How many names did you try before picking one?

Andd there are three that I really liked but dismissed because I knew too many people with the same name, some with negative connotations: James, Stephen, Eric. And two I have always liked but are too common, especially perhaps among trans guys: Alex and Tyler. Solid names though for someone of my age. It's just like as soon as I hear of another trans guy with a name I like I'm like Naw. Gotta find my own name. Nobody better take the name Patrick. You can be Patrick2 XD

 

I honestly don't remember going through many names before settling on Johannes. At first, I'd picked just Johan, but I loved the full version of the name so much that I switched not long after. Friends whom I'm out to still call me Johan as a nickname, though. ^^ It has a fancy feel that I love, and believe fits several of my personality traits (such as my ridiculously grammatically correct author-speak), and it's the most similar-sounding masculine alternative to my birth name. Though other names have appealed to me, they simply don't click.

 

I've had two for my first name. At first I wasn't going to change it as Blake is pretty neutral though it leans towards masculine, I think. Then I decided I'd try out Celeste because I just love uncommon beautiful names like that, but it didn't really suit me well. My name I try to use now actually was found as a result of character research for a story lol. It's Luvina, which is a slight alteration on the Latin word Lumina. i love anything Latin, really, lol. I'm still stumped on my middle name though. My parents aren't reacting well to the name change, as I anticipated, so I had always figured I'd just add an extra l and e to my current middle name to make it Danielle. But I could also use my original first name, Blake, and I can't decide lol. I actually wouldn't mind some assistance if anyone would care to provuse any. Which sounds better? Luvina Blake or Luvina Danielle? My last name is two syllables and starts with a hard c, like a k. Thanks!

 

I entertained the idea of scouring through names a while back but I'm very much of the belief that if something speaks to me, there's a reason. Massively into graphic novels growing up and by proxy, superhero films. Superman was always my favourite and I loved Man of Steel with Henry Cavill and how he embodied the masculinity of the character. Superman's birth name is Kal El and he didn't discover that for a number of years (different runs and movies have different ages). So I figured, discovering my identity and real name was as iconic in my life time and settled on Kal. Also, it's not a generic type name and one syllable which feels very comfortable to me.

It was the first name I tried and I couldn't imagine being anyone else. Even my birth name feels foreign to me now. Writing it down on job applications doesn't feel right, because I'm Kal.

 

love Gabrielle

i was fortunate enough to have a gender neutral name anyway so I just shortened it to the even slightly more gender neutral version. If I had instead had my birth middle name which is feminine I may have shortened that too, to Nikk/Nykk or something.

originally, i was going to change my name legally to my preferred name now but all my uni transcripts have my old name(s) (last name has changed twice already) so i feel like it's going to be even more confusing for employers if i do... but on social media and whatever - the things that people see, it's my preferred. good 'nuff.

 

I started off using Sam since it was a shortened version of my middle name, but it never really felt good. I went through a lot of names in my head; Ryan, Christopher, Jack, and Zachary were the biggest contenders. In the end though, I couldn't pull away from Hunter - it's what my mom and dad were going to call me if I was AMAB. So, it felt right, and it's now my name and I'm so happy with it.

 

Zero, Jenna was always my favorite name for a female growing up, dunno why. I remember as a child saying if I ever have a girl of my own, that will be her name (although I do not want kids now). When I figured out that I was trans, it's the name I went with.

 

My current name, Simon, is the only one I've picked, but I only started exploring my gender a few months ago, so who knows what'll happen in the future

 

I was born with this name.

 

There are only a couple names I've thought about: Ari and Isaac. I adore both of the names, and I don't know why. I picked Ari because I think it's really cute, I went to school with someone named Isaac, so that would be weird, and it sort of sounds like my birth name. I thought about making Isaac my middle name, but that just didn't flow right, so now I want to change it to Ari Logan.

 

When I was 8 years old, I decided to be Daniela... And as the time went forward I found that I always liked the name Maria (never knew why until now)...

I'm proudly Maria Daniela now.

 

I halfheartedly considered Oliver for a while but it doesn't really suit me, so after a bunch of reading though name lists, I settled on Aidan. Still need to think about my middle names though.

 

I used a shortened nickname version of my birth name for a couple months before going straight to Isaac after looking over names for about 4 months. Still not sure it fits completely.

 

I went through the top 100 baby names from the year I was born and picked the ones that just felt right to me. I narrowed it down by removing the names of any family members or exes. That pretty much left me with 4 names. I tried each of them out for a hot minute, and am not fully settled on Bethany.

I tried out Brittany, Jessica, and Lisa with equal amount me of unsuccess (did I just make a new word). I had a few suggestions, like Brandy/Brandi (I didn't feel like my voice fit), and a few others that were quickly removed from the list.

Your name is what people will see before they even meet you. Our names are the meta-first impression. In the end, I was way more comfortable with the choices that I made than the ones foisted upon my consideration. After the first few suggestions and hurt feelings, I made sure to be the one offering my suggestions and trying out my new name.

Sorry if that last paragraph seemed a bit preachy... I just don't want anyone else to hurt friends' feelings like I did.

---------- Post added 2nd Aug 2016 at 01:45 PM ----------

I went through the top 100 baby names from the year I was born and picked the ones that just felt right to me. I narrowed it down by removing the names of any family members or exes. That pretty much left me with 4 names. I tried each of them out for a hot minute, and am not fully settled on Bethany.

I tried out Brittany, Jessica, and Lisa with equal amount me of unsuccess (did I just make a new word). I had a few suggestions, like Brandy/Brandi (I didn't feel like my voice fit), and a few others that were quickly removed from the list.

Your name is what people will see before they even meet you. Our names are the meta-first impression. In the end, I was way more comfortable with the choices that I made than the ones foisted upon my consideration. After the first few suggestions and hurt feelings, I made sure to be the one offering my suggestions and trying out my new name.

Sorry if that last paragraph seemed a bit preachy... I just don't want anyone else to hurt friends' feelings like I did.