This came to my mind because a friend of mine is looking for a name, since the way he's currently called reminds him too much of his birthname.

For me though, it's quiet the contrary, mentally I'm calling myself by a name very similar (same sound, lenght, first letter, although clearly other gender) as my birtname. That's why I'm curious how that was for you?

ainsley is no where near my dead name.

For me distinction between my birth name and real name was a must, but I think this wildly varies from person to person. For me my birth name is sorta a symbol of my oppression of who I am and trying to fit into a gender I just don't belong in.

I really don't think there is a right answer besides what is right for you.

I also changed my last name, due to very very conservative relatives that could cause issues (we're talking anti-vaccination advocates).

I go both by names alternately since the first was unisex. But I picked another different, but it was still one of the ones picked out for me by parents/grandparents, so it still feels close in a way.

My name is entirely different to my birth name. I hate my birth name. But that didn't have anything to do with the choice of my name now. It just is a thing, lol.

I'm not sure but I'm thinking I would just keep my name which is Jesse, what do y'all think?

My mom once told me that if I'd been born a girl she would have named me Jennifer.  So that's the name I chose.  No way similar to the name my parents gave me.

Quote from: MissJess3 on February 15, 2018, 02:48:43 PM
I'm not sure but I'm thinking I would just keep my name which is Jesse, what do y'all think?

Personally I think that's a great idea. Jesse is a cool name and it will really help people who knew you before.

I wanted to be sure nobody could guess my dead name, since I heard of people doing that in order to use it as an insult. Besides, I hated my dead name, and did not want it following me around.

Quote from: MissJess3 on February 15, 2018, 02:48:43 PM
I'm not sure but I'm thinking I would just keep my name which is Jesse, what do y'all think?

Sure, why not, if you like it.  I'd change the spelling, though, to Jessie.

Mine is similar to my birth name.

I'm not currently out with my family, but I've always thought that if I ever am (and my parents are supportive), I would like to let both of my parents pick a middle name for me. I feel like my birth name is a gift from them, even if I choose to move away from it to a name that is more fitting. I think I would like to continue carrying that gift with me in my male name. Alternately, my middle name that was given at birth came from my grandmother's name, so I might swap that with the masculine version of it (Antoinette to Antoine).

But that's just middle names, because I don't trust my parents THAT much.   

For my first name, I chose a name based on the first character I remember relating to as a kid in terms of female to male masculinity. Plus, I just like it.

The only similarity they have is that they both have Irish origins. 

My heritage is French, so no idea why I got the first one.  I just like Colleen and everyone I've met says it fits me perfectly so I'm rolling with it.

As an SO who was in on all the steps of her other' s transition I had the pleasure of giving her part of her first name. As we were going "out" from the beginning I tried to keep things as logistically easy as possible with the name. I used her initials to create a feminine name. She liked it and then added her nom de plume (which she started using on Susan's) to create a unique name that describes who she is. I think her name is as beautiful as she is. As her wife my only concern was that she keep her last name. For me that was a connection to our relationship that I did not want to loose. She did that for me and I love being Mrs. and Mrs. Smith.

Debi

I have no 'dead' name as Kelly is used for both genders. Very useful. Thanks Mum!

I definitely wanted something different. My dead name is what my abusers called me. I don't want to be reminded of it in my new life.

Quote from: krobinson103 on February 15, 2018, 06:50:28 PM
I have no 'dead' name as Kelly is used for both genders. Very useful. Thanks Mum!

Now that's just cheating!

I pick on that was similar to my birth name and has the same meaning to the name

Quote from: Colleen_definitely on February 15, 2018, 09:35:55 PM
Now that's just cheating!

Hey why not? :p I like my name the way it is.

I picked mine based on personality, available nicknames, how people might perceive me based on my name, and how unique it is. My mother gave me a name that can be shortened to sound masculine because she was worried about sexism on job applications. I dislike it BECAUSE it can also be feminized. I've also got a lot of bad memories attached to my given name so I decided to start fresh. I wanted something strictly masculine. I decide on Ignatius because in the US, it's uncommon and anyone who does have it isn't typically white. Going back to the whole job application discrimination, I don't want to work for a company that could discriminate based on names so I didn't want a name that white people would use. Plus, Ignatius just sounds cool!

Quote from: ainsley on February 15, 2018, 01:24:19 PM
ainsley is no where near my dead name.

Dead name sounds so much better than birth name

I purposely choose my name to be close to my given names. My thoughts are that my mom and dad picked my names and I wanted to honor that. So Erwin Paul became Erin Paula. My mom later told me that Paula would have been one of my names if I was born AFAB.

After receiving a copy of my father's original signed birth announcement to the city hall, and the corrected new birth certificate, I was glad I did. I now have a piece of history in my possession that reminded me of how happy my father must have been to announce the birth of his child.

In the Netherlands birth documents are handled different than in the USA.