Out of curiosity, why are you changing your last name?
To me, it seems a little extreme.

Quote from: Shodan on June 22, 2013, 05:13:33 PM
Out of curiosity, why are you changing your last name?
To me, it seems a little extreme.

I plan to change my last name as well. For me, it's because I feel alienated by my family and don't want to associate with them. I may also choose to move locations and go stealth some day and I think it would be easier with a last name that severs ties to my past.

No but I was lucky to not have to pick a name cuz mine picked me a loooong time ago. I have always been Stefani. My sister says she remembers me calling myself that even when we were little. Its just who I am!

But I did have to think up a middle name. It's Olivia. I am having them both changed soon and may end up taking my grandmothers maiden name as my last name as well....

QuoteBella? Where did you get male with that? 

Lolol, yeah, I wonder that now too, but it's a bit of a long story.
Anyway, it started with a dog of my friend who had that name (no, she wasn't male either) which I really loved as a kid. Eventually she died, I was heartbroken, and named my favourite plush dog Bella. Somehow I wasn't quite aware that it was a female name, or just couldn't see it as such. My parents called him my plush dog) always "she" and I would get upset, saying "It's a boy" "but HER name is a the one of a girl!" and so on.
Later I named my RS account Bella Kohler (as a whole), and he has been a guy all of his digital life (some people thought I started out as a girl, 'cause of the name), so I really started to see it as a sort of gender-neutral name, even though it isn't.
Now I feel so stupid for not picking a male name, as that name has a personal value for me, but I really dislike that it's female...

EDIT: I made a pic of him in swimming trunks a while ago, might be nice to see;

Quote from: Erik Ezrin on June 23, 2013, 03:21:09 AM
Now I feel so stupid for not picking a male name, as that name has a personal value for me, but I really dislike that it's female...

Don't feel stupid! Picking a name with personal value is totally valid. And Bella totally is a gender neutral name. When I hear it, I always think of Bella Lugosi.

Well Tom could be Tammi or Thomasina (if I were a transsexual cat). I never liked the name Tom. It sounds like an elastic band getting plucked. My new North American friends here won't know what I'm talking about as you tend to give the name a right good stretching.

Two words: Bela Lugosi.
If anybody tells you that Bella is  a girl's name, throw Bela Lugosi right back at them. Though, now that I think about it, if they're under the age of 20, they'll have no idea who you're talking about.

Quote from: E-Brennan on June 19, 2013, 08:03:39 PM
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.

My birth name is Ashley and though I hate that name with a passion Ash fits me so I go by Ashton. Well sort of, I introduce myself as such and even though I'd like people to start using it to help me pass more often (though they don't know that, passing) they are lazy and even new people just say Ash after the introduction. But Ashton feels like it fits my personality beautifully.

On a side note. My birth name was a male name and has turned into a neutral name. I was told this a couple times growing up and that my dad's mom fought with my mother when they named me. Complaining that it was a boys name and something about Gone with the Wind or something. Later my grandma sent me hate mail when she found out I'm trans. She complained about the name Ashley saying I wouldn't have to change my name because it's a boys name...and how she hated it from the beginning.
Once while house hunting I introduced myself as Ashton to this lady. She opened the door smiling and gestured over to granddaughter "you ladies have the same name". DX  I corrected her on the "ladies" part but she wouldn't have it. I'm a little frightened at the thought that Ashton might be the new Ashley. Then again she's the only one I've ever heard of and Ashton fits me too damn well to imagine being named anything else.

I am kinda lucky. My middle name always has been, and always will be, Tyler. My first name is female but there are male variations. I'm going to go with Lorence as a legal first name because its similar. I like going by Lance though, its simple and, to me, cool. I've also gone by.l.t. by most of my family.

Fair enough.

Yup. It only required to change the last letter.
My old middle name was completely feminine, though without a masculine variant.

Quote from: Tossu-sama on June 28, 2013, 05:31:00 AM
Yup. It only required to change the last letter.
My old middle name was completely feminine, though without a masculine variant.

That's what my wife did with her nickname. It's now going to be her middle name. Her male birth name, however, was totally unique... and totally masculine. :/

My birthname was technically unisex (albeit generally female, at least in modern times), but I hated it with such a flaming passion that it didn't matter, because I started going by "Diane" in middle school just to get away from my birth name. When I came out as trans, I did a lot of digging for a male equivalent before landing on Deyan (pronounced "Day-on"), which is my name now.

I had never thought of it before, I just now thought it out and it turns out the first had a feminine counterpart and the middle has different spelling however there is no earthly way I would have done that.  It simply was not me. I was asked by my therapist what was my name, I took it under consideration and while I was walking down the street, the name came to me, both the first and middle were entirely different from what were my birth names. I later had the middle one changed to one given to me by a friend and my last one was changed to a completely different one at my parents request as the disowned me due to my transition.

Yes, since my birth name is James, but Jamie wasn't really an option since my girlfriend's dad is named Jamie and that would have been hella awkward. Besides I want a bigger change than that. Still not fully decided on a name but I kinda wanted to stick with a J name so I'm trying on Jessica and I seem to like it

I guess, actually didn't know until today. Anyways, if I ever transition, I will just change from Matthew, to Mattie, since I kind of want to keep the name my parents chose for me. But just because I like it, and people have asked if I had a nickname they could call me, I will just have people start calling me Mattie, wouldn't seem to weird either, because I know a lot of people who use a shorter version of their name.

Also, don't think many people actually know that Mattie is kind of considered a girl name, so people probably wouldn't know that I am asking them to call me a feminine name, the spelling I could just explain as me liking different spellings(I really do).

I've been going back and forth on this very issue. My first name is a very popular one and can be unisex (although I've only met one guy who had my name). My middle name does have a male equivalent and my mother told me that if I had been born a boy I would have it for a first name...so I decided to honor that. However, I have mixed feelings about it. It's a very traditional name and not really my cup of tea. I picked my new middle name from a list of common boys' names on the US social security name list. I didn't want to get too creative, really.

My last name is going to be the hard part. I have a very unique surname and I am strongly considering changing it just so that I can transition without it following me around. I'm not a fan of it and don't really want to hand it down to any future spouse or kids.

Anyone else deal with issues with last names/surnames? Or am I just a nut?

Sadly Thor doesnt have a female Variant.  So I chose Teela.

A number of Greek names can cut both ways.  Mine 'stavros' means 'The Cross' (as in crucifix).  We say in Greek, "kani to stavrosou" which means "cross yourself" in a gesture of warding against evil, or supplication to God.  The feminine variation is "Stavroula".  I use that word when I'm in the female mode.  Other names are George and Georgina, Louie and Louisa, Dimitros and Dimitra (Jim is the male variation--Dimitros). 

I had a birth name with a feminine variant & didn't consider myself lucky to have it. I was christened Nicholas which has the shortened version of Nicky, my mum always called me by this shortened version & I hated it, every time I heard it being used I cringed inside as every time I heard it I felt like someone was poking an open wound.
By early teens i'd gotten my mum to drop this variant but then when my parents divorced she met a man with the same name as me so to avoid confusion she resorted to calling me Nicky again.
Almost a year after changing my name by deed poll i'm still struggling to get my mum to use my new name & not THAT name as I truly hate it.