Name change! For real! Oh, and my birthday party. Also for real.

[gement]

I am changing my legal name to Robin. Hooray!

This will solve the "what should I introduce you as" problem that has been confounding me and thus inconveniencing everyone else for the last couple of years.

I am still using they/them/their pronouns as much as possible. We'll see if settling my name eases my stress about that.

Edited for clarity: Anywhere you're already saying "gement" automatically, that's dandy. Keep doing that.

Marilee Shape Space Gement Robin Christopher Rae Ray Glenn late for dinner it depends aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Robin!

Sorted. I said, to someone I don't know well yet, "I'm seriously considering changing my name," for the first time at around 7pm yesterday.

Once I said it, I looked at how few contexts I still readily used my first name, and how much I winced every time, and said, "if I'm telling my cab drivers and baristas and acquaintances and EVERYONE who doesn't know me yet Robin, that seems to be something I'm happy with, now, isn't it?" Having slept on it, and talked with J this morning, it all seems kind of obvious.

I'm keeping all of my first name as middle names. I *like* my first name, just not quite on me right now. I retain an option on using it again or answering interchangeably once it doesn't feel compulsory.

My initials (which I like) shift from MRG to RMG. (Well, RMRG, but I won't be using the second middle name except to keep it legally because it's inherited and I like that about it.)

So, that's happening. I will not take offense if you forget, though I will remind you.

Anyone who's done this, if you have a handy online checklist or are willing to talk me through any particularly tricky bits, I welcome your input.

ALSO, I turn 35 Real Soon Now and I am having a birthday party for serious this time having skipped the last four. If you're in town and interested in attending, would you prefer Saturday June 7 or Sunday June 8?

[Poll #1968614]

As usual, if you need my contact information and we aren't LJ-friends, leave a comment or ping me some other way.

Comments

[caladri.livejournal.com]

Yay! Go you! Anything at all I can do to be supportive/helpful, please do not hesitate to ask!

I would love to be there, and wonder if it /might/ be possible to see you the afternoon of the 7th, as that's the day we're flying out to Cambridge, but I suspect not :(

♥

Yay!

[tereshkova2001.livejournal.com]

Excellent! That sounds like a perfectly cromulent solution.
I am totally unhelpful with scheduling but I will be there whenever it is.
Be sure to let me know the dress code. I'll probably overdress anyway. :D

[eeyorerin]

I love Robin as a name and Robin is one of my favorite Muppets. Sadly, I will be on the other side of the country grading AP exams during your name festivities, but I wish you well in absentia!

Is it okay to refer to you as gement in conversation ("So I was reading my friend gement's LJ the other day and they said...") or would you prefer Robin in all things?

[tylik.livejournal.com]

Of course, scheduling something for sometime when we're both in the same state would probably be best ;-)

[mimerki.livejournal.com]

Yay name change!

I know that I still get a little smile every time I see something with my full name on it, even years later. I hope it does the same for you.

Also, feel free to kick me in the shins if I err on the name thing (though I often just reference you as Gement in conversation so that should be good). Ditto pronouns: I actually had that whole "don't use the third person plural to reference a singular person of unspecified gender" thing drilled into me pretty hard as a young person, so it can be difficult despite the fact that the language has changed. All of which is a lot of words to say "I want to call you those things that make you happy and comfortable, and I would rather you corrected me than that I continued to screw up."

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

1. Happy Birthday! I'll be there no matter when you have your pah-tay, modulo parental commitments.
2. Changing one's name does feel very, very good for people with non-standard gender identities. If you were wincing, it was past time. I'm glad to see it.

[edited for my customary whole-word typos]