deadname
noun
- a transgender person’s name before transitioning
verb
- to call someone by their deadname
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈdɛd.neɪm/
noun
Etymology: From dead + name, because the old name is dead (“no longer used”). Attested since at least 2010 as a noun and 2013 as a verb by the OED.
- A previous name of a person (especially a transgender person) who has since changed their name.
“And when people constantly refer to you as your deadname [a name that you previously went by], or use the incorrect pronouns, it really is like getting slapped with a wet fish.”
“One of the articles in our last issue contained a major error: we referred to a transgender student by their deadname.”
verb
Etymology: From dead + name, because the old name is dead (“no longer used”). Attested since at least 2010 as a noun and 2013 as a verb by the OED.
- To refer to someone (especially a transgender person) who has changed names by a previous name.
“Using trans peoples' dead names – names that they were born with which are either wrong through either legal or preferential means – has been and always will be an act of aggression, not just to the person you're deadnaming but to all trans people.”
“"Right now, it's unclear whether they are choosing to deadname me maliciously, or just can't be bothered to accommodate trans students in the way we require them to," he said.”