IDW’s given us more several examples of characters who have renamed themselves (Gentius>Brainstorm, Tumbler>Chromedome – nicknames gained from their work together at the Institute), but historically there are a variety of stories behind TF names. In one of the earliest looks at the subject, it was noted that the names WE know the Transformers by aren’t really their names at all:
Being named by someone else is common enough: if one Transformer builds another they’ll usually give them a name (for instance, the Dinobots in the G1 cartoon). In Animated, this happens for Autobots at boot camp, where their names are chosen by the drill sergeant based on their attributes (”Ironhide” for his ability to transform his armor into super-hard metal, “Wasp” for his stingers, “Longarm” for his extending limbs, “Optimus” for his optimism, “Hot Rod” for the flames on his chest, etc). It’s never stated but presumably they must have names before this that they subsequently discard.
Other times – and this is probably how it is for a lot of ‘bots – Transformers spring into being with an innate knowledge of their own name from the moment of their creation. When the Aerialbots and Stunticons were created in the G1 cartoon, they introduced themselves by name, for example. And when Silverbolt joined the cast of Beast Wars, he pondered for a moment, then said:
Cybertronian Database 