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Apr 29, 2023

16 Personalized Gifts To Honor Your Chosen Name

If I’m leaving the house, I’m wearing my “Griffin” necklace. For the nine years

If I’m leaving the house, I’m wearing my "Griffin" necklace. For the nine years that I went by Griffin before legally changing my name last summer, this accessory was a quintessential part of validating my nonbinary-ness, announcing to me and to the world that I was Griffin, regardless of what my license or electric bill said.

While all my legal paperwork and work forms now say "Griffin," I still cherish and adore any and all fun life items bearing the name. Keychains, stationary, jewelry: I want it all.

Holding physical items with my chosen name or initials is a pinch-me moment. These things ensure that I get to greet the world as Griffin every day; I’m not just dreaming about having a new name anymore. They also help heal leftover childhood pain from never liking my "dead" name (the name a trans person was given at birth) and never wanting to broadcast it. A gift with my chosen name is a gift to younger me. It's a signal saying "Finally, you get to be yourself, and more, you get to be celebrated for it."

Without being totally on the nose, when you’re a trans, nonbinary and/or gender-nonconforming person who has changed their name, there is indeed a great sense of pride in getting to wear or use items displaying your new title. June being Pride Month, it's a natural time to think about ways to celebrate your own name change or the name change of queer and trans people in your life.

If a friend, family member, co-worker or otherwise close person has recently changed their name, giving them a personalized gift can be a thoughtful way to show your support and excitement. And if you’ve recently changed your name, been through the hellscape that is a legal name change or just want to explore what it feels like to use a different name, getting yourself a little treat with the new name can be a sweet way to honor your own journey.

To help you pick some fun name gifts, I rounded up my favorite options for celebrating yourself or a loved one. Some are more practical and some are just fun, but all are meant as a toast to a name that feels better.

HuffPost receives a share from retailers on this page. Every item is independently selected by the HuffPost Shopping team. Prices and availability are subject to change.

Staff Writer

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