i want something still gendered but also worthy of a lady knight?
Ha, I love it. And I do think 'Kate' sounds very noble. Like a lady knight who fought alongside Godric Gryffindor in the Battle of Whatevermark.
I think twelve years is a reasonable amount of time to find the perfect name. You can't rush unfolding identity / self-reflection / perfection. says the person who took TWENTY-NINE YEARS
You know, growing up, I used to think that if only I had been named Jane or Joan (both what I would call lady knight names), I would have been more comfortable with myself. But in retrospect, probably not. Because what trans guy was ever like, I COULD ENDURE THIS IF ONLY MY NAME WERE JOAN.
I'm open to all manner of J- and Jon-based nicknames. I will have to say no to "Nathan," however-bad memories of a dude named Nathan. He didn't have the honor of being a JOnathan, though.
That's an interesting question! It seems common enough to want to keep one's first initial, but then again, there are many trans people who want nothing to do with their old names and choose something completely different. (This is based just on what I've observed on message boards/blogs/etc.)
I think your friend made an excellent choice, not that he needs my approval! Hunter is a common enough name that it won't raise any eyebrows but the meaning behind it is still cool. Some people definitely don't mind raising eyebrows, though, and really-I never knew I had conservative impulses regarding anything until I started on this naming venture. I think it's just that I've found myself in a situation so absurd by "ordinary" standards that I'm anxious to handle it with aplomb.
So I already told you that I loved your name, and I had fun reading this exercise into how you found it, and OF COURSE the rat patronus came up here YESSSSSS! And I am tickled because I have liked most of the Jonathans I've ever known unlike PISCES god Jonathan (J? Jon? Jonny?), including one who is a hockey player who happens to grow his own plants and moved away from a massive house in order to reduce his carbon footprint and showed up in a podcast talking about ~total human optimization~~~~
He's embarrassingly earnest and conscientious in a faux Gwyneth Paltrow goop-era sort of way, which is a different kind of endearing that you are (DON'T WORRY!!! YOU ARE NOT THIS JONATHAN) but I just wanted to celebrate Jonathans in general~ and I figured the more you know~~~ :P
Yes! I'm glad to know you associate my name with good people (but lmao @ the horror of Pisces).
hahahha I am much too lazy and pessimistic to reach the earnestness and hard work of this noble Jonathan you describe.
The best of all Jonathans, in my opinion, is Jonathan Swift, whose epitaph basically reads "welp now that he's dead, the world can't piss him off anymore." I'm paraphrasing, of course, but that's still the sort of attitude I can get behind 1000%. And his name is synonymous with wit & satire, so he's totally a Ravenclaw.
EDIT: and as I wrote to Chloe above, I'm open to all manner of J- and Jon-based nicknames. Go wild!
That is brilliant reasoning and omg the Mallory Ortberg piece -- perfection.
I feel really weird about my name, because I go back and forth between liking my birth name (Andrea) and really disliking it; I don't use it for most circumstances, because (a) my full legal name is common enough that you wouldn't be able to find me, and (b) ain't no one pronounce it right. At the same time, I feel kind of bad that I don't use the name my parents chose for me, if that makes sense?
Sometimes I totally want to go way off the deep end and be like MY NAME IS STAR OWL MOON FOX or something like that, and then two seconds later I start laughing at myself.
*****
I am also in fucking Pukwudgie. Except that Pottermore also insists that I am a Gryffindor, which... well... no.
So how do YOU pronounce Andrea? I usually default to AN-dree-uh, but there are so many pronunciations omg. Including my cousin's wife's, which is ann-DRAY-uh, not ahn-DRAY-uh...phew. But anyway, today I learned your birth name! \o/
I think that makes sense, especially if your parents had a cool reason for naming you (after a baddass ancestor or something). My mom just heard "Jenna" and liked the sound of it, and then had the nerve to insist it was an old-fashioned name and not popularized in the 80's by Dallas.
I think I'm coming around to Pukwudgie as the Hufflepuff of Ilvermorny houses. Maybe.
YES THANK YOU it is also "ANN-dree-uh" for me because that's what my parents always said, but there's like... 9 variants. And I think people assume I'm fancy, because I have RBF, and so usually use the ahn-DRAY-uh version.
Yeah, there's nothing special about why my parents chose my name -- they just liked it -- and I DO like the connotations of strength that it has (andros has a meaning along the lines of "man, warrior" and I like being the lady version of it -- like HI CHANNELING AMAZONS). That being said, the pronunciation aspects are just. SO FRUSTRATING. I may start using it again a bit more frequently, we'll see. Especially at next job.
Lol I like the name Jenna, but it was definitely popularized by Dallas.
I'm sort of coming around to it. I do think I'm way more Pukwudgie than I am Gryffindor (wtf Pottermore! wtf! Ravenpuff over here, any Gryffindor is a model!).
YES! The correct pronunciation for once! lmao at fancy RBF. (I know RBF can be a struggle, but I have the opposite and it's super weird. Every single emotion I have is magnified x 10 on my traitorous face. >.<)
Haha, the Gryffindor result is definitely WTF. How many times have you taken the test again? Please tell you've received Ravenclaw at least twice!
WELL I DON'T REMEMBER A DAMN THING because I quit after one week's worth of classes. I don't even think I got the first belt.
I would occasionally decide I wanted to try various sports as a kid, and my mother was always more than happy to sign me up for summer programs. But then every single time I hated it and wanted to quit after one week. >.>; See also "Basketball" and "Soccer."
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I urge you to come back and share your thoughts when you have time/awakeness, if you are so inclined!
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Ha, I love it. And I do think 'Kate' sounds very noble. Like a lady knight who fought alongside Godric Gryffindor in the Battle of Whatevermark.
I think twelve years is a reasonable amount of time to find the perfect name. You can't rush unfolding identity / self-reflection / perfection. says the person who took TWENTY-NINE YEARS
You know, growing up, I used to think that if only I had been named Jane or Joan (both what I would call lady knight names), I would have been more comfortable with myself. But in retrospect, probably not. Because what trans guy was ever like, I COULD ENDURE THIS IF ONLY MY NAME WERE JOAN.
Reply
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That's an interesting question! It seems common enough to want to keep one's first initial, but then again, there are many trans people who want nothing to do with their old names and choose something completely different. (This is based just on what I've observed on message boards/blogs/etc.)
I think your friend made an excellent choice, not that he needs my approval! Hunter is a common enough name that it won't raise any eyebrows but the meaning behind it is still cool. Some people definitely don't mind raising eyebrows, though, and really-I never knew I had conservative impulses regarding anything until I started on this naming venture. I think it's just that I've found myself in a situation so absurd by "ordinary" standards that I'm anxious to handle it with aplomb.
Reply
He's embarrassingly earnest and conscientious in a faux Gwyneth Paltrow goop-era sort of way, which is a different kind of endearing that you are (DON'T WORRY!!! YOU ARE NOT THIS JONATHAN) but I just wanted to celebrate Jonathans in general~ and I figured the more you know~~~ :P
Reply
hahahha I am much too lazy and pessimistic to reach the earnestness and hard work of this noble Jonathan you describe.
The best of all Jonathans, in my opinion, is Jonathan Swift, whose epitaph basically reads "welp now that he's dead, the world can't piss him off anymore." I'm paraphrasing, of course, but that's still the sort of attitude I can get behind 1000%. And his name is synonymous with wit & satire, so he's totally a Ravenclaw.
EDIT: and as I wrote to Chloe above, I'm open to all manner of J- and Jon-based nicknames. Go wild!
Reply
I feel really weird about my name, because I go back and forth between liking my birth name (Andrea) and really disliking it; I don't use it for most circumstances, because (a) my full legal name is common enough that you wouldn't be able to find me, and (b) ain't no one pronounce it right. At the same time, I feel kind of bad that I don't use the name my parents chose for me, if that makes sense?
Sometimes I totally want to go way off the deep end and be like MY NAME IS STAR OWL MOON FOX or something like that, and then two seconds later I start laughing at myself.
*****
I am also in fucking Pukwudgie. Except that Pottermore also insists that I am a Gryffindor, which... well... no.
Reply
I think that makes sense, especially if your parents had a cool reason for naming you (after a baddass ancestor or something). My mom just heard "Jenna" and liked the sound of it, and then had the nerve to insist it was an old-fashioned name and not popularized in the 80's by Dallas.
I think I'm coming around to Pukwudgie as the Hufflepuff of Ilvermorny houses. Maybe.
Reply
Yeah, there's nothing special about why my parents chose my name -- they just liked it -- and I DO like the connotations of strength that it has (andros has a meaning along the lines of "man, warrior" and I like being the lady version of it -- like HI CHANNELING AMAZONS). That being said, the pronunciation aspects are just. SO FRUSTRATING. I may start using it again a bit more frequently, we'll see. Especially at next job.
Lol I like the name Jenna, but it was definitely popularized by Dallas.
I'm sort of coming around to it. I do think I'm way more Pukwudgie than I am Gryffindor (wtf Pottermore! wtf! Ravenpuff over here, any Gryffindor is a model!).
Reply
Haha, the Gryffindor result is definitely WTF. How many times have you taken the test again? Please tell you've received Ravenclaw at least twice!
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I demand would like to see a demonstration
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I would occasionally decide I wanted to try various sports as a kid, and my mother was always more than happy to sign me up for summer programs. But then every single time I hated it and wanted to quit after one week. >.>; See also "Basketball" and "Soccer."
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