Obviously we didn't get to choose the names that we were born with, given to us by our parents. Presumably, though, we all choose a new name to match our identities. I wonder -- what did everyone else put into that choice?
Did you choose at random, like.. by putting a lot of potential names on slips of paper and drawing one out of a hat? Or did you just choose to go by the masculine form of your birth name? (like someone named Andrea might change their name to Andrew, or someone named Christine might change to Christopher, etc) Was there a particular person you admired, and you choose to name yourself after an influential figure in your life? Or perhaps your parents gave you a gender-neutral name at birth and you didn't feel the need to change - like Adrian, or Leslie.
Or some other way?
I have always been an avid reader and writer and learner of languages -- one language that I have devoted considerable energy to is Chinese. My best friend is Chinese, and I was very close with his family for a long time til they moved away. (Yes, those two facts are relevant)
One character I've written about more than any other is named Indigo. He is a lot like me in a great many ways, and for a long time I've thought that I created him as a way of being who I am - a male. (In fact I've spent a lot of time writing stories with male main characters and roleplaying males (online, and in tabletop D&D), all of whom bear a striking resemblance to myself, but that's another story..)
So here's the rather uninspiring punchline - "Indigo" in Chinese is pronounced "lan dian". I thought of making that my name, but since many Chinese people end up going by either a translation of their Chinese name, or a Western name that sounds like their Chinese name, I decided on Landon instead. (This way I could avoid having the same name as the main character in all my books once they're published, too!)
So there's my story about my name. Really, I thought it was terribly clever.
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=115089.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=115089.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=101691.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=101691.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=94665.40 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=94665.40)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=67682.20 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=67682.20)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=112673.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=112673.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=100028.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=100028.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=78208.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=78208.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=68413.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=68413.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=63324.20 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=63324.20)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=55840.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=55840.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=38960.60 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=38960.60)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=63795.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=63795.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=69743.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=69743.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=110304.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=110304.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=76420.180 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=76420.180)
Not trying to be snarky. Not too snarky, anyway.
Honestly? It was pretty random. It just popped into my head when I started thinking about names. I still haven't found one that suits me better though, and it's been 4 years.
My middle name is the name I would have been given if born correctly, also passed down through my dad's side for 7 generations.
I told my mum she could choose, and so she did ^_^
Quote from: Geek on April 30, 2012, 06:05:09 AM
I told my mum she could choose, and so she did ^_^
This.
I thought about it, discussed it with my daughter, made lists, eventually just chose one that felt right and I think wasn't even on any of my lists. I did make sure to check it in the SSA registry for my birth year to make sure it wasn't too terribly rare. The middle name I chose last minute, and that one does come from an influential person in my life.
Quote from: Geek on April 30, 2012, 06:05:09 AM
I told my mum she could choose, and so she did ^_^
Thank you~ I now know how I'm going to handle it. =] Hopefully it will work out for me.
Quote from: Felix on April 30, 2012, 01:58:41 AM
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=115089.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=115089.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=101691.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=101691.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=94665.40 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=94665.40)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=67682.20 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=67682.20)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=112673.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=112673.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=100028.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=100028.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=78208.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=78208.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=68413.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=68413.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=63324.20 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=63324.20)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=55840.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=55840.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=38960.60 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=38960.60)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=63795.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=63795.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=69743.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=69743.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=110304.0 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=110304.0)
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=76420.180 (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=76420.180)
Not trying to be snarky. Not too snarky, anyway.
I was going to say, this has come up before a few times.
I chose Malachite (at the moment) because I wanted the name of a character from Sailor Moon. I was going to choose Neflyte but that sounded too ugly on me. Then I was going to go for Darien but it just didn't fit me. Malachite's voice was awesome in the dub and he has great hair and wore a cape.
My middle names I am choosing come from the video game Uncharted 2 and the Cowboy Bebop movie. I'm still undecided about my last name because I love my current last name but at the same time I'm wondering if I should change it. I will probably just add to it.
To be honest I see myself changing my name multiple times. I don't know what to exactly but it's going to be Egyptian, Russian, or come from anime or video game characters.
Also another fun way that's going to help me is I put names through the "moaning" test as in pretend to be the person moaning your name as if you were having sexual relations with them. If the name sounds ugly during that session then it's crossed off the list.
Side note: I really like the name Alan.
Quote from: Darrin Scott on April 30, 2012, 11:16:48 AM
I was going to say, this has come up before a few times.
Exactly.
I Also let the parentals choose. It was a great way to involve them, and they of course remembered the name a bit easier.
Gee, and I thought I were so original not naming myself! :D
Thats actually a pretty interesting question, I always wondered how others picked their names. Mine growing up everybody always called me Kris. Short for my birth name Crystal Marie. So when I would meet somebody I just ran with it. Getting my name changed to kristopher Maurice.
Picking a name wasn't too stressful for me because my god I was so fed up with passing and then not having a male name to give people. All male names looked pretty good to me tbh, and Felix feels good.
Quote from: Felix on May 01, 2012, 12:59:40 AM
...All male names looked pretty good to me tbh, and Felix feels good.
Plus it's lucky! ;)
To honour the memory of someone close to me who died.
I don't know, I've always liked it I guess. I used it before on the internet when I was 13. I didn't spend a lot of thought on what name to choose, I guess it just came to me lolz.