Quote from: nogoodnik on August 10, 2011, 10:41:35 PM
Haha, when I was picking a middle name, I was tossing up between names like Alexi, Alexei, Alexander etc. for a long time. In the end I chose Felix, though, and that's stuck for a couple of years now so I figure that's "it".

Felix is such a cool name, I can't blame you.

My chosen name is Dante (I'm very back-and-forth about names; I hope I decide to keep this one  ). I went through a lot of names, until I settled on Will for awhile, because I liked the idea of "the will to survive". I liked that it had a meaning, which is probably why I settled on it for awhile (longer than any name I had thought of before). Then I decided it didn't quite suit me (this was about the time my friend told me she was fed up with calling me by my birth name, and told me I had to pick a proper name for myself). So my friends and I were throwing names around, and I suggested Dante, and we all agreed it was the best choice (although, the name is always associated with badass characters, which my dad pointed out when he heard my friend calling me that, which makes me feel like it doesn't quite work. But on the other hand, I met a guy named Dante once, and he wasn't really badass, which makes me feel better about the choice. )

Anyway, after beating around the bush with my story, I chose the name for a few reasons:
1) I'm a bit of a spelling nerd, and I love words that have light E's on the end, where they don't affect the pronunciation of the rest of the word. I love the way the name looks when it's written, and the sound of the light E when it's spoken.
2) I like the meaning: the name it originally comes from (Durans) is Latin for "enduring". It fits with my theme of surviving, although not as obviously. (this is the thing that "sold" the name to me)

I haven't yet picked a middle name. I'm having considerably more trouble with that. I'll get it eventually. 

Glad you found something that works for you.
Still not sure if it'll stick, but I chose mine because it's an ordinary name, shares an initial, and I don't know anyone else with it. I think it has kind of a cheeky ring to it too. I was (am) very tempted to go with Han, since it's half my birth name, and some people (family mostly) call me that as a nickname. Plus, Han Solo! But I'm not looking for anything with meaning.
PS Russian names are awesome, but native English speakers sound silly when saying them. Besides, every single man in Moscow is called only Sergei. I never met anyone with one of the badass Russian names.

JPurcell, how about the name Jackson?  If I had a son, I'd want to name him that, not as plain as Jack, but a solid masculine name.

My favorite professional wrestler is Stone Cold Steve Austin, yeah it was a simple as that. Plus when the crowd chants "Austin Austin" I can secretly pretend they are chanting for me

Some people called me Eric for a while just sort of as a nickname, so I considered that because it's also very close to my birth name, but it just didn't fit quite right. I settled on the name Vincent because I just sort of realized that I had been calling myself that in my head since I was little, and I've always liked the name. I am keeping Erik (viking spelling, yeah!) as a middle name, though.

Just wanted to throw out there that I love how everyone here agrees that Russian names are awesome. I met an awesome Russian immigrant in Berlin who was named Valentine (val en teen). He said every Russian name has a nickname (there's a specific Russian word for it, but this is the closest English word I can come up with). For his name, it's Valek. For our Russian friend Valeria, it would be Valeri.

When it came to picking my name, my therapist made a good point: "when choosing a name, pick something that you like and will like for the rest of your life but refrain from using exotic names no one has really heard before.  It can be hard enough blending into society with your gender identity, you do not want to compound it with a name no one has ever heard before or only heard in a movie or a dungeons and dragons novel." 

I got a kick out of. Asked if she could email it to me so I could get her quote just right.  When I first came about to pick a name, I choose Kareal. The issues with Kareal is

1. No one could ever pronounce it (some would say Kur-real, Kar-real, etc) when I pronounced it (Kerry-L)
2. The name is so unique that it was just something I would rather not have to explain whenever I introduced myself "Kareal, huh? hmmm."  While it is not really the same, using a very unique name as a trans is kinda in the same ballpark as a trans naming herself "Candy" or "Sindy."

So, I asked my mom one day "when you found out I was born intersex, what name were you gonna call me if Dad was not all bent out of shape for having a son for his firstborn."  She replied "We had chosen Tammy and Annah."  I really loved the name Annah so I picked it. Mom was pretty touched as well.

Orion, some of those names are even better than the names they come from. It can take some real searching -- without knowing it all yourself, or having someone who does to ask -- to find some of them though.

I have to admit, I also kind of find it neat the practice of using the first and then the patronymic name, opposed to the first and the surname like a lot of other countries. Not sure why I do though...

Quote from: TheAwesomePrussia on August 15, 2011, 02:46:37 PM
Just wanted to throw out there that I love how everyone here agrees that Russian names are awesome. I met an awesome Russian immigrant in Berlin who was named Valentine (val en teen). He said every Russian name has a nickname (there's a specific Russian word for it, but this is the closest English word I can come up with). For his name, it's Valek. For our Russian friend Valeria, it would be Valeri.

Yeah, my stepmom's Russian and her name's the same; her name is Natalia but her nickname is Natasha

Quote from: Windmill on August 15, 2011, 07:14:14 PM
Yeah, my stepmom's Russian and her name's the same; her name is Natalia but her nickname is Natasha

Normal conventions for diminutives (that's what they're called) would have her called Nastya, if you ever heard that. The Russian diminutive system is very cute <3

Quote from: Solobear on August 16, 2011, 05:25:47 AM
Normal conventions for diminutives (that's what they're called) would have her called Nastya, if you ever heard that. The Russian diminutive system is very cute <3

That's cool, thanks for the info    I actually haven't; her son's name is Alex, but I'm not sure what his full name is, but I assume it's Russian.  That's a pretty awesome system, though; I kinda wish there was something like that in the U.S.  I think I actually vaguely remember my dad telling me something about it once, just in the context of why my stepmom has two "different" names.  Haha, what's more awesome than the name thing though is getting to hear her really fast Russian when speaking to her son cause I assume it's usually of the threatening nature, since it's only spoken when he's acting up