My change of name is now official

Sometimes the system DOES work! I submitted the papers for my legal change of name on June 27 and received the official certificate in the mail this past Tuesday, just over two weeks later. I’m totally impressed with the speed with which this was processed!

There’s some information about my new name posted here, but you’ll have to be a little familiar with Tibetan and Buddhism to figure out my new first name. Also, I ended up changing the order of names around a bit, winding up with [blank] Joshua Riverdale [blank] [blank]. Five names is quite a handle, so on forms and such I’ll just use [blank] Joshua [blank]. Of course, Riverdale is really the name that’s properly in the middle, so if I went with that as my singular middle name, my initials would be SRS!

I would post my new name in it’s entirety here except that I have a fairly public online profile due to my work and not all of my clients are aware that I am trans. This isn’t a blog I would want just anyone to come across after punching my name into a search query field. That being said, I don’t have a care in the world about letting regular readers of this blog in on my new name, so if you’re curious just drop me a line via email.

My GF is kindly working on a spreadsheet listing all the places where I will need to update my name. This includes:
Is he ever going to wear a shirt again?

driver’s license
health care card
credit cards
banks
phone company
hydro company
social insurance number
mortgage
insurance
PayPal.com, GoDaddy.com, Amazon.com and other online services where I use my CCs

…and last but certainly not least, I will need to petition the province of Quebec for a new birth certificate that states only my new name. As Jacky pointed out, I’ll need support letters from my psychologist and doctor, as well as documentation showing that I am using my new name publicly. It looks like I also have to publish my name change in the Gazette du Quebec and my local newspaper, then pay a $125 fee (plus other hidden fees, I’m sure.)

The adventure continues!

About this entry

You’re currently reading “My change of name is now official,” an entry on Gender Outlaw

Published:: July 17, 2008 / 12:27 pm

Category:: Name Change

Tags:: ftm, transgender, transition, transman, transmen, transsexual

About

Joshua Riverdale

I’m just another Gender Outlaw and this is my personal FTM transition blog. My journal is an important personal development tool: I use it to track and observe the complex, challenging and wondrous aspects of transcending gender. I’m thrilled to know that others find this public navigation helpful.

I’m 37 years old and live in rural British Columbia, Canada with my longtime girlfriend. I was diagnosed with GID by a school psychologist when I was five years old (1979), but I didn’t think of myself as transgender until October, 2007. (Honestly, I didn’t know I had options. I didn’t really know that trans men existed.) Learn more about my transition process here.

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Eliot 7.17.08 / 2pm

Congratulations! This is great news!

Tarald 7.17.08 / 3pm

Congratulations!

christine 7.17.08 / 4pm

i am assuming the s and s are the same, is the other the d or the h…haha I seem to remember the last name change dropped the h. I am partial to h’s lol
congrats. do you really have to change your name on all those things? H-man has different names all over the place, the only people who realllly seemed to care were the health card people. When he went to renew and they discovered legally he has a hyphenated last name they were incredibly terse and required his passport to give him a new card. It wasl over the top. His sin card is just hh a few places it is hch with no hyphenation and to top this off when he was in residence they had him as hhch..yes the second and last were the same. Ridiculous. His tax returns are hh to coincide with his sin, but a few jobs have had him as hch or hc. it just goes on.

genderoutlaw 7.17.08 / 5pm

Thanks guys!

@christine: Yes, the S and S are the same as what I previously mentioned to you over email. Dale is now part of Riverdale, with “river” being derived from my GF’s German-rooted last name. The H is still in there. When I previously changed my name I took my H last name and made it a middle name. (I know, this is getting confusing!) So: S – Joshua – Riverdale – H – S.

Do I * have to* change my name everywhere? There might be some entities that don’t care, but I don’t want to receive mail or get phone calls addressing me with my previous female name. It was a nice name, but it’s behind me now.

I found out today that BC will change the gender marker on my driver’s license with a letter from my doctor. I guess that means my insurance rates could go up! Hadn’t thought of that.

You’ve reminded me that I’ll have to add the Canadian and BC govs to that list, for income and GST tax and property taxes. I forgot b/c I haven’t yet done my 2007 returns! Ooops!!

Jacky V. 7.18.08 / 8am

Congrats on the official name change That was quick! You must be beeming!

Yeah, the rising insurance rates . . .lol. That occured to me a few weeks ago, that if I ever get a car, my insurance rates will rise. Makes me think I should get one before I get the sex marker changed. It’ll take a few years before I do that anyway . . .

Malcolm 7.18.08 / 11am

Why Tibetan over Sanskrit or Pali? Without giving too much away about my non-drag identity, I know a bit about Indian Buddhism and I’m curious to know…

christine 7.18.08 / 5pm

never thought about the rising insurance rates. I thought they evened out after 25 or something like that.

punkfairy 7.21.08 / 12am

YAY, congrats!! ;D

genderoutlaw 7.21.08 / 11am

@christine: I think you’re right. Someone told me over the weekend that after 25, insurance rates are the same for both men and women. I’m not 100% positive what ICBC’s policy is about this, but I’m well beyond 25 so I bet my rates will remain the same after all.

@Malcolm: The simple answer is that I am affiliated with the Tibetan Kagyu order, having taken refuge from a Tibetan Rinpoche of Kagyu lineage a few years ago.

Also, my original given female name shortened to a male name which is part of the new Tibetan name. This means that the shortened male name that people have always called me anyway remains the same despite the name change—most people don’t have to change what they call me.

Malcolm 7.23.08 / 6pm

Interesting. I would love to find out more about your story w/regard to Tibetan Buddhism. Maybe I’ll send you an email sometime? I am studying Indian Buddhism at the graduate level myself.

genderoutlaw 7.27.08 / 9pm

@Malcolm: Sure, sure, please do send me an email. My address is below, near the bottom of the left column. (I will reply from a different Gmail address, I hope your spam filters aren’t too strong.)

Brain Teasers 10.26.08 / 8pm

Congratulations! Glad you’re finally changing your name and yeah, you must be thankful you have your girlfriend at your back to support you and help you with the things you need to update.

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