Noun: deadname
| Singular | deadname |
| Plural | deadnames |
Sample Sentences
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And when people constantly refer to you as your deadname [a name that you previously went by], or use the incorrect pronouns, it really is like getting slapped with a wet fish. [2014, Natalia Moorin, “My Illness Is Not Your Inspiration”, in Damsel, University of Western Australia, page 21:]
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One of the articles in our last issue contained a major error: we referred to a transgender student by their deadname. [2018 February 27, Amy O'Kruk, “Apology to readers”, in Western Gazette, Western University, page 2:]
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“My deadname is everywhere because of my ID card, and not only do I have to look at it but lots of other people get to see. […] [2018, Alex McFadden, quoted in Noni Cole & Ruby Perryman, "The Unfair University ID Card", Farrago (University of Melbourne), Edition Three (2018), page 7]
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I know it hurts you when they look at you strange
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Misgender you intentionally, use your deadname [2025, Kae Tempest, “I Stand On The Line”:]
Nouns inflected like deadname
soldier's woundwort,
Nicosian,
whopper,
greypate,
tactile sign language,
chronotrope,
Rosie Lee,
dissentient,
photoinactivator,
sulphonediimine,
coastal waterfall,
residuary devise,
bituminization,
nitrosonaphthol,
smṛiti,
geosphere,
backscreen,
mensuralist,
flocculate,
flocculant, etc. (List truncated at 20 nouns)
Etymology
From dead + name, because the old name is dead (“no longer used”). Attested since at least 2010 as a noun and 2013 as a verb by the OED.
Verbs referencing "deadname"
Portuguese Nouns
nome morto, German Nouns
Deadname.