# Open Forum: Explain what your names mean ,and what you think we think it means **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 25, 2002, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723 "2002-07-25T06:31:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/41 "2002-07-26T17:37:56Z")
I was on another message board, and there was this guy who had a big problem with people from the south. I usually ignored his posts, but one time he called another poster an “ignorant hillbilly” because they were from Memphis. I tried to explain to him that the area around Memphis was flat, with no hills for several miles. I guess it made him mad that another ignorant hillbilly corrected him. Then he started critisizing every post I made, calling me “the queen of the hillbillies.” ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/42 "2002-07-26T18:09:42Z")
Seeing as how I’ll do anything to get under **Hillbilly Queen** , I’ll go ahead and fess up: Was nicknamed “Catfish” in college (don’t know why) and was going to use that as an email, but it wasn’t available. So, I took “Gatopescado” instead (hispanic friend called me this once in a while) and have used it everywhere since. Haven’t ever thought about what someone might think it means… * * * She told me she loved me like a brother. She is from **Tennessee** , hence the Joy! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/43 "2002-07-26T18:19:09Z")
**Skerri** that’s what I ment. I’m sure I make some other people pee their pants. Does that phrase mean something else? ---
**Author:** ![MachV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@MachV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MachV)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/44 "2002-07-26T18:39:03Z")
**MachV** - Just sounded cool at the time. Just like **Zebra** , it was my umpteenth attempt at a username. It’s grown on me, so now I use it everywhere else I go on the web. **What people probably think** - That I’m a huge Speed Racer fan. Speed Racer’s cool, but I wouldn’t call myself a fan. I did try to come up with a handle that would reference my real love - Spider-Man. But I couldn’t come up with anything creatively obscure enough. (You know, like **Max Carnage**! 🙂 ) Weird thing is, when I see my own name, my mind tries to pronounce it “Mach Vee”. Dunno why, my brain’s just funny like that. ---
**Author:** ![Morgainelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Morgainelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgainelf)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/45 "2002-07-26T19:14:10Z")
**Morgainelf** is pretty obviously a derivitive of Morgaine Le Fey from Marion Zimmer Bradley’s _Mists of Avalon_. About 10 years ago I started frequenting AOL’s chat rooms. I needed a user name and was reading _Mists_ at the time. AOL had a 10 character limit at the time (maybe it still does?). “Morgaine” was already taken, as was “Morgan” and “Morgana”. I meant “morgainelf” as "morgaine l. f. (for Le Fey). It’s just serendipitous that it kind of sounds like “elf” when you read it. In any case, I’ve been using the name around the 'net ever since, because it just means “me”, and it never seems to be taken. I expressed some concern to my buddy **Shagnasty** that people online would think that I was a Fantasy/SCA type into role-playing and such. 10 years ago that was true, but I’m just not into that anymore. He assured me, “Of course they think that”. _Mists of Avalon_ is still a good book, though. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/46 "2002-07-26T19:27:44Z")
**What my name means** : _Zev_ is hebrew for “wolf” (Actually, it’s a corruption of the Hebrew word ze-AIV) _Steinhardt_ is (I think) German for “heart of stone” **What others think my name means** : When spoken to people, some people mistake my first name for “Jeff.” Otherwise, I’ve never known anyone to take my name for anything other than what it is… Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/47 "2002-07-26T19:42:59Z")
**Debaser** is a song by the Pixies. I first started using the name playing Ultima Online, where I play PVP (Player vs Player) a lot. I liked the name, because it sound intimidating a little to my foes and every so often I run into another Pixies fan. I have been using it ever since, basically for lack of something better. Here’s what [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) says: > [@](#): > > debaser > > \De\*bas"er, n. One who, or that which, debases. > de·base > > To lower in character, quality, or value; degrade. See Synonyms at adulterate. See Synonyms at corrupt. See Synonyms at degrade. [debaser] I spit on this message board! You are all worthless! [/debaser] 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Morgainelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Morgainelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgainelf)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/48 "2002-07-26T20:08:49Z")
Hee hee… **Debaser** and I used to work together. I knew him from the message board, and knew him from work, but didn’t know they were the same person. One day he walked up to my desk and noticed the Dope up on my screen, and said, “Oh yeah, I’m on there too. I’m **Debaser**.” My first reaction was, “Wow, I love the Pixies too!” The other meaning never even entered my mind. ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/49 "2002-07-26T21:23:33Z")
My name refers to my three undergraduate majors – physics, math, and computer engineering. Knowing the sick minds that inhabit this place, you probably thought it was an expression of my putative preference for multi-partner sex. :rolleyes: Nothing could be further from the truth; I have enough trouble arranging a one-way. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/50 "2002-07-26T21:52:43Z")
Hooray! The new name has arrived. Its’ from the show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” and the show is as weird as its’ name. On it there are two characters called Moonites from the Moon. The running gag is the Moonites claim to be an advanced civilization, being from the Moon and all, but their technology is stuck in the '80s (e.g. their laser guns shoot pong balls, they are two dimensional). At one point they claim to have an advanced religion. “Our god is an Indian that turns into a wolf,” says one. “Yeah! A Wolfian,” says the other. “That’s right, a Wolfian.” That line had me cracking up for days afterwards and I needed a new name, so here we are. **What people think it means:** I just noticed that it looks like Wolf **m** an at a quick glance. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/51 "2002-07-26T22:00:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Morgainelf \* > **Morgainelf is pretty obviously a derivitive of Morgaine Le Fey from Marion Zimmer Bradley’s _Mists of Avalon_.** That was what I thought of when I saw your name at first. But I didn’t put it in last week’s thread, did I? I’ve read that book a few times, and it’s quite good. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ResIpsaLoquitor \* > \*\*I see Flami has it in for me for starting a thread about her… 😉 > > My name means “The thing speaks for itself.” It’s legal terminology used when you want to sue people who drop barrels on your head. (Long story…) It basically means you don’t have to prove negligence in court, because there’s no way your injury could have happened unless the defendant was negligent. I picked it because it was a recurring gag in my first year of law school. > > I have no idea what people think it means, although I have been accused of being a dinosaur on a respirator.].\*\* You bet I have it in for you, especially with the outcome of it! 😉 Weren’t you telling me once that you misspelled your name? Now, I wonder if that was an accident or on purpose… F\_X ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/52 "2002-07-26T22:39:11Z")
I always Yojimbo was some take on Yohimbe. Mine is a Steely Dan song. No I;m not a kid. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2002, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/53 "2002-07-27T10:38:46Z")
Shoshana means lily or rose in Hebrew, as in “As is a rose among the thorns, so is my love among the maidens.” It is my name, and wasn’t taken on this board, so I got to use it for a change. 1. People who aren’t Jewish often think it’s “Soshana.” 2. On the West Coast, people ask me if it’s a Native American name (like Shoshone, or shoshonius, that nice little lemur-like omomyid). In Israel, nobody spells it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2002, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/54 "2002-07-27T12:46:29Z")
This is actually my second Dope name. The first was when I registered at the temp board. I had just become addicted to _Changing Rooms_, so I registered as **anything but orange**. When I tried to register when this board came back up, it wouldn’t accept that many characters, so I had a brain freeze and couldn’t adapt the name and opted for my email address. _That_ name came from the first time I had to take a job away from my home and sweet baboo, and had to get a new email address. I was feeling all sorry for my lonely self, being involuntarily single (sorta) until I could get back home, so that’s where that came from. Thankfully, we’re living under the same roof again with all healthy critters, but I still have the same email. I thought somebody might think I thought I was some big whoop-dee-doo unique person or something. O wait - I do! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![athene1765](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@athene1765](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athene1765)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2002, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/55 "2002-07-27T18:37:01Z")
Well, for such well-read individuals as y’allselves, Athene should be fairly obvious – your basic Greek goddess (why yes I am) of wisdom and turning people into spiders. Mostly I chose Athene when I was reading the Odyssey and noting with increasing fervor that grey-eyed Athene was showing up with those rosy-fingered dawns pretty frequently. Grey-eyed Athene also showed up in the Aeneid also, I believe, and whenever I saw those words it made my translations that much easier. The 1765 is a bit more embarrassing. Basically it’s so that I have a set of numbers attached to my username so that I can actually _get_ whatever username I want. I wanted a fairly lengthy string of numbers that I could remember – lengthy and weird so that no one else would steal 'em. So I picked a set of four numbers I was pretty sure no one would use. And no one has so far…the embarrassing thing is the origin of the numbers, which I don’t want to talk about. It does have something to do with the date 1765, however, and I decided on the numbers in high school. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2002, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/56 "2002-07-27T22:07:50Z")
Nott’s a family nickname, and I’m the guy JFK told you to ask. AskNott has been my handle since before Clinton’s sloppy “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, but some people might think I’m a gay soldier. I am not. It might also seem to some that I’m into fancy knot tying. Also not true. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2002, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/57 "2002-07-27T23:07:22Z")
Ivy because I like ivy…ivy plates, ivy fan pulls, ivy rug, ivy etched on my chandelier, ivy painted on my walls, ivy ivy ivy… lass because I’m female and I thought it might avoid confusion if I got that upfront. Also for my Wiccan leanings and one does not call herself a Lady unless one is a teacher of the Mysteries, which I am not. **Morgainelf** > [@](#): > > Mists of Avalon is still a good book, though. Oh well. I adore this book. Please tell me you saw the abomination that was on TNT last year. I need someone to help me through the trauma of that God(dess)awful disaster. ---
**Author:** ![Morgainelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Morgainelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgainelf)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/58 "2002-07-29T01:16:10Z")
**Flamesterette\_X** , you did mention it. I think I posted that I was psyched someone was thinking of me. 🙂 **Ivylass** , I can’t begin to describe my shock, horror and disappointment with the TNT movie. [hijack] Last year when it was on for the first time, I didn’t have cable. We had lived with five or six channels for two years, and were doing OK with it. Then, I heard that Mists had been made into a movie, and I absolutely had to see it. I went to Radio Shack that day (it was a Sunday) and purchased a DirecTV satellite dish and receiver. Because I needed it installed THAT DAY I waived the free installation offer and bought, for an extra $60 the installation kit. I brought it home, and poor Mr. Elf looked at me like I had gone insane. But, being the nice guy he is, he said he would install it. Mr. Elf struggled with that thing for 7 hours. He was up on the roof trying to get a signal and nothing would come in. By 7:45 (the show started at 8) he was practically in tears. He finally gave up, came down off of the roof, and got into his car. I heard really loud metal music blasting from the windows as he drove away. He was gone for several hours. When he returned he had calmed down, and we resigned ourselves to needing to call an installer. I was disappointed with not seeing the movie, but mostly relieved that he was home in one piece. The installer charged us $100 and didn’t even ground the system. Mists was on again a couple of months ago, and I taped it. I was so utterly disappointed, but told Mr. Elf that it was the best movie I had ever seen. I don’t think he could have handled the truth. Thanks for giving me an excuse to tell the story! [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![mandielise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@mandielise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandielise)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/59 "2002-07-29T02:42:49Z")
I always get in trouble cause one of my chatroom names is “doucesirene.” People always see that and think dirty thoughts - they think I’ve misspelled “douche.” In reality, it’s French… “douce” meaning “sweet” or “gentle” and “sirene” meaning “mermaid” or “siren.” I thought it sounded good - guess I need to remember that not everyone speaks French!!! ---
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723/60 "2002-07-29T05:17:02Z")
**What my name means:** I have no idea. **What people think my name means:** They usually have no idea. Or assume it means something in another language (made up, haven’t found any known matches.) At one point I started a “how the hell is my name pronounced” thread, and came up with at least two dozen variations. This could be a major problem when I start going to Dopefests. Even if I tell people to just call me Dao there’s still the issue of whether it’s “dow” or “day-o.” (I’m not sure myself.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-forum-explain-what-your-names-mean-and-what-you-think-we-think-it-means/120723.md?page=2)