So, basically my question is how did you choose your name if you chose to change it and how many times did you change it before you were happy with it?
I finally chose Adrian recently. I had been bouncing around a few different names for a while now, and I really like this one. And it sounds right when my friends and coworkers call me Adrian. However, when I saw my name for the first time next to my picture, it looked really strange to me. Is this normal, is it because I've seen my female name by my face so long that it will just take awhile to get used to? Idk, that is my other question, was it hard even when you knew what was right, for you to get used to your new name for while?
My mom said her first choice for my name was Jessica Lynn. Or, if I'd been a boy, Jacob. Thank GOD the former didn't stick XD, and Jacob I dislike. It's my favorite cousin's name, I'm letting him keep his name. XD
My first name, Christopher, is just a more masculine version of my unisex given name. I destroyed all my old journals, so I don't remember how I came to it. It feels right to me. My mom always asks why I don't keep my given name, as it's unisex, but it just makes me gag and doesn't feel like me.
My middle names have changed a lot. XD Originally, it was Louis so I could keep my initials, but that died pretty quickly, since I figured I could still sign my things with "CLB" even if my middle name started with an S (I did flip-flop between Louis and my old obviously female middle name). :D Silas replaced Louis I think shortly after, when my friend introduced me by my old name to his uncle, who said he had a brother with my old name and the middle name Silas. Then Ian came in front of Silas... XD when I had to type my given name in computer class a lot... I'd look down, then when I looked up, only "ian.[last name]" showed. I hated it, but I felt like it fit.
I often think about adding names, or exchanging. But I'm actually pleased with it now. ^_^ Christopher, though, was never very hard for me. I liked it, since it reminds me of lions and boldness, hahaa.
Adrian seems really common among FTMs, hahaa. It's my new baby cousin's name as well. :3 It might take a while to get used to the name for you, but if you're comfortable and it sounds right, then I don't think it'll take very long.
I toyed with many names at first but when I was first going through the changes and finding out what trans was, it was in a time when information was not really available (computers were not in most homes and there were not smart phones) so I never really told anybody, just kept thinking what name do I really like. Then after I came out to my parents at my therepists advice, I discovered over the next few months that I was not going to be accepted, so I went to court house and changed my name to something not even remotely close to my birth name.
I kept that name for a few years and then as my parents health decreased and while sitting around at a Highland Festival, I kept thinking how can I help people find their clans and heritage if I am running from mine in a sense. I felt bad and luckily I was living in a state where you can change your name more then once, so I changed my name legally again. This time taking the male latin version of my birth name, my family's surname and the middle name was my relative that came to the states from Britain. Plus I really like the name since it's Gaelic, so thats what I go by.
I think to some extent the name chooses you, more than you choose the name. When I was thinking about names I wanted something really cool sounding for my first name, and was looking up things like Damon, Declan, Bane etc. I remember reading a book during that time with a characted in it who's name was 'Max', and somehow it just stuck. It wasn't as cool a name as I wanted, and I didn't want something so short (of course my name is actually Maximillian, but everyone just says Max) so I remember being really annoyed that the name 'Max' had pretty much chosen me. :P
Then one of the names I'd wanted for my first replaced my last name, and I was left with a short first name, and a short last name. I decided I needed an awesome rare middle name that also had a bit of length to it to even out the beat of my name, when my father popped up with 'what about Aloysius?' and it just fit instantly and stuck.
I think you can tell when you get the right name, it's like whether you want it or not, you just know that it's what you're going to have because it somehow just feels right.
Well, I came across the name Adrian in the book Beastly. I kinda could relate to Adrian. I mean, I'm not an egotistical narcissist but his journey captivated me. It may be a fictional story based loosely on the Grimm's original take on Beauty and the Beast but I like what the story symbolizes.
Before I had read that book, I liked the name Kaien and still do. Both names represent a piece of who I am. Adrian is Irish, meaning of Hadria or can also mean dark. I was kind of relieved when I found out that my chosen name is Irish bc my female name is native american and both are a part of my heritage. Kaien is Japanese. Kai meaning ashes and en meaning village gate. I have only come across Kaien twice. And bother characters were very strong and stood up for what they believed in and I do that.
I originally was going to have Kyle (another Irish name) as my middle but it's a name I liked when I was fourteen and it doesn't really fit with the person I am today. Kaien or Kyle will win out, and right now Kaien it winning. We'll see, the only thing holding me back from going with Kaien is that then my first middle and last will end with an N, since I'm going to change my last to my Godmother's.
Silas, I had no idea that Adrian was popular. I do have a step cousin named Adrian, but I didn't remember that until later and she's the only Adrian I know, other than that famous movie line from Rocky and Adrian Brody.
Max, I think you're right. Even though my names have special significance to me, they did in a way choose me.
Jigsaw, what you did to honor your heritage and family is wonderful.
When I changed my name to Mason (not official, that's waiting until certain impediments are out of my way) it wasn't so much that I 'chose' a name as though I just realized what my name actually was. It fits well with my middle name, too, so I'll be keeping that. Eventually I'll be 'Mason Eugene _____'.
I don't feel comfortable saying what I changed my name to, but I can still answer your question.
When I first came out as trans, I asked my SO to say two names for me: "I love you, (masculine nickname of first name)" and "I love you, (masculine form of middle name)". The first sounded more natural and a better representation of myself. So I just used my nickname for many years and also used the full masculine form of my first name.
For a long time, I thought I would keep my same middle name (with masculine spelling) and same last name. But then I started to hate it because it reminded me so much of my former name. I was also afraid of being too easily recognized. So when I had my legal name change, I changed my full name (first, middle, last). My new middle name is a name that I frequently returned to in my fantasies/day dreams and my last name is my grandmother's maiden name.
Originally, when I was first questioning myself, I just referred to myself as my old nickname, Flick.
But when I started thinking about it, it wasn't really appropriate for a name change (as in people wouldn't take me seriously).
So i went on a baby names website, and chose out a tonne of names at random that I liked. After that, I choose 5, my top five. Then, for a week at a time, I started calling myself by those names. The third one I used was Sebastian, and it has just stuck. So for now, that's my preferred name.
But I still like to be called Flick :D Mainly because it reminds me of my childhood, where stupid things like gender didn't matter.
I think my best advice would be to find names that resemble your old name, so you're not "losing" yourself as a whole, it also makes it easier for friends and the like to remember it instead of a full change.
Just remembered, I don't have a middle name to fill the gap :o oh boy, time to go scanning babynames.com again...
Five years ago when I went full-time, I thought, as most of us do, that I should keep my initials. So I went by Rafe for awhile, but it just didn't feel right. Sebastien came about maybe 6 months later, and it stuck. I've gone back and forth, using either that or my middle name, Dean, but really feel like a Sebastien. Apparently, it's not too uncommon a name for trans guys, but when I chose it, I didn't know anyone else, trans or otherwise, with the name. Last year, as a final addition, I decided to hyphenate my first name, so it's now Luc-Sebastien. Trying to savor whatever small bit of French heritage I have. It'll be official as soon as I can take care of a little legal matter in California.
I've been struggling with my first name since I was a kid. I was always changing it since I was very young because I hated my name. I went a whole year with one name (legally changed) but in the end it just didn't work, thing is I knew it wouldn't all along, I just wanted it because it was the biggest step in the opposite direction. It was so far away from my birth name, and more commonly a guys name though still unisex. In the end I chose Jacob, a guys name (no questions asked) but I use the name Jay. Jay was a name I always liked, but I didn't stumble upon the name Jacob, until I decided to write a book and found myself relating to this character I created. I liked the name because of Jacob from the band Hedley, though the character in the book was nothing like him, more like me actually and always went by the name Jay. Then there is also the fact that every Jacob I've met has been like polar opposites from the last, so it felt like a name that could fit many. I don't know, the moment I signed the name under a drawing of mine I knew it was the name. It clicked. It sounded right, looked right, and when other people called me Jay/Jacob, it was all I needed to hear again. I know it sounds crazy but I love to hear other people say it, when I tell others my name and they use it, it's like people are actually talking me, unlike the names that made me feel like I was sitting in front of the person others were trying to talk to.
The best part was looking up baby names to find my middle names. 'Riley Jay Lukas'. My mum loved the name Riley, I wanted Jay officially a part of my name and I just liked the sound of Lukas and the way it is said all together, it just sounds good. :)
My middle name was a no-brainer. It's a family name that my parents didn't pass on to my brother, so I decided early on that I wanted to keep it in the family. For my first name, I originally chose Cayden, but it didn't really fit and I could tell, so I went with my next choice and it just seemed right. Now my name is Cole Derby _____. I guess it was kind of weird at first to get used to being called a new name, but that didn't last long. When I think of my birth name I think of it being attached to someone else, someone who's a girl. When I think of my name now, I think of me.
I spent only about a week or two deciding my name. I debated between a few ... Derek, Mac, something else, and then Ryan just kind of popped up one night, I turned to my girlfriend and asked what she thought: "What about Ryan James?" and she liked it.
I'm thinking of changing "James" to "Mackenzie". Edit: changed my mind. I also changed my last name to my mom's maiden name and James was my grandfather's and my cousin's middle names... My aunt was a little pissed about that for some reason. Like I was tainting my grandfather's name or something. Whatever.
I didn't think of one until I started HRT. When I tried to transition back in the 70's, Josephine was and still is not my choice because I thought it was too cold sounding. I didn't have any idea of a replacement name then. Joelene is the current one, it seems to have a brighter sound. This may not be a legal name, but more of a nickname. My first name was my grandfather's middle name, his first was Marion, but everyone called him by his middle, Joe.
Joelene
I don't know if I started out as Clay or as Alex. Clay was more of a joke about an alter-ego before I was certain about my gender identity and then Alex came from my andro/genderqueer phase. Dominic was my first "male" name, which my friend suggested, until I decided it wasn't for me and (finally) settled on Piers. I've been jumping around on names as well, but I've settled on Piers; it's not my legal name yet, though.
I found my middle name simply because I liked it. It's Oliver :)
Plus, it gives me the initials POW ;D
You'll find it eventually :)
I definitely didn't have the fortune of a unisex name, or even one remotely relating to one. My name was a color, and in a patriotic song describing wheat. I'm sure a few could guess what it is eventually, but the name has never felt like my own. When people say it, sometimes a family member will slip as say it or refer to me as "she" but generally it doesn't happen, it feels very robotic when I reply.
I picked Jason. Because, well... I just had an attachment to the name. My brother's have pretty common names. I really like uncommon names, things that are different or sound cool. But ever since I was look I always took a shining to the name "Jason". I liked Matthew as well, but my Aunt named her son that so that was a name out of question. It didn't fit at all. In High School, I went by the more unisex "Jay", because not being out to everyone and asking them to call me Jason (well my teacher, most of my classmates assumed I was a male with testosterone issues or a late bloomer as a senior) was weird. Jason Anthony came out of the blue, and flows together really nicely. I changed my last name from my father's last name, for he was a piece of work in several ways, to my mother's family name. My parents said that they didn't know how well "Jason" fit me and they liked "Jay" better. But they stopped the nickname and just call me Jason. I think it fits. I like it. Though sometimes I wish I had a slightly more interesting name.
I chose my name because it was the name my mom would have named me if I were born a bio boy. She named me at birth so I knew it would be important to her to choose my name.
I'm not FTM, I'm androgynous, but I thought I'd chime in.
I was lucky enough to be given a feminine name that's very easy to masculinize (is that a word? Firefox thinks not...). I'm also lucky that the masculine, feminine, and various unisex nicknames all seem to fit me. I've gone by Jules for years before I realized I was androgynous, and I just recently asked a couple people to call me Julian sometimes. The majority of the world still calls me Julia, but I can live with that.
Julian/Julia/Jules/Ju
My name pretty much picked me, My Granny used to say that if she had a son she'd name him Morgan and I always felt connected to that name. So when I came out . That was the name. As well as my Grannys second name and my middle name I changed to Fiver (after the rabbit from Watership Down)
I picked Devyn at random.
Ever since I was 9, and began using the internet, I started going by male names. Due to that, I've gone by many. I remember using: Charlie, John, Brice, I vaguely remember using the name Frank, Alexander, Alex, Xander, and Lucas. Now it's Devyn, which is the name I have officially asked people to call me. I picked it last September. Since my mom thought I was going to be born physically male, she planned to name me Alexander, but the name didn't fit when I tried going by it.
All of the name stories are pretty awesome.
I've gone by Alexander, Michael, Ryder, and Andrew (Drew). Honestly there were a billion more I was interested in but everyone was sick of me changing it. Alexander is my favorite but my mom ended up telling me I would have been named Andrew if I'd been born a bio-male so it stuck. Now I'm Andrew Alexander (undecided last name, might keep my current one).
Chose the name Asher because it's something close to the name I wanted the first time I tried to come out. When I came out again and wasn't stymied, I went with Ray because it was a conjunction of my birth name (btw: it wasn't Rachel, dunno why some folks keep thinking that) and harder to nitpick as too ambiguous (I had the "not dudely enough" worry.)
And the name Ray...I hated it. It sucked. It sounded like I was somebody's middle-aged lumberjack uncle, but it stuck like some skunk attack I couldn't wash off because everybody called me Ray by the time I realized I wasn't a Ray. ("Harrumph! Why, that was absurd. I'll consider the matter over a good bourbon.") Er...no offense to people named that, it's a perfectly fine name, just not very me.
So I thought back. I'd initially thought of something similar to the name of an alter ego I had, but couldn't think of anything but Ashe, Ashley (that was so not gonna work) or Ashton (which still sounded too douchey.) I settled on Asher--like my birthname it's also Hebrew, and it's the name of a favorite luminist painter of mine, Asher Durand. That one character from The Crow: City of Angels is named Ashe Corven as well.
Now Ray is my middle name, for purposes of not giving friends and relations a case of the bends.
I picked Nick because that was always my alternate name in games and online things. I just liked it and it coincides with my given name. Nicholas is the masculine version of my given name. As for my middle name, I always liked the name Xavier, and just stuck with it. So now my initials are NXT. :)
I wanted a unique name. I looked for a long time but could never find something that actually fit. When I was little I liked the names Ryan and Chris, but as I got older I wanted something kind of different that would stand out. I couldn't find one that would fit so I went with Jason. I loved it, the sound of it. It fit, but something was off. That's when my best friend started calling me Jay. I finally figured it out. So I added a 'y' and it became Jayson. It's unique, yet common. :P
My middle name, however, was a lot easier. My friend always said that I look like a Kyle, but Jayson Kyle didn't sound right to me. Then we got into high school and I became friends with this amazing guy, Daryl. When I started hanging out and talking to him, I found out that my first name fits better with names that start with 'd'. I didn't want to steal his name, so I came up with Darren. And from then on, it's been Jayson Darren _____.
Quote from: NickMazzam on July 12, 2011, 01:27:54 AM
I picked Nick because that was always my alternate name in games and online things. I just liked it and it coincides with my given name. Nicholas is the masculine version of my given name. As for my middle name, I always liked the name Xavier, and just stuck with it. So now my initials are NXT. :)
How do you pronounce Xavier? I'm just curious because I've heard 3 different versions now (and a friend of mine just had a baby called Xavier which was no.3).
Mine was easy, my birth name is Jayne so i changed it to Jay.
My friends have been calling my Nick my entire life, and the majority of my family has always called me Nick, or Nicky. Either way, I like it, I'm keeping it, I'm very attached to it. I plan to eventually change my middle name, probably to Lucas. I'm still debating on changing my last name, though, and whether I'll change my first name to just Nick, or something longer. My mom's kind of pushing for Nickolai, and my best friend likes Nicodemus. But that's just too silly.
When I was in middle school I moved out of state where all my friends were, so I ended up becoming a bit of a recluse. I'd be online the vast majority of the time communicating with my friends in FL, and I also got involved with online character role-play sites. I adopted a name other than my own for myself, because I never really identified with my birth-name. The names were kind of androgynous but they were also funky and not real names (I'd made them up).
A few years later when I was in 8th grade my family moved back to FL and I reunited with my best friend. I had long shaggy hair back then and I wore guy's clothes so everyone thought I was a guy when I showed up in school (I actually had a few of the girls hit on me, which I thought was rather amusing). I was in the girls' locker room, and some kid asked my friend what the boy was doing in there. My friend decided not to correct the kid and go along with it, so off the top of her head she blurted out "Oh, that's just Henry!" She then came over to me and told me that if anyone asked, that was indeed my name. I didn't start using the name officially until the beginning of high school, and then I had everyone refer to me by that, even my teachers. The name stuck ever since.
I haven't yet officially changed my name but I have gone by a few different names over the years on the Internet and my partner has know me by some of them. However, I have had the same one now for two years and I am very happy with it because it means so much to me in many ways. I am pretty sure it's the name I will use when I get my papers officially changed.
As for how I came by it, the first name I found in mythology and the middle comes from a project one of my parents was working on. My first name is no longer used today as a name (so I will only use that for official purposes) - I'll go by my middle name in public, that being well known and common.
For me the process was finding a name that my close friends and my mum didn't associate with anything or anyone else and agreed with. At first I was going for Wolf, or Woolf, because that is a family name and also I've been attached to that animal and used it in online names etc... But my mum thought it was silly. Then Drew/ Andrew because of a dead relative and to honour the name, but my friends thought it was lame. A variety of others came up, I had asked my mum about Devin (after Devin Townsend) and she'd said no, but then my friend suggested it to her and miraculously she said she liked that one.
However many months on, now I associate Devin with me more than the musician :D I love my name. It means bard or poet in Gaelic, or conversely, 'godlike' as a french name.
My middle name, Jay, is a bit of a running personal joke for me. I think that Jay would fit anyone as a middle name and I usually introduce friends as <name> Jay <lastname> even when I know their actual middle name.
Choosing a new last name however has been the most difficult but I think I've finally settled on something.
Quote from: DevinJW on July 12, 2011, 05:50:29 PM
However many months on, now I associate Devin with me more than the musician :D I love my name. It means bard or poet in Gaelic, or conversely, 'godlike' as a french name.
The (Irish) origin of the name Devin is the family name
Ó Daimhín which translates as 'descendant of the little ox' from the root word
damh 'ox'. It was confused with the similar word
dámh 'poet, learned man' (Dinneen's
Foclóir Gaedhilge agus Béarla pp. 222), hence giving the false etymology. The words for 'poet' are
bard or
file.
You might want to check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/)Ó_Daimhín and http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/duibhin.htm (http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/duibhin.htm)
(Word geek from Ireland.)
This thread makes me question my own name. If my mother was alive I would've went with a name she would've named me had I been a boy. But it seems like Jason/Jayson/Jay seem to be the most common Transman name I've ever heard. I thought it was common in the regular world, which was part of the reason I picked it. I've always had an attachment to it as well, but there are so many of us!
Quote from: Ratchet on July 12, 2011, 06:26:36 PM
This thread makes me question my own name. If my mother was alive I would've went with a name she would've named me had I been a boy. But it seems like Jason/Jayson/Jay seem to be the most common Transman name I've ever heard. I thought it was common in the regular world, which was part of the reason I picked it. I've always had an attachment to it as well, but there are so many of us!
I know what you mean. When I started this thread I was sure about Adrian, and now, I think I should research more names, because there are so many out there, and what if there is a name out there that is perfect for me, and I don't even know it?!
I never disliked my name, and I wanted to keep my initials, so I just picked the masculine form of my first name. My middle name was harder, since it didn't have a masculine form. I ended up choosing a name I liked that started with the same letter.
I remember hearing the name Roman when I was 12, and ever since then I've just really liked the name. I feel like it suits me in that it's unique, but not overly outlandish. It sounds rather masculine, but not overly butch like a stereotypical men's name. I don't feel like the stereotypical guy, I never have and I don't think I ever will. So I never really chose the name, I suppose it chose me. I was thinking of possible alternatives being Damien or Miles, but I like Roman A LOT more than the other two names, and really I just feel more like a Roman than anything else. However people have given me so much crap over the name, mainly "as in the city in Italy?" or "like the author Roman Dirge?" I've also received the nickname "Ramen" because I have a cat named Noodles. So I don't think the nicknames "Ramen" or "Roman Noodles" are going away anytime soon >.>'
Also, I plan to keep my last name. I really love it, in no short part because it's a Norwegian name that translates to "Battle City". I don't think it gets more hardcore Viking than that!
My first name is Jacob, I chose it because an actor in the movie *i forgot which one* was so handsome and he has a awesome body, he was my dream at that time, I dreamed to be like him. So I chose him. Actually, I felt bored after several times thinking, because it didnt mean anything to me when i hear that word Jacob spoken. Then, my name now is Jake. I dont know why i got this name, but I really love this, although it's just a simple one. My girl's Jessika, and it matches good when I think of our dream restaurant in the future " J2 Restaurant ", I'll study Culinary btw. All are simple, but all are meaningful to us. So i think we bettah choose a name which has a meaning or bring a memory to us/
Cheers
Quote from: Padma on July 12, 2011, 03:41:02 AM
How do you pronounce Xavier? I'm just curious because I've heard 3 different versions now (and a friend of mine just had a baby called Xavier which was no.3).
It's pronounced like Ekz-ayy-vee-er if that makes sense lol
its a long story
first got few diffrent names, first name where Lars, I where around 8 years and we had been reading a story about a boy named Lars who traveled in time and stuff, I found it exing so I told my friend to call me lars, but the teacher told scold me and told me to stop fussing around..-__- so I had to keep my girl name from then untill I gratuated.
under 6-8 grade I came across thomas, I didnt know why maybe because I where drawing cartoon and making storys and my artis name where something with T + I liked the name, but it got me bored out.
my bully name where Martin, it where close to my name but I didnt like to take a bully name.
as I said I like making cartoons and storys, and at that time I wanted to grow up making a living for it,
I made a story of a guy named Tony who where as nerdy as me and who had the same look and dreams.
and everytime I thought how he should react I started to think about myself.
he where in general the first character I started to inspire by myself, later I got almost all my chatacter self inspired or inspired by others..
but well I liked it and started to use it on the net,
I had got pretty use to it but I thought maybe I also wanted a name more close to my own,
my second character inspired by me where called Mikkel and it where way more close to me and I where in doubt wich to take, however Mikkel where a boy name and Tony where unisex so Tony where way more easy since you cant have gendernames who is upporsite of your registered sex by first name,
well you can but it very hard and you will wait to your 25 (I where 16-17)
I didnt had time for that so I picked Tony and it where also what I where used to,
my mom didnt like the name, but I guess in general she didnt like me to transdition,
she said it where a bully name, and she wanted me to keep my origininal name or at least make it my middle name, I chanced it to something unisex and putted it on my middle name i never really use so we both goth our ways. first she refused to give me permission but I said if she didnt do it in the vacation before chancing school I would do it in the middle of school year and there would be alit of trouble going to school half year by a female name and half year by another year..
I think my moms biggest problem with me being trans is if im visible so she gave me permission in the end..
After a recent talk with my brother who suggested I add and H to the beginning of my name, I realized that Hadrian fits me far better than just Adrian. And I've chosen a middle name as well, nothing close to what I'd been debating over and this is permanent. So, next year I'll be legally Hadrian Caleum *Last Name*.
there are times i still question my name...i went by Austyn in middle school but only one person knew i did. but when i went to tell other people it didnt fit me, so in class one day i told my ex everything i was feeling she loved the name Skylar and so did i and i went by it and Skylar drew was my name, but everyone kept calling me drew or skysky and i hated being called skysky, so i decided since everyone decided drew ill make it longer to Andrew, and my middle name that was easy, my best friends first name is James so thats what i used.
I first came up with James because I loved the name, but it didn't actually have any meaning behind it. It was just that, a name and nothing more.
Quite a few years ago when I was riding in the car with my father I built up the courage to ask him had I been born a male what would he and my mom would've named me. My fathers response was Matthew. Since then I adopted that name as my own.
As far as last name goes. I honestly don't like my real last name. I wouldn't mind changing it to something better. I wouldn't mind changing it to a German or a Japanese last name.
I am stuck with the uncommon unisex nickname of my obviously-female birthname (uncommon as a nickname for that name, I mean, commonly used on its own however - I don't want to say what it is) for as long as I'm stuck with my family - they're untrainable. I spent years trying, back when I thought if it became readily apparent to the rest of the world that I was female, things would all sort of fall into place. But no, when I asked her to call me what I preferred to be called, then, which just so happened to be what she had *actually named me and was on all my ID*, she just said she'd call me what she wanted and I should be glad it wasn't something with four letters. Ten years and she still only called me my full name when accompanied by my middle and last names when she was mad at me, my dad only slightly better, and I don't think any of my extended family knows what my full name actually *is*.
So, no choice there. But I can pick a middle name. For me, I had to eliminate anything that's horribly trendy with people under about 15, if the name was almost unheard of back when I was born, anything I can remember a kid in my class or a close friend's brother having - anyone close enough that my first thought is of them when I hear the name, any guy I've ever had a thing for (that'd be more than a little embarassing!), any of my past bosses, and other guys I've run into that have stuck out in my mind as people I do not want to be named after. I don't need to use Jacob/Julian/Joshua because they've been taken by friends that had kids.
So...you can call me Toby. Which I like, fits all the requirements, yet clashes with the first name in the "two nicknames" way, though spelled out on a driver's license in full as Tobias would look just fine. But it's still not the nicest fit, so something else might be best wedged in between the two of them there...
When i was in my twenties i went by the name i would have had if i'd been born into a boys body. Then i went back to my female name. This time round i decided to keep my initial so went for Alex cos at the time i needed a name that was uni sex. James was always going to be part of my name so Alex James was born although sometimes i wish i'd just stuck with James
I still don't have a name I'm comfortable with. I've tried a few but nothing has really stuck. My last try was Winter hence the username. But that failed as well. I've been looking in baby name books and at some of my favorite book series, but I'm having a hard time finding a name. My birth name doesn't suit me at all. I heard it and it sounds like they're talking about someone else. I want something that just fits. I guess for now I'm nameless.
I didn't even pick my name. One day I had to introduce myself and I simly said "Hi, I'm Jake". That's it. Never thought twice about it.
Been identifying myself with Jake for a strong three years - when I noticed I'm really a guy.
Quote from: Wintery on July 30, 2011, 11:15:00 PM
I still don't have a name I'm comfortable with. I've tried a few but nothing has really stuck. My last try was Winter hence the username. But that failed as well. I've been looking in baby name books and at some of my favorite book series, but I'm having a hard time finding a name. My birth name doesn't suit me at all. I heard it and it sounds like they're talking about someone else. I want something that just fits. I guess for now I'm nameless.
Wintery,
Have you tried looking up Winter or Snow in different languages? For instance, Yuki means Snow in Japanese.
That's a good idea. Though Winter really doesn't fit me at all. So I'll look at some of the other names I've used and their meanings. :) Japanese names are so pretty. I just hope I can't find something people won't totally butcher. There's other languages too though so I'll be on the lookout.
Quote from: Wintery on July 31, 2011, 08:52:46 AM
That's a good idea. Though Winter really doesn't fit me at all. So I'll look at some of the other names I've used and their meanings. :) Japanese names are so pretty. I just hope I can't find something people won't totally butcher. There's other languages too though so I'll be on the lookout.
Good idea, and good luck. :)
Thanks so much. :D
You're welcome. :)
I put in google ''nombres de mujeres'' XD
Alexia>Sasha>Mia>Narela>??
My given name is very unique. Whenever I have introduced myself people have asked "is that your real name? cool" and nobody has ever spelled it right without being corrected. I have never met another person with my name. And aside from it being girly, I always liked it because it was unique.
However, since growing up, being unique is no longer important to me. And a big bonus to my transitioning is that I will no longer have attention drawn to me. I am no longer the token dyke, or the tomboy, or the tough girl, or the girl who played video games. I'm just your average Joe, and I love it.
Therefore, when looking for a new name, I wanted something plain, easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and masculine. I scoured baby name websites for months. Choosing and changing my mind over and over and over again. I didn't want something that someone I know had, or a name and had connotations to friends and family. I was so worried about choosing a name, and then regretting it, because there are so many names I could choose from, and now that I can have any guys name that I wanted, I didn't want to make a mistake.
In the end I chose a common male name for my first name, and a slightly less common one for my middle name incase I ever miss being the only person in the room with a unique name. Yet I still agnonized about whether or not I would regret my choices.
Then one day I realized that it really doesn't matter at all. People always say "i hate that name because i know a guy who i hate with that name" or "i love that name because this guy i love has that name" or "you cant have the name chris because i know someone named chris already". A name is just a name. It only matters if you like it. Everyone else will adjust. They don't care nearly as much as you do anyways. If its a name they used to hate, you will give it new meaning and they will learn to like it. I used to hate the name miranda because of this kid in pre school who used to kick me when one one was looking, then I fell in love with a woman named miranda as an adult and now I like the name. And unless its some crazy out there name that isnt really a name, or in some language that you don't even speak or from a nationality that you don't even know anything about, someone you encounter is going to share the same name as you eventually.
So, just pick a name, don't over think it, and stick to it. Because in the end it really doesn't matter. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
I had a somewhat organized process to choose my name, which is odd considering I usually have trouble doing things in a logical way. I think my brain is just too random. I feel like a lot of guys choose names that are new and trendy, and that weren't popular when they were born, and I knew I wanted to avoid that. Like how Aiden (in all the various spellings) has become a "trans-name" in my head.
First I found a list of the 100 most popular names for baby boys in 1984. Then went through and eliminated any name that was the same as a close family member or friend. From the names that were left, I had about 5 that I was considering, and Kyle kept jumping out at me and felt like it was appearing again and again. After I realized that it was similar to my middle name (Kate, just change out the middle 2 letters) it just seemed even more 'correct'. I had started out trying to find a male version of my legal female name, but I couldn't come up with anything at all, so going with something that was similar to my middle name seemed like a good compromise.
Some where along the line I had asked my mom what she would have named me if I was born male, and she said Lawrence. I knew I didnt like it for my first name, so it be came my middle name. All of my friends so far have agreed that Kyle suits me, and I really havn't had any second thoughts about it.
i lost touch with both of my parents and they were the reason i went with andrew so since that my legal name will be changed to Skylar Drew but i go by drew still.
It took me a LONG time to find a first name I was happy with, but I didn't "try on" any others first, I just knew none of them were right.
Part of my problem was that I was trying to find something similar to my birth name, since I love the first letter of it, and didn't want to discard that letter. However, there aren't many male names starting with it, and the only common one is already taken by one of my half brothers. It was years before I hit on the idea of getting rid of my birth surname (I don't have any strong feelings of attachment to it), turning my birth first name into my surname (it's unusual enough that it works), and picking a new first name.
After that, it was extremely obvious. Nik and other spellings and variations on that name had been my favourite since childhood. I'd just never considered it for myself because I was so hung up on keeping the same first initial.
I haven't changed my name legally yet and don't even go by it openly IRL, but I've been going by it online for several years now, and my best friend IRL knows it and calls me it some of the time. It's well beyond the trying on stage, it's comfortably my name now. It's at the point where I hesitate when people ask me IRL what my name is... I automatically think "Nik" first before remembering I haven't got around to changing my name yet. ;D
I did sort of try on a different middle name before settling on the one I picked. But really it just came down to "names I like" and figuring out which sounded best and felt "right". I considered meanings as well, but it wasn't a big issue as none of the names I liked had meanings I objected to.
I didn't really think about family members or anything like that. I wasn't named after any family members and most of my male family members have names I don't like that much. My mother changed her entire name in adulthood so I doubt she will mind. My father might object to me discarding his surname, but he also changed his surname in adulthood, so that'd be a bit hypocritical. He hasn't been any part of my life whatsoever besides sending the occasional rude letter every ten years, so I feel he's forfeited his rights regarding any aspect of my life, really. Why consider his feelings when he has none for mine? Of course, it's possible he won't care either.