It's In The Name..

[Guest theXYProject]

So...

names..?

A name is.. names in general are.. very important to identity, i'd like to believe.

My identity. Your identity.

To be honest, I have been Alex my entire life.

My birth name, Alexandria, was never utilized..from what I can recall..

but.. I associate my name, Alex, with my erroneous anatomy..

..and I don't want that..

Again, don't get me wrong, I adore my name..

but I'd like to.. look around..

see if I can find something... even more suitbale for my identity..

I do like:

Cy [deritive of Cyrus]

Dax

Grey

[MaryEllen]

I think Alex is a very nice name but if you'd like something different that's fine with us. After all, it's your name and it should be something you're happy with.

MaryEllen

[Guest theXYProject]

MaryEllen..?

Would it be possible to change my name from 'theXYProject' to Cy ..?

Thanks..

[MaryEllen]

Not a problem. I'll have it changed in a few minutes.

[MaryEllen]

Hello Cy,

Welcome to the forums.

MaryEllen

[Guest J-Walker]

Hehe, so you're going with Cy? I like it a lot. It's a cool name.

I can understand the negative attachment you would hold to your name. You should pick a name that you love and if you don't love Alex, don't use it. And whatever you pick doesn't have to be permenant. Who knows? Today you're Cy tomorrow you might be Dax and then next week you may be something completely different. It's just a part of life. Don't sweat it.

[Guest Ryles_D]

Have you ever read http://www.ftmtransition.com/transition/na...hedecision.html I think it's the same idea. The guy's birthname was Justin (I'm not missing an 'e' on that) but he changed it because it reminded him of all the "Yes, I'm sure it's not Justine"s and every time he was called a girl.

Then, I don't hate my name, but it doesn't feel like me. It just feels detached. People call Shannon or Shay and even though, logically, I know it's me and I'll turn my head, it sort feels like they're calling someone else.

On a side note: Our nicknames rhyme. Cy & Ry. XD (short for Ryan)

[Guest Seth]

I went through quite a few different names before my friend Rae came up with Seth.

I wanted Salem, cuz all I needed to do was switch the letters around in my birth name (Selma).

I was also thinking about Sam for a while, but I knew too many girls named Sam.

[Guest JayJaye]

I wanted to keep something similar enough to my birth name (which I've always hated, lol), keep my initials, and also wanted to keep it similar to respect my parents and their choice of name. I came up with a name that I really like, with Jay as a nickname. As soon as I start T I'll change it legally.

Oh, and I'm older so I wanted something similar enough so when someone calls my name I respond, lol.

Jay

[Guest raydub]

I wanted to keep something similar enough to my birth name (which I've always hated, lol), keep my initials, and also wanted to keep it similar to respect my parents and their choice of name. I came up with a name that I really like, with Jay as a nickname. As soon as I start T I'll change it legally.

Oh, and I'm older so I wanted something similar enough so when someone calls my name I respond, lol.

Jay

We're totally on the same page about the name thing. I guess I dont hate my birthname though cause I was named after my dad ... i wouldve been a "III" if I were born a bioguy . But im thinking of taking my dad's name anyway - "the way it shouldve been" kinda thing. The initials would be the same. I am having a hard time figuring out though if I want my legal name to be Raymond or just Ray. Cause my grandad and dad have the name...but my sister named my nephew Raymond (cause my dad "didnt have any boys" --little does she know ).

Ray

[Guest harvester52]

On the topic of names...

My mom wants me to go with Brian Christopher (retaining the initials BC, which were my ultimate goal anyway). I think that'll fly over better with my dad, too. I don't know. Having divorced parents is a pain because it's like having to deal with two sets of family instead of just one. I like Brian Christopher, so I'll be trying that out for awhile.

-BC

[Guest StrandedOutThere]

Hmm...I never really thought about changing names. My birth name (Ainsley) is uncommon and can be either a guy's or a girl's name. Maybe I'm weird, but I have a special attachment to my first name, though I think it would be different if I had a traditional girl's name. Hey, as long as you are proud of and feel connected to the name you choose, you can't go wrong. One cool thing that I've considered is researching my family history and taking a name from there. For example, my ancestors are from the Scottish clan Cameron, so I thought about possibly incorporating that into my own name. I really hate my middle name.

[Guest Chris_421]

I did the whole "opposite gender" for my name. I was Krystyn Shauna-Lee, but I changed it to Christopher Shawn. It's easier for me to adjust to, having been called Chris for a while. The only thing that sucks is theres so many Chris's out there lol.

[Guest Drew]

yeah, my birth name was just awful...Geraldine...who would do that to their son?...well, they didn't know they had a son . my name now is much better...although common and boring ...Andrew John *last name*...it suits me sooo much better

[Guest J-Walker]

I took a name completely different from my birth name. I don't really know how I chose it, just that it had been there all my life. I had an uncle name Charlie, and then my parents would always buy me books or movies that had a main character in it named Charlie (Such as "Charlie the Chirper" or "All Dogs Go To Heaven"). When I saw Charlie the Unicorn on Newgrounds that sealed the deal. XP For my middle name I took my father's name. So it's Charles Laurence <Insert Last Name Here> instead of Megan Lyn <Insert Last Name Here>. It's not a cool or out of the box way of picking a name but it is something that I could invision happening. Of course, my parents WERE going got name me "Bradford Tucker" if I was a boy, but I really can't see me changing my name to THAT.

Another thing I think people should take into account is not only picking a special name but one relevent to their generation. I like a lot of boys names like Aiden and Matthias and a lot that are just becoming popular now. I also like Japanese names like Takuya and Ichiro. Of course, those are names that I would never have been given as a child so I don't use them. It just helps one pass better, even if they don't plan on being stealth or anything.

[Guest Seth]

I plan on getting my birth name tatooed on the back of my neck, since I like it so much.

[Guest KellyGirl]

what's in a name? well thats a good question but what I want to ask is how do you really go about renaming yourself? I was fortunate in my case, I given a name that is unisex and more commonly used for girls, sadly the matter of name changing still has crossed my mind (and I do realize I'm jumping the gun a little but it's never to early to think about.)

Although I like my name, I heard it is recommended that you change it...not only that but your last name, if you can be traced back to your birth name you can be outed to an employer and promptly fired, the idea of course scares me a lot. (also I don't like the idea of taking a pay cut for being female although I heard that although the statistics in my econ class say the pay cut's for ethnic groups and women occur, is not really a common practice today...although the "glass ceiling" may be something to worry about)

Anyway back on the topic of names...I heard it was necessary for the purpose of self protection....

[Guest raydub]

Although I like my name, I heard it is recommended that you change it...not only that but your last name, if you can be traced back to your birth name you can be outed to an employer and promptly fired, the idea of course scares me a lot.

...Anyway back on the topic of names...I heard it was necessary for the purpose of self protection....

hrm.. some jobs require a background check and they may even ask for any names youve used over the past 10 years. i think in this case youd HAVE to give them your birthname and just see what happens. also, your social security number isnt going to change, just the name attached to it. so if a background check is run your birthname will come up.

i know a guy that recently started a new job where a background check was done and he was asked about the girl whose name kept appearing. he explained his situation and the lady doing the check just said, 'oh ok' and continued business as usual. later, she pulled him aside and asked how he preferred to be addressed along with a few other questions on the proper way to handle future situations like this that may arise.

you never know sometimes! we should of course always be prepared for the worst, but sometimes these things kinda work themselves out.

Ray

[Guest Venom]

My birth name was Amanda..I kinda like the name but being a transmen I'd like to be referred to by a male name. I've been having name picking problems bad lately but I'm gonna try to settle for Zato or Daryan. Alex is a good name by the way, my ex boyfriend was named Alex. Hope you find a name that suits you

[Guest Jack Solomon]

My chosen name's completely different from my birth name, which I never considered to be reflective of my self-identity as a person. It really sucks when you're 7 and you don't consider your first name to be 'correct', let alone when you're much older and hate introducing yourself with your birth name! I always found guys names to be preferable and much more interesting, but none of them ever really stuck as long-term nicknames except for Court, which only briefly hung around and originated from my screenname on an online forum. I really liked Court as a name but it just didn't seem right for me.

It was pretty hard narrowing it down because I love many Japanese names as well as other unusual names. I didn't just want a random name that would be lost in the phonebook, and I also wanted a believable name that had a good sound to it. I still might fit a middle name in there. I can't wait to be called Jack Solomon all the time (especially on legal documents) and put my birth moniker behind me. The first name 'Jack' I may still end up changing but 'Solomon' is a tribute to the several great characters I admire with that name and I'm very satisfied with it overall.

Some first or middle names I considered - Haru*, Rin*, Alec/Alex* or Axel, Memory

Other last names I considered: Dumas*, Minase

(* indicates names I was strongly considering)

Solomon

[Guest JesseT]

Names woah what a job it is to express your own Identiity by choosing your name. For my whole life i was Rebecca Joy (who names their kids after a feeling) i've always hated my middle name. when I started thinking about changing my name I chose the name Ethan Jesse but Ethan didn't fit because there was no one i'd be named for so i had to think of another name and chose Jesse Maoz but i decided that i needed a name tha could yield a nickname. I've always had one either Becca or RJ so Maoz was scrapped and i couldn't find another M name that sounded good with Jesse so I started to look for a new middle name and found Benjamin which was perfect. i ended up useing Ethan as part of my hebrew name which will be Eitan ami ( strength of my people) ben david v'rachel .

[Guest Ryles_D]

who names their kids after a feeling

Joy is a bona fide name, a decent number of people have it so at least it's not uncommon. Be glad you're not Chasity. Everyone misspells it and who wants to be named after that? People name their kids crazy things sometime. My cousin named her kids Fortune and Treasure (and I think Carly, which was just weird).