Raising Trans Children

A (Trans) Rose by Any (New) Name

When Trans Folk, & Trans Kids, Change Their Name

Funny thing, names. We name things all the time. We might call a city London. Or Moscow. We might never wonder why do call them that. We might find it peculiar that Spanish people call them “Londres” and “Moscú.” And most of us might not realize that London comes from Londinium, the original name Romans gave it. Or that Moscow is actually Moskva (Москва in Cyrillic). Established in the 1100s, the city was named after the river on which it sat. The river Moskva was named by the local Muroma people — they called it Mustajoki, meaning “Black River.”
The pronunciation of the name of a city might not be a big deal — Moskva, Moscow, Moscú — everyone knows what one means.

When two countries or peoples are at war, city names matter. Saying “Kiev” and pronouncing it with two syllables means one is choosing the Russian pronunciation, subtly indicating one favors the Russian side in the current conflict. Saying “Kiiv,” and pronouncing it with as one syllable, indicates one stands with Ukraine. With one tiny detail, you choose sides.

Allegiances and Respect

Names matter. They not only indicate the name of a person or thing, but one might think about that person or thing — which way one’s allegiance stands in regards to that person or thing. While it might be accurate to refer to the current monarch of the…