# Dopers, explain you names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 16, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835 "2003-07-16T07:58:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/21 "2003-07-16T10:54:16Z")
I’m from Arkansas originally, and people from Arkansas are sometimes referred to as Arkies. The line in the Sex Pistols song _Anarchy in the UK_ goes “I wanna be anarchy”, hence An Arky. ---
**Author:** ![LauraLittlePony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LauraLittlePony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LauraLittlePony)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/22 "2003-07-16T11:17:55Z")
My name is Laura. . . and I collect ponies. Remember My Little Ponies? Those. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Special\_Agent\_Jazz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@Special\_Agent\_Jazz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Special_Agent_Jazz)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/23 "2003-07-16T11:48:32Z")
My nickname is Jazz and I love the X-Files. 😉 Enough said! ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/24 "2003-07-16T12:32:25Z")
Bren Cameron is the main character of CJ Cherryh’s Foreigner books, which I like. A lot. ---
**Author:** ![welby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@welby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/welby)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/25 "2003-07-16T12:49:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bren\_Cameron \* > \*\*Bren Cameron is the main character of CJ Cherryh’s Foreigner books, which I like. A lot. \*\* Greetings \* nand’ paidhi\*. Funny that I should be reading that very book this week. Again. For the umpteenth time. I’ts one of the standards I go back to when I’m out of new books and don’t have any money to spend on them. The reason behind my name can only be calculated and understood by taking the square root of pi, multiplying by the unmber of seconds I was alive on July 16, 1994 dividing by the specific mass of a booger, and then using the Secret Welby Decoder Ring to figure out the secret message. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/26 "2003-07-16T12:56:24Z")
From a character’s name I included in a nonsense story on the Commodore-based BBS’s I attended in the 80’s. Totally made up, in spite of hundreds of hits you may get if you Google it. Also, it starts with Z so if I look for stuff under my username, it’s near the bottom of the stack (or top if I do a decreasing sort). ---
**Author:** ![Antiquarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Antiquarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antiquarian)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/27 "2003-07-16T13:04:48Z")
I’m an archaeologist…fairly self-explanatory. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/28 "2003-07-16T13:11:25Z")
If I believed in reincarnation, it’s what I’d probably wind up as in my next life. Or it’s what I wound up as in this life. Some days I wonder. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/29 "2003-07-16T13:26:52Z")
My name is Juanita and I’m a Technologist. As you can see, I’m not very creative. ---
**Author:** ![Jenny\_Haniver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Jenny\_Haniver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenny_Haniver)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/30 "2003-07-16T13:30:11Z")
Haniver is not my name. A Jenny Haniver is a fake mythological creature made out of bits of other animals. In the sixteenth century, when sailors caught skates or rays in their nets, they’d just throw it out on deck and let it dehydrate. Eventually, the sailors took to shaping the fish into fantastic shapes while they dried out. The result was a monsterous looking carcass which could be manipulated to have large bat-like wings, and devlish tails, or a tiny waist and suggestions of a human-like face. The sailors could then charge people to look at the faked dragon, mermaid, or basilisk. Probably the most famous Jenny Haniver is P.T. Barnum’s Fiji Mermaid, made from sewing an Orangutan onto a salmon. Barnum claimed to have made over a million dollars from the Fiji Mermaid attraction. No one knows why these things are called Jenny Hanivers, but the name dates back to at least the 1600s. Basically, I picked Jenny Haniver because the username I usually choose was already taken. I suspect, since it’s never been used, that I actually registered the username and forgot about it a few years back. So, this is my fake username. ---
**Author:** ![cadolphin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c37758/32.png) [@cadolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cadolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/31 "2003-07-16T13:31:46Z")
I live in California (CA) + I love dolphins = cadolphin 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/32 "2003-07-16T13:38:31Z")
I am 6’ tall and like to dance. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/33 "2003-07-16T13:42:43Z")
[Yojimbo](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0055630) ---
**Author:** ![kookiecanuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e495f1/32.png) [@kookiecanuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kookiecanuck)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/34 "2003-07-16T13:56:03Z")
i’m a little nuts and live in Canada ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/35 "2003-07-16T13:57:30Z")
The name people call you when they don’t know your name. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/36 "2003-07-16T14:05:35Z")
What would happen if **Hey you!** and **you with the face** got together … ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/37 "2003-07-16T14:41:22Z")
It’s an expression that somebody somewhere at some time may have thought about using when they can’t think anymore. “I’m all knowed out,” in other words. Plus, it’s a hominominim. ---
**Author:** ![Brad\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@Brad\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brad_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/38 "2003-07-16T15:40:37Z")
I just liked the sound of the name, and needed one to register. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/39 "2003-07-16T15:53:21Z")
I like cartoons. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835/40 "2003-07-16T15:58:42Z")
It was about the eighth or ninth name I tried. All my other usual ones were taken. By the time it finally accepted one, I’d have taken ANY freakin’ name, just to get IN here… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-explain-you-names/188835.md?page=3)