What Was You Process For Picking Your Name?

[Guest Michael Heather]

Could also go with Luca or Luke in the same vein otherwise?

True, I didn't think about that. And Luca could work as a nickname if I choose Lucien anyway. Hmm, I have to think more about this...

[Guest GabrielMori]

My birth name was Gabrielle so I just changed it to Gabriel. I guess mine was pretty simple and people can still call me the same nicknames they did before.

[Guest deadkazi]

A friend of mine wanted to give me a nickname when we were younger. He was like a brother to me and he's no longer here. It stuck, even had dreams with the name Jaden used....It wasn't hard. I like it and it just seemed right and special.

[Guest Darth_Taco]

It...was a weird process. I think I started off with my legal name, Fabiola, and went from there. Other than Fabian, there is no male alternative to that name. I did not want to go with Fabian though because that's what my father would've named me and considering he also doubles as my rapist, I wasn't fond of letting him name me. Instead, I went to my boyfriend. We spoke and he figured that I go with something weird. We went with the characteristics of my legal name:

Italian

Commonly used by Mexicans

Boyfriend never met anyone else by that name XP

easily pronounceable in Spanish

Then we went with something I wanted in a name:

Biblical name

Extra nerdy

Not common, but not a name that sounds fake either

Manly

So we went through a bunch of random baby names on the internet . Considering his family still sees me as his girlfriend and we're only 20, that was really awkward @_@. We ended up shortening it to a list of 3 names. I cannot for the life of me remember what the names were except the one I chose. Anyway, we decided to go with Raphael. Why that one? Well, besides it being the same name as one of the Ninja Turtles, it's suppose to be Hebrew for "God has healed". I happen to be of Hebrew origin, so I found that a nice coincidence. I'm also ironically a hypochondriac xD. So that's what we went with . Most couples try to name their future kids, we name one half of the couple XP. That's how my boyfriend named me . I still end up going by Taco since not enough people are comfortable calling me by that name. Hell, no one calls me by my legal name xD. I've been Taco for years, and I'd legally change my name to Taco if it weren't just plain dumb .

[Guest Eric6]

I decided to use Alex for my name since my middle name is Alexandra. Since reading the post above about how androgynous Alex is, I wonder whether Alexander would be better? Don't know. [i'd probably end up as Xander, as in the Buffy series!] It's moot since I have to go by my birthname, not being out, but I like thinking to myself that that is not really who I am. Easier to use part of an existing name since then you don't have to formally change it. I think. Not sure.

The bit about "what would I have been named as a boy" is also moot since, being an adopted child, they never had a male name under consideration. When my brother was born, they named him my father's second name; not superlatively imaginative folks here. :-) I had uncles Eric and William, so either of those would have been a possible, I guess.

If one is not out and being careful, an androgynous name is not so bad. People won't be sure and you can be called something you actually like.

[Guest Sam_P]

I've been Taco for years, and I'd legally change my name to Taco if it weren't just plain dumb .

I guess this is the cool things about names though... you can go BY anything you like, doesn't have to be your legal name. If we always had to go by our legal names, that would suck.

[Guest mary/jason]

i'm actually still in the process of choosing mine and what i can honestly say is im thinking i may keep my middle name. its elizabeth. i cant help but think of the producers and they say hitler's middle name is elizabeth and then i think when i get to the point that i can pass and people ask for my full name i'd get to say SOMETHING Elizabeth LASTNAME. but ive always been one to look at the humour in things lol. as for first name i was named after my great grandmother so it wont be any easy thing to do as my mom was very close to her....

[Guest joeytheman16]

I was kind of named actually. A friend of mine, one day in the middle of class, goes "You're not a (insert female name)... You're a Joe!" So I have since gone by Joe, Joey, Jose and Joseph.

Now my middle name has a bit more meaning behind it. My step-grandpa's middle name was Sterling and he meant the world to me even though he was only in my life for a couple years. I chose to honor him by taking his middle name as mine.

My mom has given me suggestions and the "what she would have named me" talks. But after finding meanings to both names Joseph (he will add...) Sterling (excellent) just fits me.

Well that's my little story!

[Guest N.Chaos]

My birth name *vomit, shudder, skin crawls* is Nicole.

My mom and aunt's have always called me Nikki, and then eventually just Nick.

My girlfriend has always called me Nick or Nix, both of which I love. I had a friend once who called me Nikolai jokingly, and I had a two second "Ooh, that's awesome" but decided against it. If I ever get my name legally changed, it'll be just Nick. Having anyone address me as Nick just makes me way too happy.

[Guest some ftm guy]

my name chose me too, so cool that someone else brought that up that a lot of people say their name chose them. i was brainstorming male names one day in spring when i realized my female name wouldn't work when I'm actually on T. so i thought of a few i had always liked but i wasn't really feelin em. like eh, i don't know. so i thought "meh it'll come to me eventually" went to bed maybe a few minutes later when i was half asleep it just friggin came to me. black background and all the letters were white and in all caps NOAH and i sat up in a gasp. that's it! that's perfect! never had to think about it, if it felt right for me, i just knew instantly. though the one negative is people will assume i got it from the bible and i didn't lol. no i have no desires whatsoever to make a giant wooden boat, gather round 2 of every kind of animal to fill it with the name just fits. just coincadence. plus it had the same first letter as my female name which i knew i didn't have to have but i knew a lot of people do that.

[Guest Avery F]

I wanted a name that started with the same letter as my birth name, because I've been signing things with my initials for a really long time, and I wanted an androgynous name, because I am not and will never come out to my ultra-conservative, ultra-religious paternal grandparents. So, I looked up various 'A' androgynous names, and Avery just seemed to work. I've liked the name for years, ever since first reading it in the H.P. books, and I've always wanted a name with a 'V' in it... odd, I know. I'm thinking of letting my sister or my friend pick my middle name, as very few people know my current middle name, and so it doesn't have to be perfect.

[Guest Chance]

Well...

I knew someone named Chance in the past and I liked it, but shes a girl. Though it is also a male name.

I just LIKED it, but I found a reason why it would fit me aswell... I thought of it this way, I got a second Chance at life growing up. I used to be suicidal, I over came that and became better... then my transgender came along. My second life. Second chance... it made sense to me. Plus my grandmother really liked it.

It really depends on you.

I have to say, you won't feel right with any name you choose for a while. It takes a few months to get used to. If a few months go by and its still not right, try something else.

[Guest Kirsty H]

For me it was quite easy to choose my name. I had always known that If I had been born biologically female then I would be Kirsty. It made sense once I realised I was transsexual to call myself what I would have been originally called it life had dealt me the correct gender at birth.

[Guest aadenr]

Like so many others I hated my birth name. It was gross to me. I'm hispanic, so birth name was Alejandra. It was the longest name in the world to me and did not fit me at all. Every time I see it, I want to throw up lol. I'm not really sure how I choose my name. I think it chose me, because I don't remember how I came across it. I think I may have just seen it one day, and tried it out on an online forum and it stuck with me since then. I never had a middle name, but I decided to put Alex as my middle name since I was called Alex by some people in my family growing up since its unisex. So I changed my name to Aaden Alex, and I love it. I think Aaden really suits me, really well. I think I have the best name in the world...lol. Its an interesting process for sure, choosing your own name, and once you find the right name you'll come to love it so much, you'll think its the best name in the world, like me xD

I also prefer the spelling of my name with two A's, instead of Ai. Aiden, seems so awkward to me lol. So now people misspell my name all the name. They either spell it Aiden, or Aden. But its okay. Not a big deal. My name change was one of the best things I did.

You'll see, you'll find the right name. It just takes time. Good luck (: