# General sources of user names **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 11, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364 "2011-10-11T23:41:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/41 "2011-10-12T11:22:45Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > Other. song title. Same here. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/42 "2011-10-12T11:32:21Z")
**Crotalus** is the genus to which most rattlesnakes belong, and I think rattlesnakes are cool. I voted “other”, unlike **chiroptera** , who thinks “something I just made up” is the right way to vote for a genus name. But that’s just batty. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/43 "2011-10-12T11:38:50Z")
I used to like handles that were compressed phrases. I used damital2hl for AOL chat, then Yahoo chat. I started using my name when I found that I was having trouble remembering the various handles I used for different message boards and services. It has the added benefit of curbing some of my jackass tendencies. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/44 "2011-10-12T11:44:12Z")
‘Relevant to my life’, though it could be under ‘made up’ or ‘other’ Mine is the the 1st two letters of my first name and the 1st two letters of my last name stuck together. I pronounce it like ‘sage’, though I’ve heard someone say ‘sah-jee’. I use the same name pretty much everywhere, and it’s funny to see someone reply to me or address a post to me and actually write Sage 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/45 "2011-10-12T11:49:16Z")
I AM DIOGENES THE CYNIC . . . And have been for a long long time. I see that somebody else on this board has scarfed up that name already, forever! (And then went and got hisself banned?) So I had to pick something a little different. You can figure it out. BTW, I love that somebody here has the name **rowrrbazzle**. Walt Kelley lives! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/46 "2011-10-12T13:02:49Z")
Indirectly from a Fantasy story -wanted to be dibbler, apparently that was taken. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/47 "2011-10-12T13:04:07Z")
It was something I made up – but for a particular reason. I wanted to sign a post on another board as “Reality Check,” but typed my first name instead. I kept it as my nom de net. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/48 "2011-10-12T13:29:53Z")
It’s based on my real name, so I picked ‘condition relevant to my real life’ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/49 "2011-10-12T13:33:37Z")
If this had been multiple choice, I could have avoided having to make these comments. I’d have said: 1. fiction 2. something I made up 3. relevant to my life The truth is that on an old Commodore-based bulletin board system, I made up weird stories and posted them. They tended to be exercises in “tandem writing” that others would tack onto until things got way out of hand. Zeldar was a character I had a lot of fun with, especially when he was an old Cajun with homicidal tendencies. I suspect the Coneheads had an influence on the choice of name, but I had never heard of the Zeldar(s) you find by Googling. ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/50 "2011-10-12T13:56:50Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > It’s based on my real name, so I picked ‘condition relevant to my real life’ 😃 Yes, Judith is my real first name and I have a somewhat famous ancestor who shares it (hence the ‘second’) - I ticked the ‘real life’ option but history fits as well. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/51 "2011-10-12T14:00:08Z")
I chose “Game” but it’s not from any published game - Moonshadow is the character I inherited when I joined an AD&D game in progress. Her name was actually Cilene Moonshadow but when I started playing Everquest I had no idea that I would someday get a surname so when Cilene was taken I went with Moonshadow and have been using that in online games ever since. A short time later Cilene (name stealing bitch) actually joined our guild and a few months after that was the biggest “I’m not really a chick” outing ever at our first EQFest in Vegas. He fooled us all and didn’t drop a single hint before wandering up to the group and saying hello. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/52 "2011-10-12T14:00:40Z")
Mine’s from a short-lived but much-loved TV show. I’ve actually been thinking of changing it to a variation of my real name that I use elsewhere. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/53 "2011-10-12T14:05:11Z")
Oh, don’t do that. Your name is a nice in-joke that only the truly cool will get and appreciate. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/54 "2011-10-12T14:20:39Z")
I picked other. I get this sort of thing all the time: You like rank humor? No way…you’re too ladylike. (Well, Andrew Dice Clay was my favorite back in the day, but no one expects that) Or something similar. My personality doesn’t fit my looks. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/55 "2011-10-12T14:51:29Z")
Given to me by SDMBers via poll. ---
**Author:** ![Silophant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/56 "2011-10-12T15:50:23Z")
I’m assuming I just made it up for no particular reason, but the first thing I remember signing up as Silophant for was Runescape, when I was about 13, so it’s been eight years. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/57 "2011-10-12T16:02:03Z")
I picked “history”, although I was reading historical fiction about Eleanor at the time I signed up. It feels like an odd username now. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/58 "2011-10-12T16:03:01Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Oh, don’t do that. Your name is a nice in-joke that only the truly cool will get and appreciate. 😃 Okay, name-changing idea is off the table. For now, at least. ---
**Author:** ![geneb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e4f/32.png) [@geneb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geneb)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/59 "2011-10-12T16:09:26Z")
I had a bottle of generic ibuprofen next to me that had the name “Geneb”. I shamelessly stole that and use it almost everywhere now. The name dates from long before I joined SD, though. Most people think my first name is Gene and my last name starts with a B. Wrong on both counts. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364/60 "2011-10-12T16:14:26Z")
Not enough poll options. I was part of a Thundercats roleplay/fanfic group, where I went by Silvercat (despite being, in-character, a silver and blue anthro tiger). I think Silvercat was picked here, so I went with the more specific Silver Tyger (Girl). It’s Tyger because 'y’s are cool. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-sources-of-user-names/599364.md?page=4)