No, but I was able to change my name to an ambiguous (sound and spelling) one just by deleting 6 letters. I didn't realise it wasn't so easy to change your name in countries other than the UK. Count my blessings.

I did but I didn't use it I went with an entirely different name. Partly because I disliked the name Martin, and despised the name Martine even more.

Ended up with Alice eventually.

Nope, I was born as Veerle (a typical Dutch name, this will be the only time I say it. I really don't like it that much...), and it cannot be turned into a male counterpart. (lots of female ones though *sigh*)
And my second name is Bella (which I like better, because I associated it with a guy as a kid, which still sort of stuck), but that one doesn't have a male counterpart either (gah, I'm so lucky!)
How I eventually got to Erik... ahhh, well, that's a story for another time!

Kinda' sorta' after a little thinking and a couple of Uturns.

Yes, I have a female version of my name that is fairly close to the male version, and also one that I feel comfortable using. It fits, if that makes sense.

I got lucky, I guess, as both my first and middle name have direct feminine counterparts, and I'm planning to use them too...

Actually I was uncertain with my first name initially, until I found out from my mother that it was the planned name for me until I ended up being identified male at birth (grave error dear doctor, grave error  )

I think I've finally settled on a first name: Elizabeth.
It... at least starts with the same letter as my birth name, and it flows well with my last. Better than Erika would.

I could turn Lauren into Laurence, but I don't like the fact that the whole sound of my birth name is in it. Luke is similar enough without being the same.

Luke is nice. (Also Laurence is 100 % female in French; it's the female version of Laurent, so if you care about how it is in other languages, then even better choice!)

This is actually something we thought about when naming our kids, and we tried to give them unisex names.

I do, but I don't think I will take any of the female forms that I can. I am looking at some different one I like.

No, my birth name is archaic & unquestionably female and it has no male equivalent. But that's OK, because my mother once confided in me that she'd been convinced during her pregnancy that she was carrying another son so my parents initially chose a male name for me; they had to discard that when I was AFAB. So when I changed my name during my transition, I went back to the original boy's name they'd chosen for me.

I wanted absolutely nothing to do with that horrible birth name my parents gave me. I see it as a symbol of the abuse I suffered for many years, with people imposing on me a female identity that I never wanted. I was very glad to get rid of it.

No, I'd never have gone with any of the female versions of my male name - they tend to be a little pretentious sounding..

On the other hand, my new name is somewhat unisex..

Quote from: JoW on June 15, 2013, 04:16:44 PM
No, but I was able to change my name to an ambiguous (sound and spelling) one just by deleting 6 letters.

Only 6? 

Quote from: Erik Ezrin on June 19, 2013, 01:23:58 PM

And my second name is Bella (which I like better, because I associated it with a guy as a kid, which still sort of stuck),

Bella? Where did you get male with that? 

I was =)  Cody totally neutral makes me smile still go by both sophie and cody only changing my middle name legally.

Yeah I can say I'm lucky. My name is Dominic and most people see that as the male variant of course the female variant being Dominique. The funny part is through out my life people always put a urban slang to the name so it comes out sounding like the female variant, then they ask me which one is it. I just chuckle and say It doesn't matter.

My original name was unisex, but most people associated it as female. I was going to keep it, but I had to change my middle name anyway, so now it's my middle name and I have a more masculine first name. I also despise the more masculine forms of my old name.

Its unisex, but most people think of it as female, so Ill change my name to a similar sounding masculine name.

Quote from: Marvel on June 14, 2013, 01:48:11 AM
like for example an MTF going from Paul to Paula, Jesse to Jessica
FTM going from - Natalie to Nate, Samantha to Sam
It may be quite fortunate because people around you only have to adjust a little as the name will be close to your birth name unlike a complete change.

Or are there any trans people here who were lucky to be born with a unisex name and did not have to change it. If you had a unisex name but still decided to change, I would be curious to know why.( No need to say the birth name)).

I know someone who was called Jamie (FTM) and did not have to change their name, I thought he was so  lucky.

My birth name is Andrew. Everyone called me Andy, which can be a girl's name as well (a friend started spelling my name Andi when she heard that I was MtF).

But I chose a female name because I wanted a whole new identity and the ability to choose my name.

My new middle name will be Alexandra which is similar to my birth name.