Hello everyone currently reading.

I just called my local Gender Identity Center to make an intake appointment and get started with a councilor. the person on the phone who took down my information asked me something very common but i wasnt prepaired for it. " What is your prefered name" and ill be honest im just started to tackle feelings ive had for years and they are just started to become fully formed in my understanding and i have no idea about a name. What would i call myself after i dont quite fit with my given name anymore? so i just gave my given name.

How do you go about picking a name...

Congratulations on getting the ball rolling.

I don't know how to pick a name either.  The one I use for my username is probably not my final answer.

I played with the letters in my birth name. Others like the feminine version of their birth name. I worked with a person who's name I liked and used it as a middle name as my middle name had a feminine version which I hated. People even go so far as to review birth names from the year they were born. You start saying names and see if it feels right. It isn't easy and it will take a little time but pick a name you love because you will be the one who answers to it. If you would like and the name isn't already used on the site, I can change your screen name to your new name.

I like to write stories and I also play a lot of online games. Coming up with characters names in these has always been very difficult for me. It could take me days to come up with something I liked even for a character that might play a bit part and otherwise be inconsequential. A name for me not only has to be aesthetically pleasing, but it also has to fit the character it belongs to. If a character is a ruthless thief, I don't want to name him Bob.

The username I've chosen here is the one I would ultimately use out in the world if and when it comes time for me to do so. As difficult as it was for me to come up with names for imaginary characters, the name I chose for myself came right away. The main character in a story I'm writing is named Semira. I liked the name and went with it.

Breaking it down further:
- S has always been my favorite letter (do people have favorite letters?). So my name would have to start with an S.
- A name whose second letter is a vowel is also pleasing to me. sE
- I prefer names that end in a vowel. And for a female name, I find A to be the most pleasing. se___A
- I like names that can be shortened. Semira can become Semi. Semi by itself still starts with an S, still has a vowel for a second letter, and still ends in a vowel (not an A but that's alright).
- Finally, I like names that are relatively uncommon. In the US, Semira is uncommon. However when I google my birth name including my last name, I come with with tons of people with the same name. Ugh.

Semira. I liked the name to start with and I found it also fit all of the things I'm looking for in a name. Coming up with names can be hard, but also exciting. A name can be anything. Anything at all. Break it down. What do you look for in a name?

Thank you for the offer Dena but my screen name is a name i picked for a video game character when i was 15 and it just kinda stuck for alot of things. when i pic a female name i will ask to have it change but for now im comfortable with the screen name

When I called my local gender centre for the first time I just gave my male name since I knew I'd be going there in guy mode for the first few times and actually felt weird about being called Grace while still presenting as male. Grace is a very loose feminisation of my middle male name Grant.