Your name

[Chandra21]

Diana sounds like a beautiful name ^_^

I know a lot of people try to make their new name sound similar to their old name, probably so they and their family can easily adjust to the new name. For example: I was born a Chad Brian Bellefontaine, but now I go by Chandra Brianna Bellefontaine.

[Pica Pica]

You sorted your middle name too. I'd have been tempted to leave the Brian in there for a giggle.

[Lisbeth]

I know a lot of people try to make their new name sound similar to their old name, probably so they and their family can easily adjust to the new name.

I would never do that.  It makes it too easy for them to accidentally slip back into using your old name.

[Lucy]

My male name sounds nothing like the one i use here but saying that my wont call me lucy.

[Kate]

I know a lot of people try to make their new name sound similar to their old name, probably so they and their family can easily adjust to the new name.

I would never do that.  It makes it too easy for them to accidentally slip back into using your old name.

My names are similar, and my friends and coworkers rarely, if ever really, slip up

~Kate~

[Jezzy~]

Lucky me Ive had the same name 4 my inner self online 4 years so I dont have 2 pick a name. It's already there! *claps happily*

Jezzy~

[Doc]

You sorted your middle name too. I'd have been tempted to leave the Brian in there for a giggle.

I kept my brazenly feminine middle name (Hannah) 'cause I happen to like it and don't have to use it, and nobody ever called me that so I don't associate it with the miseries of childhood. In fact, I associate it pleasantly with nothing except my dad giving me a name that nobody else in my family has ever borne. They're all big namer-afterers.

I know a lot of people try to make their new name sound similar to their old name, probably so they and their family can easily adjust to the new name.

I would never do that.  It makes it too easy for them to accidentally slip back into using your old name.

My names are similar, and my friends and coworkers rarely, if ever really, slip up

Heh. The supportive members of my family, and my friends, had no trouble adjusting to the name change. It took them maybe a month or two to never slip up on the name again, and I never had to snap or snarl about it, I hardly even had to remind them. The members of my family who always have and no doubt always will continue to give my gender-expression the haiiirrrrry eyeball persistantly 'fail' to 'remember' my name in speech and mysteriously cannot spell it in corespondance, in spite of it being only four letters long. And the name that they use for me verbally is the 'I wanna feel like an adult, so drop the ie (shh, actually I wanna feel less girly)' version of my childhood nickname that I used as a teen for about four or five years before I took a masculine name -- I've had three names in my life and the name my folks are stuck on is the name I had for the shortest period of time. Heh.

[Chandra21]

I know a lot of people try to make their new name sound similar to their old name, probably so they and their family can easily adjust to the new name.

I would never do that.  It makes it too easy for them to accidentally slip back into using your old name.

Well, in my case my family and friends don't use the second name in the first place so they can't slip back into the first. Its a bother, but my family and my bestfriend just can't get used to the fact that I want them to treat me like a female. To my parents I am still their "son" and I don't think I will be able to do much about that until I make the full transition from male to female. My byestfriend says lthat even if I legal change my name to Chandra he will not call me Chandra. I can understand their feelings since they knew me as Chad, and as a male, for years before I actually came out about my gender confusion, but I do have feelings, and being refered to as boy really hurts those feelings.

[Pica Pica]

I suppose Chad could become his pet name for you.

[myles]

I think you can have a name and a nickname, I like that idea!
When I chose my name I wanted to stick with the letter M as my initials are MMM and I didn't want to change that, then I went to a baby naming web site and looked at male names,  found miles and liked it but decided since this was a change for me I changed it to Myles. Which my SO pointed out several days later is my- les (Lesbian) I had to laugh my head off!
Myles

[Pica Pica]

Wow! MMM, I like that...like the noise a person makes when encountering rum and raisen Icecream.

[myles]

Now that sounds good and I just got back from the store! Guess I'll have to head back out 
Myles

[Sara M.]

I was strung to the name Sara ever since I realised who I should have been. No other name could be more perfect for me...

-Sara

[Chandra21]

I was strung to the name Sara ever since I realised who I should have been. No other name could be more perfect for me...

-Sara

I've always liked the name Sarah. I was considering changing my name to it at first. I almost became an Alice (I'm a fan of Alice in Wonderland, and I think Alice Cooper is a hot singer ^_^) or a Shannon too. I took me a lot of thinking to come up with the name Chandra, but now that it is my name, I am happy with it and will stick with it for the rest of my days. ^_^

[lolli]

I played around with various names whilst driving along at work.
My nickname is lolli broken down from holly after stacking a mountain bike in a holly bush and coming out covered in prickles !!  ouch.
But neither name grabbed me and to me sounded too baby'ish so I thought a while longer.
I have a female friend called Karen whom I admire for her many endearing qualities and I asked her if she would mind if I used her name as my fem name.
Karen and I threw some names around but she did admit Karen suited me more.
I wont bother with a middle name.

Though I have noted that in the States that some guys at birth are given what we might call girls names here in the UK take for instance John Wayne, it goes to show how much our cultures differ.