On (Re)Naming Yourself: How'd you choose your name?

On (Re)Naming Yourself: How'd you choose your name?

Janet Mock once said, "There's power in naming yourself, in proclaiming to the world that this is who you are. Wielding this power is often a difficult step for many transgender people because it's also a very visible one."

Janet Mock Quote

• MsJacquiiC
• May 17, 2019
• janet mock meme pose quote

"There's power in naming yourself, in proclaiming to the world that this is who you are...

Nice Name meme...

• MsJacquiiC
• Jun 23, 2019
• #livecolorfully meme naming yourself

Bahahaha!! Nice Name!! Did Your Mommy Pick It Out For You? Meme...

Bahahahaha!! Nice name!! Did your mommy pick it out for you?

Nice try at demoralizing my transgender existence... But to answer your question: No ... And Yes. Not that it's any of yours or anyone else's goddamn business! Excuse my language.

But yes... My name Jacquii Chenyneh Kween Cooke is derived from the last name my Mommy gave me at birth, mixed with my own renaming/reclaiming ingenuity of my birthname Adonis to reflect myself as a woman, along with my family name Cooke.

I agree with Ms. Mock though: There IS an absolute power in naming yourself. As I've stated above, I renamed and reclaimed myself as a proud transgender woman, using a technique which gave a certain authenticity, a pointed homage to my birth name, while keeping my family names Jackson & Cooke in the mix.

And it felt damn good to give myself a title of sorts, a definite affirmation of the existence I'd been longing for since early childhood.

It's a personal process to be sure and some of you may not be comfortable talking about it. But in the spirit of community and sharing our transition journey's - I ask you all: How did you come up with your new chosen name? Or were some of you given at birth a gender neutral name that you've decided to keep?

Let's talk about it. And proudly so!

J.

 

[ReinePersephone]

I basically just altered my birth name by feminizing it. It was partially to make adjusting easier on friends & relatives, but also because I wanted to retain my identity & simply correct the gender part. My birth name was Raymond Steven Hansen. I went with Reine Persephone Hansen as my new name. There were a few different ways to feminize Ray or Raymond, I went with Reine because it's uncommon, it's also a name from my family history on my maternal, maternal etc. side, so that has its own meaning. It also means queen in French, & I liked that. Persephone: well I wanted to follow the same method as with my first name - to keep my identity but feminize it. Steven feminized would most likely be Stephanie. I thought of Etainn at one point to keep on the French thing, but put together it sounded too much like orangutan. Anyway I didn't want to name Stephanie but I really liked the name Persephone & the character from Greek mythology, plus it basically rhymes with Stephanie. I also find poetic justice when my whole name is put together: Reine is French for 'Queen'. Persephone roughly translated from Greek means 'to bring death', & my last name, Hansen is just a Germanic form of 'Johnson'. I might have a weird sense of humor, but to me it's a graphic description of my transition. So there are levels to my chosen name.

 

[MsJacquiiC]

ReinePersephone - I absolutely love the depth and thought that you put into your renaming. The humor (The queen that brings death to the penis) is absolutely hilarious too ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!

You know - I was sorta leery about posting this piece. The meme was misunderstood on the TSSN Facebook page. So I thought some clarification may be needed. And your response is exactly the type of response I was looking for. I mean - a lot of trans people are just adamant about 'forgetting' or simply 'relinquishing all memory' of their birth names. I like you decided against that type of route:

because I wanted to retain my identity & simply correct the gender part.

I think your name fits you perfectly. There was so much thought behind it that it has a real, substantial meaning. And I appreciate that.

Thanks so much for sharing!

J.

 

[Margo King]

Actually, Mommy did pick it out for me!

I was told at an early age my name would have been "Margaret" if I were a girl!

So, being i have been her all my life, i use the name "Margo" to express that!

 

[MsJacquiiC]

Actually, Mommy did pick it out for me!

I was told at an early age my name would have been "Margaret" if I were a girl!

So, being i have been her all my life, i use the name "Margo" to express that!

How lovely to have that support! Many of us trans folks don't. It's so unfortunate. But fortunately I've had the support of my Mom since the 1990s. I'm very grateful for that too.

Also - Like you - I had a conversation with my Mom, which inevitably had me asking her what she would have named me if I were born biologically female, sonograms and all that stuff not available back in the 70s LOL. And she told me Shanina is what she had planned to name me. Ironically enough - I had once called myself "AdiaCheneh" which is derived from feminizing my birthname with Cheneh attached (reference Sheneneh Jenkins from the Martin Lawrence show LOL)... Thus the spelling of one of my middle names "Chenyneh" ... My Mama gave it to me and I'm so thankful! <3

J.

 

[Margo King]

Nice on how you have your name!

No, my Mom told me i'd have been "Margaret" from a very young age. She has passed on, im afraid.
But i still use the name, even though abbreviated!

 

[MsJacquiiC]

Nice on how you have your name!

No, my Mom told me i'd have been "Margaret" from a very young age. She has passed on, im afraid.
But i still use the name, even though abbreviated!

It's a very kind tribute to your Mom if you ask me.
Thankfully I still have mine and saw her earlier today. Can't imagine what it would be like without her. So I'm so sorry to hear about your Mom Margo. Sounds like she'd be very proud of you.

J.