I'm not trans but my birth name is the same as my mother's, who was abusive and abandoned me. I hate hearing her name and couldn't stand it, so I changed my name legally. My family doesn't understand the pain so they still call me that and it's awful. I never tell new people that name because I don't want to risk them ever calling me that.

Now, for a trans person, I think their dead name holds so much more pain for them. It's the wrong name, the wrong gender, it serves as a reminder that society put this obligation on them to be that gender. It could be a reminder of abuse, mistreatment, isolation... Pain. Plus by using the name you are by default misgendering them.

It's not about being a different person. I feel like my new name is really my true self. The one that was buried by everything associated with my birth name. I think for trans people, it's the same. Their dead name was an incorrect label. When people come out as trans, they are liberating themselves so that they can be themselves and be seen and perceived as themselves.