Few people afford themselves the luxury of self-definition, and I am lucky to be one of them. This supplement to my website answers some common questions. Please ask if you have any others: it is better to ask than to avoid or to assume.
Please call me Esmeralda (she/they) by default. Exceptions:
I felt it better suits me and how I wish to be known. (Others happened to agree.)
I felt it better suits me and how I wish to be known. (Others happened to agree.)
Gradually in all settings. In social contexts: from 26 July 2025. In private work contexts: from 31 December 2025. In publicly visible work contexts: from 22 April 2026. This webpage was first published on 16 May 2026.
My old name has a short form that is standard but may not be recognised as such by people who don't speak Russian. There is no remaining reason to use it, except perhaps for clarification in some cases.
Please use my new name unless there is a reason not to do so. This means “Esmeralda” if we are on first-name terms, “Dr Whitammer” if the situation calls for a title, and so on.
First, documents that used my old name that have a definite or expected date of finalisation should continue to use it.
Any work published with the old name should be cited as such regardless of the publication date, and preprints that first appeared with the old name will use the same when published.
The same goes for any events, talks, and the like if they were announced and advertised with my old name.
Because there were many such instances as of May 2026, for a while it will be common to see both names.
Examples
Second, it may sometimes be needed to clarify that the old and new names refer to the same person in order to maintain recognition of my person and work.
In such cases, it is fine to write or say that I have been known as or have published as “Nikolay Malkin”, or to direct them to this page.
Please prefer clarity over avoidance; I am not trying to hide the past but only to move forward from it.
Examples
Finally, it may be necessary to use the old name for other administrative and official purposes.
Whilst I have made the change official under UK law, it will take time for all systems to be updated.
Ask if unsure if this applies to a given situation.
Examples
I will use both names for as long as it takes for the new one to be widely recognised as referring to me. Emails, websites, and other materials will be updated gradually and may show either name for a while. In the infinite-time limit, I expect to use only the new name.
No.
In English, I prefer she or they. Many people find it easiest to use they with my old name and she with the new one.
En français, je préfère les pronoms elle ou iel (accords au féminin dans les deux cas). Vous le trouverez peut-être plus facile d'utiliser iel avec mon ancien nom et elle avec le nouveau.
Я предпочитаю местоимение она и соответствующие формы грамматического согласования. Я понимаю, что это может быть затруднительно в сочетании с моим бывшим именем. Если по каким-либо причинам вам приходится использовать его, пожалуйста, старайтесь подбирать нейтральные конструкции при возможности.
The first name: the way you'd expect in English, with secondary stress on the first syllable and primary stress on the third. (I say the first syllable as /ɛs/ rather than /ɛz/, but both are fine. There seems to be some dialectal/idiolectal variation in the pronunciation of the third (stressed) syllable; please use whatever sounds most natural to you.)
The surname: with primary stress on the first syllable and secondary stress on the second, meaning the ‘a’ is not reduced.
To my knowledge, I am the only person to have borne the surname “Whitammer”, although it has a plausible etymology. One could say it is as unique as the person to whom it belongs, which is a nice property for denotations in general.
No, unless I've told you how.
If we know each other well, I'll tell you.
Please use the same name or phonetically reasonable approximations in all languages by default.
In Russian, I sometimes use a different surname (and a patronymic in place of the middle name, if required) to fit the language better. Please ask if this is relevant.