I'm finally getting to the point where I'm starting to use a new name in some contexts. I knew from the beginning, heck, I knew from 25 years BEFORE the beginning, that my name would be Jennifer. (I joined Susan's right after deciding to transition, and as you can see, I knew then.)

For some reason, I have had a connection with this name for a long time. It's extremely common, which is ok with me; my male name was pretty common, too. It preserves my initials (important because, not exactly by design, my 5 siblings' names all start with 'J,' too), and goes well with my middle name. The middle name was androgynous, and was named for a person, so I am happy to keep that.

It's been hard for me to admit the depth of this connection, and for a long time I treated Jennifer as just one possibility among others, but I've pretty well known that I have to use it. Some else mentioned having trouble because of compromising on name, and I have come to the conclusion that I'd have trouble with that, too. It seems daunting enough to acclimate to a new name, so using one I feel a strong connection to already seems very attractive.

My parents are very understanding about this. I was a bit worried about my father, but his immediate reaction was that it's my name, and I don't have to ask his or anyone's permission to do whatever I like with it.

I have a 4-letter name, and I wanted a name with the same length. I chose Emma after Emma Goldman, the anarchist philosopher. I'm keeping my last name. I'm not quite sure what to do with my middle names. I have two. One is James, after my father Jamie, and the other is my grandfather's. I don't care about keeping my grandfather's name, but I love my father and don't want to insult him. I think I'll switch James to Jamie, drop my grandfather's name, and add my mother's.

My mom chose mine. I told her I want one similar to my birth name and she chose one.

Prior to that I was thinking of Renee but that didn't fit the profile. I like my current choice of name better and it's going to be legal very soon. (It's not Kate).

Although I cant legally change my name yet, I got quite a few friends and even some of my family to use it and when they do use it sincerely it feels right and like me, which what the name should feel like.

First character I cosplayed and the one I relate to deeply is Riku from Kingdom Hearts, but that name is asian while I am not, so I couldn't really use it and majority of people werent taking it seriously. Riku means land. My birth year element is earth and I am a pretty grounded person, also my birth name was after a tree which is of course connected to the earth.

After one brainstorming session with my friend I found a name that was 'it' the second I heard it. It was Lance, which I later found out to mean land in Old German, which tied it to my earlier choice and element. Lance is short for Lancelot which is a knight's name and I always wanted to be a knight because of how they view honor and valor. Also because Dragonheart was one of my favorite movies growing up, along with the Knight's Tale. It wasn't generic and is definitively masculine. Lance is also the name of a weapon that is not too powerful on its own but given enough force through jousting/skill/etc it can be, which speaks to the resolve I needed to live and study in a different country on my own and the hope which drives me every day. Also the first two letters are the same as in my mother's name.