A safe place for trans individuals to talk to each other about anything.
For those who once went by a different name - how did you choose your new one?
And, maybe for the comments: what were the most important factors for choosing it? What influenced your decision and what made you choose it in the end?
It's a bit silly but I know that both times I chose a new name, I was really anxious not to use one that someone I know already uses. :D Other than that, pronouncability and cuteness were most important to me.




I picked "I researched names until I found one", but I actually just asked my friends for name ideas and they kept giving me ideas until my friend Annie said, "how about Cassian? I met an author whose name was Cassian. She was a woman but I think it's rare and ambiguous enough that no one would automatically gender it." And it just went *click* and I was like "that's the one!"
That is such a nice name, whoa!
Thank you! Many centuries ago there were some Saint Cassians, which is quite fun. :P
That is an epic name. :D
Thanks! :)
Grabbed a list of most common names for women for my birth year. Went down the list eliminated the names of anyone I knew. Crossed a lot off for me just associating then people super girly girls.
At that point I had a list of like 8 possible names and one favorite. Well as I came out to people they would often offer a recommendation, my first friend said Brianna, and that had been my favorite, then the second friend and then the third friend all suggested that name without knowing I liked it or anyone else had recommended it.
My dude name is welsh, so Brianna became Bryanna, but I go by Bre cause 3 syllables is too many for a name.
Welsh! I love Welsh. Such an amazingly silly language. :D
The first time around, I chose a character's name (Mara) because as soon as I saw the name I thought it was the most beautiful name ever.
Then, when I decided to choose a name less associated with my agab, I did a bunch of research. The meanings of mara don't really fit me too well so I wanted a name with a good meaning. In the end though I couldn't find one that I liked that had a good meaning so I had a few that I mainly just liked the sound of, and then I asked folks on tumblr and my friends to help me whittle it down from five to two, then I chose my favourite (Elijah).
I scoured name websites for months, mostly because I wasn't sure what my criteria was. When I found one I liked I'd practice calling myself that on a hidden blog, and if it felt comfortable I asked my closest friends their opinions and how they thought it suited me.
I was really just looking for something neutral. I never had very strong feelings against my birthname (Melanie), it just wasn't allowing me to express myslf outwardly as neutrally as I feel, which caused me stress. I chose Milo 1st because I love the feeling of it, and 2nd because its got the same M and L sounds, and the initials are the same.
I didn't realize that I had named myself after a fictional character until a few days ago, many months after I had decided it was my name. The realization finally explained why I had latched onto it the way I had!
I honestly asked my boyfriend for suggestions along ones I already had and settled on one the one I thought was cute. Not the most thrilling way to pick a name, but whatever. I also made my middle name the feminized version of my birth name, so I'll never forget where I came from.
researched names for forever until i happened to stumble across now that now feels like it'd been right under my nose from the beginning it's related to something else that has always been important to me. that name felt "right" instantaneously as if it should have been my name from the start. i'm lucky to have found it, even though it took a long time to.
I actually got given my name (Kai) by a very good friend, who chose it because "it's short and sassy. like you." While I no longer speak to him because life is a bitch, I'm always going to be grateful that he unknowingly helped me take another step towards a new life.
My middle name, Lucien, I chose because I have always loved that name. I use it for a lot of characters I write, as well, so I guess it helps me feel connected to the characters a bit.
I set out a few criteria for myself: had to be reasonably gender-neutral, had to have been plausible for someone born at around the time that I was, and had to have the same first initial (because I wasn't interested in changing my legal signatures etc.). I did a hell of a lot of research and data processing, and then ended up settling on a name that had my first initial as its first syllable.
From a gaming perspective it was a dictionary open and point. Serinity became serin, serinitism, and saeryn to further it from those who misspell sarin gas.
I have been considering the name aspect in other means as well, simple, variation on the existing I think. I like Jayne.
I took my name from a fictional character - a self-insert character I made up. She was actually female but her name, Robin, was fairly neutral. (I had a thing for neutral/misleading names.) Once I thought of it I couldn't imagine taking any other name. I'm now thinking about choosing Lilian, from the same story, as my second name. My parents would have called me Robin if I'd been amab, too, but that wasn't why I chose it at all.
Robin is an awesome name, and Lilian is beautiful. <3
When I didn't know I was trans, I stumbled over a name that gave me euphoria. I didn't understood it back than, but the feeling was quite intense. When I realized I was trans I researched names until I stumbled over the exakt same name I did years ago. Instantly I felt this warm and energetic feeling again and knew: that's it! That's the name I'm trying first. But until I found it (again) I wrote down a few. It had to be something that sounded well with my last name, felt good and wasn't that common. I'm used in having a name that is not unknown, but not that common (I only met 2 people in my personal live that shared my name)
I asked a friend what kind of names she likes. I liked the name Finn so much.
Finn is an awesome name! Makes me think of Huck Finn or Finn McCool.
I looked up gender-neutral names that start with K, ended up cutting most of my name off and sticking with the first three letters