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Gender-neutral nicknames.


UncommonNonsense

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UncommonNonsense

While I don't hate the name I was given at birth, I do have some issues with it... And the biggest of these is because it is a very feminine name. I'm agender and often feel slightly masculine. I of then feel like the name just doesn't fit me.

Unfortunately, my name isn't one that can easily be shortened and it has no obvious nicknames associated with it. While I sometimes go by Ried online (mostly in games), I know that my mother would not understand or accept my adopting a masculine name IRL. Hell, I haven't even had the 'Guess what, Ma - I'm Agender!' conversation with her, though I have hinted around it.

So I'd have to pick one that is gender neutral, is close enough to my given name that it works as a nickname, and is something I like that suits me.

I'm drawing a blank. Can't think of anything!

My name is Sara. Anyone have any ideas?

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The best I've got is Sam... I can try to keep thinking, but names have never really been my thing :P

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OMG i was about to post the same thing? I swear from your profile pic you look like a Sam.

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I am in a similar situation, with a name like David/Dave there isn't a good gender neutral version, much less a feminine one. I envy people who were given a gender neutral name to start with. I know people can change their names, but it isn't always a good option for some of us for any number of reasons.

I like Sam as a good gender neutral name. I have known DFAB people who go by Sam, as well as DMAB people who do. Then there is Sarek, Spock's father... Maybe you could combine Sara with your last initial (or middle initial)?

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Would it be possible to make a gender-neutral nickname out of your last name or middle name? I have a friend named Sarah who sometimes goes by a nickname based on her last name (not for gender reasons in her case, but the nickname isn't gendered). Unfortunately, I can't really think of any way to make Sara more gender-neutral.

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butterflydreams

Neutral is tough. What about like Sage or Steph?

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Sage Raven Domino

Sora is a genderless Japanese given name (meaning 'sky').

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Sora is a genderless Japanese given name (meaning 'sky').

I've never heard of Sora as a name before, but I really like it :)

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just an owl

As said above, middle name(s) or surnames/nicknames associated with them is a possibility (I know quite a few people who just go by their surname anyway)

Or maybe initials? You could just go by "S" if you like that, maybe.

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Queen of Wonderland

http://nonbinary.org/wiki/Names#S

here's my contribution, good luck with this! :cake:

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Dodecahedron314

I second the middle name suggestion--I lucked out and wound up with a gender neutral middle name in the first place, but even if your middle name is still considered gendered, maybe it could be more easily modified to something that isn't? I don't really have any other suggestions based on your first name, but I'm also kind of bad at coming up with names (I'm one session into my current D&D campaign and my character still doesn't have a name). I remember finding a post on some writing Tumblr with the connotations of different sounds of names, but I don't remember the name of the blog...maybe it's Googleable?

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UncommonNonsense

Thanks for the input, everyone!

I'm still pondering... my middle name is even worse for being heavily gendered, so it's kind of a wash-out.

Still, there are a few I'm getting really partial to... though I dare say they'll only be used in the online world for now. Those are Sydney (which, oddly enough, is what my grandparents would have named my mother if she'd been born male) or Syd, Spencer or Spence, Saxton, and Sam.. Syd, Spencer/Spence, and Saxton work the best combined with my surname, but for the most part, I likely won't be introducing myself as 'nickname-surname' very often.

The one I'm leaning toward the most is Sydney or Sid. My only drawback there is that one of my mother's friends, a woman I deeply dislike, has a daughter by that name, and I think there'd be confusion if I begin using it IRL.. plus, with the connection to that awful woman, the name has some negative associations for me. So, I'm still thinking.

I guess this is going to take longer than I'd expected. Oh well. Maybe I'll be meandering along minding my own business and I'll suddenly hear something that just fits perfectly. Stranger things have happened.

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I really like Sydney or Sid! Coincidentally, everyone named Sid that I've meet has been very smart and logical, so that's what I associate the name with. But you you decide that's not right, it's okay to take your time finding something else that you like. Names can be very important to people, so it makes sense that choosing one would be difficult.

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Sora is a genderless Japanese given name (meaning 'sky').

I've never heard of Sora as a name before, but I really like it :)

heh you've obviously never played kingdom hearts. If wanna roll unique you can always go with Zephyr. There is a good chance this name might be fairly gender neutral as I saw a chick with the name that was running for office somewhere and a dude has that name who's from resonance of fate.

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Gentle Giant

How about Shawn, Shaun or Sean?

Edited to add another one I thought of... Shannon.

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Nailgun-mishap

If you're looking for unisex S names, the only ones I can think of are Sam, Sage, Steph and Skyler.

Non S names: Jordan, Taylor, River, Quinn and Rowan. There aren't very many truly unisex names (Madison is technically unisex but it's 99% girl, while Tristan is technically unisex but it's 99% boy) but these fit the description.

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I have the luck that my birth name is gender neutral Kim. People have assumed that i am women a couple of times via email but i take it as a compliment. The others at work have joked about it, however, until they realized I diden´t care about it.

I don´t know you so i really don´t know any but maybe Sacha/sazha or something like that?

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  • 9 months later...

Sara, it's a tough one, but I really like "Sawyer"! It's not super close – like a letter away – to Sara, but it's pretty close phonetically, and it's a really cool name that can go either male or female.

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