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Pop Culture dictionary results for deadname.

deadname

American  
[ded-naym] / ˈdɛdˌneɪm /
Or dead name

noun

  • deadnames
    plural
  1. the previous name of someone who has changed that name, especially the pretransition first name of a trans person.


verb (used with object)

  • deadnames,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • deadnamed,
    past,  past participle
  • deadnaming
    present participle
  1. to call (a person, especially a trans person) by that person’s previous name, as opposed to a chosen or preferred name.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future


Etymology

Origin of deadname

First recorded in 2010–15


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Compound words are on the rise in the book with deadname, pageview, fintech, allyship, babymoon and subtweet.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 16, 2022

“Being a trans person, it’s sort of hard to see your deadname all around and people can sort of easily find this information,” she said.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 14, 2022

But Loewen, now 40, said her mother has come far in a short time, switching from using her deadname to “Elle,” a short version of her new middle name.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2022

“One of my friends, who is trans, had their deadname on their ID and we thought that was kind of unfair because everyone was calling them by their deadname,” the student said.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 13, 2021

In 2018, she created an installation that functioned as a funeral for her deadname, complete with a grass lawn and an engraved headstone.

From New York Times ● Aug. 18, 2021

As a running gag in one episode, he’s called to add cash to the “Pronoun Jar” whenever he misgenders or deadnames his daughter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2025

Only details concerning irrelevant third parties, certain isolated events and the students’ deadnames, or the birth names that they no longer use, will remain redacted, Kelly said Thursday.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 7, 2023

“I don’t want my friends to be misgendered and deadnamed every single day just because they don’t want to come out to their parents,” Leo said.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 7, 2023

The agency posted to X on Friday: “We have corrected this mistake and apologize for deadnaming the lake.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

The company kept on is books a policy prohibiting the “targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals,” which some transgender advocates had worried would be removed.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 1, 2023

The policy changes also add to a ban on hateful ideologies, explicitly banning deadnaming, misgendering, and misogyny, as well as content promoting conversion therapy.

From The Verge ● Feb. 8, 2022

That doesn’t mean you have to “cause a fuss,” necessarily, but you can politely object to deadnaming without “causing a fuss.”

From Slate ● Nov. 23, 2020

Calling someone by their rejected birth name is termed "deadnaming".

From BBC ● Dec. 6, 2015

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