Did you keep your surname?

[pamela7]

Of those who have transitioned, did you change your whole name or just your first and middle names?
Of those who are transitioning, what are your thoughts on this?

[MissDanielle]

I'm keeping my last name and that even includes if and when I marry the man of my dreams. As far as my name, I'm just feminizing it by adding 3 letters to my first and middle names.

[arbon]

I kept my last name...however because it is such a rare name this has made looking me up on the net (including record of name change) very easy to do and wish I had changed my last name at the time. I still consider doing another name change.

[Stephania]

I'm waiting right now to get my day in court. II am keeping my surname. Now, I can tell you my mom has a hard enough time with me changing my first and middle names, she would have a fit if I changed the last. Not that that makes a difference in changing it. I don't care who has a problem. It's my name, not theirs.

[JanePeterson]

That is a great question... If I manage to hold on to my marriage, could make life a bit easier for my wife and I to have different names as far as explaining things all the time, but could also make other things harder too... What a doozie!

[Rianna Humble]

One of the reasons that I changed my surname was an attempt to fly under the radar because of my former prominence. Fat chance as any google search will show.

[Brooklyn]

This was my birth name; I just picked out a new middle name. My parents had great foresight, eh?

[Megan Thomas]

I changed all my names. I didn't want my family encumbered through an association they didn't ask for.

[Jennifer-GWN]

Kept my family name. Changed my first (arguably not really as it internally had always been Jennifer) and selected a middle name that incorporated both my mom and dad out of love and respect.

[grace7777]

My plan is to keep my last name the same, but to change my first and middle name.

[Stephania]

Another thing is like arbon, my surname is very rare. My immediate family are the only ones with it. At times I wonder if I should have changed it. I for the most part don't care who knows, but there is always somebody you really don't want to know. Now I am 2 years into my transition and no name change yet. Am waiting on a court date after 5 months. I waited o do it because I wasn't sure how the state of Texas was going to handle what would then be a same sex marriage, so I waited til after June to file. Kinda had wished I would get it on my birthday yesterday, but no go.

[Leah Lynn]

I kept my surname. I asked my siblings and children how they felt about me changing it as well, and they all wanted me to keep it, showing that we are family. That shows a lot of love and support. Besides, here in Smallville, most people still call me by my old nickname. Not out of disrespect, but they've known me so long, it's just habit to them. I politely remind them of my new name. I suppose Lee is close enough to Leah.

Leah Marie Leland

[PretzelGirl]

I kept my last name as I never considered hiding it. Before I transitioned and needed something different to not be found out, I used my paternal grandmother's maiden name (Leighton), so I always kept the family connection. But I wasn't shooting for complete stealth post transition as that would be so far out of my reach. I also had a very insightful family member ask me up front if I was going to change it as they didn't want me to lose the family connection. The coincidence is that I ended up with the same initials so my email addresses didn't need to change among other things. As far as being Googled, my last name is common enough that there are a ton of Sue Robbins out there and I have one picture down the page a bit. Okay, just tried it again and my profile picture here has made it up the page quite a bit. Nothing that concerns me as I am not seeing me on any links.

[Frances]

This question comes back often and is very culture specific. One cannot change their surname (last name) in my jurisdiction and one does not have a middle name in my culture.

[Kate T]

Kept it. Partly because it is just such a pain in the neck to change it but mostly because it was the family name I was born into, my name when I got my degree, my name when I married my wife, the family name of our children.

My wife never changed her name when we got married anyway so we have completely different surnames anyway so no need to change it there even if we did want to go stealth.

[Badtranny]

I was planning to change my name to Melissa Hobbes, but my dad asked me to keep my last name, so I did and Hobbes became my new middle name.

[MarieTS]

BOGO -- Buy one, get one... I changed both. Actually all 3 because I naturally changed my middle name as well.

[emma5410]

I changed my first and last names, and added a middle name. I do not have any close family with my last name as my sisters are married and my parents are dead.
I changed it because I transitioned at work and my first and last name were not that common where I live. I did not want clients making the connection.
I also changed the last name because I wanted to start afresh. I never liked it much anyway.
One result that I did not really think about was that I went from a very Irish name to an English one. My parents were Irish but I was born and raised in England.
With hindsight, I might have made it more Irish but I am very happy with my name.

[Michelle789]

Up until Cody and I get married, I'm not sure if I want to keep my last name or change it.

But once Cody and I do get married, I'm taking his last name!!!

[becky77]

I kept my last name, it never occurred to me to change it.
It's my family name and I'm still part of the family.

[Zooey]

Same here. I changed my first name, and my mother chose a new middle name for me.

[Donnagirl]

I kept my surname and changed the rest (but kept the same initials!). So far Ive found it easier with the vartious bureaucracies to change my details if the change was only my first name, and a swap from Mr to Ms :-)

[becky77]

Same here. I changed my first name, and my mother chose a new middle name for me.

Lol ditto. Mum asked if I would use her Mum's middle name as mine.
So I did, it felt then that I had in some way still respected my Mum's naming of me.
Maybe that's some level of guilt talking.

[JenniferZ2009]

I kept my last name since my family had managed to escape Lithuania during WWII (they were jewish) I wanted to keep that memory alive.

[PaulaQ]

I changed my entire name, including surname. My father would never, ever have approved of my transition. We hadn't spoken for over 10 years when he died. I wanted nothing further to do with him. Also, it meant that my ex-wife and kids could avoid being associated with me, if they so desired. My middle and last name were chosen from the names of a beloved female relative who never married.

When I get married, I have no intention of taking my husband's surname. He's a great guy - but his surname really sucks. Even if it didn't - I put a lot of work into having this name I have now. I'm not changing it.

[Megan G]

I only changed my first name. I was going to change my middle name also but when the subject came up my son who also shares my middle name got quite upset at the thought of me changing it so I decided to keep it.

As for my surname, I kept it as I am still married. Hopefully that never changes but if it does I would seriously consider changing it to distance myself from an unaccepting family...

[Marcelle]

I kept my first and middle name as is with the exception of spelling on the first name (pronounced the same way in either gender spelling) . . . surprisingly my middle name (grandfather's name) is Leslie so Marcelle Leslie vice Marcel Leslie. WRT to the surname I had no reason to change it so it stayed.

Cheers

Marcelle

[dreamer_2.0]

Haven't legally changed anything yet but current plan is to keep my surname out of respect for my parents.

[Nigella]

I just simply feminised by forename, dropped my middle name and changed my title to Ms. I honestly never gave a thought to changing my surname.

[Janice Ashton]

I kept my surname and changed my Christian name. Keeping a surname seems a popular choice;

[MsVal]

When your name is androgynous like mine, there is little incentive to change it.

I'm often asked if my name is short for Valentine, and twice was asked if it is short for Valerie. I tell them it's short for Valuable.

I considered changing my masculine middle name, but I very seldom use it.

Best wishes
MsVal

[Kimberly Kael]

I kept my surname and moved my first name to my middle name, as my original given name is sometimes given to girls and my prior middle name was uncompromisingly masculine. Only my first name is entirely new and even it was chosen with family connections and some subtle familiarity for people who knew me before.

I wasn't trying to create a complete disconnect with my past. I wanted to preserve family connections, friendships, and planned to be unapologetic about my marriage to another woman.

[Rachel Mari]

I kept my last name as I'm proud of it and our family. In the state of Oregon, all the people with my last name are related to me, so it's not a common name either.

I thought long and hard about what my first name should be and I decided to use the name I thought I would've had if I'd been named as a girl at birth. I thought of different names but they just weren't me and didn't really fit.
For my middle name I added an e at the end and it's totally what my mother would've used (youngest of 11, so I have an idea of her style).

I've also asked my sisters and brothers what they think our mother would've named me, but no one knows how she named any of us. I wish I could ask her but she's been gone for almost 30 years and my dad for over 40 years.

So I am Donna Louise.

[I Am Paula]

I kept mine. I'm kinda used to it, and not stealth.

[Suzanne F]

I kept my last name as I have a wife and children. Suzanne was somewhere deep in my soul. I have no explanation other than I just knew that was my name. I later decided Nicole was a good fit for a middle name. Suzanne Nicole Ford, I love saying it!
Suzanne

[charlenesomeone]

Changed all three due to previous mispronounced last name. My middle name was in honor of my Grandmother.

[Cindy J Angel]

I have been thinking of this for quite sometime. It took me a long time to pick my name I have on here and this is the name I use when out. But I like my name given too. I would keep my last name. I am thinking hard on changing it to
Cynthia B Howard looking at now it just looks right. Thanks for a personal but fun post love cindy

[BOBBI G.]

Il changed my first and middle. My first is now just the initial, due to the extreme uproar of using my late daughter's name for mine. My middle is an adaptation of my first. Legally, I am now E. Bobbi Gruetter.

Bobbi

[Eringirl]

changing first and middle names. Last name is staying the same. It was never a cause of any dyphoria and I want to keep the attachment to my children, I don't want them to think I am totally abandoning them by changing my last name. My middle name is the same as one of the middle names of my sister (she has two). So it's Erin Elizabeth for me.

[pamela7]

thank you everyone for responding, this has helped. I looked up the most common baby names in the year of my birth, and my new first names both fit near the top. I'll keep my surname for now. Feels appropriate.


Pamela Susan Saunders

[Georgette_USA]

I just feminized my first and middle, kept surname. It is a very uncommon surname, on Google searches are all my small family. My name is unique on Facebook. There are actually 2 on Facebook both mine.

Georgette Paula

[Michelle789]

I haven't legally changed my name yet. I'm torn between keeping my last name out of respect for my family and changing my name to something else - should I change my name before Cody and I get married. When Cody and I get married, I plan on taking his last name for sure.

[Angela Campbell]

I had many long discussions with my mom about this. I chose not to use my family name out of respect for others with the name. ( my kids unfortunately) I chose my grandmother's maiden name. As for the first name, there was no way I was going to feminize my man name, that was a life I planned to leave behind.

So my mother had named me Michael after the angel. With a lot of discussion we came up with Angela. We both liked it and it was in the thoughts of what my mother originally wanted.

[LoriFlores]

I had originally planned on changing everything but am now planning on changing just my first and middle names.

[Stephanie Sometimes]

Not that far along yet but my plan is to change my first name from Stephen to Stephanie and keep my last name. This has been easy for some of my friends to accommodate already. Not sure yet on changing my middle name as it is a male name but it was my grandfathers first name and I would miss that family connection.

[karenpayneoregon]

I changed both my first name and last name along with dropping my middle name so to start fresh. My first name I used for over 40 years and my last name took me a month to figure out which was done one month prior to gender reassignment surgery which is when all my legal documents where done so going through TSA I had a female name and F designation on my driver license.

[Sandra]

Hope you don't mind me replying to this?

I would have not liked it if Nigella had wanted to change her surname, for one where would that have left me and our daughter. Can I ask how does Welshgirl feel about this?

[pamela7]

Hi Sandra,
I'll ask her to reply. We're still in first name discussions every so often. A surname change would be more emotionally impacting on my children from my first marriage than on welshgirl, though, in my opinion, as it would only change if we both chose to change ours together. Administrative nightmares seem to come with name changes in our bureaucratic society.

PS welshgirl says she's already changed her surname twice, so that's it. There's the answer; it's not going to be changing.