Deadnaming, Taboo, and Linguistic Authority

Abstract To deadname is to call a trans person by a name they have rejected due to their gender transition. Deadnaming has a visceral impact, and is presumptively blameworthy. I offer an account of these properties in terms of taboo violations and acts of linguistic authority. Linguistic authority is posited to derive from a fundamental interest in being the author of one’s own social persona(e). I also consider, and reject, a semantic account of the behaviour of deadnames.