Do you Love your name?

[Tracy Irving]

I do not love this name. It is what my parents picked for me had I been born a girl. I would change it if I cared more and / or wasn't so lazy.

[Jillian Faith]

Whenever we were in stores and my wife would ask if I wanted something fem, I felt uncomfortable. I wasn't even thinking of injuring a fem name. One day she asked if Maria would like an item, I asked her where she got Maria from. She said she didn't know it just flowed out. It wasn't my name of choice but because my wife picked it, I kept it.

My wife gave me the name Jill in a similar situation, walking into the mall. She had a habit of asking me when out shopping with me in DRAB if I wanted a skirt or a top while browsing women's clothing which would get curious looks from other female shoppers close by. I suggested she use the name Debbie the feminine name I used online. My wife looked at me and said "you don't look like a Debbie, you look like a Jill".

[audreyinalbany]

actually "Audrey" was the name of a bartender at one of the local watering holes. She wasn't classically beautiful...she had sort of a Sara Jessica Parker vibe as I recall...but she had a certain" j'nai se quoit" common to attractive women bartenders

[Ceera]

I grew up with what was technically a unisex first name, and with a middle name that I hated. Funny thing was, there was no driving reason for my parents to have chosen either of those names. No family member or family friend or really even any specific famous person who meant something to my folks had the names I was given... Mom did say she rejected giving me the same name as my dad, because he was already a “junior”, with the same name as his own dad, and she did not want me to be saddled with “the third” as part of my name. Sounded too pretentious to her, for a child in an upper middle class, blue collar family.

Mom said once, that if I had been born a girl, she had been thinking of the name ‘Cara’ for me. That did not quite suit me by the time I was seeking a female identity, but it did slightly shape what I ended up with today as a woman.

So... I grew up as “Jay Bruce” and my surname. Not short for “Jason”, but “Jay”, like the bird, a Stellars Jay or Blue Jay. Like other “bird names”, such as Robin, it could fit either a boy or a girl. I have met several girls named “Jay”. More popular as a boy’s name, though, and today it isn’t feminine enough to be widely recognized as a woman’s name. Not bad though, during my transition, to own up to it when using credit cards, as if I was no different than a girl named Robin. When I finalize my legal name as a woman, I plan to keep Jay as my middle name, at least in part to honor my past, and my parent’s choices for me. But I had hated “Bruce” - my middle name. All the more so from my pre-teens years onward, when I knew I was bi, was trying desperately to stay in the closet and appear straight, but... in my generation, a guy named “Bruce” was the stereotype for a limp-wristed gay male. Mom tried to point out that a Scottish king was named “the Bruce”, and that our family was part Scottish, but that wouldn’t have shielded me from being taunted by my peers. So I pretty much ignored my middle name.

As I grew older, I did a lot of fantasy role playing gaming where I chose to play female characters. I often chose names like Kyra or Thyra for them, because it sounded exotic and feminine, but did not sound modern, like Jane or Sally. One of those characters was “Ceera”, a name I made up at the time I created her. Sort of like a mis-remembered variant of Sarah, which I thought suited a character whose back story included being orphaned and living on her own in the wild woods at a very young age. I could not find anyone else with that given name, in early Internet searches or elsewhere. To me, it sounded like a pretty and feminine name, and I liked the uniqueness. I pronounce it “See-rah”. Two syllables, equally stressed, and still sounding a lot like Sarah. Turned out to become my most well-liked RP character. She had several surnames, as she evolved and was adapted to new roleplay venues. Her last incarnation was in the Second Life virtual world, where she, and I, became a content developer, making things for others to use in the game. Got enough business that I needed a real-world bank account with the gaming character’s name as an “assumed business name”, so I could cash rather large checks from clients that included Rutgers University.

Long story, but by the time I realized I wanted to go out in the real world as a woman, I had been playing as Ceera for more than ten years, and had it as a legal assumed name already. So I just kept it as a woman. Got lots of complements on what a pretty and unique name it was, too. Now virtually everyone who knows me as a woman knows me as Ceera, so I plan to keep it when I do my legal name change. My final legal name as a woman will soon become “Ceera Jay” and my birth surname. And yes, it feels comfortable and I think it suits me.

Many people who first meet me think I am saying the more common female names “Sarah” or “Sierra”. But Sarah sounds too biblical for me. Interestingly, Ceera can also be a spelling variant for Sierra. Break it into three sylables - “ce-er-a” and pronounce it “see-AIR-ahh”.

In the historical recreation group that I participate in, the Society for Creative Anachronism, I chose the given name “Katherine”. I also like that name. But one of my sisters in law is named “Catherine”, so I avoided using that in my new legal name.

[Sherri_Christopher]

I like my femme name, Sherri Christopher, very much! "Sherri" is similar to my first name and "Christopher" is my confirmation name.

[Rhonda Darling]

I had no female name until I joined my first onlone group. I'm a Ronald, and initially chose Rhonda Girl ("Ron da Girl" -- "da" is American slang for "the") as a play on words. Much later, when I joined this site, I chose the excellent last name of Darling, as I knew a georgeous woman of that last name when I was young.

Rhonda

[Jenny22]

I don't know what my female name would have been had I been born female. In calls from overseas to fix my computer, etc., the caller almost always mispronounced my name, and it usually sounded quite like... Jenny. It's a plain, nothing fancy name, and I liked that. But, I needed just a bit more added, and I tried 'Tutu' . JennyTutu got shortened to Jenny22.

[Samm]

When I joined the forum in 2012, I wanted a name that could go either way, male or female. Something in between that tied the two together perhaps. S, A, and M are my initials, but not in that order. I added the second M just because it looked a little more 'girly' lol. I only decided to expand on that, and chose a full name just a few weeks ago.
I chose "Sammara", (keeping the second M) which is derived from "Samara", which means "guardian" or "protected by God".

[LeannS]

I have always like the name Leann that was suppose to be my youngest child when it was born but he turned out to be a boy so dad took the name and have been in love with it
ever since. and it has nothing to do with my given name at all. and when I told my wife what my name was all she could say was interesting what is that suppose to mean?? lol

[beckypanties]

I'm just 'meh' about it. I only use Becky in a couple of websites. Maybe one day a better name will come up.

[Krisi]

Anyone who has a male name that also functions as a female name us lucky indeed. It works for ID cards, checks and credit card purchases. I wish I was that lucky.

My male name doesn't work that way. I would have used the name my mother had picked out for me if I had been born female but my wife had a problem with a woman with that name in the past so that's out. The name I use here is the name of a woman I worked with for a few years. As for a "real" female name to use with my wife and in public, that's really up in the air. My wife would probably pick a female variation of my male name but I'm not fond of that.

[APRIL0401]

I chose the name April because I was born on April 1st.

[Shayla]

Started out as Shelley, named for a high school cheerleader i thought was cute. But after a few months, it just didn't seem to fit. Sl when I started to go out, I just picked Shayla. Not sure where it came from, but I liked it and it is a bit less ordinary than Shelley. Mods here were kind enough to take the time to help me change it on the forum.

[Lana Mae]

I do love my name! Lana is for a very young playmate I had long ago(I was also very young!) who used to flip her dress over her head! This caused me to want a dress so I could do it also! Got my first dress at 65 years old! Mae is my mother's middle name which I always liked! Hugs Lana Mae
(Just a note: there is a real life Lana Mae who is a hula hoop champion! I can not do it anymore! I was fairly good when younger!LOL)

[Leslie Mary S]

Leslie along with Lee-sell were names that the other kids used to taunt me with is school. Mary is in memory of a good friend deceased now. Shy is the personality I really am.
I am thinking of dropping the Mary and start using Leslie Shy.