# Name change **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 28, 2002, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169 "2002-04-28T22:03:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169/1 "2002-04-28T22:03:44Z")
Having grown weary of being Ballybay, I’m now Fionn. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169/2 "2002-04-28T23:20:03Z")
I’ve been thinking of changing mine to Authoritarian so I could entertain a different set of hypotheticals for a while. Hmmm… What’s the authoritarian equivalent of giant sentient squids emerging from the ocean floor and claiming ownership of property? Giant sentient cockroaches who emerge from caves and claim authority to govern maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169/3 "2002-04-29T00:44:09Z")
Glad I paused to check this thread. OK, now I’m reprogrammed. Carry on \*\*Fionn{/b] (it’s like learning math - now that I’ve typed it I should remember). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@The\_Mermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mermaid)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169/4 "2002-04-29T01:31:47Z")
Good for you. You know the cool kids change their names whenever it pleases them. You’re cool like that **Fionn**. The Mermaid whe started out very briefly as Mojo57. That was so five minutes ago. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169/5 "2002-04-29T01:34:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*What’s the authoritarian equivalent of giant sentient squids emerging from the ocean floor and claiming ownership of property? Giant sentient cockroaches who emerge from caves and claim authority to govern maybe? \*\* Dem…nah, too easy. Re-welcome, **Fionn**. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169/6 "2002-04-29T04:15:18Z")
How do you pronounce that? Is it Fi, as in **fee** -fi-fo-fum, or FI as in fee- **fi** -fo-fum? I’m always curious as to how to pronounce names properly so I don’t make an ass out of myself (I have many other ways of doing that). It’s like DI-anna, or DEE-anna (both being spelled dianna, you get the picture). ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169/7 "2002-04-29T06:46:43Z")
Um, **Elvis** , you do know that the Board doesn’t have voice-to-text capabilities yet, right? Those voices you’re hearing? They’re not Dopers. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169/8 "2002-04-29T07:56:42Z")
I was shortly considering changing my name to **Jay Gatsby** , but I dropped this plan. I’m content with **Schnitte**. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169/9 "2002-04-29T11:39:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by throatshot \* > \*\*Um, **Elvis** , you do know that the Board doesn’t have voice-to-text capabilities yet, right? Those voices you’re hearing? They’re not Dopers. > > 😃 \*\* You obviously haven’t been to a dopefest yet! ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169/10 "2002-04-29T12:36:50Z")
I always read your old nick as “Galway Bay.” This could take some adjustment. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169/11 "2002-04-29T13:12:42Z")
Thanks for letting us know, Fionn. At the risk of appearing to get on your case (and that honestly isn’t my intention) I really don’t care for name changes unless there are extenuating circumstances that make it in the members best interest to do so. The reason is pretty selfish. Without a face to associate people with, on a message board all you have is someone’s appellation. Any impressions you have formed become linked to that name, and I don’t like the idea of loosing them when the name becomes a variable. Anyway, thus ends my street corner sermonizing. Cheers, and enjoy the new name. ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169/12 "2002-04-29T15:00:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Waverly \* > \*\* > The reason is pretty selfish. Without a face to associate people with, on a message board all you have is someone’s appellation. Any impressions you have formed become linked to that name, and I don’t like the idea of loosing them when the name becomes a variable. > \*\* This was actually something I considered before I changed it. **El Elvis Rojo** , I promise I’ll get a crack team of Gaelic speakers to explain how the word is properly pronounced before Freyr’s going-away Batdope. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169/13 "2002-04-29T22:25:44Z")
I think it’s “Fee Yon”, but I’m notoriously American in my pronunciation. SPUNOG! ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169/14 "2002-04-29T22:40:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lightnin’ \* > \*\*I think it’s “Fee Yon”, but I’m notoriously American in my pronunciation. > \*\* That’s what I was leaning toward. We’ll just call it Texas Gaelic. Sort of a brogue-and-twang thing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169/15 "2002-04-29T22:45:15Z")
Cuimar a Tha Thu, Ya’ll. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-change/106169/16 "2002-04-30T01:58:39Z")
MY name’s pronounced “Row-Ho.” Not “Row-Joe.” “Row,” as in “Row, row, row your boat,” and “Ho,” as in your mother (thank you Sean Connery). Just so all you non-Texans know.