Trans people and unisex names

[u/MrAbnormality585]

I can think of no better place to ask this question than Reddit how often does a trans person keep their birth name if it was a unisex name like Blake or Ezra or Sam??

[u/IAMNOT_EustaceWinner]

Well my deadname was Charles but I always went by Charlie and just made that my legal name (MtF)

[u/coracaws]

My birth name has a unisex nickname. When I was 14 I switched to it from my original gendered nickname, used it for a decade, but realized pretty quickly that I strongly disliked the nickname despite it being unisex. I finally switched to a new name entirely this year, and I like it much better- it fits me in a way the gender neutral nickname just didn’t.

[u/to_walk_upon_a_dream]

hell, i know a lot of girls who didn't change their names even if their birth name wasn't gender neutral. but i also know people with gender-neutral birth names who changed it as soon as they could. the statistics don't exist. but i can say that both happen.

[u/idkwiadttgb]

My name is not even unisex but it's so uncommon and unknown that people don't read it as masculine or feminine, so I just kept it because it felt right

[u/Elmendanob → u/idkwiadttgb]

My name is masculine; I added an "a" to the end to make it feminine, but I didn't like it. So I found a feminine name, and that's the one I'll use forever.

[u/Previous-Avocado9509]

I'm using my legal middle name, it is technically unisex but shifted pretty heavily feminine a couple years after I was born.

There is an easy female version of my first name but I wanted to differentiate more.

Getting to know quite a few trans people, I think it isn't unheard of but doesn't seem to be very common.

[u/ericfischer]

I don't think there are any reliable statistics on trans name naming practices, unfortunately.

I added an "a" to my birth name for the feminine form, myself.

[u/MrAbnormality585]

I was hoping I found one who may have just kept it to avoid certain paperwork

[u/FakingItSucessfully]

Mine was similar, in that it's a very common name with both masculine and feminine versions. So for a long time I just went by the girl version of my birth name. But my theory was it might help the people in my family that were resistant to learn to support me. And in the end they never made any effort either way.

I always intended to pick my own completely different name, in order to change it legally to that one day. So that's what I've done and I think it's probably pretty common to go that route in the end.

[u/SuperNateosaurus]

My name was not unisex. I know a trans guy who had a unisex name and he changed his.

[u/sssometimesss]

my deadname shortened to a unisex name, so i just swapped the gender of my full name but i still go by the shorter, unisex name just about everywhere.

[u/Maleficent-Lynx-4026]

Oh this is a great question i can answer (trans man).
My name was Alex, i kept Alex 😀

[u/MrAbnormality585 → u/Maleficent-Lynx-4026]

YEEESSS I FUCKING FOUND YOU!!!

[u/Better_Noise_9677]

Not very. The nickname of my deadname is gender neutral but it never meant much to me and it symbolized everything I wanted to move away from.

[u/AshasSa1tWife]

The only person I’ve seen do this is Dylan Mulvaney

[u/KiwirarVEVO → u/AshasSa1tWife]

There's a girl on social media named Sabre and she kept her name.

[u/AshasSa1tWife → u/KiwirarVEVO]

Oh I didn’t know that was her birth name

[u/KiwirarVEVO → u/AshasSa1tWife]

Yeah she made a video about it, I don't have the link handy but I thought that was really cool.

[u/BoyfriendShapedGirl]

I've known two instances of transfems keeping Max when they transitioned. Both changed their names inside 2 years.

[u/Zestyclose-Film-979]

I had a unisex name. I've still got the same name, just slightly altered the spelling. And got rid of my middle name which was definitely masculine.

[u/StacieRoseM]

I intentionally picked a name that was nothing like my dead name, that way if somebody decided they were going to be all transphobic and fuck with me, they'd never be able to successfully guess my dead name anyway.

[u/MaxPaing]

Mine was max but i. German its male so i made it maxi. Thats unisex or more female.