# Board courtesy question regarding usernames **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 23, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901 "2011-11-23T18:54:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/1 "2011-11-23T18:54:39Z")
Just curious about the polite way to do something. I just made [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14493704&postcount=159). Note that the second sentence begins with “ **Jsc1953** ”. In accordance with board custom, I bolded his name. I also capitalized it. Ordinarily, he does not capitalize his name, and I would follow suit, but in this instance I happened to use his name as the first word in a sentence. What is the most correct and courteous way to handle a similar situation? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/2 "2011-11-23T18:58:50Z")
I don’t think it matters a whole heaping lot, but I would have thought usernames are best left as they are. It’s not always clear whether they are even words - indeed the example you gave should probably have been created as **JSC1953** , if correctness was a factor - as it looks like an abbreviation. e. e. cummings would agree, I think. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/3 "2011-11-23T18:59:58Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > e. e. cummings would agree, I think. So would aha. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/4 "2011-11-23T19:02:42Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Just curious about the polite way to do something. > > I just made [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14493704&postcount=159). Note that the second sentence begins with “ **Jsc1953** ”. In accordance with board custom, I bolded his name. I also capitalized it. Ordinarily, he does not capitalize his name, and I would follow suit, but in this instance I happened to use his name as the first word in a sentence. What is the most correct and courteous way to handle a similar situation? Without directly answering your “correct and courteous” issue, I would suggest not starting the sentence with the lower-case name but with some other word or words. I am tempted at times to violate the rules and begin a sentence with a number, but always try to avoid that in a similar way. I even try to avoid the punctuation rules that force me to include a comma or period within quotes at the end of a sentence. Just an idea. No clue as to what’s grammatically correct. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/5 "2011-11-23T19:09:14Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > No clue as to what’s grammatically correct. Since the problem never arose before the Internet, the grammar is still being worked out, and will probably become what the most common practice is. So let’s start doing it the way we think best, and hope that becomes the standard. Personally, I feel that the first letter of a sentence should be a capital letter as a rule (that’s true outside of the Internet), unless there is some overriding principle (such as a particular poster has strong feelings that it should not be). I also prefer bolding a name, just to make it stand out as _a name._ I don’t see why most posters would object to either slight alteration of their user name. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/6 "2011-11-23T19:12:32Z")
I generally go uppercase when the username is the first word in the sentence. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/7 "2011-11-23T19:23:25Z")
I think you’re more likely to find people who object to their name being changed than people who will freak out over a single sentence not being capitalized correctly. Names are just more personal, and people are more likely to care about little things like that. I agree with Zeldar: if you can’t stand to start a sentence without a capital letter, you’re better off rewriting the sentence in almost all cases than changing the name. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/8 "2011-11-23T20:30:00Z")
Speaking as someone who uses lowercase letters in my name, it doesn’t bother me one bit, even if done in the middle of a sentence. I do like the bolding; I think it makes the messages easier to read. So, at least as far as I’m concerned, capitalize away!! **MISS ELIZABETH** 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/9 "2011-11-23T21:01:57Z")
We’ve had threads about this concerning people’s real names, and I think the rules should be the same for user names. How people spell it is the way they want. Capitalization at the beginning of sentences means diddly. My canonical example in real life is Jerry terHorst, first press secretary for Jerry Ford. He made a point to the White House press corps at the beginning that the “t” at the beginning was _always_ lower case. The usual rules of grammar/spelling don’t apply to people’s names. E.g., suppose you were talking about more than one “Jerry”. (Wonder why I thought of that name.) You write “two Jerrys”, not “two Jerries”. (All of which brings up my regret of not using " **FtG** ’ instead of “ **ftg** ” when I signed up. Most sites didn’t user name with caps back in the old, old days. So I defaulted to no caps. Which explains why I refer to **Mrs. FtG** and such. Oh well.) Cased closed. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/10 "2011-11-23T21:03:47Z")
I tend to leave user names as they are, even if that means not capitalizing at the beginning of a sentence…but I can’t see it being a big deal either way. Not fussy about how my own user name is written out either. Except all caps would look wrong to me. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/11 "2011-11-23T21:23:10Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Not fussy about how my own user name is written out either. Except all caps would look wrong to me. Well, yours is a batty name: as the name of an order of animals it should be capitalised “Chiroptera”. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/12 "2011-11-23T21:32:56Z")
I was writing a report this morning dealing with office use of iPads. At a couple of points in the document, the word “iPad” is placed at the start of a sentence. I left the capitalization as is, in other words, I left the “i” un-capitalized. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/13 "2011-11-23T21:38:40Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Well, yours is a batty name: as the name of an order of animals it should be capitalised “Chiroptera”. Busted! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/14 "2011-11-23T22:20:27Z")
My personal feeling is that if names override the rule about mid-sentence words being lowercase, then they should also override the rule about starting words being capitalized. Plus, in a computer context, you do still occasionally encounter something that’s genuinely case-sensitive. For instance, if I were writing about the C programming language, I might say something like “printf allows for the output of formatted text”. There is a (very commonly-used) C function called “printf”, but (unless you write one yourself) there is _not_ a C function called “Printf”. In principle, the same sort of problem can arise with usernames on Unix systems (the user named “Chronos” might be a different person than the user named “chronos”), but I think most modern Unices have ways of preventing it. ---
**Author:** ![BottledBlondJeanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/0ea827/32.png) [@BottledBlondJeanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BottledBlondJeanie)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/15 "2011-11-23T23:04:14Z")
Aaaaand Oakie makes his bid to take Spectre’s place…obvious much? ---
**Author:** ![toodlepip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@toodlepip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toodlepip)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/16 "2011-11-23T23:06:20Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > So would aha. 🙂 Actually, they would prefer [a-ha](http://a-ha.com/) 😛 ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/17 "2011-11-24T01:24:17Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Just curious about the polite way to do something. > > I just made [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14493704&postcount=159). Note that the second sentence begins with “ **Jsc1953** ”. In accordance with board custom, I bolded his name. I also capitalized it. Ordinarily, he does not capitalize his name, and I would follow suit, but in this instance I happened to use his name as the first word in a sentence. What is the most correct and courteous way to handle a similar situation? When people capitalize my username, it looks to me like **oakministeR** might look to you. Perhaps a poll would give us some interesting data. Options could include: I have a lowercase username, and prefer lowercase even at the beginning of a sentence I have a lowercase username, and favor the conventions of the English language I don’t have a lowercase username, but I just want to skew the percentages in this poll ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/18 "2011-11-24T01:39:08Z")
I usually capitalize the first letter of a username when it is the first word in a sentence. Otherwise it looks funny to me. If a member objects to the first character of his or her name being capitalized, that person can correct me and I will respect and try to remember his wishes. I say this as someone whose nickname is not capitalized. If you want to write my name as Cochrane, you have my permission. I really can’t be bothered to care about it that much. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/19 "2011-11-24T02:16:53Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > e. e. cummings would agree, I think. Actually, contrary to popular belief E.E. Cummings [usually uppercased his name](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Cummings#Name_and_capitalization). > [@Giles](#): > > Well, yours is a batty name: as the name of an order of animals it should be capitalised “Chiroptera”. I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901/20 "2011-11-24T02:28:27Z")
Puns I must Google are evile. Fie, Sir, fie! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-courtesy-question-regarding-usernames/603901.md?page=2)