this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2024
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I think that in a rational society everyone should feel free to choose their name, and doing so should be a normal and expected rite of passage.

It makes way more sense to choose the sound people make when they refer to you, than having your parents choose it for you before you're even a person yet.

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[–] dannoffs@hexbear.net 61 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Its already kinda the norm if you're a g*mer.

[–] CloutAtlas@hexbear.net 44 points 1 year ago

XxX_SePh1r0tH_XxX is arguably a more acceptable name than Elon's kid tbh

[–] alexandra_kollontai@hexbear.net 36 points 1 year ago

trans women love this

[–] JohnBrownNote@hexbear.net 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

i have a hard enough time naming characters or picking online handles. i'd probably panic and name myself a poop joke.

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[–] PaX@hexbear.net 13 points 1 year ago (3 children)
[–] Lerios@hexbear.net 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"trans women already do this" "gamers already do this" "furries already do this"

same-picture

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Or a SoundCloud rapper

[–] Maoo@hexbear.net 54 points 1 year ago

Many cultures have had people choose their own names - or at least getting another one - after some kind of rite of passage to adulthood.

[–] ProfessorOwl_PhD@hexbear.net 43 points 1 year ago (4 children)

In Worst Korea at about 10 or 11 years old kids choose their "English name" for foreigners to use. This is terrible in theory because of the colonial nature of refusing to pronounce Korean names properly, but hilarious in practice because it means you meet kids with names like "chocolate" or "cake" because it's something they like.

[–] oktherebuddy@hexbear.net 34 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Asian people solidarity trans people: having inspired English names

Partner knew two Chinese dudes in college who roomed together and chose the names Action and Lancelot. Hard to beat that probably.

[–] Great_Leader_Is_Dead@hexbear.net 26 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm imagining a Chinese cartoon about an American guy named Action Lancelot who rides a motorcycle and eats nothing but cheeseburgers.

[–] Raebxeh@hexbear.net 14 points 1 year ago

Action Lancelot and the Adventures of Burgerlandia

[–] D61@hexbear.net 9 points 1 year ago

NES game Clash at Demonhead has the main character's name as "BANG"

[–] ProfessorOwl_PhD@hexbear.net 15 points 1 year ago

I mean they had some terrible ones as well. The Korean woman who first explained it to me had chosen "Elizabeth" after the fucking Queen, so we all just used her Korean name instead.

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[–] ElGosso@hexbear.net 41 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I would name myself Tyrannosaurus Sex

[–] Aryuproudomenowdaddy@hexbear.net 29 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

My youngest nephew was answering to Sonic for a while, I forget what middle name he picked.

[–] ElGosso@hexbear.net 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Aryuproudomenowdaddy@hexbear.net 13 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Remember now, middle name was Finnigator.

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[–] ElGosso@hexbear.net 19 points 1 year ago

It would be polarizing, but decisive. And when people asked me if my name really was Tyrannosaurus Sex, I would say "hell yeah it is tofu-cool "

[–] Dirt_Owl@hexbear.net 36 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yeah it would be cool if once you reach 18 you have a party where you chose a new name or something.

If only babies could chose their own names, would make life so much easier

[–] RedDawn@hexbear.net 22 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I feel like now that I’m 30 something, I wouldn’t like whatever name I would have picked for myself at 18 lol

[–] Dirt_Owl@hexbear.net 12 points 1 year ago

Me too lmao

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[–] SkibidiToiletFanAcct@hexbear.net 36 points 1 year ago (2 children)

mrw I read the roster for my 8th grade class, and I see my students are "Abundance Of Onslaught, Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints, I Blame The Parents, The Usual But Etymologically Unsatisfactory, Of Course I still Love You, Fine Till You Came Along, But Who's Counting?, Grey Area, Uninvited Guest, and Prime Mover"

[–] DrBeat@hexbear.net 10 points 1 year ago

Banks' style is so satisfyingly recognisable here

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[–] SpiderFarmer@hexbear.net 33 points 1 year ago

My dad almost named me Jethro but my mom talked him out of it. I got a green thumb and I listen to folk music. It would've been perfect.

[–] PaX@hexbear.net 24 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Based

The only people who call me my birth-assigned name are my parents, governments, debt collectors, etc lol

It's not even gender-related or anything. I just don't identify with that name at all

Doesn't even have to be a one-time thing even. People change a lot throughout their lives. If someone wants to change their name sometimes to reflect that, that should be okay

[–] AlicePraxis@hexbear.net 9 points 1 year ago

nice, I'm trying to get on that, if I ever start meeting people again. I don't like introducing myself with my given name so I'd like to start using my chosen name with new people even if I'm not comfortable telling my family. also making art under the new name might help the transition and I'm using it online in a couple places (not here tho)

my situation is somewhat gender related - or rather it's related to the fact that I don't have a gender hexbear-agender

[–] CloutAtlas@hexbear.net 23 points 1 year ago (2 children)

No, my son is also named Bort.

[–] JohnBrownNote@hexbear.net 10 points 1 year ago

We are all Bort on this blessed day

[–] Babs@hexbear.net 21 points 1 year ago (3 children)

This was how magic the gathering introduced their first trans character, and it was pretty cool. She was like from a tribe where they choose their names after their first victory in battle, so when it's her turn and she's like "I'm naming myself after my grandmother" everyone is like "ok yeah that's cool, you just killed a dragon who are we to question this"

[–] Michael@hexbear.net 7 points 1 year ago

Alesha, Who Smiles at Death is a pretty ballin name. Here's the full story if anyone wants to read it.

The section of the story where she names herself:"It had been a day like this, a battle very much like this, when Alesha won the right to name herself. With blood running down her back where the dragon's claws had raked her flesh, she pulled a spear from a dead man's back and plunged it into the beast's mouth, up into its brain. The spear shaft splintered, but the dragon died in an instant. She didn't remember if she had been afraid as the monstrous head lunged at her.

What she remembered was the panic that came after. Earning her war name had been her only goal. When the fight was over, she stood silently among the other young ones who were boasting of their accomplishments and the bold, grisly names they would choose. Headsmasher. Skullcleaver. Wingbreaker—Gedruk had been among them. Some of them, mostly orcs, boasted of their ancestors' deeds and spoke of their pride in adopting those ancestors' names. She had been so different—only sixteen, a boy in everyone's eyes but her own, about to choose and declare her name before the khan and all the Mardu.

The khan had walked among the warriors, hearing the tales of their glorious deeds. One by one, they declared their new war names, and each time, the khan shouted the names for all to hear. Each time, the horde shouted the name as one, shaking the earth.

Then the khan came to Alesha. She stood before him, snakes coiling in the pit of her stomach, and told how she had slain her first dragon. The khan nodded and asked her name.

"Alesha," she said, as loudly as she could. Just Alesha, her grandmother's name.

"Alesha!" the khan shouted, without a moment's pause.

And the whole gathered horde shouted "Alesha!" in reply. The warriors of the Mardu shouted her name.

In that moment, if anyone had told her that in three years' time she would be khan, she just might have dared to believe it."

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[–] AlpineSteakHouse@hexbear.net 16 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Having to change the paperwork is a bureaucratic nightmare and should absolutely not be the normal.

Trans comrades get a pass as well as anyone who actively cares enough to change it but it is a mess of paperwork for everyone.

[–] AlicePraxis@hexbear.net 21 points 1 year ago (2 children)

does it have to be a bureaucratic nightmare though? I mean in a society where this was the norm there might be a better system in place to address this

besides people do it all the time when they get married. straight women are still largely expected to change their last names due to bullshit patriarchal reasons but that's another issue

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[–] ilyenkov@hexbear.net 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

All official bureaucratic forms and stuff could just use an unchanging unique identifier (like the ones we already use: SSN, driver's license, etc.); and people vould change what they want other people to call them any time they wanted.

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[–] allthetimesivedied@hexbear.net 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Lol yeah. I hated my given name my whole life, even before I decided I was trans.

[–] AlicePraxis@hexbear.net 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I wonder how many cis people hate their names but never change it because it's not socially acceptable to do so.

[–] Saeculum@hexbear.net 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The main thing stopping me is that I don't want to upset my parents. I don't dislike it that much either so it's not really a problem, but in the absence of that concern , I probably would change it.

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[–] infuziSporg@hexbear.net 13 points 1 year ago

One given name for identification from birth onward

One self-selected name around adolescence

One surname for patriline

One surname for matriline

One surname for clan grouping

[–] Mardoniush@hexbear.net 13 points 1 year ago

Catholics stay winning.

[–] Sprucie@feddit.uk 12 points 1 year ago (4 children)

At what age should you choose though? I'm not sure I'd appreciate the name 1 year old me might pick for myself.

[–] shath@hexbear.net 21 points 1 year ago

your name is child or kid until you're 18 and fight a bear and survive

[–] wopazoo@hexbear.net 16 points 1 year ago

new year new name

[–] AlicePraxis@hexbear.net 15 points 1 year ago

there doesn't have to has to be a specific age, you can change it as many times as you'd like - or not at all, if you like the name your parents picked. most people would probably settle on something in their teens or 20s but everyone's different

really I'm just calling for a general cultural respect for a person's choice to self-identify, where we all agree to like, not make a big deal about it, ya know?

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[–] 7bicycles@hexbear.net 10 points 1 year ago

I think this is surprisingly agreeable with a lot of people (well, not like the frothingfash) on account of "why the fuck would the state get to decide what your name is"

[–] AssortedBiscuits@hexbear.net 10 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I don't think the phenomenon of people bestowing a nickname on you will ever go away. And the concept of names in general is funny to me. Sure, I have a legal name that's tied to my professional name, but there are people in my life who don't address me by that name at all, and I would consider it an affront if they do. And I'm not talking about just having a shortened name or a different name. If someone in my life exclusively addresses me as "darling" or "honey" or "kid," is that not my actual name to them? My parents, like countless parents before them, refer to themselves as "mom" and "dad" when addressing their kids, and like many parents, they have gotten used to it so much they start to call each other "mom" and "dad" even when their kids are not around. I don't think I've ever heard my parents say their "actual" names to each other. As far as I'm concerned, my mom is named "Mom" and my dad is named "Dad." The names on their driver's licenses is just an identity of a life that is not relevant to me. They will always be "Mom" and "Dad" to me.

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[–] davel@hexbear.net 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

What happens on the playa unfortunately does not stay on the playa. How’d You Get Your Playa Name?

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