Gender Recognition and Lived Name (GRLN)-Related Terms
See the LGBTQIA+ Resource Center for additional relevant terms.
- Cisgender: a gender identity that matches a person’s assigned sex at birth.
- Deadnaming: The use of someone's former name without the person's consent. In the trans community, deadnaming specifically refers to the harmful, accidental, or intentional dismissal, denial, or rejection of a person's gender identity by use of a name other than their Lived Name.
- Gender Binary: the classification of gender into two distinct categories of man and woman.
- Gender Identity: A sense of one’s self as trans, genderqueer, non-binary, woman, man, or any other genders, which may or may not align with the sex and/or gender one is assigned at birth.
- Lived Name: a chosen name used instead of a legal name (e.g., middle name instead of first name, anglicized name, name in which the individual is in the process of legally changing, name that better represents the individual’s gender identity).
- Legal Name: a name appearing on legal or official government documents (e.g., financial aid, payroll, bills for payment, medical identification and records, Federal immigration, and tax forms). A legal name may be someone’s deadname.
- Misgendering: Attributing a gender to someone that is incorrect/does not align with their gender identity. Can occur when using pronouns, gendered language (i.e., “Hello ladies!” “Hey guys”), or assigning genders to people without knowing how they identify.
- Non-binary: A gender identity and experience that lies outside, between, and/or fluctuating around the socially enforced binary of man/woman.
- Transgender Woman/Trans Woman: A woman who was not assigned female at birth.
- Transgender Man/Trans Man: A man who was not assigned male at birth.
- Transgender/Trans: An umbrella term describing a person whose internal knowledge of their gender is different from the sex that person was assigned at birth. A trans person may take social, medical and/or legal steps to transition, but a person may also identify as trans before or without taking any steps to transition, as gender is self-determined and is valid outside of social, medical or legal recognition.
- Transitioning: The process of taking steps to live as one’s true gender identity. Transitioning is different for each individual and may involve social transitions, such as using pronouns and a Lived Name that affirms one’s gender identity. Transitioning may or may not involve medical interventions like taking hormones or having surgery.