FTM stands for "female to male." It's long-standing shorthand for a trans man — someone who was assigned female at birth and is a man.
That's the whole answer. The rest of this page is the nuance around it, because the shorthand carries some baggage that's worth understanding before you use it about someone else.
The short version
- FTM — shorthand for a trans man. Widely used, widely searched, and used by plenty of trans men about themselves.
- Trans man — the plain-language term. Two words, never one. This is the safest thing to say.
- Transmasc (transmasculine) — a broader term for people with a relationship to masculinity, which includes some trans men and also some nonbinary people. Not a synonym for trans man.
- Trans guy — casual, common, friendly.
Why some people avoid "FTM"
The acronym describes a journey "from" one thing "to" another, and that framing implies a trans man used to be a woman. Most trans men would say they were always men — what changed was how they lived and how others saw them, not who they are.
So "FTM" is fine as a self-description and as a search term, and many trans men use it happily. But if you're describing someone else, "trans man" is the term that can't land wrong. Use the acronym when the person uses it for themselves.
FTM is a gender identity, not an orientation
This trips a lot of people up, so it's worth stating plainly: gender identity is who you are, sexual orientation is who you're attracted to. They're independent.
A trans man can be gay, straight, bisexual, pansexual, queer, asexual — any of them. A trans man who's attracted to men is a gay man. A trans man who's attracted to women is straight. Being trans tells you nothing about who someone dates.
The same goes the other way: knowing someone is bisexual tells you nothing about their gender.
What FTM doesn't tell you
Being a trans man says nothing about someone's medical history. Whether a person has taken hormones, had any surgery, or done neither is private, and it has no bearing on whether they're a man. The medical-status labels you see on other adult sites sort people by information they never agreed to share, which is why you will not find them used here.
It also says nothing about how someone looks or sounds. There's no particular way a trans man is supposed to present.
Related terms you'll see
- MTF — the mirror shorthand, for a trans woman. Same caveats apply.
- Enby / nonbinary — someone whose gender isn't simply "man" or "woman." Some nonbinary people also call themselves trans; some don't.
- T4T — "trans for trans," meaning a trans person who dates or connects with other trans people. It's a preference and a statement of solidarity, not a gender.
- Cis / cisgender — someone who isn't trans. It's a neutral descriptor, not an insult.
FTM creators on OnlyFans
Trans men are badly served by most adult directories — usually there's no category for them at all, so they're scattered across tags that were never built for them and are effectively unfindable.
Our trans men hub lists creators who describe themselves as a trans man, FTM or transmasc on their own profile. Nobody is placed there because of how they look or what they post — if a profile doesn't say it, that creator isn't in the hub. Every listed creator can correct their labels or be removed within 24 hours.
You can also browse trans women and nonbinary creators, or see everyone with a free page.