How did you choose your gender-appropriate name? And did you have a lot of trouble getting people who have known you before to call you by your chosen name? Did anybody just keep their name because it's appropriate for either gender?

I'm taking my time deciding, myself. It will be awhile before I get to the legal name change bit, so I'm giving it thought. I just wanted to hear some stories from y'all

I just feminised my old name. 

I picked my name when I was 5. It was the prettiest girl's name I had ever heard. It has been with me 54 years now. All three of my given names have a special meaning to me and have no masculine version. (Personally i would NEVER give a girl a feminized version of a man's name - there are fart too many beautiful women's names!)

Most of the people who knew me growing up also knew my feminine name but it didn't matter because I moved away at transition/SRS.

Quote from: Northern Jane on February 17, 2009, 06:07:15 PM
I picked my name when I was 5. It was the prettiest girl's name I had ever heard. It has been with me 54 years now. All three of my given names have a special meaning to me and have no masculine version. (Personally i would NEVER give a girl a feminized version of a man's name - there are fart too many beautiful women's names!)

Most of the people who knew me growing up also knew my feminine name but it didn't matter because I moved away at transition/SRS.

In Australia they are very fond of feminising male names.  There is: Charlene, Raylene, Waylene, Noelene and others.

I chose Shane when I was about 15 because it was irish and sounded like a warriors name. My mom chose Travis about 6 months ago, so I got my name legally changed to Travis Shane last week. I still go by my middle name because I've been Shane for 4 years. I could've stayed with my given name Renee, but I have always strongly disliked that name, for anyone lol.

I picked out a few names that I liked. After I came out to my parents, we discussed names. I presented them with my list and let them help me choose my new first and middle names. It was very important to me to include them in the naming process.

Ide always gone as Krissy. Hadnt thought about a formal name as there was so much other stuff going on, but now I have one I like.

Krissandra Gemma McGavin

Krissandra - formilisation of Krissy
Gemma - I girl I know and admire, has the same surname as my middle name
McGavin - My current surname (proud of my heratige)

Just asked my mom what she would have named me if I was born a normal girl and she said it was Carolyn Ann Schaible and thus it become my name

Quote from: Carolyn on February 18, 2009, 03:50:46 AM
Just asked my mom what she would have named me if I was born a normal girl and she said it was Carolyn Ann Schaible and thus it become my name

I met my birth mother when I was 40 (nearly 20 years after transition). I was her first born and she said she was going to name me Shelia. I laughed and told her that I was glad she didn't keep me because I REALLY don't like that name! My oldest sister got stuck with it LOL!

I've answered one of these threads before but it was with a name I didn't keep so...

I was minding a friends dog, the dog was a whiny b!tch named Sally. I was on anti depressants and drinking/cutting a lot at the time so I suggested that name and comparison to my friends as a joke, they loved it 

I do like it now though, nothing I could think of was ever comfortable but it turned out to just be a matter of picking one and using it 'til I got used to it. So glad I didn't go with Andrea, my original choice!

I plan to go with Johnnie, because that's what my Mom would have named me had I been born female.. Plus, my name right now is Johnny, and doing only a spelling change fits with how I look at this: That I'm not becoming 100% different person or making a total break with the first 34 years of my life...

Janet is a feminized version of my male.  Which I didn't know at the time I choice it.  I choice it because of my favorite movie, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Lynn I took from my ex.  Always like it.

Janet

Quote from: Carolyn on February 18, 2009, 03:50:46 AM
Just asked my mom what she would have named me if I was born a normal girl and she said it was Carolyn Ann Schaible and thus it become my name

Same for me, just the other way around.

QuoteIn Australia they are very fond of feminising male names.  There is: Charlene, Raylene, Waylene, Noelene and others.

Charlene's the only one I've heard get any air-time, apart from on Kath and Kim (the original version, not the new US version), where Kim's daughter's called Epponnee-Raelene Kathleen Darlene Charlene Craig. They may or may not be having a go at current naming trends in Australian suburbia...

While I haven't officially changed my name yet, I just went with a name I'd liked for years. (The name Mum would have given me had I been born a normal boy I didn't really like ).

my mom said that she probably would have named me Josh.  lawl seems like quite a few people went with their parents ideas.

My mum was a bit of a nutter (or presentient !) and gave me a non english girl's name at birth. I got teased so bad at school that I took the feminine ending off it as a teenager, at this point I had half my ID with one name and half with the other!

Anyway to cut a long story short the Passport Office ten years ago woke up to the scam that birth certificate name and passport name were not the same and gave me back my old female name whether I liked it or not!

Fate, if such a thing exists, can be very convenient...

Asher just felt right. When I envisioned a boy named Asher, I envisioned myself. -shrugs-

I'm not sure whether I want to keep my last name or change it as well. Will probably keep it, just because it's easier.

I did not go with what my parents would've picked which would've been Kyle.  However, they didn't even go with what they picked out for a girl (Lauren) because my named ended up being Kelly.

Since my birth name is unisex, I'm moving it to my middle name (which currently isn't unisex).  I would keep it as my first name because it's easy and cheap, but both my parents and me associate it with my femininity, thus, I'm going with Kayden...

which has nothing do with anything in real life.  When I was in 8th grade my best friend and I made "muses".  Kayden was the very first one I made.  He was basically the person I wished I was.  I've always secretly identified with it and when I came out as trans that same friend (who was my roommate at the time) immediately suggested I use that as my name until I could think of something else.  However, I didn't want to, so thus it stays.

And on that note, yes, Kayden is a real name.  Some people think it's completely made up, but no.  It exists.  A more common spelling is Caden, but this way I will still have the same three initials, which makes my university life easier.

Last summer at work my friends told me the name I was going by, Rachel, didn't suit me. So they sat me down to give me a new name. One of them liked puns and she named me Terra for "Terra incognito". I later found out that it is latin for "Into unknown lands". Quite appropriate so i've gone by it since.

Quote from: Terra on February 19, 2009, 08:26:25 AM
Last summer at work my friends told me the name I was going by, Rachel, didn't suit me. So they sat me down to give me a new name. One of them liked puns and she named me Terra for "Terra incognito". I later found out that it is latin for "Into unknown lands". Quite appropriate so i've gone by it since.

Nice name, there's a singer called Terra Naomi