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This is something I've rattled around in my head for some time. When should I choose, what should I choose, what if I change my mind?

I've gone by Chrys for so many years, and purposely so... it was easy to put off worrying over a change at all. Now that I'm taking steps to transition I knew I couldn't put it off any longer.

I've come out to my mother, and my significant other, my children and closest friends. All those I felt the need to tell. Everyone took it in stride, or dare I say well. There are others in my life who will not be as accepting, but that is something I will deal with later on.

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to discuss choosing a new name with the person who bestowed my birth name. I asked my mother if she would like to help me decide on what to call myself. We discussed the meaning of my birth name and what she had planned on naming me had I been born a boy. We discussed who I was named after and why.

She had wanted to name me Chrystian. It fit... I knew I wanted to continue being Chrys. It was one of the names I had considered along side of Chrystopher.  We discussed a few middle names, as her eyes lit up and she announced Marcus. It kept the first three letters of my middle name. My initials will not change. My new name still references those I had been named after. Yet it fits better than my female name ever did. Whether this is a final decision is yet to be seen. Maybe I'm too attached to the y in my first name?

Even so, I am finding that my stomach is in knots. It feels good to find a name, but it carries so much weight with it. As I am pre-transition, I feel in a way that I have no right to use it yet. I am still Chrystal on the outside.

I wonder about others experiences with this. How did you decide? When did you first use it? What did the name change mean to you?

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Nice topic, Chrys

I have struggled with the name I have chosen also.  
My given name is horrible!
Having been born on my uncle’s birthday, family forced my mother to name me after him.  So there is no meaning in the name given me at birth.
Hopefully this will be the last time I have to write my old name…..Howard Eugene.
My uncle’s name is Adrian Howard.
I would swiftly take Adrina, but it is taken. And most thought I would use Jean or Jeanie. But these did not appeal to me.
I even played around with Howard; I could take the unique name Iowa by dropping a few letters and turning the H on its side.But Jody is simple, a name common when I was born and easy to remember.
Its Asexual and fits well now and later.

It feels so Awesome when I walk into the bar,and I hear.. Jody!

I think it’s great that you have the relationship where you can discuss this with your mom. It honors her.

And I like the name Chrys. And if you have used it for awhile, then there is no reason to change what you are comfy with. Unless you wish to!