Gender Wiki

Deadnaming is the act of referring to a person's birth name instead of their chosen name(s).

Deadnaming normally occurs for one of three reasons:

1: Someone accidentally deadnames because they're used to using that name.

For example: John Doe called his transgender sister, "Steve" by accident because he had referred to her as that for most of his life. He apologized and corrected himself.

2: Someone purposefully deadnames to cause distress.

For example: At school, while Jen was walking down the hall, Anthony walked by her and coughed "Steve." Jen got upset and tried to correct Anthony, but he just walked away snickering.

3: Someone purposefully deadnames because of their beliefs.

For example: Great Aunt Mary called Jen "Steve" because she believed that Jen is still a boy.

Many consider deadnaming to be a form of transphobia or harassment.

Some ways people avoid deadnaming:

  • use stand-ins like <boyname>
  • use the single initial of the former first name
  • refer to that identity as pre-<current name>