Renaming Yourself

[Guest Gavyn]

My birth name is Kodee, even though I was born with female parts. When I first though about being trans I picked the name Gavyn out for myself, because even though Kodee was "a boy's name" it represented the old me. Well then for a while I stopped talking to my therpist/talking about being trans in general and for my girlfriend, tried to be more feminine. So now, in the future when being FTM comes up for the 8 billionth time in my mind, I am starting to see my therapist again, and have decided not to be for anyone else, but just to be me for ME, no matter who I am.

So arises my problem. Gavyn, seems to encompass the weaker guy I used to be. Too easilly pushed away for other people. I am ready to start over and be me... no matter who I am. And Gavyn just doesn't feel like it used to. It doesn't feel wrong, but it doesn't feel like it used to.

So now what do I do? How do I got about picking another name?

Whats important to me in my name is first, that I LOVE it and identify with it. The second is how others feel and respond to it. Everybody knows that some names are just associated with different stereotypes of people. Not everyone sees them the same, but I want my name to be normal and unique at the same time. And finally I want it resonate with who I want to be after transition.

So I've started a list of names I like when i find them. I guess what I am asking is for people to give their opinion on names in the list and or offer other suggestions as to go about finding and deciding.

Seth

Nick

Luke

Levi

Tyler

Elijah

Thanks for any and all help. I know in the end its all up to me, but I always wonder what comes to other people's minds too. I like to know if others think like me. So help me out guys... I'll upload a picture of me, so you can see "who" I look like, haha.

[Guest Rolf]

What I did was googling diffrent names i liked, and then, choose the one with the most meaingful, er, meaning. I also looked at famous people who shared that name, and saw if I could identify with them. Since most people are given a name when they are born, its not really thought about alot, but it really gives alot of detail on who a person is. Anyhow I like the name Nick^^:

[Guest GoldenKirbichu]

I've got the same kind of problem in terms of knowing what I should be called.

I'm going as "Beck" (a masculine derivative of "Rebecca". my horribly feminine old name) but I hate the reminders that the similarity brings up.

As for the names... well, which one do you think fits you the best?

[Guest brandt]

hey there gavyn.

well for me. didnt take long to figure out a name. although i still had options and names to choice from. i chose brandt because i thought it was a cool and unique name that no one had. and i've used it for a very long time now. i had three names i liked before. and it was trevor, or trey, or brandt. and i had a friend named brandt and i thought it was cool. and well now i use brandt online most of the time. but now. since im coming out. ppl start to question. and when i want someone to kno who i am, i dont wanna say my real name when ppl i know are around, and to the person i want to see me as a guy because it gives it away. so i came up with the name kayden because it sounds close to my birth name kaitlyn. so yeah. so i either go by kayden or brandt. its hard to choose a name that u really like. but in the end. what fits best for you is what counts. if you dont like it you can keep trying other names. but i suggest you pick out what you think describes and fits you best. you should find a baby name site. and there are some that give a meaning for the names. maybe you'll find some that fit you.

laterz

- brandt.

[Guest Huff]

Hey dude,

I can totally relate to the name-choosing dilemma. My brithname is Melissa. I always grew up thinking I should be Michael. And then a few months ago I started asking people to call me Mel as sort of a transition away from the girly "Melissa" without having to come out and to buy some time to think things through before taking the leap between Melissa Kathleen and Micheal Keenan. So now, I'm getting used to people calling me Mel and I'm getting confused whether I want to solidify my identity around the name Mel or Michael.

I figure one of the two will just sort of settle in for me... but it's hard for me to sit with unanswered questions in the time being!

As for advice for how to pick between a whole bunch of possible names... I met a guy in Seattle at the Gender Odyssey conference over the Labor Day weekend and he was just trying on different names for a few days at a time and asking himself how he felt about it and how other people reacted to it and how it felt like it fit or not. Probably easier to do this when you're surrounded by transfolk who aren't confused about why you keep changing your name every few days... But maybe you could try different names on for size when you're on the bus or ordering coffee or at the gym, etc., etc.

MK

[Zufrieden]

Hi All:

I never really thought of what I'd call myself before coming here and seeing people with alternative/multiple names.

Some people when talking to others address people with their name every other sentence.

I tend to use names only for greetings and getting people's attention. Names aren't all that important to me.

I always think of me just as "me" even though I kind of like the short form of my name.

I was once on a remote worksite for a week with some guys from my company.

Somebody for a good-natured joke introduced me to everyone as "Poindexter McGillacuddy", which isn't actually my name.

It didn't phase me being Poindexter McGillacuddy.

Still, being of the MTF persuasion, I guess custom requires that I concatenate two or three multisyllabic names.

Something like "Georgina-Edwina". Um, no. I think I'll select a short, single syllable name like most FTM's.

So, GoldenKirbichu, how about "Buck" instead of "Beck", or is that too über-masculine?

Z.

[Guest RootsRadicals]

I've got the same kind of problem in terms of knowing what I should be called.

I'm going as "Beck" (a masculine derivative of "Rebecca". my horribly feminine old name) but I hate the reminders that the similarity brings up.

As for the names... well, which one do you think fits you the best?

I have the same problem as you (my old name being Rebecca) however I didn't choose Beck. I chose my name from the Song St. Jimmy by Green Day. Basically A few years ago I was already going by Saint Jimmy. Then I changed it to Jimmeh Vengeance. So when I came out to myself I chose James as my name.

Choose a name that matters to you.

[Guest Sergei]

I think it's really important to pick a name that really means something to you, and represents who you are. Also picking a name of somebody you greatly admire can help.

I named myself after my hero, the great pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. This also made it easier for people to remember to use my new name, because they associate me with Rachmaninoff anyway. My birth name was Hailey, and so to keep a part of that I changed my second name to Hailivich. In russia when a boy is born his second name becomes his fathers first name with vich on the end, so I did it with part of my female name. So now I'm Sergei Hailivich. I really like it. It suits me alot better than my birth name, and everyone agrees that Sergei Hailivich sounds more like a great pianist then Hailey.

I like nick though gavyn. I think that's a cool name. But they all are. I hope you're happy with which ever name you end up with.

[Nick J]

names are funny things, i picked one no where near my birth name on the suggestion of a bunch of names from a friend - nick seemed to fit and i was considering nicholas, but the more ithink about it the more i think ill just change it to nick

i guess everyone is tryin to be individual AND blend in at the same time without screaming out how different you are

i wish you luck though

incidentally i love all your names especially levi and tyler, if i were american i wouldve chosen tyler

[Guest mr_marc]

Orinally i did wanna call myself Aiden, but it didnt fit.

Then thought Matthew, changed my mind again because waaaay to many people are coalled that XD

Then thought Brandon after Brandon Lee but thought too many people would think i was ripping the urine out of the late Brandon Teena.

Thought Erick, didnt suite. Then chose Marc, which oddly. Suites and its what i would of been called if i were born geneticly male

Marc x

[princecharmless]

My mild synaesthesia insists some words have a taste / image..yeah I know lol, anyway feel free to ignore this:

Seth - metallic foam somehow

Nick - blood

Luke - limp celery

Levi - limestone

Tyler - I can only think of Aerosmith

Elijah - I can only think of Elijah Woods

Gavyn - tastes of nothing

Edmund is nice, that tastes like brown bread / tobacco

Michael - earwax

Poindexter - dalmatian dog

Matthew - hay

Ok the Salvador Dali experience is over......

As for my own name, Stuart, I picked it in 1985 while in Edinburgh. Also in the running were Simon, Samuel, James, and some others I've forgotten. Slightly regretting Stu now everyone says it goes with dumplings or that I need more salt. My mum wanted to call a son Oliver - yuck, septic. Irritatingly, some of my friends want to pick a new name for me: Robert, Sam, Sean, Dave etc. I am not someone's puppy, I chose my own name, so should you.

Oh yeah, I may be the only person who ever did this, but for many years I couldn't even say anyone else's name, let alone my own. Too personal maybe, too much of a reminder I was saddled with a girl name. I might have been trying to make my little world gender neutral so I could be more comfortable. I still struggle to say my girl name aloud. Am I the only one with the mental block about saying names? Chuffed that I guessed why you chose your name Sergei.

Putting myself up for the Nut Of The Year Award, Stuart. (Stuart tastes like vinegar to me, yum.)

[Guest GoldenKirbichu]

So, GoldenKirbichu, how about "Buck" instead of "Beck", or is that too über-masculine?

I considered using it, but since my last name has two syllables, a one-syllable first name sounds strange with it. I am pretty masculine, but not really the outdoorsy type. I'm more of the bookish professor-nerd-type.

I'm mostly using Beck out of convenience for the family 'cause it's easier for them to remember, but I would really like it to sound completely different. Maybe get away from the sound altogether, although I want to keep my initials the same so that I can still use old documentation legally (it'd be kind of weird if my initials suddenly changed).

Was considering the name Robert as nobody in my family has it and it's easily translated to Spanish and Italian (my best friend/pseudo-boyfriend has a Mexican background and half of my family background is Italian). It IS common but almost nobody in my family has the name, so it'd be pretty distinctive there.

Richard was also a consideration, though that's likely to get shortened to boy thing, which isn't exactly the greatest moniker to be carrying around.

I may decided to use a completely different name altogether, although that will be more awkward to explain.

[Guest Gavyn]

Ah, I am excited about all the input. My name is something that is an essential change in my transition. It will be one of the most important things I do. I like Nick and Tyler the most. However my cousin is named Tyler and no one in my family is named nick. Since I like Nick a little bit better any way that makes a hard lean towards Nick. Nick suits me, now... it didn't before, but it does now. Maybe that is what I'll choose. I leave it open to more input and think more about nick for a while...

[Guest matthew41]

When I was ten, I asked my mom for a nickname, my birth name was just horrid and definitely didn't fit who I was. The kids at school rarely if ever heard my old name as I asked my teachers on the first day to use my nickname. It soon lead me to pick my future first and middle name which I made legal three years ago. When I look in the mirror, my name fits me well.

Here is my two cents,

When I read the list and look at your picture, Nick stands out the most.

Matt

[Guest Sergei]

Chuffed that I guessed why you chose your name Sergei.

That's a pretty obscure thing to guess. How did you come to that conclusion?

[Flint]

I sometimes thin i wanna change name. but i dunno....Sometimes i think Matt )Matthias) Fits me...sometimes i feel it doesn't. When i have to say my brthname i almost freeze and think in my head "Say it, say it" if i have to...and it takes me about 10 mins!! I chose Matthias Blake as my full name because I decided i wanted a little different than matthew even though Matthias means the same but i think it's better....lol.....and for short people can still call me Matt or Matty. I like the name Matthias...But i really like the name Blake aswell...i dunn owhic one suits me best as a first name...but i figured i'd have both names.

[princecharmless]

That's a pretty obscure thing to guess. How did you come to that conclusion?

By your picture I thought you looked like a musician so naturally I thought of Sergei Rachmaninov. My Grandma was a music teacher and led a choir or two, so I was brought up on classical music whether I liked it or not. I rebelled after being given a small radio, my Mother says it was the beginning of the end for me. I had a safety pin stuck through my ear within a year ahhh 1976. (Still partial to Mahler though)

[Guest Gavyn]

Ah, Matt, blake is a really cool middle name. Maybe I could combine 2 names...

Nicholas Tyler

Nicholas Elijah

Nicholas Gavyn

hm... more things to think about

[Guest Rev. Michal]

When I was born, my parents couldn't decide on a middle name for me. So, being good Christians they left it up to God. They set the Bible on it's spine...

...it fell open to Michal. 8)

[Guest KyleMicheal]

http://www.behindthename.com/random/

The Random Name Generator...

This was a funny little tool I played with. I chose goth names, and I got one suggestion that really stuck out to me.

Korbin or Corbin. Sounded cool...not me though.

Keith? Still a nice name. Need to find something close to it though.

Kyle. Perfect. Obscure enough to not have a lot of people named likewise, but common enough not to be misspelled/mispronounced.

I always liked names that started with "K", "T", "M", or something like that.

I was going to be Kyle Lynn-Micheal, but that was too long and tin-like.

Naming was really exciting to me. It's the name I call myself in my head.

And I felt like I was reborn.

[Zufrieden]

The Random Name Generator was pretty interesting.

(You can just hit the refresh key, F5, to come up with a new name.)

I had to hit the key a zillion times to get the name that I was already thinking of.

Does anyone choose a formal first name and then a nickname that is a derivative of it for daily use?

e.g. Alexander => Al

Does anyone choose a nickname that is a convoluted/absurd/ostensible family nickname invented by a 3 year old derivative of their formal name?

e.g. Thomas => Ty

How important is it to keep some vestige of your old name, i.e. change gender on your middle name?

Does anybody want to change their last name while they are at it?

I'm considering a formal first name with an absurd derived nickname, SRS on my middle name and a new last name.

Z.

[Guest GoldenKirbichu]

I want my initials to look the same so that my old documents won't get weird looks.

But I want the name to be different enough to rid itself of all of the negative connotations of my birth name.

[Guest Darrel]

Gayvn,

You look like a Nick to me! Or, that's what your picture looks like, anyway. I think Nick would truly suit you.

For me, I don't know if I want to change my name or not. It's a unisex name, and I like things that start with 'K'. It's Kelley. The only problem with leaving it as it is, is that every time someone uses it, I feel they are implying I am a girl. It has horrible connections I want to be rid of.

I was tempted to go with Darrel, but it's a roleplay character and so that would feel awkward, too! Ahaha.

I wonder if I should change it to Kevin. I kinda like that name....

[Guest GoldenKirbichu]

Hey, Darrel - Kevin sounds like a good name, take it if it makes you happy.

I'm stuck between Robert and Roger. It's hard to decide.

[Guest Gavyn]

Oh how my life has changed in the last two weeks...

Luckilly I already wasn't feeling the name Gavyn. My Aunt and Uncle just had their son about 10 days ago. To my surprise out of the blue they choose to name him................... *drum roll*

GAVIN

So now, I can't use that name even if I wanted to. My family is really small in size so if two people had the same name it would be very very awkward. My Grandmother can't have two grandsons named Gavin/Gavyn out of only 4 grand children lol!

So my decision is to change my name to Nicholas. And for a middle name I want something to represent my Celtic roots. Our family is very scottish/irish/welsh in ancestory.

Nicholas Aiden

Aiden is a Celtic name meaning fire. And since Fire is my personal element it fits perfectly.

So, MOST IMPORTANTLY, is there an Admin who can change my login in name without losing all the info I already have on this log in? If so can they PM me. Thanks for all the help, seriously.

~Nicholas Aiden