# How and why did you decide on your username? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 3, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933 "2004-12-03T18:52:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/41 "2004-12-04T05:26:46Z")
When I was a late teenager-early twentysomething, I was in an industrial band by the name of **interface2x**. I still like the sound of it, so I’ve been using it for about seven years now. ---
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/42 "2004-12-04T05:44:22Z")
I’ve always been a fan of the bad guy in movies and cartoons. (When I played with my brother, I was always Skeletor, the Horde, etc.) Don’t ask me why - I don’t know. Sauron . . . well, Sauron’s my hero. The name “I. R. Baboon” always cracked me up. (I am _very_ easily amused.) And since Sauron is the Supreme Bad Guy, and a ruler to boot, he deserved to use the “royal we.” Hence, “I. R. Baboon” plus Sauron = We Are Sauron = WeRSauron. Oh, and this was after I found out that “Sauron” was taken. WRS/Thû ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/43 "2004-12-04T05:55:36Z")
Mine’s from a Doonesbury character, who was basically a wet-behind-the-ears Navy Morale Officer (a Lieutenant), who had high, noble aims, but typically fell flat on his face in situations. Hell, aren’t _all_ Lieutenants that way? Someone thought that described me to a tee whilst I was back in college. [sub]Except for the Navy part[/sub] The rest is electronic history. Tripler Before you ask, no, I have never been to Hawaii. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/44 "2004-12-04T06:11:43Z")
I usually type by the light of my laptop, using one hand, laying down. O\_U\_R\_Y can be typed on one line. L was added to make it a legot user name. My real name is scatter among the keyboard ---
**Author:** ![NoPretentiousCodename](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/82dd89/32.png) [@NoPretentiousCodename](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoPretentiousCodename)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/45 "2004-12-04T06:12:51Z")
Years ago, I was trying to sign up for an online forum and all the good names were taken. I spent 10 minutes staring at the screen and typed in NO PRETENTIOUS CODENAME in the username field out of sheer frustration. I kept it partly as a dig at folks who think really highly of themselves (and the fact that their username is coveted)\* and partly out of the continued frustration that anything else I can ever come up with is taken. (Fine, you can have your lousy optimus\_prime! I don’t need a dumb old username anyway! ;)) So far, NoPretentiousCodename has always been available, excepting those cases in which I have to shorten it to nopretentious. \*Note that the above does not necessarily apply to anybody here. Here a coveted name is usually something funny, punny, odd or clever, and you gotta respect that. ---
**Author:** ![shamrock227](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@shamrock227](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shamrock227)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/46 "2004-12-04T06:33:36Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > I often screw up the doubled “m.” It comes out either 1-1/2 “m’s” or just a bunch of miscellaneous humps. Maybe I’m just overtired but “just a bunch of miscellaneous humps” just made me giggle uncontrollably 😃 ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/47 "2004-12-04T07:24:58Z")
I’m a bluegrass mandolinist and flatpicker - it’s both means of support and my reason for being on this earth, so the handle pretty sums me up. Unfortunately, on other boards the name is often taken, in which case I am **madcitypicker**. Cause I live in Madison. Or it’s about boogers. I can never remember which. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/48 "2004-12-04T07:28:18Z")
> [@me](#): > > it’s both **my** means of support and my reason for being on this earth, so the handle pretty **well** sums me up. Dammit. I’m not even drunk. Just stupid. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/49 "2004-12-04T14:08:30Z")
> [@picker](#): > > Dammit. > > I’m not even drunk. Just stupid. > > ☹ No, no, you’re normal. Or if you aren’t then I’m not either. That interpretation is not to my liking. I once followed up a post in which I made a couple of boners by a paean to Preview. I didn’t Preview the followup and pulled one in that too. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/50 "2004-12-04T14:41:11Z")
My real name is Anastasia. My husband once told me I am his star, his **Anastasaeon**. I love the stars, and I found this romantic, so I kept it. He also knows my _other_ favourite thing is flowers… and he then told me I am his flower, his **Anastasalily**. Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it… but it _does_ make me laugh. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/51 "2004-12-04T22:24:23Z")
> [@Daithe Lacha](#): > > This is the nuttiest thing, but the other day I was thinking of a Freddie the Pig book I had when I was a kid - the one where he thinks he’s on the moon, but it’s just the site of a forest fire… Jeez, I don’t remember that one! But then, I didn’t read them all. I grew up before Amazon and if your local library didn’t have a book you were SOL. > [@](#): > > My name is from an Irish cartoon dating back a ways… means “Dave Duck,” pronounced “DAH-hee LAH-ka.” Sadly, it has been pointed out to me that my name should have an “i” at the end, not an “e.” And Freddy, I hasten to note, has a “y” and not an “ie”! ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/52 "2004-12-05T03:26:57Z")
> [@Freddy the Pig](#): > > And Freddy, I hasten to note, has a “y” and not an “ie”! Oh, brother! Hurry, hurry, hurry! Step right up ladeezngennlemen and let The Dork From New York butcher your name! A laffaminnit! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/53 "2004-12-05T03:44:08Z")
He was the supreme commander of NATO. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/54 "2004-12-05T04:25:04Z")
Well, my original name was my IRL (and rather rare) first name. One day, I thought “well, that’s not really safe…” So I asked Tuba Diva to change it for security/privacy reasons. I chose Eats\_Crayons and said “Oh, if that’s already taken, my second choice is Hairball\_Remedy”… Glad it ended up being Eats\_Crayons because it has let itself well to my former SO “Sniffs\_Markers” and my… er, newer-but-possibly-ex “Chews\_Pencils”. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2004, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/55 "2004-12-05T08:06:29Z")
I’d been reading the boards for a few weeks without thinking of joining or posting, but one day there was a thread I wanted to contribute to, so I needed a username in a hurry. **E.** is my real-life first initial, and \*\*Thorp \*\*is an old name in my family. I don’t think I’ve had any Thorp relatives since the 19th century, though I’m sure the name hasn’t disappeared…has it? Anyone out there related to a living Thorp? Anyway, I often wish I had a more interesting username, but nothing’s really occurred to me yet. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/56 "2004-12-05T11:00:48Z")
> [@tanookie](#): > > I’m a raccoon. > > Really… > > Way back when I started playing online I needed a mud name. All the “good ones” were taken. I needed an idea. The book for SuperMario2 was on my desk and it had all the names of his suits. The tanookie suit is the name for the raccoon suit. I’ve been using the name now for 13ish years… I’m always peeved when I go to sign up for something and find my name taken! You probably know this already, but on the off-chance you don’t…“Tanuki” is indeed the Japanese for raccoon, and he frequently crops up in folk-tales as a cunning {and rather sadistic} trickster: think Brer Rabbit meets Itchy. He’s also a good luck mascot, and statues of him are commonly displayed outside izakaya’s {Japanese pubs}, frequently displaying enormously distended testicles… ---
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/57 "2004-12-05T16:26:11Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > You probably know this already, but on the off-chance you don’t…“Tanuki” is indeed the Japanese for raccoon, and he frequently crops up in folk-tales as a cunning {and rather sadistic} trickster: think Brer Rabbit meets Itchy. He’s also a good luck mascot, and statues of him are commonly displayed outside izakaya’s {Japanese pubs}, frequently displaying enormously distended testicles… Eeep! But … I’m a girl! 🙂 Maybe it is time for a change - certainly don’t want those gigantic testicles. :eek: Naaah - I like my name too much. Thanks for the info though because I did not know that already. ---
**Author:** ![Farmwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8dc957/32.png) [@Farmwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmwoman)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/58 "2004-12-05T16:32:40Z")
We live on a farm. I’m the woman. So **Tanookie** , how _you_ doin’? ---
**Author:** ![beergeek279](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@beergeek279](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beergeek279)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/59 "2004-12-05T23:01:42Z")
Well, first of all, I was born in February, 1979, so when beergeek is filled (and it almost always is!), I tack that on at the end. Secondly, I am a VERY big fan of craft beer (and enjoy Dope threads on beer whenever they open), so I figured that had to be part of it. (It’s somewhat frustrating that West Virginia is beer hell, but fortunately live close to the places in Pennsylvania that I know so well). Finally, I’m going for a MS in Computer Science (was going to go straight to doctorate, but everyone said get the piece of paper, but that’s another thread!), so I figure that I pretty much count as a geek 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rinni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f6c823/32.png) [@rinni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rinni)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933/60 "2004-12-06T00:08:21Z")
My story is boring! Real name: Lynn. Nickname: Linny. Bored one day, visititing a “Your Name in Japanese!” translator that used to be on [stupid.com](http://stupid.com)… Typing in Linny… voila. Rinni. As for the lowercase, I just think “rinni” looks nicer. 🙂 As an aside, rinni has also come to be my nickname in real life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-why-did-you-decide-on-your-username/277933.md?page=4)