Q: How did you choose your name, and what names were you thinking about using and why?
I've talked about the process of choosing my name before, and the associated weirdness based on there being a cousin of mine with the same name. To summarize, I picked my name when I was 6 or 7. My Dad always told me that if I had been "born a girl" (surprise! I was!) I would have been named Mathilda, after the Australian national anthem. I didn't want to be Mathilda (which felt very old fashioned and uncool and not me), so I decided to change one letter in my former middle name and go by that instead. I've been "Diane" since then. I legally changed it in December of 2011.
Addendum: My old name is actually my Mom's family name, also changed by one letter. She wanted me to carry on her family name since hers disappeared when she married. I sympathize but I hate that name and I don't like hearing it and I am not typing it into this post.
Sorry Mom. Sincerely. I understand your feelings, but this is my life. I deserve to be happy and at peace with myself, if it can be managed.
*The Portuguese in the title of this post is there because I am learning that language now. It makes sense to me to do that because this post is about the words we use and how they relate to our identity.
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