Sobriquet Sex Switch

I helped with the relief effort after Scarlet's attack. My name is Sya, but you might remember me as "Symon".

— Guild Wars 2

Whether it be due to gender bending or crossdressing, a character will tend to keep their name intact. Seriously, if you suddenly became the opposite gender, you probably wouldn't want to have to remember an entirely different name on top of everything else that you'd be dealing with.

There will often be more than one way to genderbend a character's name. For instance, let's say we have this excellent character named "Jack", and one day he gets zapped with a lovely genderbend raygun. His feminized name could be "Jackie" or "Jacqueline", either one would be fine. In Japanese media, Alternate Character Reading is often used to create a name that sounds different, but is ultimately written the same as the original. When fans genderbend a character, it can often be the cause of a fandom war over what the appropriate name would be. In the case where the character in question already has a gender-neutral name, such as "Cameron" or "Jamie", the name is rarely modified.

This can be Truth in Television for transgender people and crossdressers. However, it's much less common than this trope would have you believe (especially in the former case, since a trans person's deadname is often tied to a gender they don't feel comfortable with, and even variations can trigger dysphoria^note as well as make it easy for people to accidentally say or read the wrong name, or "forget"). It's more common for a trans person to switch to a gender-neutral nickname before they can safely come out. A gender fluid person (someone whose identity moves between two or more points) might also use different names which invoke this trope (whether or not there's any connection to their deadname).

See also Lazily Gender-Flipped Name. Contrast with Gender-Blender Name.

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Examples:

Advertising

• This 2019 commercial for Starbucks stars a trans boy with the deadname "Jemma." His real name, as revealed when he goes to Starbucks, is James.

Anime & Manga

• Black Jack: The woman Black Jack once loved, Megumi Kisaragi, got a cancer that required having her uterus removed to save her. After that, she lives like a man, begins to refer to himself with he/him pronouns, and uses the name "Kei", an alternate kanji reading of his former name "Megumi".
• Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight!: Miya Nekomiya is a trans woman who auditions for the main cast's modeling agency in chapter 52. In chapter 53, her father deadnames her as Yoshinari. A footnote in the English version helpfully explains that Miya and Yoshinari are alternate pronunciations of the same kanji.
• In Chivalry of a Failed Knight, Arisuin Nagi is a trans woman. The female name which she asks to be called is "Alice", which is actually a play on her surname "Arisuin", which contains "Arisu", the Japanese pronunciation for "Alice".
• Claudine: Claude's name is only two letters away from his deadname, Claudine.
• The intersex but genetically female protagonist of The Day of Revolution combines this with Alternate Character Reading when she decides to identify as a girl, as her girl name "Megumi" can be written with the same Kanji as her former boy name "Kei".
• An episode of Doraemon has Nobita wish himself into a reality where he was a girl and everyone calls him "Nobiko".
• Masahiko from Family Compo has used "Masami" while crossdressing.
• Trans girl Seiko's legal name in Lovely★Complex is "Seishiro".
• Love Me For Who I Am: Mei Tatebayashi's deadname is "Akira" but she goes by "Mei", which is an alternative reading of the same kanji, at the cafe. She eventually begins using it full-time.
• In Maria Watches Over Us, trans girl Alice's name is a play on her surname, Arisugawa.
• Makoto from Minami-ke goes by "Mako-chan" when Disguised in Drag.
• In Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, whenever Umetaro Nozaki pretends to be a girl for one reason or another, he uses the name "Umeko".
• "Murai-kun Wants to Fuck Mizuno-kun": Trans man Murai's birth name was "Shiho", but he goes by the similar-sounding "Shion" as a male adult.
• My Monster Secret has Shishido Shiho, a perverted human girl. She also has a Split Personality, a male werewolf named Shirou.
• Nozomu Nozomi has the protagonist Recursive Crossdressing as a girl, as he's been transformed into a girl but hasn't told anyone yet. His sister, who knows about the crossdressing but not the underlying gender bender introduces him as her cousin "Nozomi".
• Pokémon: The Series:
  • It's a Running Gag for Ash to crossdress each series. At least twice he has used "Ashley" but in Japan, where his name is "Satoshi", he used "Satoko" in Kanto and "Satomi" in Unova.
  • Cilan dressed up as "Cilanor" in the same Unova episode.
• Kuranosuke from Princess Jellyfish is a fashionable Wholesome Crossdresser. He befriends a woman named Tsukimi but her and her friends, "the Nuns", are NEETs who absolutely fear men. Kuranosuke goes by "Kurako" around Tsukimi's friends.
• Both subverted and played straight in Ranma ½:
  • In a subversion, the titular character reveals his female form in front of the school for the first time by blithely introduces "herself" as "Ranma". Even though Akane is worried that his Gender Bender secret might be exposed at first, the other students dismiss this as a coincidence. (Note that in the manga, it barely mattered, as Ranma's secret getting out a short time later is a non-issue.)
  • When hiding from his mother Nodoka, Ranma stays in female form, pretending to be the Tendō sisters' cousin "Ranko".
• While most translations of Re:Zero romanize resident crossdressing catboy Felix's pseudonym as "Ferris," it could also be transliterated as Felice.
• Nadeshiko from Shugo Chara! is really a boy named "Nagihiko" who was Raised as the Opposite Gender.
• In Stars Align, Shou, Maki's mother's friend, is revealed to be a transgender man. When he was in college he started living openly as a man and went from "Shouko" to "Shou" because it felt more comfortable.
• To Love Ru:
  • Subverted by Ren (male) and Run (female): they're an alien whose species changes sex when they sneeze, but each is mentally distinct from the other and they eventually physically split during puberty. The similarity in names is thus more accurately described as Theme Twin Naming.
  • The main character, Rito Yuuki, has been turned female several times. The first time, he ends up the house-guest of a classmate who dislikes his regular identity, so he makes up the name "Riko" on the spot. The next time, Lala makes Rito-as-a-girl go on a date with his friend that fell in love with "her", and Rito extends the name to "Riko Yuusaki"—though Lala claims Riko is Rito's relative, making the different surname unnecessary. Basically everyone else who's seen Rito as a girl knows his real identity, so they've only called him "Riko" a few times to tease him.
• Tokyo Ghoul:re: When Disguised in Drag for an undercover mission, Sasaki's undercover name is "Sasako".
• Wandering Son:
  • Transgender Cool Big Sis Yuki's birth name is "Hiroyuki".
  • Makoto requests for Nitori to refer to her as "Mako-chan" not soon after they begin being friends.
  • Nitori herself may subvert this. Her given name is "Shuuichi" and in middle school, she wanted to swap names with Takatsuki, who is "Yoshino", but that never happened. When she begins working at a gay bar the owner gives her the name "Lilly" but we don't know if this is her chosen name or not. Mako refers to Nitori by the feminine nickname "Nitorin".
• Yuureitou:
  • When Disguised in Drag, Taichi goes by "Taiko".
  • Tetsuo's birth name is "Reiko". An Alternate Character Reading of the kanji is "Akira". In the end of the manga he changes his name from "Tetsuo" to "Akira" once Taichi makes him realize this.

Arts

• The artist PDXJims came up with systems of morphs that allowed users to genderbend DAZ's Victoria 4 and Michael 4 figures. These morph sets were sold as "Vittorio" and "Mina", respectively.

Comic Books

• Archie Comics:
  • In a 1960s issue we are shown what it could be like if Archie and the others switched genders. Archie is called "Archigail", Reggie is "Regina", "Betty" is "Buddy", and "Veronica" is "Roddy".
  • "The Great Switcheroo" issue involved Salem making everyone change sexes. This trope is epidemic. We get "Archie" to "Archina", "Reggie" to "Regina", "Betty" as "Billy", and "Veronica" as "Ron". Several minor characters also get the same treatment. Jughead is the only real exception as his female counterpart goes by "J.J".
• Defied in Astro City when supervillain Simon Says comes out as transgender and takes up the heroic mantle of Starbright. She goes by "S" because she hasn't decided on a new name yet, but outright refuses Simone because she doesn't perceive herself as just "Simon but a woman".
• In a Doctor Who (Titan): Thirteenth Doctor story, Thirteen, the Doctor's first on-screen female incarnation, adopts the Earth alias of "Jane Smith", in contrast to the Doctor's earlier male Earth alias of "John Smith".
• The Spanish comic magazine El Jueves had a story, Emilio, where a girl named "Emilia" pretended to a boy to do the mandatory conscription in the Army and be with her boyfriend.
• A 1960s Superman story was named "Claire Kent: Super-Sister" and involved Clark getting genderbent.
• Referenced in W.I.T.C.H. when Irma and Vicky pretend to be boys to play on a boy's soccer team.
  Cornelia: What should we call you? Irmo?

Comic Strips

• Garfield: In one strip, Garfield claims his uncle Bernard went to the vet one day and came back as his aunt Bernice.

Fan Works

• Bowsette was named for being a feminine variant of "Bowser", unlike her inspiration Peachette (whose name is a Portmanteau of Peach and Toadette).
• In Clair de Lune, Luna changes his name to "Lune" when he transitions.
• In the Daria fandom gender-bent fics are unusually common. The most famous stories, "John Lane" and "Finn Morgendorffer" play this straight. "Not So Different" Averts this, however, by having male Daria named "Jacob Morgendorffer Jr.", nicknamed "Sonny".
• Eiga Sentai Scanranger has one chapter where the boys have to crossdress in order to destroy the villain's latest scheme (It Makes Just As Much Sense In Context, since they could just blow up the machine, which they eventually do). So to complete the ruse, Vin becomes Victoria, Nick becomes Nicole and Mikey becomes Annie May. (because he’s a Japanese animation lover)
• A Fairytale is a Metaphor is a non-fantasy AU of Ever After High where Raven is a trans girl. Her dead name is "Ryland".
• Eyes on Me:
  • Ruby is originally named after her father Reuben. She goes by her current name upon transitioning.
  • Averted with Jasper, whose deadname is Nonoma.
• In a Halloween Episode for A Game of Cat and Cat, five people reincarnate as the opposite gender: Leon became Eleonora, Mathias became Matilda, Elizabeth became Ezekiel, Stella became Stanley, and Sara became Henry ^note Sara means 'princess' and Henry means 'house ruler'.
• Here by Accident, Staying on Purpose:
  • Averted with Chloe, whose deadname is "Timmy".
  • Vicky transitioned and now goes by "Micky".
• How Do I Admit I'm Falling Apart: Wave the Swallow used to be called "Wade the Swallow" prior to her transition.
• In Rule 63 fanart and fanfiction of the main character of The Legend of Korra she/he usually has her name reversed to Arrok. Technically it fits the Water Tribe theme naming of canon (double lettering, soft "ahs" and hard "kuh" sounds, ex. Sokka, Arnook), making it a plausible name for a male version of Korra.
• The Life Is Strange fanfic Bloom Depicts Max Caulfield as a trans girl. She was originally named "Maxwell" but changed to Maxine after coming out. She says that for a few years she insisted that people only call her "Maxine", but by the time of the fic she's comfortable enough to go by "Max", as she had before coming out.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is heavy on the Theme Naming and thus the fanon names for the gender-bent Mane Six are mostly masculine versions of their names. Some people do use other names, but usually fan-artists and fanfic writers keep to certain names: Applejack keeps his name because it's unisex enough. Rainbow Dash becomes Rainbow Blitz, Twilight Sparkle becomes Dusk Shine, Rarity becomes Elusive, Fluttershy becomes Butterscotch, and Pinkie Pie becomes Bubble Berry (or occasionally Berry Bubble). Other common names include Spike becoming either Barbara or Spine(s), Celestia becoming Solaris, Luna becoming Artemis, Discord becoming Eris, Cadance becoming Bolero, and Shining Armor becoming Gleaming Shield. The fanfic On a Cross and Arrow is the reason most of the names are popular.
• Parodied in "New Name", a Guilty Gear -STRIVE- fanfic. After coming out as trans, Bridget acknowledges that she already had a female name, but changes it anyway, to "Bridgette", because she wants to "make it even girlier and more feminine".
• Pokémon Crossing: Averted for the main protagonist. Holly's deadname is Benedict.
• RWBY: Scars:
  • Jaune is transgender and his dead name is Joan.
  • It's revealed in a flashback chapter that Ruby's dead name is "Crimson". "Ruby" was her parents choice for a girl's name.
• So the Trauma: After Kim hits her gaydar, Shego tweaks Drakken's plans so that his synthodrone "Eric" is now a girl named "Erica".
• A Song of Grumbling & Cotton Candy:
  • Deconstructed. Pizzazz hates being called her legal name "Phyllis" because it's too close to her deadname. She went by "Ellen" during high school before going with her current name.
  • Pizzazz's first girlfriend Alicia was originally her best friend Aaron before she transitioned. However, it's possible that Alicia never existed.
• In Switching it Up!, Ryoga goes by "Ryoko" while in female form (It Makes Sense in Context).
• Vow of Nudity: Whenever Spectra shapeshifts into a male form, she goes by the name 'Spectre'.
• With Pearl and Ruby Glowing:
  • The fanfic interprets Mr. Tweedy as a trans woman. Her deadname is Willard, but she goes by Wilhemina post-transition.
  • Shaun is a trans boy, and his deadname (as seen in the chapter in which he comes out and changes his name) is Sarah.
  • Frufru is pregnant and planning to name her new child after DW because DW helped her dead child Nadine in her last days; the new baby is a boy so she's naming him Dorian instead of Dora.
  • Averted with Double Trouble, who goes from Lucien to Bex, Mr Baldwin, who goes from Pearl to Gil, and Riley and Lynn Junior, who already have neutral names and don't change them.
• In The Word of Your Body, Jake is called Jude, the masculine version of Judith, his dead name.

Films — Animation

• Referenced in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, when Buck mentions the time he used a sharpened clam shell to turn a T. rex into a "T. Rachel".

Films — Live-Action

• 3 Generations: Ray's deadname was the similar-sounding "Ramona".
• Bandslam's cello player was going to be a boy called Ira, but Elvy Yost impressed enough for the director to cast her as Irene.
• Better Than Chocolate: Judy's legal name it turns out is Jeremy.
• In Boys Don't Cry, trans man Brandon Teena got his name by switching the parts of his birth name around.
• High and Tight - the youngest Olsen sibling was first a boy called Seth, then a girl called Serena, and then back to Seth again.
• Jem and the Holograms (2015) changes the original cartoon's villain, Eric Raymond, to a woman named Erica.
• Myra Breckinridge: Myra is a trans woman who used to be called Myron; Myron still exists as an imaginary friend of sorts. In the end, Myron's life as a woman turns out to be All Just a Dream.
• Normal (2003) is about a trans woman named Ruth Applewood, previously known as Roy.
• Salt was going to be about a man called Edwin, to be played by Tom Cruise. After Angelina Jolie convinced producers to cast her, the character's name was changed to Evelyn.
• Some Like It Hot: When musicians Joe and Jerry have to hide from the mob by dressing in drag, Joe goes by Josephine and suggests Geraldine for Jerry. Jerry, however, doesn't like his new name and changes it to Daphne at the last minute, thus defying the trope.
• The Tempest (2010) is a Gender Flipped version of the Shakespeare play. The male character Prospero is now a woman played by Helen Mirren called Prospera.
• They/Them (2022): Alexandra's deadname is Alexander, as the camp staff call her.
• Victor/Victoria is a film about a woman named "Victoria" pretending to be a female impersonator named "Victor".
• What I Stand For's soldier Byrne was originally named Stephen, but when the original actor dropped out, they cast a woman to make it Stephanie.

Literature

• A variation in the third Captain Underpants book, where the three aliens Zorx, Klax, and Jennifer disguise themselves as human women and respectively call themselves "Zorxette", "Klaxette", and "Jenniferette".
• Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novel Hawkmistress!. When Romilly MacAran's father refuses her an education and orders her into an Arranged Marriage with an older man, she takes the name Rumal and runs away from home while dressing as a boy.
• In Gael Baudino's Dragonsword series, a troop of male warriors is turned into women by magic; their leader, Marrget, eventually starts going by Marrha, the feminine form of the name. (The most prominent other swapped character does not change names, but conveniently already had a name — Wykla — that easily reads as female to an English audience.)
• Harry Potter - the baby dragon Hagrid wins in a card game is named Norbert by him. The dragon is sent away to live in a colony in Romania, and a few years later Hagrid discovers Norbert was actually female - so now goes by Norberta.
• How NOT to Write a Novel parodies this with a story example mentioning how Josef Mengele fled to South America after the war and began a new life as "Josephine Womengele".
• In I Am J the protagonist's name is just "J". His legal name is "Jenifer".
• Luna from Luna is a trans girl teenager whose birth name was "Liam". She initially tried out "Lia" but thought it was too similar for her liking.
• The title character from Myra Breckinridge by Gore Vidal was originally named Myron.
• Nemesis Series: The series protagonist goes from Daniel/Danny to Danielle/Dani, with her nickname never changing at all besides the spelling. Being called Daniel remains a bitter annoyance nonetheless.
• In Ozma of Oz, Dorothy's pet chicken was originally named "Bill" by her original owner because he thought she was male until she laid an egg. Then Dorothy renamed her, "Billina".^note Once they enter the regions about Oz, Billina becomes a talking hen, and is one of the characters in the story. Dorothy even mentions that putting "-ina" at the end makes it a girl's name.
• In Patience and Sarah, Sarah pretends to be a man named "Sam".
• A novelization of Sabrina the Teenage Witch has her going back in time to Elizabethan days and casting a spell to disguise herself as an actor from then. As the actors of the day were all men, Sabrina is turned into a boy and she gives her name as Samuel. (When she changes herself to a boy in the sitcom, she subverts the trope by calling herself Jack.)
• In the first book of The Seven Blue Mountains of Oz trilogy, Princess Amalea wakes up turned into a boy and takes the alias "Amadin" (which most shorten to as "Dinny"). But then it's revealed that Dinny is his true form and Amalea was the transformation.
• In The Shakespeare Stealer, Widge's friend Julian turns out to be a girl named Julia, who had been pretending to be a boy so she'd be allowed to act onstage.
• Song of the Lioness: The plot is kicked off when Alanna disguises herself as male to become a knight. She takes the name "Alan."
• In Strega Nona's Magic Lessons, Big Anthony is jealous when he sees Strega Nona teaching magic to a visitor but refusing to teach him because of his spectacular fails with magic in the past. To learn magic from her, he dresses up as a girl and calls himself "Antonia".
• Tales of the Eerie Saloon: Every character that takes the potion gets this with their new name. Jesse becomes Jessie, Will becomes Wilma, Brian becomes Bridget, Miguel becomes Maggie, Leroy becomes Laura, Jack becomes Jane, Elmer becomes Emma, Leland becomes Lylah, Forry becomes Flora, Patrick becomes Trisha, and Arnoldo becomes Anna.
• Tunnel in the Sky features an example where "Jacqueline Marie Daudet" is mistaken for a young boy (in part due to constantly wearing body armor) by a boy during an advanced survival test on a faraway planet. She continues to pretend that she's "Jack Daudet" for weeks, including through some sexist commentary by her survival partner, until the beans are spilled by someone the two of them rescue. For 1955, the premise that girls could do things just as well as men could was pretty advanced.
• Vorkosigan Saga: In A Civil Campaign Lady Donna Vorrutyer goes to Beta Colony and returns as Lord Dono Vorrutyer, for the purpose of petitioning the Council of Counts to confirm him as Count Dono Vorrutyer.
• Whateley Universe:
  • Chaka: from Anthony 'Tony', to Antonia 'Toni'.
  • Fey: Nicholas to Nichole.
  • Tennyo: William 'Bill' to Billie.
• There's a children's book called When Katy is Keith about a young trans boy.

Live-Action TV

• An episode of Dani's House has Dani dress up as a guy and call herself "Dan".
• Doctor Who: When the Master regenerated into a woman, she changed her name to "Missy", short for the Mistress. This also proved useful for Rule of Drama, as the audience (and the Doctor) doesn't find out that this "Missy" person is his old archenemy until Missy flat-out tells him for a Cliffhanger Wham Line at the end of "Dark Water".
  Missy: Oh please, try to keep up. Short for Mistress. Well... couldn't very well keep calling myself the Master, now could I?
• Friends: Phoebe suggests that Ross and Rachel name their child after her. When they ask what to do if it's a boy, she suggests calling him 'Phoebo'.
• Glee: Coach Sheldon Beiste changes his first name from "Shannon" after coming out as a trans man.
• Israeli Telenovela HaAlufa had a mother and her MTF daughter consult a transwoman about her transition to female for support. She mentions her name used to be Alon, so she changed it to Alona.
• Hannah Montana: In one episode, Miley disguises herself as a boy and goes by the alias "Milo".
• The House of Flowers: Born José María, after coming out as a trans woman she flipped it around, making it María José.
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit:
  • In "Fallacy" Cheryl, who's revealed to be transgender, originally had been named Charles by her parents.
  • Another transgender character from a later episode was named Henry at birth but goes by Hailey after her transition.
• The episode of Malcolm in the Middle "If Boys Were Girls" has Lois imagine what life would be like if her sons were girls. Malcolm is Mallory, Reece is Renee and Dewey is Daisy. Frances is the only one of them to keep the same name (and actor) as her male counterpart.
• Once on That '70s Show, Hyde mocks Foreman by calling him "Erica." Kelso laughs, says that he's glad that you can't do that to "Michael," only for Hyde to dryly call him "Michelle." They then try to come up with a comeback for him ("Hyde-o...lina?") before Hyde gets annoyed and snaps "It's 'Heidi!'"^note His first name is actually Stephen, but for some reason nobody thinks to call him "Stephanie."
• Twin Peaks: One arc involves Dale Cooper expecting the arrival of his acquaintance, DEA agent Dennis Bryson, who is visiting the titular town for a case. When the moment comes, Dale is surprised to discover Bryson has become a trans woman, now going by the name Denise.
• Two Sentence Horror Stories: In "Elliot" Elliot's deadname was Elsa, quite similar to his now.
• Downplayed in The Umbrella Academy (2019): the only similarity between Seven's deadname "Vanya" and his current name "Viktor" is that they both begin with a "V".
• An episode of USA High has a gag where Ashley tries to reveal that Winnie actually a man in drag called Winston.
• In the '90s Fred Savage sitcom Working (1997), Chris Grant (short for "Christina") shows up for an interview to join the office where the show is set. The boss is a known philanderer and "good old boy," so Christina dresses and acts masculine to get on the boss's good side and score the job. Hilarity Ensues when her gender is revealed to the main character (but not the boss), and then they all hang out in a sauna. Even more Hilarity Ensues after Chris is found out, gets fired, and the office rises up against the boss's unfair hiring practices. In the next round of interviews, he's forced to consider females for the job. The woman he chooses to hire is actually the main character in drag.
• Young Blades features Jacqueline, alias "Jacques", a woman disguised as a man while on the run for murder. Although in her case, it's a Paper-Thin Disguise.
• In The Young Riders Pony Express rider Lou was really "Louise", and managed to keep her real gender hidden from most of the main characters for nearly the entire first season (and from some of them for even longer.) Potentially Truth in Television as the Pony Express deliberately recruited "short and wiry" boys (orphans preferred) to make it easier on their horses.

Music

• S Club 7 had a series of tie-in magazines that included a fictional story about the band. One issue had their new manager turning out to be a witch who turned the boys into girls. Jon became Joni, and Bradley became Brady.

Myths & Religion

• Hervor the Elder from The Saga of Hervor and Heidrek dresses as a man and calls herself "Hervard" to join a group of Vikings, later becoming their leader. It's not until after she has led the Vikings, recovered her father's sword and ventured into a land ruled by giants that anyone works out that she is a woman.
• In Greek mythology, a woman named Caenis had an affair with (or was raped by) Poseidon, who granted her a wish in exchange. She asked to be transformed into a man and took the name Caeneus.

Pro Wrestling

• When Harvey Whippleman wrestled in drag to win the Women's Championship, he used the alias 'Hervina'.
• Ted DiBiase's 1991 feud with Virgil and Rowdy Roddy Piper saw Virgil portray his "sister" Virgilina, as well as Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake as his female counterpart Barbara "The Beautician" Cheesecake.

Video Games

• In Blood II: The Chosen, one of the chosen, Gabriel, who had been killed in the previous game, gets resurrected in as a woman named Gabriella.
• Erica Anderson used to be called "Eric" in Catherine.
• In addition to Fate/Grand Order continuing the franchise's long-standing tradition (see the Visual Novels example below) of male historical and/or legendary figures being female in the game, there's also Leonardo da Vinci, who even in the Fate-verse's alternate universe was a man...but chose to be summoned as a woman (resembling his most famous creation, the Mona Lisa) when he became a Heroic Spirit. But as a woman, she still goes by "Leonardo".
• An extra in Guild Wars 2 mentions that her name is Sya, but the player might remember her as "Symon". They worked together on the relief effort after Scarlet's attack.
• Legend of Mana: A villain named Alexandra has two identities. One is a female gem thief named Sandra, and the other is a male proprietor of a gem shop named Alex. It is eventually revealed that the male personality was only a disguise, and once it is no longer useful, Alexandra abandons it completely.
• One of the Alternate Universes in Portal 2 is a Lady Land where Cave Johnson is apparently a woman named Cavina Johnson, but his/her voice still sounds the same.
• "Birdo" is the species name but also what the 'main' Birdo from Super Mario Bros. goes by. It's said she would rather be called "Birdetta", though no one calls her that. In Japan, the species' name is "Catherine", which is feminine, but she likes being called "Cathy".
• In Yakuza, Goro Majima goes by "Goromi" when he dresses up like a woman.

Visual Novels

• In Fate/stay night, Saber was born with the name "Artoria" (or "Altria"), but when she pretended to be a male in order to conform with the expectations of the throne she gained, she adopted the far more familiar name "King Arthur".
• one night, hot springs: When Haru has to sign a form with her legal name, it's revealed that Haru's deadname is "Haruto".
• Secret Little Haven: Alex's deadname is "Alexander", and she is later referred to with the more feminine name "Alexandra". However, she's mostly referred to with the gender-neutral nickname "Alex" throughout the game.

Web Animation

• My Story Animated: ''I Realised I Wasn’t Trans After Transitioning'' is about a genderfluid person. Their parents gave them the name "Oliver" but as a child, they transitioned into living as a girl named "Olivia". At age eighteen, they realized they were genderfluid instead of a trans woman. Now they live as "Olive" but use "Olivia" on female days and "Oliver" on male days.

Webcomics

• In Assigned Male, trans girl Stephie got her name from her birth name "Stephen".
• Between the Lines (2006):
  • The trans girl main character is named Dani, her male name was "Danny".
  • There's a character called Nikki, who Shay was bullied by years ago when she went by "Nicholas".
  • Shay subverts this trope as her birth name is "Kevin".
• Dumbing of Age has Joyce's trans sister born (and still known by her fundie family) as Joshua, who posts online as Jocelyn.
• El Goonish Shive
  • When Elliot gets transformed into a girl by the TF gun, he goes by "Ellen". When the Dewitchery Diamond separates them, the female form continues to use that name.
  • Invoked by a transgender character who casually suggests that Tedd might want to consider the name "Tess". The character introduces himself as "Sam", which he may have shortened from "Samantha".
• I Want to Be a Cute Anime Girl: Charon becomes Cheryl, retaining the ch, though the common pronunciations differ.
• Khaos Komix: Averted. Charlie does not change her name when she starts to present as a girl. As she puts it, she's always been Charlie, but now it's just in a slightly different way.
• NEXT!!! Sound of the Future: Gumiya's name was "Gumi" before he transitioned. He seems to have taken the "ya" from the "8" in "L9Y8" ("8" can be read as "ya" in Japanese), which is part of his serial code.
• The Princess (2009):
  • Irma is eventually revealed to be non-binary. They sometimes go by "Irving".
  • Sarah is a trans girl who used to go by "Seth".
• Rain:
  • Rain's name is very similar to her dead name, Ryan.
  • When Rudy crossdresses, he goes by "Ruby".
  • Vincent used to be Vivian.
  • Ana's birthname is Aaron.
  • Subverted with Colette, who decides 'Colin' is too similar to be comfortable. He ends up choosing the name Ryan after overhearing Rain use her deadname so she can take Chanel to prom, and is inspired by what he thought was a girl with an androgynous name.
• Sticky Dilly Buns:
  • Dillon O'Brien (who also appears in Ménage à 3) calls himself "Dinah" or "Dilla" when he cross-dresses (although the former choice is originally triggered by him playing Black Canary on stage).
  • When Ruby Larose disguises herself as a man, she uses the pseudonym "Rudy".

Web Original

• SCP Foundation: In the tale "Da Capo al Fine", one of the many things Little Miss Almighty Sigurros Stefansdottir (also known as SCP-239) does with her powers is try out being a boy for a year. While doing so, she renames herself Stefan Sigurrosson.

Western Animation

• The Adventure Time genderswaps have female Finn as "Fionna" (originally spelled "Fiona"), Marceline as "Marshal Lee", Princess Bubblegum as "Prince Gumball", and in a rare display of an unalliterated genderbent naming, Jake the dog as "Cake" the cat.
• In the finale to As Told by Ginger the character Nikki is revealed to be a male named Nicholas.
• A meta example occurred in development for Avatar: The Last Airbender. Azula was originally written as Zuko's little brother "Azul" before being changed to a girl. This change in gender ultimately caused her role to be increased (the early series bible only briefly makes reference to Azula's brother, implying he was a bit role) and is related to Mai and Ty Lee being created.
• Bob's Burgers: When Gene contemplates transferring schools to get away from Courtney Wheeler, Louise tells him that there's an opening at the Catholic school, but he'll have to wear a skirt and go by the name "Eugenia".
• In Clone High the Joan of Arc clone disguises herself as "John Dark" ("Jeanne d'Arc") to join the hoops team, to give them a fighting chance against their rivals. The whole thing backfires when Abe hates John, and so in respect of Abe, "he" keeps passing the ball to him, even though "he" could probably score "himself"; so they end up being pummeled again, and don't even score until the last second of the game... which fortunately helps the principal win a bet.
• In Codename: Kids Next Door, Heinrich von Marzipan is a girl cursed to be a boy. Her real name is Henrietta.
• When Timmy from The Fairly OddParents! gets turned into a girl in "The Boy Who Would Be Queen" he uses the name "Timantha". He makes Cosmo and Wanda change into "Cosma" and "Wando" when they make fun of him.
• Family Guy: Subverted in "Quagmire's Dad", in which Lt. Dan Quagmire transitions into a woman and takes on the name Ida. When Brian finds out about the sex change, he asks if she chose "Danielle" or "Dana".
• In Futurama when Leela dresses as a man to join the army, Zapp Brannigan asks "him" what his name is and she replies "Leela.. man... Lee Lemon."
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: One episode featured Mandy disguising herself as a boy to join Billy's baseball team, using the alias "Manfred".
• The Loud House applied this to numerous characters in the episode "One of the Boys", where Lincoln meets male versions of his ten sisters.
  • Lori becomes "Loki", Leni becomes "Loni", Luna becomes "Luke", Luan becomes "Lane", Lucy becomes "Lars", Lana becomes "Leif", Lola becomes "Lexx", Lisa becomes "Levi", and Lily becomes "Leon". The only brother whose name remains the same from his correspondent sister is Lynn, due to her Gender-Blender Name (she's named after her father).
  • Lincoln's female version is named "Linka".
  • The script sheet shows that Bobby's female version (who's never seen nor mentioned at any point in the episode) is named "Bebe".
• The Powerpuff Girls: In "Slumbering With the Enemy", Mojo Jojo disguises himself as a girl as part of his plan to destroy the girls at a Slumber Party they host. The name he uses is "Mojesha".
• Ridley Jones: Fred the nonbinary bison derived their name from their deadname "Winnifred", the latter which their grandmother keeps calling them because she's unaware of their transition. They eventually get the courage to come out to her and have her call them "Fred", which she wholeheartedly accepts.
• Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling: By The Movie, Ralph has transitioned into living as a woman named Rachel.
• Rugrats (1991):
  • Stu enters Tommy into a beauty pageant as "Tanya" in an early episode.
  • In "Clan of the Duck", when Chuckie and Phil decide to wear dresses for a day after hearing how much fun they are from Lil, Howard takes them to the park. They meet up with two boys named Frankie and Joey, and to prove to them that they're girls, Phil calls himself "Phillian" and Chuckie "Chuckina".
• The Simpsons:
  • In a Season 4-episode (which came out back in the early-1990s), Homer mentions having a cousin "Frank" who became "Francine" in 1976. Homer then adds that his cousin eventually joined a cult and renamed herself "Mother Shabooboo."
  • According to the episode "Holidays of Future Passed", Martin Prince will change their name to "Marsha Princess" as an adult. A future episode retcons that though.
• South Park:
  • Leopold's nickname is "Butters". So when he gets Disguised in Drag what do they call him? "Marjorine".
  • In "The Cissy" Eric Cartman claims he's a "transginger" named Erica. Wendy also comes to school as a boy named "Wendyl" to show him a lesson.
• In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "She's No Lady...", Patrick needs to go into hiding, and SpongeBob gets the idea of disguising him as a woman named Patricia.
• Steven Universe: Played With in "Hit the Diamond". When the Crystal Gems are pretending to be humans to trick the Ruby Squad, Pearl claims to be "Earl". Obviously "Pearl" is an acceptable human name, too, but they need something that doesn't sound like a Gem name. She wasn't necessarily pretending to be male, though Rubies are so gullible and ignorant of humans, she could do so easily. (Lapis, meanwhile, calls herself "Bob".)
• Wakfu: During the Brâkmarian Gobbowl arc, Evangelyne and Amalia are turned into males by a potion and goes by the names "Evangelion" and "Amalius", respectively, to participate in the Gobbowl match.
• One episode of The Weekenders has Tino, worried that his mother's influence has made him too emotional, imagine himself as a girl named Tina.

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