# Are you happy with your username? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 15, 2007, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588 "2007-11-15T21:05:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/21 "2007-11-15T21:56:38Z")
It’s okay. Sometimes I try to think of something better, but everything else I think of is lame. I guess I’ll stick with it. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/22 "2007-11-15T21:59:59Z")
Yes and no. Alexander Waverly is the campy, stereotypical spy-boss in UNCLE. …but everyone thinks it’s a reference Tamlyn Tomita’s character in Joy Luck Club. Do I seem like someone who could sit through Joy Luck Club? No. I could not. I had no knowledge of the character’s name. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/23 "2007-11-15T22:02:18Z")
Only drawback to mine is that people think I’m actually a chef (strangely enough), and I sometimes think that people may be annoyed at what they perceive to be chicanery on my part. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/24 "2007-11-15T22:09:31Z")
I like mine. It’s part of the name of my punk band. My uncle came up with the band name when he was a cook at a fancy country club. The other cooks played a practical joke on him since he was a rookie. They gave him some butterflied pork fillets and told him it was “flander” and it costs $50 for each plate of it. “What is flander?” It’s wolf pussy. Obviously, not true, but funny. The band name stuck, and I started using the name Flander on band site logins and such. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/25 "2007-11-15T22:09:46Z")
[QUOTE=Waverly] Yes and no. Alexander Waverly is the campy, stereotypical spy-boss in UNCLE. …but everyone thinks it’s a reference Tamlyn Tomita’s character in Joy Luck Club. Do I seem like someone who could sit through Joy Luck Club? No. I could not. I had no knowledge of the character’s name. [/QUOTE] Actually, when I see your username I always think of Bertrand Russell’s example in ‘On Denoting’: “Scott was the author of _Waverley_.” Occupational hazard, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/26 "2007-11-15T22:12:43Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] **Sal Ammoniac** suits me nicely – it’s namelike, it conveys my gender… [/QUOTE] I’m assuming male (Salvatore), but I suppose it could be female (Sally). My own — ehh. It’s not great, but unless I get a better idea I’ll stick with it. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/27 "2007-11-15T22:14:42Z")
Meh. I changed it once already, because when I first signed up here I foolishly used my then primary e-mail username (not the whole thing, just the part before the @), which was unpronounceable and had no “personality.” So after a short while I changed it. We had just had our NYE2K costume party, and I dressed as Carol Burnett’s “Starlet O’Hara,” complete with curtain rod. I wanted to be either Katie Scarlett or Scarlett, but those were taken (and the bitches have never posted again!!), so I stuck the year I was born on the end. Now I’m thinking I’d rather dump the numbers and pick something else, and besides I’m pretty much nothing like Miss O’Hara. But I suspect I’d be turned down because I already changed it once (even if it was way back when) and I can’t be arsed to think of something else. So here I am. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/28 "2007-11-15T22:20:19Z")
Eh, sorta. I didn’t think I was really going to be on here much ( :smack: ) so I didn’t care a whole lot. I just got annoyed because all of my normal don’t-have-to-think-about-it choices were taken already. And the prompt I got was something like, “We’re sorry, you innane douchebag with the originality of a Xerox…you can’t have that username!” To which I finally typed, in irritation: WhyNot? Like back when you were 12 and playing Zork, and you’d tell the computer to go fuck itself because seeing it say “I do not know how to go fuck myself” was the height of adolescent hilarity? Yeah, I had a moment like that. Only it accepted it. So here I am. I’d change it, but I’m still as unoriginal as a Xerox and can’t really come up with anything better. Plus I suppose I’ve gotten a persona around here, and for better or worse, I’d rather not interrupt that. I really dislike it when posters who I’ve come to know and interact with as individuals change their usernames. ETA: OTOH, I suppose it does capture my anti-authoritarian counterculture aspects pretty succinctly, and that’s probably what I’m best remembered for around here. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/29 "2007-11-15T22:20:39Z")
[QUOTE=brewha] So, this name really has nothing to do with me, and since it ends in an “a” it apparently makes me look like a girl. [/QUOTE] But “brewho” would be even worse… ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/30 "2007-11-15T22:26:18Z")
How could I be? It’s not even a name, I’m just too lazy to change it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/31 "2007-11-15T22:31:16Z")
I **am** my username. OK, I don’t have the horse’s ears. But I’m a horse’s ass, so that more than makes up for it. [Silenus](http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/greek-mythology.php?deity=SILENUS) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/32 "2007-11-15T22:33:12Z")
I’ve tried to get my username changed to just plain “Lemur”. But someone else has that username. That asshole has zero posts. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/33 "2007-11-15T22:56:24Z")
I was okay with mine until **AuntBeast** showed up. Then I went :smack: and wondered why I couldn’t be more imaginative. ---
**Author:** ![rhythmonly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@rhythmonly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhythmonly)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/34 "2007-11-15T22:58:30Z")
Happier than a dead pig in the sunshine. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/35 "2007-11-15T23:01:06Z")
I wrangled one of Google’s front page results from the _Simpsons_ character with this name. I respond to “Troy” IRL. I totally dig it. ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/36 "2007-11-15T23:05:00Z")
Yep, me happy. Good thing, too. It’s my second name here, and I’m told you can only change your mind once. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/37 "2007-11-15T23:16:18Z")
I’ve been very happy with my user name, despite the fact that I would gladly take the name Jack Dean Tyler, if only they would let me. ---
**Author:** ![Cattitude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Cattitude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cattitude)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/38 "2007-11-15T23:16:43Z")
Yep, I’m happy. I feel like a feline and I have several so it fits me well. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/39 "2007-11-16T00:30:38Z")
I dislike my username, which I cooked up in five seconds or so the day I decided to sign up ( **E.** is my real first initial, and \*\*Thorp \*\*is an old family name). I’ll change it if I can think of something witty that seems to suit my onscreen persona, but I’ve never given it much thought. One Type A reason _not_ to change my name is that it would mess up older posts, where I refer to myself by my screen name, to my wife as **shE. Thorp** , etc. The broken reference would look confusing and messy. Similarly, if I ever move away from Seattle my presence in the Seattle Doper Trivia thread won’t make much sense. On the other hand, I doubt anyone is reading my old posts. ---
**Author:** ![pprgrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f6c823/32.png) [@pprgrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pprgrl)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588/40 "2007-11-16T00:37:48Z")
No, I’m not. I had three or four witty, inventive, original and memorable usernames picked out before I signed up. And then I had one of those moments of panic - what if I am never able to live up to the promise of my clever username? What if all my posts are dull, boring and utterly forgettable? So I panicked and entered my job description, minus the vowels. :smack: For the record, my first choice was Sartorially Dyslexic. Maybe I’ll change it one of these days. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-username/426588.md?page=3)