# Dopers who are "out" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 20, 2010, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-who-are-out/529721 "2010-02-20T01:18:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [February 22, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-who-are-out/529721/41 "2010-02-22T00:48:37Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Are you considering being “onymous” yourself? If so, for what purpose? Or just curious? A bit of both. I stumbled upon some old stuff of mine that uses my real name, and I recently was thanked by real name on a website. My first instinct was to talk about both of these things in MPSIMS, but then I’d be outing myself. But what made me ask was when Colibri explained his custom title, which involved a Straight Dope article with his real name. I was a bit shocked, as I’d seen so many people go out of their way not to reveal their identity on here. But then I remembered there were other people that were “out.” I figured I’d ask a few questions about why you guys are fine with it, as compared with the others that are not. In hindsight, I probably should have formatted it where people who weren’t “out” could give their reasons, too, and used a better title, as I think there are people not reading it because they had the same interpretation as **panache**. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-who-are-out/529721/42 "2010-02-22T01:48:46Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > I’m hurt. I mean, I’ve never _actually_ been a freaky stalker, but surely I’m the _type_! 😉 > > Which reminds me, I’ve met more than a few Dopers IRL and introduced myself by my real name, which they’ve probably all long forgotten. I’m pretty sure that when Facebook recommends that I poke you every time I log in, we’re past the point where either of us can stalk the other. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-who-are-out/529721/43 "2010-02-22T07:00:16Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I’m pretty sure I’ve outed myself in conjunction with my Taekwondo school. It wouldn’t be hard to find me in a search, but I seem to recall posting a link to SWMBO’s and my pictures on the DOPE before. > > [WestHoustonAta.com is for sale | HugeDomains](http://www.westhoustonata.com/instr.htm) > > And if my memory didn’t serve me correctly…that link’ll do. Your real names are Captain and Maria Von Trapp? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-who-are-out/529721/44 "2010-02-22T13:53:37Z")
**Why’d you choose to out yourself?** For a while I thought about hiding my name as much as possible, but over time it’s sometimes been unavoidable, and other times it didn’t matter. It’s a judgement call in each instance. **Has there been a big difference since you were out?** Not that I’ve noticed. Sometimes it’s nice to be called by my real first name. **Do you ever wish you weren’t?** Nope. **Have you ever worried about people stalking you or stealing your identity?** A dickhead did libellously spread my name around. As expected, it’s mostly vanished into history and was never a problem because nobody else cared, but I guess it was a minor inconvenience. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-who-are-out/529721/45 "2010-02-22T14:42:57Z")
Like some others here, my username is my real name (well, my first and middle initials, followed by my last name). I’m not really concerned with that, in fact, I’ve gotten to the point in my life where I eschew quirky anonymous user names on the 'net (if you are still for whatever reason, that’s OK, I just feel I’ve _personally_ grown beyond that). Not really worried about “stalkers” (I’m somewhat “remote” (by world standards) anyways). In fact, the few places I have left (like Wikipedia) where I user a “quirky username” (because that was what I was doing at the time) I kind of wish I could use my Doper username (ie more of a realname on it), partially because I’ve done some very good work there (like [this](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:BlankMap-World6.svg)) and I kind of wish I took credit for it. The only place I do have a username, and wish it to remain so, is in an online anonymous support group - for obvious reasons, of course. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-who-are-out/529721/46 "2010-02-22T14:52:33Z")
Oops. I don’t use my real name on a message board, since my name is very unusual and I’m the paranoid sort. However, I will sign my real name when I respond to a PM here. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-who-are-out/529721/47 "2010-02-22T15:33:44Z")
I’ve mentioned my first name and surname in separate threads. Don’t think I’ve ever mentioned both at the same time. Still, I’m the only person with my specific first/last name combo in the world (or at least the only one who’s been online) so you could stalk me easily enough if you wanted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-who-are-out/529721.md?page=2)