# User Name Validity

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-validity/155759>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [February 18, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-validity/155759 "2003-02-18T00:33:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Orange\_Skinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Orange\_Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orange_Skinner)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-validity/155759/1 "2003-02-18T00:33:41Z")

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When I first signed up for the SDMB, I was going to have my user name be **Scratched Cherry**. When I went to register a prompt came up saying it was already in use. The other day I didn’t have anything better to do, so I did a user name search for **scratched cherry** to read some of the posts by whoever had gotten the user name first.

According to search, though…such a user doesn’t exist. I got the following message: _Please specify some words or valid user names to search on. There were no matches for those that you specified._

I’m curious…was there ever a member by this name, or was it blocked by the server from use for some other reason?

Thanks,  
OS

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**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-validity/155759/2 "2003-02-18T01:03:42Z")

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This can occur if the user is registered but hasn’t posted anything.

Here’s how to look up the profile of a member by name:

[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?action=getinfo&username=Scratched%20Cherry](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?action=getinfo&username=Scratched%20Cherry)

Click on the “quote” button for this post to see exactly how this is coded. If the user name contains spaces, replace them with “+” or “%20”.

You do need the exact name, though, and this name isn’t registered.

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**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-validity/155759/3 "2003-02-18T15:58:19Z")

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Hmmm, that’s odd. The only names I find containing the string “cherry” are:  
•cherry  
•cherryblue\_0  
•CherryBomb  
•Cherry\_Blossom\_  
•Ellen Cherry and  
•Wild Cherry

If you’d like to change your name, you can e-mail one of the admins and they can help you out.

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**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-validity/155759/4 "2003-02-18T17:26:23Z")

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There seems to be a theme to these user names.

[ul]😉 [sup]Perhaps a better choice would be **Tootie Fruitie** [/sup][/ul]

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**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-validity/155759/5 "2003-02-18T17:32:45Z")

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So you’re saying they scratched your username? 🙂

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**Author:** ![Lorenzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4da419/32.png) [@Lorenzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorenzo)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-validity/155759/6 "2003-02-18T23:48:32Z")

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I think **Bongmaster** has much username validity.