just interested in hearing peoples stories for how yâall have chosen your new names! doesnât have to be particularly profound or interesting really, i just like hearing about others experiences.
iâm actually planning on changing my own soon socially despite being cis, and just really like hearing how others came to find their names, as well as am curious about if anyone had to go through more than one to find whatâs right for them. i figured this would be the best community to talk about the topic even if iâm not trans :)
I ended up taking the boring route: I went with the name that my parents would have named me if Iâd been AMAB. My deadname didnât have a masculine version, and there were no other names starting with the same letter I liked, but then I remembered when I was about 11 Iâd asked my parents what they would have called me if I was born a boy. So I tried out that name, and found that it just seemed to fit. Itâs not too common, I donât know anybody else in my personal life with the same name, but itâs common enough that people know how to spell it, and it fits my age.
I didnât like the middle name that my parents chose, though. It made my whole name a bit of a mouthful, especially as I had a longer surname at the time as well. Since middle names arenât something that get used often, I went a bit more exotic with it, and picked the closest real-world version of my favourite OCâs name.
My spouse and I changed both of our surnames at the same time, as I had taken his surname when we married, but neither of us had a strong emotional attachment to it. So we selected a new one. Weâre both descended from a white minority group that has its own ancestral language, so we formed our new surname to fit in with the cultural naming style of that language. As a result, our surname is unique, yet doesnât look out of place in a phonebook.
In the UK, itâs really easy, as both first names and surnames can be changed with a deed poll. This is basically a document that details your new and old name, signed by two people that arenât related to you that you have known for at least two years. We donât really have defined âlegal namesâ here, so the deed poll is accepted by most organisations to change your records (PayPal were weirdly annoying about it, even after Iâd changed my driving licence and passport with zero fuss.)
PayPal still has my deadname, tbh. I just didnât care enough to send them all the documentation they wanted, given that it would have been enough to allow anyone on their staff to steal my identity if they wanted.
picking your middle name based off an important oc is so awesome, and funny because i have a similar experience. only after using max/maxine for little while did i make the connection that my favourite oc is named maxwell đ which was kind of awkward but also really funny to me! guess it just really shows what my favourite names trend toward ;)
