship you have with your mother or father or whoever  named you . so let your mom give you a new name and get her involved  you will be glad you did and so will she and it will bring the two of you closer together part of the excitement about a boy or a girl is the name that you have the exclusive right apart from all people to give to your child . so dont take that away from her itll make her sad and feel even more disconnected from the person you have become .  :embarrassed:

I haven't chosen my name yet, but I've narrowed it down to five names:

Lucy
Skye (currently my favorite, I think I'm going to choose this one)
Alex
April
Athena

@jeninindiana
As far as I know, there isn't any way to feminize my birth name... And I just hate all of the names my parents have ever come up with.


iiMTF

I just think that's something a mom should do and it would benefit anyone who chooses to do that primarily with your relationship with your mom and her acceptance im sure she probabally has a specific girls name that is important to her for some reason or one she has just always liked.  people who don't like their given names just go by different nicknames when they are around people.

I suppose that was one advantage I had.  My parents had died long before I made the decision so I didn't have to think about them.

From my parents, when I was born!

I never felt the need to change my name- my first name is very androgynous (username here is just sort of an abbreviation), and my sister's middle name is masculine. Briefly considered changing my middle name, until she pointed out, "Hey! Now we both have girl first names and boy middle names!" So now it's a fun sibling connection we get to have.

It's led to a little confusion around people who knew guy-me, since a change in name can assist the pronoun shift.  But not having to do any of the related paperwork?  Amazing. :p

Quote from: Dee on September 01, 2014, 08:52:51 PM
From my parents, when I was born!

I never felt the need to change my name- my first name is very androgynous (username here is just sort of an abbreviation), and my sister's middle name is masculine. Briefly considered changing my middle name, until she pointed out, "Hey! Now we both have girl first names and boy middle names!" So now it's a fun sibling connection we get to have.

It's led to a little confusion around people who knew guy-me, since a change in name can assist the pronoun shift.  But not having to do any of the related paperwork?  Amazing. :p

Lucky :p

I don't think my name can be considered that of a girls... I'm pretty sure "Matthew" is far from feminine.

Though my older brothers name is Jordyn, which is how you spell it for a girl... I even saw it on a girls names baby list xD

My middle name is a feminine name, but I really... really don't like it :p

iiMTF

Quote from: iiMTF on September 01, 2014, 09:08:34 PM
I don't think my name can be considered that of a girls... I'm pretty sure "Matthew" is far from feminine.

*hugs* I know your pain.

Same story as most everyone else. I was going to be named Abby, and now I am Abby.

Well my name now went like so last fall. My friend who used to go by Skylar told me to go by it so I did for a week, it didn't sound good so I shortened it to Skye and then I was thinking and Riley Skye just seemed to fit and now it is all nice and legal :3

Originally I was going to go with "Rosemary" after my fiance did a cover of the Edison Lighthouse song "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes."

I decided "Rosemary" was too old-fashioned so I went for the slightly more common "Rose."  Living in Portland, the "Rose City," helped the decision a bit (as far as I know I'm the only "Rose City Rose" there is).  When I discovered the esoteric connotations of that name paired with the last name I chose, I was pretty much sold on it and I've been Rose ever since.

A few of these names you girls have I've considered myself... Though I've eliminated every one except the 5 I listed earlier

iiMTF

I picked mine from a list of ten preferred names.

Quote from: Laura Squirrel on September 01, 2014, 10:50:57 PM
I picked mine from a list of ten preferred names.

I went through a list of 800 names, I came out with only 7 that I liked, plus the 4 that I already knew I liked. I eliminated six of them. My previous 4 was Lucy, Skye, April, and Alex. The one I added to my list was Athena. (I'm obsessed with Greek mythology) I'm probably going to choose Skye in the end.

iiMTF

when I was a kid, i found a Katydid and showed my dad. He then revealed that "if I had been a girl" my name would have been Katherine, so he would have the dad joke opportunity of "who ate the last cookie? Katie did!"  my dad is big on dad jokes. anyway, that stuck with me hard.

now for my middle name i decided on Elaine as a female version of my old middle name. my parents didn't know until I legally changed my name, and then my mom was pissed, because apparently Elaine is the middle name of her sister, who she doesn't like. oops! still, best possible reason for my mom to get pissed over me changing my name!

I was having trouble settling on a name and my mum suggested Francesca based off my middle name initial (I was named after my dad/grandad). I liked it, I thought it was pretty and not too common (which was something I insisted on) so that's what I've gone with, Cheska for short. Before I settled on Francesca I was leaning towards Paige (my first initial) which I've made my middle name.

The Greek meaning of the name Melissa is: Bee, famous bearer, Melissa, mythological princess of Crete transformed into a bee after learning to collect honey.

I asked my mother what shall I be? ... que sera sera.. haha .  Seriously though, I did ask my mom when I was very very young. She told me what I would have been and there is my name :-)   no, it was not here kitty kitty. My avatar name came from when I read the book and saw the movie Breakfast On Pluto.

My name comes from a character from the TV series firefly Kaylee is an awesome name and the character is just like me. Ever since I saw her for the first time it just clicked with me.

Kaylee

I just took my mom's single name and as the first name, something that begins with W, like my baptism name. It was not my first choice, but i think that use my WOW's character name wold be very lame lol

" I did ask my mom when I was very very young. She told me what I would have been and there is my name :-) "
i think you did the right thing if my son ever became a girl i would be damned if i couldnt name my daughter! i would be upset and i do think mothers would get upset and they have a right to get upset if you change a name that they gave to you . if you know a name she would have given you had you been born a girl yes i think you should make that your name . i think names are inspired and meant to be when my son was born we had not decided on a name but then the name just came to us "adam nicholas" it was just perfect and that was not a name even under consideration. there is a perfect girls name (and your mom knows it lol)

I wish i had some insightful reason behind my name, but I dont. Ever since I can remember I've had two names sort of locked down for some unknown reason. Aurora and Kayla. Don't know where they came from or why they were the names I grew attached too.

I found it in the pub... true story

"Ever since I can remember I've had two names sort of locked down for some unknown reason. Aurora and Kayla. Don't know where they came from or why they were the names I grew attached too."

i think one day you will have a daughter and you should name her Aurora ... never fight destiny :)

My older sister named me Tessa as a toddler and treated me as her sister for many years.  She was outnumbered by the 8 boys in our family.  She tried getting a couple of the other guys to be her sister but apparently I liked it best, hmmm.  My older brother would tell me to cut it out or i would turn into a girl.  I hoped to magically become a girl and mom but puberty crashed that party.  I didn't really remember much about my childhood and attribute that to deep denial and repression.  When coming out I spoke with my sister and said I sort of remembered a little bit of tea party play a couple of times.  She replied "oh Jimmy, we did that for years"

I kept my old first name as my middle name to honor where and who I have been.  Transgender and proud of it.

I hoped to magically become a girl and mom but puberty crashed that party.
you can still become a mom itll just be a little more complicated just find a husband and a surrogate and an ivf clinic or forget the husband and just do the last 2 things and have a baby

Quote from: jeninindiana on September 03, 2014, 02:10:23 PM
I hoped to magically become a girl and mom but puberty crashed that party.
you can still become a mom itll just be a little more complicated just find a husband and a surrogate and an ivf clinic or forget the husband and just do the last 2 things and have a baby

Oh goodness!  I have had a boyfriend/husband before.   I am a parent, grandparent and great grandparent with many wonderful people in my life.  Giving birth and breast feeding a baby are part of my old fantasy and comfortably part of my past.  I am happy being this close to congruity with the woman who shadowed my life for so long.

Coming back to the thread topic; MOM is one name I would love to have heard

So many great names with great origins.  I'm almost embarrassed how simple mine is. 
My parents intentionally picked a name they could flip depending on my birth gender. 
It was either Christopher Michael or Christina Michelle

I simply went with what I should have got if I had been born in the right body and tweaked it to Crystina so I could use Crys as the short form.

My doctors basically chose it.

Well,  I asked my mom once what would be my name if I was born a girl...  Turns out they never even think in names /facepalm
When I was born,  my dad simple run to register me with his name without asking my mom...  /doublefacepalm...

The ability to choose a name can have it's advantages these days. In the age of the Internet your name can be the difference between being easy to find or difficult to find online. Which you choose might depend upon your needs, I suppose.

Anyway, the first thing you want to do is Google your full new name. Check to see if there's some famous (or infamous) person with that name. If so it's probably best to choose another. Something I've had fun with is doing a Google image search of various first names. While I'm sure it's not scientific at all, it seems to me that a lot of people with the same first names seem to have similarities. It's amazing how some names appear to be more often possessed by people who are attractive and successful while others look the opposite. Try it with a few and you'll probably see what I mean. For instance, looking at variations of my original middle name I Googled "Alene" and "Allison". With apologies to anyone by that name, Alenes seem a lot more boring than Allisons. In fact, there seems to be an endless number of exciting and successful women named Allison. Thus that's my name when I'm not being Lyric.

I wanted to keep my first initial (E) since I sign so many things -e
I concocted the name Sarah Ellison Carter, but after a while, I thought that Ellison might be a bit too contrived so I shortened it to Ellie and made that my first name, thus my initials are ESC, and I own your keyboard.