Deadnaming

Lore & Background

Deadnaming can be a form of overt aggression or a microaggression, indicating that the target is not fully accepted as a member of society. Transgender activists consider the deadnaming of homicide victims and high-profile celebrities by news media to be a violation of privacy and a contributing factor to transphobia. Journalistic style guides, health-practitioner manuals, and LGBTQ advocacy groups advise adopting transgender people's names and pronouns, even when referring to them in the past, prior to transitioning. A 2021 survey by The Trevor Project found a lower rate of suicide attempts from trans and nonbinary youth who had their name or gender marker changed on legal documents.

Reader's Guide

Deadnaming carries a negative connotation, implying that referring to a transgender person by their former name is unacceptable. Queer scholar Lucas Crawford theorized that some transgender people insist on preventing deadnaming as a strategy of prospective self-assertion, seeking to erase the past or locate their 'real self' in the future. Correcting deadnaming by third parties is cited as a way to support trans people. Obstacles to name changes include bureaucratic and administrative hurdles, such as legally changing names requiring time, money, and effort. For academic publications, metadata containing a deadname can be difficult or impossible to change; some publishers have taken up policies allowing trans authors to modify their metadata. In film and television, IMDb faced criticism in 2019 over refusing to remove actors' birth names, later changing its policy to allow removal if the name is not broadly publicly known. Corporate responses vary: some web platforms allow name changes, while Twitter removed deadnaming from its hateful content guidelines in April 2023.

Did You Know?

• The Oxford English Dictionary attests the use of 'deadname' on Twitter in 2010 and 'deadnaming' in 2013.
• A 2021 survey by The Trevor Project found a lower rate of suicide attempts from trans and nonbinary youth who had their name or gender marker changed on legal documents.
• In 2019, IMDb faced criticism from SAG–AFTRA, the National LGBTQ Task Force and GLAAD over its refusal to remove actors' birth names.
• In April 2023, Twitter removed deadnaming from its hateful content guidelines.

Definition and the Spectrum of Harm

Deadnaming sits within the broader category of misgendering, specifically referring to the act of addressing a transgender or non-binary individual by a former name they have explicitly rejected. The rejected name is understood by the person as dead to them, a linguistic remnant of a gender identity they no longer hold following their transition. The act carries significant risk: it can cause emotional harm, and in some cases it may inadvertently out a person as transgender to those who did not previously know. When done deliberately, deadnaming functions as a tool to deny or invalidate someone's gender identity. Queer scholars and activists frame it on a spectrum, ranging from a microaggression that signals a person is not fully accepted in society to an act of overt aggression. The term itself carries a strongly negative connotation, implying that using a trans person's former name is fundamentally unacceptable. Correcting deadnaming by third parties is widely cited as a practical way to support trans individuals in their daily lives.

Origins of the Term and Cultural Naming Practices

In many cultures, given names are categorized as masculine, feminine, or unisex, and are typically assigned to an infant based on their sex at birth. For transgender individuals whose gender identity diverges from that assignment, selecting a new name becomes a meaningful act of self-determination. The specific term deadname gained traction among transgender activists during the 2010s. The Oxford English Dictionary records its first attested use on Twitter in 2010, with deadnaming appearing in 2013. The language is deliberately charged: it signals that the old name is not merely outdated but dead, and that using it constitutes a transgression. Activists have extended this framework to critique news media, arguing that deadnaming homicide victims or high-profile celebrities constitutes a privacy violation and feeds broader transphobia. Journalistic style guides, health-practitioner manuals, and LGBTQ advocacy organizations now generally advise using a trans person's current name and pronouns, even when discussing events that occurred before their transition. A 2021 survey by The Trevor Project found lower rates of suicide attempts among trans and nonbinary youth who had their name or gender marker changed on legal documents such as birth certificates and driver's licenses.

Bureaucratic and Institutional Barriers

Avoiding deadnaming is not simply a matter of asking others to use a new name; it often requires navigating substantial bureaucratic and administrative hurdles. Legally changing a name demands time, money, and sustained effort, and updating related records—school schedules, employer emails, institutional databases—can prove equally difficult. The problem is especially acute in academic and entertainment industries. Published research carries metadata, including bylines and ISBNs, that can be extremely hard or impossible to alter. Some publishers have adopted policies permitting trans authors to modify their metadata, but many do not, forcing some to republish work as new editions while trying to withdraw old ones. University of California researcher Theresa Tanenbaum described the frustration of attempting to update 83 publications still attributed to her deadname, with numerous publishers ignoring or refusing her requests. In film and television, IMDb faced criticism from SAG-AFTRA, the National LGBTQ Task Force, and GLAAD in 2019 for refusing to remove actors' birth names, eventually changing its policy only partially. Netflix updated metadata for Elliot Page's films in December 2020, yet other trans performers like Josie Totah remained credited under their deadnames.

Corporate Policy and Political Backlash

The institutional landscape around deadnaming has shifted unevenly across platforms and political contexts. In 2013, English Wikipedia drew media attention over its handling of Chelsea Manning's public transition: the article was quickly renamed, but a prolonged dispute followed, ultimately reaching the site's Arbitration Committee, which sanctioned both transphobic editors and those accusing others of transphobia. Wikimedia Foundation executive Sue Gardner publicly expressed disappointment. In 2021, Fandom introduced LGBT guidelines across its sites, building on existing terms that already prohibited deadnaming, and added links to queer-inclusive and trans support resources. However, political shifts have also produced reversals. After Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter in late 2022, the platform reinstated Jordan Peterson, who had been suspended for a tweet deadnaming Elliot Page, and The Babylon Bee, suspended for misgendering U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine. By April 2023, Twitter had removed deadnaming from its hateful content guidelines entirely. These swings illustrate how corporate and political decisions can either protect or expose trans individuals to the harms of deadnaming.