# The "Whats the deal with your name?" Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 16, 2002, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211 "2002-07-16T09:42:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/41 "2002-07-16T22:14:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Go alien \* > \*\*My name is an anagram of my real name. As are - A Legion, Lion Age, Nile Goa, Nail Ego and loads of others. \*\* Ian Ogle? ---
**Author:** ![Jerrybear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@Jerrybear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerrybear)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/42 "2002-07-16T22:35:03Z")
My name has everything to do with my favorite rock band of all time…the Good Ol’ Grateful Dead! The “Jerry” part refers to the late Mr. Garcia (may the Goddess bless his soul), and the “bear” to the psychedelic Dancing Bears that are a common Deadhead icon. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/43 "2002-07-16T23:38:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Seven \* > \*\*Mine? _Seven_ is my real first name. I know. I’m not very creative. \*\* So, you’re not in Maine, are you? I went to college with a woman named Seven. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/44 "2002-07-16T23:40:31Z")
Oh, you want to know where my name came from? I have horrid penmanship. People used to think I couldn’t spell my own name, hence **Lsura** ---
**Author:** ![Semp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Semp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Semp)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/45 "2002-07-17T00:26:53Z")
Mine is the “familiarized” version of my old AOL screen name, SEMPERREX (yes, all caps… like I said, it’s old). And the long form is just simple latin for “young man’s inflated ego.” ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/46 "2002-07-17T01:08:21Z")
I’ve played a few times before too, but for those who don’t know, I thought I’d be incredibly obscure and clever and choose the name of the central character in my (once favourite, now probably number 4 movie) **Eraserhead**. Unfortunately, I keep getting confused for real people who share this name, so I’m thinking of changing it. Thus, the big question is, where will I find the source of my _next_ name? ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/47 "2002-07-17T01:17:04Z")
I’ve explained this once before, but what the heck. Centuries ago, OK, decades, one of my first jobs was as a radio disc jockey. It was an era that you had to have a weird name to be a DJ. So the program manager picked my initials “T” and “V” and called the program “TV Time” and I boadcast as “TV on the radio”. I worked other radio stations and the name stuck. When I went into newspapering, a few decades back, I was given a column and while the editor and I mulled over possible names for it, I mentioned that my radio programs had consistently been “TV Time”. He decided that my column should be that too. I have written under that column name (on a variety of different newspapers) ever since. As a matter of fact, so many people knew/know me as “TV” as opposed to my birth name, and all my checks have been written to “TV” for years upon years, I legally had my first name changed to TV about 20 years ago. So it was only logical to stay with the name with the greatest board ever. ---
**Author:** ![Victory\_Candescence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Victory\_Candescence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victory_Candescence)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/48 "2002-07-17T02:35:39Z")
There was the day that I first truly understood MergeSort and QuickSort. It was the day the Earth shook, a day that would mark my life forever. It was a way to do so much with a relatively small function. Divide and Conquer! The idea behind _recursion_ is absolutely awe-inspiring! I have, on many occasions told my fellow computer-programmers-in-training how truly astonishing the idea of recursion is. Hey, cut me some slack! I used to program in BASIC, and even the idea of functions is pretty jaw-dropping to someone who had only programmed in spaghetti-code, GOTO-statment BASIC all his life! ---
**Author:** ![p\_cific\_812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@p\_cific\_812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/p_cific_812)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/49 "2002-07-17T03:30:39Z")
**Seven** , thanks for taking the initiative to start this thread. It has proved rather interesting and informative. My user name is derived from my first and most beloved guitar- a natural wood grain, translucent Yamaha Pacifica 812 series. Its not vintage, but it plays unusually well. (I threw the @'s in there just to spice it up a bit!) ---
**Author:** ![vertigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3ec8ea/32.png) [@vertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertigo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/50 "2002-07-17T03:52:16Z")
I used to go by the screen-name **scout**. It’s from my favorite book “To Kill A Mockingbird”. But invariably when I join a board, it’s already taken (and they are never active posters either). So what to do, what to do… Since I was a cinematography major in college, I decided to try one that had some film reference. Lots of good ones taken again. Then I remembered on of my favorite Hitchcock films and the fact that it also described my mental state most of the time and the alias **vertigo** was born. It’s used a lot too, so sometimes I go by just **vert**. ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/51 "2002-07-17T04:18:38Z")
I like to read about angels and demons and various religious and mythological characters. I figured **Mephistopheles** might get a little unweildy, so I (like assorted writers of books, comics, and scripts) shortened it to **Mephisto**. ---
**Author:** ![raz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/52 "2002-07-17T04:36:02Z")
I used to be a Blink-182 fanatic, so my email address was Blink\_178. Being as uncreative as I am, and fearing that I would forget my username and password, my login name for almost everything is Blink178 and the password is the same. Dumb, I know. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/53 "2002-07-17T04:54:01Z")
tlw – **T** racey **L** ewis- **W** ick Aren’t I inventive? ---
**Author:** ![bristlesage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@bristlesage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bristlesage)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/54 "2002-07-17T05:03:54Z")
Well, I’m from Las Vegas. No, really! Born here by parents who were born here…and my father’s parents were also born here (Mom’s parents imported from PA). So, I’m a Nevadan through and through. Nevada’s state tree (Hey, shut up! We have trees!): the **bristle** cone pine. Nevada’s state flower: **sage** brush (Hey, shut up; it blooms!). Ta-da, instant username. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/55 "2002-07-17T05:23:29Z")
I like to ski. Had my workstation named Telemark and it seemed to fit me as well. I knew a woman in college named ‘9’, not “Nine”, just the numeral. Her brother was ‘7’. No, they weren’t from a big family, just 3 kids. ---
**Author:** ![Osbie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cdc98d/32.png) [@Osbie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osbie)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/56 "2002-07-17T05:23:32Z")
My name has little significance. I just wanted something both snooty and silly sounding and I had used a similar name recently on the Internet. The “I. Esq.” bit is something I used to tack onto the end of my name when I was in jr. high and high school. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/57 "2002-07-17T06:18:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas \* > \*\*Having been a huge fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber for decades (since the beginning of Jesus Christ Superstar), and having “Anne” in my name, and my B-day being December 25th, when his show “Whistle Down the Wind” included a song called “Annie Christmas,” how could I NOT appropriate it? \*\* Did you know that singer Annie Lennox was born on Christmas? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/58 "2002-07-17T07:03:08Z")
My father’s ancestors were all Walloons (people in the southern provinces of Belgium who speak an earthy French dialect, in contrast to the Flemish in the northern provinces who speak Dutch), I look Walloon, and have a last name that’s a Walloon village. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/59 "2002-07-17T10:42:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vertigo \* > \*\*Then I remembered on of my favorite Hitchcock films and the fact that it also described my mental state most of the time and the alias **vertigo** was born. It’s used a lot too, so sometimes I go by just **vert**. \*\* [pun on] I don’t know **vertigo** … could someone show me? [pun off] When I see this thread title now, I hear it in my head in a Jerry Seinfeld voice… ---
**Author:** ![sKipping\_girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@sKipping\_girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sKipping_girl)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211/60 "2002-07-17T12:21:12Z")
well i’m very unoriginal… i like to skip (not the kinda skipping with the rope, the other kind) and therefore i got the nick name- skipping girl [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whats-the-deal-with-your-name-thread/119211.md?page=4)