You can change your preferred name at any time for any reason. It does not cost anything.
Most transgender people need a legal name change. If you want your name changed on many things like your passport or birth record, you have to go to court and pay a fee. This will help you change many other important things.
Here are some things to think about as you choose a name. This is important if you plan to get a legal name change.
Some famous people who changed their names
A new name can make a person seem very different. Here are some famous names (and the name they used before).
- Natalie Portman (Neta-Lee Hershlag)
- Vin Diesel (Mark Sinclair)
- Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jean Baker)
- Elton John (Reginald Kenneth Dwight)
- Audrey Hepburn (Edda van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston)
- Olivia Wilde (Olivia Cockburn)
- Lauren Bacall (Betty Joan Perski)
- Judy Garland (Frances Gumm)
- Jane Seymour (Joyce Frankenberg)
- Charlie Sheen (Carlos Irwin Estevez)
- Jamie Foxx (Eric Marlon Bishop)
- Bruno Mars (Peter Gene Hernandez)
- John Wayne (Marion Morrison)
- Cary Grant (Archibald Leach)
- Boris Karloff (William Henry Pratt)
- Kirk Douglas (Issur Danielovitch)
- Charlton Heston (John Charles Carter)
- Mickey Rooney (Joseph Yule, Jr.)
- Tammy Wynette (Wynette Pugh)
- Shelley Winters (Shirley Schrift)
- Doris Day (Doris Kappelhoff)
- Sophia Loren (Sophia Scicolone)
- Greta Garbo (Greta Gustafsson)
- Anne Bancroft (Anne Italiano)
- Twiggy (Leslie Hornby)
- Natalie Wood (Natasha Gurdin)
- Lucille Ball (Dianne Belmont)
- Joan Crawford (Lucille Le Sueur)
- Whoopi Goldberg (Caryn Elaine Johnson)
- John Legend (John Stephens)
Choice one: common or rare?
- If you want to blend in, you may want to choose a common name. Common names do not stand out. Some people choose a rare name because they want to stand out.
Choice two: Last name
Some prefer to keep their last name, also known as a surname or family name:
- So you can stay connected to loved ones by name
- So you do not have to say why your family has a different last name
- For business, legal, or financial reasons
- You just like it
For some, transition is a chance to change their last name for any of several reasons:
- To break with their past, such as an old job or marriage
- To make more of a split between old and new selves
- To have a nicer-sounding last name
If you are considering blending in, you should think about changing your last name. Think about a common last name, too. This makes it harder for people to learn about your past. Friends of mine changed the spelling of their last names so that it is harder to link them to their old names.
I got this from a reader who regrets keeping her last name:
The one thing I wish I had done differently, and which goes with your thoughts on internet security, is change my last name as well as my first name. In order to maintain family support and support at work, I had pressure not to change my surname–people couldn’t understand why I would want to just because I changed my gender–I wasn’t a different person after all, they’d say, etc. etc. Unfortunately, in the world of the internet, no information truly disappears. As my last name is somewhat uncommon, I’ve run into a few situations where people have searched on my last name and then, using what they know about me already (school graduation, date I was licensed for my job where I live, old newspaper clippings from my hometown from high school of old things) were able to find out lots more info about me than I thought was available. This is not something everyone does–in truth, I’m lucky that my appearance does not raise many questions–but it’s happened twice in the last two years (including one romantic situation, which became difficult as a result and could have proved disastrous). So anyone transitioning young and hoping for true stealth would be well-advised to change both of their names, even if their parents or friends or work colleagues recommend against it or don’t understand why they are doing it.
I got this from a reader who regrets keeping her last name:
The section of your site that covers “stealth” and “choosing a name” should be taken with all seriousness. Innocently enough, in 1999 when I had my name legally changed I decided to keep my last name given at birth. Being an only child from a single parent household, it was a decision I made in order to show respect to my mother. It was done with the purest of intentions, but I know now it was a mistake. I had lived in stealth for almost three years with my new identity, and assumed that the hardest parts of my transition were over. My success was due in part to completely changing careers and going into a field where no one knew me, even by association. I had gone through the difficult “on the job transition” at my previous job before landing a very promising career in the law industry.
Everything in my life seemed perfect; a loving boyfriend, a great career, a beautiful home. But this year my dreams of remaining stealth were shattered. A mean spirited attorney did a Lexis/Nexis and Google search on my last name, did a cut and paste of all of the data he collected on me into an email, and sent it around to his buddies in the firm. The header read: “I guess this confirms what we’ve suspected all along. What a freak.” The evidence was especially damning, given he included my Petition for Name Change. By the time friends of mine (who up until that point didn’t know I was transsexual) took their complaints of slander discrimination to Administration, the damage had already been done. Imagine my humiliation when I met with the Director of Personnel and the Director of Administration to discuss the situation. FYI – amazingly he wasn’t fired.
My advice to your readers: Use this web-site and the suggestions contained within like you would sage advice from an older sister. You can spend years trying to do things your own way and buck the system, and get nowhere fast. But a more constructive use of your energy would be spent learning from the mistakes of others, using this web-site as it is intended, and paving the way for younger women like yourselves with the stones of wisdom. The choice is yours.
If you decide to change your last name, there are several options:
Make your old first name your last name (not recommended)
- I know several trans women who have done this. Many names can also be last names, like Thomas or Kelly. Some are made into last names with an “-s” or “-son”: Michaels, Daniels, Jackson, Morganson, Williamson, etc. This can make for a good, nondescript last name. One possible drawback is that a male first name for your last name might cause confusion. If you call in a reservation under Charles, the person who take it could say “Is that the last name or first?” In addition, you have to consider if you are OK with people calling you by your old first name all the time, just now as your last name.
Take a different family name as a new last name
- I have a friend who changed her last name to a beloved grandmother’s maiden name. This can be a nice gesture that maintains a family connection without the direct link to your former last name.
Choose a totally new last name
- If you do this, I recommend avoiding a famous last name, since you never know when a celebrity might do something crazy, and since people may draw a good or bad connection with you and the famous-named person.
- Whatever last name you choose, you should look up other well-known people who have the same last name.
- If you are choosing a new last name, the ideas about first names below also apply to last names.
Choice three: First name
A first name, also called a given name, is often changed by trans and gender diverse people. Here are some ideas for choosing.
Is the name easy to spell and say?
- For instance, people say my name one of three ways: ANN-dree-uh, AHN-dree-uh, or ahn-DRAY-uh. While I do not care which one they use, I prefer the first one. Vowels usually cause different ways to say names.
- If you go by Cindy but spell it SynnDee, you can pretty much count on it getting misspelled every time. That also makes it very easy to search for you online.
- A woman I know spelled her name Joan, which she pronounced Jo-Anne. If it is going to bother you that people do not say your name right, you might consider a name that is pronounced just one way. Sometimes an unusual spelling can be fun or interesting, but it could add to confusion or look pretentious or ridiculous.
- Does it have non-English characters? Umlauts, accents, etc. might make your name interesting, but will it make it harder for people to spell and say? It could also make it a little harder for people to search your name online.
Will the name seem bad to others you know?
Will using your dead father’s or your ex-wife’s name cause tensions? Will some other name evoke bad memories? You might want to choose a name that has no strong connection with anyone you or loved ones know.
Angela writes of her decision:
I came across “Angela” very easily – if I had been born a girl, I’d have been “Angela.”
My parents are ok with this. For me there was never any question about using any other name, at least as far as a first name goes. I usually don’t worry about the middle name – although it would be nice to find something that keeps my initials the same (need a “C” name to do that). My male first name is also an “A,” so that’s not an issue.
Of course, anyone considering this should, in no particular order, make sure that they like the name, and if parents or other family members are still important parts of their lives, make sure that they are ok with it. Also probably if the name you would have gotten was given to another sibling later. I didn’t have any real concerns about my parents’ reaction to “Angela.” Besides, I think they made a good choice and I like it and it’s pretty and I’ve told them so. It actually works out to be a compliment to them.
Going by initials only
- I know people who did this during transition before legally changing their name. Going by initials is essentially gendered masculine. People will probably guess that you are a man if they have only your initials to go by. However, it can be helpful in making the change to a new name, and you can change to your initials at any time without doing any legal change. Some have found it a nice way to ease people into using a new name (or at least not using an old one).
Feminizing or masculinizing your old name
- This is another common decision. Dennis becomes Denise, Angela becomes Angelo, etc. However, because this is fairly common, a lot of people might think your old name must have been Dennis if you choose the name Denise. For instance, some people think my old name was Andrew.
Appropriate for your age?
- Names go in and out of fashion. The rankings of this decade’s popular baby names are not applicable for when you were born. Diane writes:
It occurred to me that the best way to find a name is to go to your high school yearbook and select a name that from a survey of the girls you went to school with. The advantage is, you can see the names that were popular during the time and place you grew up. In my case, Tiffany might have been a great name, but no one was naming their child that when I was born.
Androgynous names
- Names will have certain connotations for people. If you choose a name used by both men and women, you will face certain possibilities. If you have an androgynous name and appear androgynous, there’s a greater likelihood you’ll be taken as male, simply because of your name. For instance, if you don’t pass well, but you introduce yourself as Daisy, there won’t be much confusion as far as cues from your name. If you are androgynous and say, “Hi, I’m Jo,” and the person was trying to figure out how to address you, the name Jo won’t be doing you any favors.
- Some names are used for both girls and boys, though rarely is a name split 50/50. I’ve known men named Kelly, but many more women with that name. I’ve known a woman named Michael, but many more male Michaels. I was recently corresponding with someone considering the name Dale or possibly Laura. I wrote: “I’ve known both men and women with that name. I’d say Dale is generally better known as a male name, but that shouldn’t preclude you from using it. It’s very nice. It’s a personal decision, but since you asked for my thoughts, there they are.” She’s now considering Laura Dale. Nice compromise, no?
Who has that name?
- You also should think through any pop culture associations people might have with names. Taking the Dale/Laura example above, I wrote:
Dale evokes Chip’s acorn-hoarding compadre from Disney cartoons, is the name of Hank Hill’s beer-swilling neighbor on King of the Hill, associated in the south with Mr. Earnhardt’s NASCAR pursuits, reminds me of motivational speaker Dale Carnegie and western cutie Dale Evans, off the top of my head. Laura was the name of the author of the Little House on the Prairie series, the name of a wildly popular soap star in the 80’s, hot yet kinda creepy actress daughter of Bruce Dern, the name of Rob Petrie’s wife on the Dick Van Dyke show… you get the idea.
- Ask others who comes into their minds when they hear your potential name.
Nicknames
- A lot of female names have male nicknames. For instance, people with my name sometimes go by Andy or Andi or Andie. I know someone named Melissa who bristles when people call her Mel. Some nicknames are androgynous, so Patricia or Patrick becomes Pat, Alexander or Alexandra becomes Alex, Samuel or Samantha becomes Sam… are you OK with being called that nickname? If you think it will bug you a lot, you might consider a name that can’t be “nicknamed.”
How does it look when written?
- Try typing it as well as hand-printing and cursive. Karen writes: “One ought to try writing each candidate name as a signature. When I did my initial selection, I narrowed the options to a small set. Then I wrote each as a signature and spoke each out loud. My signature as Karen flowed naturally. None of the others did. In just a few minutes, I knew I’d picked the right name.”
- Type, hand-print and write out in cursive your chosen name and initials the following ways:
- Jane Anne Doe
- Jane A. Doe
- Jane Doe
- Ms. Doe
- Ms. Jane Doe (if you have another title, try that, too)
- Doe, Jane
- J.A. Doe
- JAD
Initial impression
- Do the initials spell something unfortunate like P.I.G. or A.S.S.? If so, you might not want any monogrammed scarves as gifts.
How does it sound when spoken?
- Is the rhythm nice? Does it run together and form a word? For instance, “Amanda Lynn” sounds like “a mandolin” when spoken.
- Say it out loud in the ways listed above.
Names sometimes associated with transgender people
- There are not a ton of names that have seeped into the popular psyche as connected with transgender issues, but there are a few which some people might connect to our community. Use these with that in mind.
Types of names which are more common among transgender people
Because these kinds of rare names are more popular with trans people than they are with other people, they can be more likely to make others guess you are trans or gender diverse just from your name. Note that trans women attracted to men are more likely to choose rare names of the kind listed below. Trans women attracted to women are more likely to choose common names.
Trans men
- Anything that rhymes with Aiden
- Anything manly: Buck, Rocco, Chase, Jake, Stone, etc.
- Anything vintage sounding: Easton, Oliver, Turner, etc.
- Anything from the Bible: Ezra, Zeke, Ethan, Caleb, etc.
- Augmentative suffixes: -on, -azo, -ote
- Masculine suffixes: -us, -o, -um
- One wag said trans guy names come in five types: normie, dog/cat, Twilight vampire, Irish softboy, and fictional character.
Trans women
- Divas: Bette, Whitney, Barbra, Liza, etc.
- Minerals and gems: Jade, Sapphire, Amber, Crystal, etc.
- French-sounding names: -ique, -ette, La- etc.
- Fashion and luxury names: CoCo, Chloe, Chanel, Tiffany, Lexus, etc.
- Common names for pets: Sasha, Ginger, Fifi, etc. In fact, there’s a game where you can come up with your drag name by taking a family pet name and either your street name or mother’s maiden name.
- Soap-opera names: Reena, Drucilla, etc. the sorts of names you’ve probably never heard used for real people.
- Alliterative: Repeating beginning letters in a name. For instance, two famous Chicago showgirls are Mimi Marks and Monica Munro.
- Diminutive suffixes: -ette, -ina, -ita,
- Feminine suffixes: -elle, -a, -ee, -ique, -i, -ie
Common gender-neutral names in the US
These are common names in the US that are often used by both men and women. Gender-neutral people who do not choose a rare name may choose names like these.
- Ainsley
- Alex
- Ash
- Avery
- Cam
- Chris
- Dale
- Dana
- Devin
- Greer
- Jackie
- Jamie
- Jess
- Jordan
- Kelly
- Lake
- Lee
- Loren
- Mel
- Mo
- Nat
- Parker
- Pat
- Riley
- Robin
- Sandy
- Shannon
- Skyler
- Taylor
- Tracy
- Vic
Getting used to a new name can be hard for people who knew your old name, so try to give them the benefit of the doubt.
It may also take time to get used to hearing your old name in reference to someone else.
References
Coricone, Adryan (August 2, 2018). How Transgender People Choose Their Names. Teen Vogue https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-transgender-people-choose-their-names
Dahl, Melissa (June 3, 2015). How Transgender People Choose Their New Names. New York. https://www.thecut.com/2015/06/how-transgender-people-choose-their-new-names.html
Gibson, Caitlin (July 31, 2016). Another challenge for transgender people: Choosing a new name. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/another-challenge-for-transgender-people-choosing-a-new-name/2016/07/29/07df80f2-49d8-11e6-acbc-4d4870a079da_story.html
Godfrey, Chris (March 7, 2016). What’s in Choosing a Name for Trans People. The Advocate. https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2016/3/07/whats-choosing-name-trans-people
Kasulke, Calvin (January 6, 2020). How Trans Guys Choose Their New Names in a Post-‘Aiden’ World. MEL Magazine ttps://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/trans-male-names-how-to-pick-choose-ftm-aiden
Wilson, Louise (January 2, 2019). How do trans people choose their name? BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-46567954
Resources
Once you decide on a name, you must get a legal name change to do some things. Learn more about names and the law here.
Behind the Name (behindthename.com)
- Meaning and background of common names.
Baby Names (babynames.com)
- Has a great list of tips for choosing.
Think Baby Names (thinkbabynames.com)
- Great page where you can enter any word (like “flower”) and see all the names connected to any word.
Mom (mom.com)
- Baby Name Finder
- https://mom.com/baby-names
Social Security Administration (ssa.gov)
- Shows the popularity of a US name by decade:
- ssa.gov/oact/babynames/decades/names2000s.html
House of Denise (thehouseofdenise.com)
- Offers name choice consulting and support. BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and disabled-owned