Susan's Place Transgender Resources

When I first started understanding who I was I gave myself a name. The first name I chose was Kieran. A great Irish name that I thought fit who I was. It's pronounced similar to Kiera Knightly but with an "n" or Kieran Culkin, Macaulay Culkin's brother. I also came up with a fairly decent middle name "Doyle." I experimented and when I'd say "Kieran" people would say back "Karen" which just happened too often for me to bother. I ditched the name and after an even longer period of analysis and thinking I arrived to the name "Kyle." It too fit me. Unfortunately the name "Kyle Doyle" isn't a name I want, but when I really think about a middle name most everything just sounds off. I've been trying to avoid names that any of my family members have (I'm one of 8, my mom is one of 14) but it's hard to do. I've been going by "Kyle" for 4 years now, and still lack a middle name.

So, although this was mostly a "grrr must vent" type of thread I have a couple questions:
If you have more than just a first and last name (I know some people have two or three middle names) how did you pick that name?
How did you know that name combination was right for you?
And what the heck kind of middle name do I look like which would go with "Kyle"?

 My middle name fits either way so i m fine with it .    Kyle Ryan sounds cool so thats my suggestion  Most of our parents stuck us with somthing really lame that doesn t fit The worst i can think of was Robin Steele say that out loud, uh yeah . 

Andrew is my first and I picked Thomas because I think it goes well.  My uncle who died when my mom was 7 was named Thomas but that had no influence on me choosing the name for myself. 

I think David would go well as a middle, though you don't have to take a middle name if you don't want to.  My grandmother had no middle name. 

Why not just drop the middle name altogether?  It'd make things easier.

I'm just gonna change mine to it's boy spelling.  Leigh to Lee.

Shame about that, Kieran Doyle is a great name, and Kieran has actually been my favourite male name since I was 10. It came close to being my name, but it doesn't quite suit me. I'd go for a longer middle name since Kyle is so short, of at least 2 syllables... Alexander, Anthony, William, maybe.

I wanted my middle name to be Sebastian (seh-BAst-ee-an) before I knew I wanted my first name to be Nikolai. It's an unusual combination, but in a strange way it fits me. Also, I was destined to have a strange name even if mom picked it... she was rooting for Aimhirghin Picasso at one point.... sigh. I also considered the addition of Alan because that was one of my top two choices for what I wanted to be called when I was younger, but I already have a hyphenated last name, so that seemed like overkill.

I'd say it also depends on your last name and how many syllables that has.
Like, if you had a rather long last name with XXX (three syllables) what would sound good were a short middle name, as short as Kyle (1 syllable)

So it would look like this  X- X- XXX

If you have a short last name with XX (two syllables) or even with X (one syllable), I'd suggest a longer middle name, with maybe 3 syllables.

Like X - XXX- XX

Of course some people have names like: X- X- X or  XXX - XXX- XXX, but I think as suggested above it would sound better.

Good luck :)

Gawd, that sounded confused.

I just went with what my parents would have named me had I been born with male parts-- Devin Scott.  I never would have picked the name Devin or Scott on my own, but for some reason it really seems to fit me-- probably because it was supposed to be my name all along.  The easiest thing for middle names is to insert something generic-- Thomas, Michael, James, etc.  I think hard C names sound cool with Kyle-- both of those K sounds together sound awesome.  Kyle Connor, Kyle Carson, Kyle Christopher, etc.

Quote from: Kev on March 02, 2011, 10:31:40 PM
I'd say it also depends on your last name and how many syllables that has.
Like, if you had a rather long last name with XXX (three syllables) what would sound good were a short middle name, as short as Kyle (1 syllable)
\Good luck :)

Doesn't Kyle have two syllables?  Ky-le?

I chose my middle name based on the way it flowed with my first and last names.  I changed my full name, so I wanted something that sounded right and fit me.  Over the years, I had a few names that I associated with myself.  These weren't necessarily names I would actually go by but names that I identified with somehow.  My first name was a very obvious choice (masculine version of my birth name) but the masculine spelling of my birth middle name just didn't fit.

So I put the odd names together with my chosen first name to find the best sound/flow.  I also looked at how popular/common the name was for my birth year.  I'm happy with my choice, and I know that if scrutinized, my name has credibility (versus a name that only became popular in the last few years).  Another thing I considered was my initials.  I wanted to avoid anything that would look awkward on a monogram (ASS, STD, etc).

As for a middle name with Kyle, I think it would depend upon your last name.  Shorter first names generally sound better with a longer middle name and vice versa.  Two names that immediately came to mind were Kyle Alexander and Kyle Anthony.

Best of luck on finding the name that's right for you!

Devin:  to me Kyle is one syllable (was syllable the word I was looking for, after all?) just like Tom or Mike (try the name and clap your hands, you will only clap once, while you'd clap twice for Parker or Justin) and three times for a last name like Madison or Rutherford.

Are those syllables? Anyway. I hope you know what I meant.

Quote from: Kev on March 02, 2011, 10:45:46 PM
Devin:  to me Kyle is one syllable (was syllable the word I was looking for, after all?) just like Tom or Mike (try the name and clap your hands, you will only clap once, while you'd clap twice for Parker or Justin) and three times for a last name like Madison or Rutherford.

Are those syllables? Anyway. I hope you know what I meant.

Maybe it's a regional thing.  When I say Kyle I clap twice.  Ky-al.  But I guess if you say it fast, I can see how it blends together.  Sort of like the word mile.  In the southeast it come out as one syllable whereas other places it's clearly two.

I kinda lucked out on the middle name thing, having the middle name O'Neil.  its a really masculine name i think, and unique it was my great grandfathers surname.

although sometimes I wish I could have HAD to change my middle name because I would have chosen Cillian

All of my brothers and sisters have first and middle names. I think all of my aunts, uncles and cousins do, too. It just seems right to have a middle name.

I have a 3 syllable last name. I think a 2 syllable middle name would fit. Here are some name combinations in my family: Kevin Gregory, Christopher Patrick, John Joseph. Christopher is what I would've been named if I was born male...the name was given to the next born son. I've really thought about my middle name for a long time. Just trying to figure out Something that fits perfectly is frustrating!

Kyle is sort of in between 1 and 2 syllables. The L after an I sound almost forms a second syllable.

I still haven't picked a middle name.  Kind of leaning towards Maxwell.  I also really like Moishe, but I'm not at all Jewish so I don't think that would fit.

Mine is going to be my Dad's since I am really close to him.

For my middle name, I'm going for two. Since I don't legally have a first name, I thought two middle names could make up for that :'P. One of those is actually going to be my current legal first name. It's just a part of me I never want to let go. I can't allow myself to forget where I came from. Not like I will unless I develop something like Alzheimer's, but you know what I mean :'P. My other middle name will be Link as a Legend of Zelda reference. It's my name, I can change it to whatever horrible thing I want xD. Hell, my first name will be Raphael after one of the Ninja Turtles. It's also a religious name so it works :'D.

Raphael religious? Not my first thought, I think of the painter.

I kept the middle name that was given to me I just changed the spelling from Lesley to Leslie as it's apparently the male version (i've seen some girls named Leslie though so maybe I was lied too?), I hate my middle name but my mum felt strongly about it, if she didn't I would've dropped it and not replaced it with anything.

That's a coincidence...My friend wants to name his kids Raphael and Link from the same references...as well as Skywalker and Samus if he has a girl. He was named after Will Ryker from Star Trek himself, since his parents wanted to name him after a strong character. I guess he wants to continue the tradition...

I thought about my name for some time and eventually went out and bought one of those baby books, its got somthing like 10,000 names and I went through the entire boy section until I found one that fit me. When I found it and told my girlfriend she said it sounded like a porn name :). (Im not too sure about that) But it doesnt flow great with my last name but my last name is really girly and some people used to confuse it for my first. but my uncles on my dads side have yet to have kids that I know of and it just seemed right that I should carry on my dads name. 

My mom chose my brothers names by useing the yelling test. you try and muster as stern a voice as you can and yell the first and middle name, its fun when you come up with some odd combinations.

My middle name, the one I finally went with, came over a year after the first name. Hell, I went through three total middle names, and two first names.

Liam Edward XX (Liam stopped fitting almost immediately, and the twilight books ruined the name Edward for me.)
Rowan Sage XX (Sage just felt too made up for me)

Rowan Murray XX Win.

Then it took me another year of wussing out before getting it legally changed.

Thankfully I was blessed with a pretty male first name (Shawn), but was given an unmistakably female middle name, Lorraine. I'm going to feel kinda bad giving up my middle name since it was passed down from my great-grandmother, to my mother, to me. But I have always loved Irish names, even though I am not Irish myself. So I have been seriously considering Liam as a middle name. Although my step-sister just had her first baby and named him Liam (name-stealer!), so now I'm considering Cillian instead. I think I look enough like a Shawn Cillian. *nod*

I was debating names for awhile, finding something everyone would agree on was difficult especially my mum but I realllly wanted to be called Devin because it just sounds fun (shout out to other Devin here lol *waves*) and because Devin Townsend (musician) is awesome and inspirational (to me). At first my mum disagreed but then when a friend of mine she likes suggested it she was like, yeah that's a cool name. Pshhh.

ANYWAY I always had Jay in mind as my middle name. Jay is a great name and seems to fit pretty much anyone as a middle name (yeah the inspiration was Homer J Simpson). A long standing 'joke' of mine is when introducing people, etc, their middle name is always Jay even if I know it. Kyle Jay + longer last name works heh. Plus I get to be a 'DJ' with my friend who is an 'MC' :d

OH plus... Before I had a double-barrel first name and two middle names ... 'Aimee Felicia' oh god *facepalm* so I wanted more short and sweet than long and cringey

Elias Cornelius Lastname.

My old girl name was Esmeralda Cornelia Lastname.

I've always liked the name Elias, and it somehow seems like it fits me. I decided to use the male version of Cornelia, because then I get to keep one "weird" name, and I also keep my initials. I'm kind of sad that Elias doesn't mean green, though, as I used to think it was very cool that my name (Esmeralda; emeralds) implied my favourite colour.

Ryley was the middle name I'd chosen during my last attempted transition (though never legally my middle name).  I was shopping for new middle name, since I was pretty happy with Ryley when I came across Reagan.  Nice Irish name, it grew on me (and ever the comedian a tribute to a rather GLBT unfriendly ex-president).  I actually misspelled it when I signed up here and it ended up being Regan, which I seem to like even more and decided to keep Ryley as my futher middle name.

So yeah Regan Ryley (I'm keeping my last name the same).

I haven't changed my name yet, but it's probably going to be Quinn Gabriel. I made a list of my favorite names, then tried out different combinations of first/middle names until I found one that sounded good. I'm not 100% sure that I'll change it to Quinn Gabriel, but at the moment it's the best thing I could think of to fit my personality.

So here's my suggestions for your name: Kyle David, Kyle Shawn, Kyle Evan... hmm, there really aren't that many names that go well with Kyle. Oh, and I agree with Nikolai_S, Kyle Anthony is another good name. xD just don't change it to Kyle Lyle!

I was checking the Social Security name list thing for names and Robert was the around the same popularity rank as my birth name for my birth year. I tried out a lot of names, Robert just kind of stuck. My middle name, Matthew, is my dad's name. Mainly chose it because my younger brother's middle name is Matthew and it would be kind of awkward for the second born son to be named after the father and not the first born, I thought.

Running with Irish names, I really like Kyle Ryan, but that might sound awkward depending on your last name. I was going by Alexander for a little while but a 3/4 syllable, depending on how you pronounce it, first name, two syllable middle name, and three syllable last name was just too many syllables xP

Maybe...Kyle Martin? Hit me just now. Likely a hit or miss name, I tend to pick those. :P

My middle name is gender neutral so I kept it. However, I had another surname I'd often use with my desired masculine first name when I didn't want to use my given surname. I became so used to it (after 20 years!) I added it in as a second middle name.

A problem with a lot of the names suggested is that I have close family members with those names and I don't want to be reminded of many of them. Also, my last name has a lot of "N"s so a lot of names with an "N" or multiple "N"s sounds odd. I think a two syllable name would fit the best and the only option I've come up with and liked to some degree was "Spencer" but it's not a complete match.

Sorry if people have already suggested some of these.

Kyle Drake
Kyle Leigh (might sound like a single female name if used together though)
Kyle Lucas
Kyle Barry
Kyle Paxton

How about Kyle Busch?  It would help you pass in the south at least...  :)

Kyle Bradley, Kyle Preston, or Kyle Seamus?

I'm saying all of these out loud with my last name. The only way to explain it is that they all sound weird.  :laugh:

How about Kyle Alexander _____?  I think someone already suggested it but in case not Kyle Thomas ____. Good luck finding a middle name. I'd trade if I could, I unfortunately love too many middle names and am having trouble deciding for sure.

For me it's either going to be Andrew Alexander ____. Or Andrew Scott ____ although it was pointed out to me that since my last name that I'm going to starts with an S that is I use Andrew Scott S. My initials would be A.S.S. plus a lot of people are still calling me Alex.

Alexander, Anthony, Thomas...and a few other names that were listed are the names of close family members (the downside of coming from a large family).

Look up the top 100 male names in the year you were born.

Try each one with your full name.

Stop when you find one that doesn't sound dumb or use a name of someone super close to you. Also, remember that it's really ok if your middle name is someone you know who isn't that close to you (a cousin, friend, etc. is ok). No one actually USES middle names, so it's mostly for your legal documents anyway.

If you get to the bottom of the list and hate it all, maybe use a family middle name (e.g., a mother's maiden name, godparent's last name, etc.). That is common too.

I used my grampa's middle name, James. I've always seen him as an incredibly wise, inspirational man. The name James itself doesn't really add up to much in my mind, unless it brings him to mind. He was a great man and because I kind of idolize him, I wanted to make his name a part of my own. I'll probably give the middle name to my future son, as well.

My middle name is Louise so I'm going to change it to Lewis. Though that would make all three of my names have two syllables, XX-XX-XX. I still think my name sounds all right.

My names kinda picked me.
When finding a middle name I wanted to honor my dad and brother. My dad's middle name is Leroy and my brothers middle name is Laray. My initials are JEQ and I wanted to keep that so I went with Elray. I don't love it but it makes me feel like part of the family... like thats something my parents would have picked.
As for my first name my birth name was Jacquelyne, (terrible right?) I hated it even as a kid because from kindergarten on I went by Jackie. When I came out I shortened it to Jack. I would have picked a new name but my parents are having a hard time as it is and Jack seems to be something they can "get used to."
Again, I don't necessarily "love" the name Jack but on the other hand cismales don't get to pick or like their name either right? They are stuck with it ... and I guess so am I.

My NASCAR jokes aside, a lot of southern males do have some interesting combinations of first and middle names as a tribute to family memebers, often a grandmother's maiden name becomes someone's middle name, etc.

With this talk of syllables, I guess it's good to mention that whether there are a lot or a few syllables, it makes a difference in the feel of it. Short sounds feel very masculine and conservative, like John Paul Smith. Lots of syllables are more unusual and can seem either old fashioned or flashy... eg Esteban Theodore Rodriguez.

I like longer, more complicated names, they're familiar to me. My old name: xxx xxx xx-xx. New name: xxx xxx/x xx-xx. My dad's name: xxx xxx xx-xxx. A cousin's name: x xx xx xx-xxx-xx. (Latino relatives, multiple hyphens and several middle names are common) So, it fits my family history. You might want to figure out the pattern of your family names and try to copy the rhythm.

With all this syllable talk I never thought of it till now but my first middle and last name all have 6 letters and 2 syllables each.  Andrew Thomas xxx-xxx

I'm totally all for the look at baby names ideas. That's what I did to choose a middle name. I just said each name to see what it sounded like with the first name I have chosen (the masculine version of my birth name) until I found one I liked, you know one that flows well. Plus I wanted to keep my initials the same, so that made a more specific area of the alphabet to look.

Kyle James
Kyle Andrew
Kyle Robert

I don't know. I'm thinking that a traditional name would work best with Kyle.

I don't have to change my first name because it's unisex, but I'm changing my current middle name (eileen) to elliot. after reading you guys's posts i realize i put barely any thought into it.:laugh: I just chose it because they sound alike.

It took me along time to come up with a middle name to that went with my choose name Jayden in the under I came up with Jayden Adams it took awhile but it's finding a name which matches who you are.

oh names! I went through a million ideas before deciding to keep my given middle name, which is a unisex name.

I do like Kieran though, original poster!

I haven't figured out a middle name either. I picked Evan as my first name, and my last name is a 4-syllable Scottish monstrosity that starts with H and ends in -ton. So I've been going through "bland traditional names that don't end in '-t' or '-n'." So far I'm working with Michael, James, and David as my top 3 picks, with James being the likely winner (I wanted Andrew, but that just ends up with way too many a's and n's for one name). I figure my middle name will be whatever I'm in the mood for when I fill out the paperwork at the courthouse, and I'll get used to it.

I think most names probably sound funny when we imagine them being 'ours.' It takes time to get used to a new name.

My chosen names are Eric Daniel [lastname].
But, because of the "ric" in Eric, I'd like to go by Ricci (richie).

It's a normal enough sounding name.

-Ricci

I'm in a bit of a struggle for a name too even though I was lucky in the fact that I was born with a gender neutral first and middle name that have belonged to men in my family in the past. My first name, though, sounds incredibly feminine to me due to the weird "ay" sound in the middle. It drives me crazy whenever I present as male that I apparently pass, but I have such a feminine-sounding name. Have little to no problems with my middle name though.

I may just end up adding a name like "Don/Donnie", "Nicholas", or "Allen" in front of my name to where it becomes XX XX X XX.

Or I may just have those names as typically-used nicknames, but not legal names.

Coming up with a middle name was quite hard for me, because I wanted to preserve my initials and the number of letters in my name, if possible.  Might be odd, but it was important to me.  I finally found a name that fit, but with the talk of syllables here I realized that although the number of letters is the same, my name went from the syllables being 3-4-2 to 2-2-2.  I'd never thought about there being a syllable difference between male and female names before.