Well, the girls have a topic like this, we should have one too!

I chose Robin and that was name for more than a year.
One day, a canadian friend told me that he wanted to call me Drik
so I should change my name to Fredrik instead, and like two months later.. I got a legal name change.

If I could choose a new name now, I would probably pick something russian, like
Dmitri, Aleksej, Varja or romani. ^_^

it took awhile... oh yeah J.T. isn't my name.  That was a transitional title i used when i had no clue...

I went through the most popular names from my birth year (social security site) and narrowed it down.  Then i was watching a movie one day and an actors name popped up and i went "hmm, i like that."  Lo and behold i take out my list and it was in my top five.  It runs on both sides of my family and works with my heritage.

Mine was chosen because I didn't really like my transitional name (matt) and a close friend who supported me through those early days when I first came out told me I should take his name. After laughing a bit about I told him no. A few months later he died and it just seemed right. I got my middle name from a guy who was my best friend through the hell of school, family, friends and others. Both men taught me about the sort of man and person I wanted to be. So when it came time to pick I chose it as a tribute to them and a reminder of who I am and where I came from. Plus I didn't want a name that was like my birth name in anyway.

->-bleeped-<-boy

at first i picked Jonas bacause it was similar to my old name and i liked it.  but it wasnt really me, so i picked Chett because its extremely similar and sounds almost the same as my childhood "boy" name (jet) but no one would take me seriously if i went by Jet.

I chose mine, which is Parker. Because to me my family is really important. I figured since my mom named me when i was born, it would mean a lot for me to be able to have her pick my male name, and i like the name Parker, so i didnt mind the choice.

I'm still a bit unsure right now... but Monty is close to my female name and theres a funny story on how I got that nickname. Other ones I've considered are Beau or Quentin.

The Russian names do sound pretty cool too.

One of my high school teachers had a kid named Jett.

I picked the name of a Egyptian god, Osiris as a screen name. This god had been killed and cut up into pieces. He was then reassembled and resurrected by his wife Isis, except she couldn't get his penis back so she had to use a prosthetic.

Being a ftm I thought it was fitting, and a bit tongue in cheek.

This name helped me pick the one I finally settled on, Cyrus, which is similar to my female name.

I'm older and more resistant to change, and to make things easier on myself, I chose my name because it is close to my birth name and similar in meaning for the most part, and would honor my parents who chose my female name.  Also I wanted to pick a name that was consistent with the decade I was born in.

The name I chose is Jonathan Ellis.  I also like the name Nathan or Nathaniel so this is fairly close while keeping my initials the same.  Hard to make me sign with different initials.

I go by Jay because Jon is so taken in my dad's step-family, and my son goes by his initial already, and we jokingly have called my daughter by her initial.

Later I can always go by Nate if I want, when I'm solo living in my RV traveling the country working odd jobs (my early retirement dream).

Jay

Quote from: Chett on July 12, 2008, 08:04:29 PM
at first i picked Jonas bacause it was similar to my old name and i liked it.  but it wasnt really me, so i picked Chett because its extremely similar and sounds almost the same as my childhood "boy" name (jet) but no one would take me seriously if i went by Jet.

Didn't John Travolta name his son Jett?  If you like it better, forget what anyone else thinks and go for it.

(Meanwhile I'll try to stop associating Chett with the Hardy Boys' chubby friend in his yellow jalopy.  )

I chose mine (Jamison) because it starts with the same first letter as my natal name, and because my last name is only 1 syllable, so I wanted to have a name with a bit of presence behind it to make it roll off the tongue more easily.  The coward in me also liked the fact that it shortens to the androgynous "Jamie", which could be used easily enough until I fully pass.

I've been toying with "Joshua", but I think "Jamison" sounds better with my last name.

Chris or Christopher's the dude's version of my birth name easier 4 me.  my mom & everybody that knows me.

Quote from: Jamie-o on July 13, 2008, 06:40:38 AM

I've been toying with "Joshua", but I think "Jamison" sounds better with my last name.

Jamison goes great with my last name and kind of reminds me of a famous person.  Hmmmm....


(Jay steals Jamie's name...)  LOL

OK.

NOT!

Jay, who could have chosen James Elliott but has a dog with an eerily similar name...

I've been going by "Johnny" since eighth grade. It came from a song ("Johnny" by System of a Down) and at first it was a joke--all the "girls" in my circle went by male names. In high school, I changed it to "Johnna" and joked that Johnny had gotten a "sex change" (before I really knew what it meant). By then it was all I went by on the internet. When I started crossdressing then (eventually) realized I'm trans, I began going by John.

My middle name is Adrian. I had a best (male) friend with the name in eighth grade (a rather important year for me). I'd used it online as a "girl" and a "guy". I've always loved it (but only the common male spelling--"Adrienne" or the like never appealed to me).

My last name (Emonds) came from when I was called "Johnny Emo". I just lengthened it.

If/When I go for a name change, I'm going to keep my mother's Italian last name. I'll be JAS rather than JAE (but when I become a famous author it'll be John Adrian Emonds on all my books.) =]

As a kid, I pretended to be a boy named Timothy. My tastes have changed somewhat since I was 7, though, and at 23, at the beginning of this whole transition bit, I decided on Rafe, since the name from which it came, Rafael, was only a couple letters off of my birth name. I met my wife soon after, though, and my life became absolutely nothing like it had been before. I told her I loved the name Dean, for my idol James Dean and for Neal Cassady's character Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's On the Road, and she thought it fit me. I finally settled on Sebastien Dean, which will be my legal name if I ever get the money to make it official... I vary on which I feel like being called.

I love the fact that I was able to pick my own name. That's gotta be tops on the benefits of being a ->-bleeped-<-.

SD

I was going by "Ray" at first (actually, I still am mostly) because it's a short version of my birthname and was easy to get people to use. It also helped that it was gender neutral, though I kind of hated that part of the name. Now I pass pretty consistently, so when I go by Ray I get taken as male, but I don't really like the name a ton, even though it did grow on me a lot over the last 9 months or so. So I'm actually using it as my middle name, and next month my name should legally be Kevin Ray C****. I just like the name Kevin a lot, and a two-syllable name goes better with my one-syllable last name. I tried to get my mom involved with the name change thing, but when I asked if she had any suggestions she just looked at me like wtf and said no, haha.

My parents were gonna name me Michael if things would have worked out right at birth. So I pretended to be Michael a few times as a kid and set up an e-mail account or two with that name in the past, but I don't really like the idea of taking my dad's name. Plus there would be 3 Michaels living in the house, haha.

I'm probably jumping ahead a few steps since I haven't even begun crossdressing yet (I will by the end of August at the latest) but I am already thinking about different names. At first I liked the name Jack, but it just didn't seem to suit me and didn't go with my last name at all. When I was in Kindergarten I used to sign all my papers as (birthname) Max (lastname), pretending that Max was my name as well I suppose. I don't know why I liked the name so much back then, but I don't think it suits me now.

I've always had a unique name and have yet to meet anyone with the same name as me so I wanted to keep with that idea. Then I pulled forth my lifetime love of greek mythology and combined it with my desire for a unique name. I saw a skate vid of this kid named Odin once (I know, norse) and thought it was the coolest thing ever so I'm going to have to say Eros is my current fav for a name right now. I'm not going to be corny enough to be Zeus, and I really like the name Eros anyway. I feel like Eros really fits me, so I might go with that if things pan out.

I go by so many different names to different people. I haven't decided on one but i have a list: Jack, Luka, Brody...

I'm still deciding.

I am having major conflict with the name Daniel. I'm quite partial to it. I like how it can be Daniel, Dan, or Danny. It's really a sweet name and is flexible. It's a strong Christian name (I'm not Christian, by the way, but I do like traditional-sounding names) and it's meaning really caught my attention. "God is my judge." That's what it means. But why can't I have the name?

Well, of course I can have it. But see, I had a big fight with my mom before I moved to Northern California. She said, "You're not transitioning into a boy, you're transitioning into a little Dan Aykroyd."

At first I laughed. But then suddenly I was worried. What would people think if I chose the name Daniel? Daniel Edward Aykroyd already took it 56 years ago. For many months I've been trying to decide whether or not it would be appropriate to use the name. A lot of transguys name themselves after people they are influenced by, so naming myself Daniel really wouldn't be much different. I was even more attached to the name when I found that many people of many different sorts have it (it isn't really a racial name nor is it really a largely cultural name). My current legal name, Sara, means "Princess." I don't really have a major problem with this, but I'd like a name that really helps me live full time.

Having my best friend Laura call me Dan would be weird. As every time we used the name Dan, we were somehow making fun of Dan Aykroyd. Everyone that knows me would jump to the first assumption they could find-- that I must have named myself after him. But really, I don't intend that at all, which is why I'm hesitating. Dan is was a cool guy for a long time. Now he's quite the has-been. I just don't see why I'd want to name myself after him. I really don't feel like I am.

I also like the name John, which belongs to my father, step-father, cousin, and a long list of famous people starting with John Belushi, John Goodman, John Cleese, John Connor, John-117, and of course the anonymous title John Doe. I just don't like John enough to be the 4th or 5th John in my family, not to mention the fact my parents would assume I'm naming myself after John Belushi.

So the guys had good, strong names! It's not my fault their mommies decided to give them nice names!

It just bothers me. I really like Daniel. I tried to go for something similar, like Gabriel or Nathaniel, but it just didn't work out for me.

Then I thought of Elliott. But you know, it just again doesn't have the cadence I want. I want my name to be flexible, classic, and well, have a certain rhythm to it. I like Daniel so much that I've been practicing calling myself that, trying it on to see how well it fits. I'd use it as a preferred name at school, but eventually the teacher will say to my parents, "Danny's a great student. She's one of the top in the class." Then they'll be like, "Danny?" Yeah...

Oddly enough, my past names from when I was a little kid don't appeal to me anymore. I had the names Justin and Jason for a while, but no one would call me these. These were private aliases I had for myself, but they just don't seem to work anymore.

What's the other name I'm close to? Yeah, Daniel's not the only one. I also like Raymond (everybody loves him!). But the problem? Dan Aykroyd played a character named Raymond Stantz in 1984. Can you guess what film that is...? Bing bing bing! It's the well known ghostly comedy Ghostbusters. Everyone knows this, so I run into the same brick wall again; Mr. Aykroyd has a way of wearing all the names I like.

So I'm exploring... I'm looking down a list of filmographies. Tom Hank's and Dan Aykroyd's. Filmography is a great place to look up typical names. Tom's played various names including Charlie, Robert, Forrest, Viktor, Paul, Daniel, Carl, Michael, Chuck, Joe, Jim, Andrew... the list goes on. Same with any other actor. I brought Aykroyd's up as well. A bunch of the same names, and others like Pete, Chris, Ray, Elwood (origin of my username, haha), John, Ben, Joe... again, list goes on. Why do I mention this? Well, I look at these lists of names and they're just names to me. They mean nothing. This is why baby name books don't help me. I'm like, "That sounds nice. That too. That too." But none of them really stab me in the chest, twist, and say, "Oui! This is moi!"

It's really tough. I'm really irritated by this predicament. Let's try another. Ben Stiller. What kind of names has he played (besides Derek Zoolander?). Alex, Larry, Tony, David, Tim, Reuben, Thomas, Gaylord "Greg" Focker, Jake, Lawrence...

See what I'm going through?

Unlike most transmen, I have a bit of shame in naming myself after someone. Either I have to make that feeling go away, or pick a name at total random.

Part of me says to screw it. Dan's really living in my goddamn dream boat. He's got everything I want, no joke. He's a good person for me to look up to (besides the fact that he hung out with druggies in his 20's, is a lush now, and is out of work because he thinks he's "too old"). Then again, he had the figurative balls to stand next to his best friend's coffin without crying. Too bad he didn't help carry it. Pics, it did happen: ]Link]

The fact of the matter is, I just don't know what to do. I'll probably end up choosing Daniel eventually but I sure as hell better have a reason before my parents outcast me for life. Do I really want to name myself after that schmuck from Pearl Harbor?



You be the judge. 

(Btw, he wasn't always a fatass  )

Quote from: Chett on July 12, 2008, 08:04:29 PM
at first i picked Jonas bacause it was similar to my old name and i liked it.  but it wasnt really me, so i picked Chett because its extremely similar and sounds almost the same as my childhood "boy" name (jet) but no one would take me seriously if i went by Jet.

I love the name Jonas. Since I read The Giver, it reminds me of a difficult, complex scenario, and I like that. Although, for now, It'd be weird because The Jonas Brothers are so popular right now.

Quote from: Elwood on July 15, 2008, 10:12:02 PM
I am having major conflict with the name Daniel. I'm quite partial to it. I like how it can be Daniel, Dan, or Danny. It's really a sweet name and is flexible. It's a strong Christian name (I'm not Christian, by the way, but I do like traditional-sounding names) and it's meaning really caught my attention. "God is my judge." That's what it means. But why can't I have the name?

I also like the name Danny. But I already have a cousin Daniel, and that would be odd if he ever found out. And plus, I don't really like 'Dan', so I don't think I'd like that too much.

I originally liked the name Will, and I still do. So I'm trying to decide between Will and Jonas. But I guess I still have a long time to think about it. I don't want to pick a name too far out there, otherwise it's suspicious. But I don't want an extremely common name either. Although, I do like the name Joe for some reason.

Elwood - I understand what you mean about not wanting to take someone else's name.  I have to admit that I'm a little uncomfortable with the fact that there is a very famous FtM already named Jamison (Jamison Green).  But I haven't found any other names I liked that fit my criteria (as outlined above).

It's true that people who know you, may very well jump to the conclusion that you named yourself after Dan Aykroyd (and what's really so wrong with that?), but I think if you usually go by "Daniel" or "Danny" instead of "Dan", that would minimize the perception. 

I was Joe for a long time. I'll probably end up as Nick after my grand uncle. That's who I was supposed to be anyhow. Though it would be fun to be Nero in real life cause I really get off on all the pyromania jokes I get.