I was just watching an online demo for some software at my company (I work at a database company) and I noticed that there were a couple of fields where the demonstrator had to fill in a name. He used “John Lennon” for the first one, and “Paul McCartney” for the second. It occurred to me that many of us probably have names we use often when we just have to fill in some random name, so what are yours?
Do you use generic ones like John Doe or Joe Blow? The names of your favorite band members or literary characters? Your own name, or those of family members? Curious to see if there are any trends.
Me, the ones I use depend on the likelihood that anybody else is going to see what I put in. If it’s likely, I’ll either use generic names (John Doe, Mary Smith) or cartoon characters (Mickey Mouse, Charlie Brown). If it’s not likely anybody else will see it, I tend to use names of favorite book characters (Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, my own characters) or band members (Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart are favorites. )
If I’m going to set up a sock account on a message board to troll the heck out of it, I’ll often use winterhawk11.[sup]*[/sup]
For forms I’m also a big fan of going through band members. Pets come in handy too, particularly when I’m testing/learning a function that will monkey with separate first and last names–it’s easy to see a list where the pet and the animal type get mismatched. For some forms I’ll use my initials as words, so here I’d be Rhythm Devil=Are Dee.
[sup]*Note to mods, winterhawk11, and anyone else: that was intended solely as humor. I do not create sock accounts, have no beef with wh11, nor troll. [/sup]
I don’t test software but I play Zuma. Lately I’ve been using nicknames we’ve given the puppy – Fluffbutt, Turdbucket, Dipshit. Hmmm. I see a pattern there.
She just grabbed a cucumber from the kitchen counter. I guess the next name will be Di-A-Rea.
Creighton Horne. One of those guys from childhood who was “a little off” and known for eccentric behavior and was regarded by fellow pre-teens as “queer” before homosexual had even entered our thinking processes.
Sammy Dean was another who always rode an old Schwinn bike and chased kids who hollered at him.
I frequently use Lynn or Lynn Bodoni. My first name is NOT Lynn, and I grew up with everyone calling me by my first name. When I was old enough to insist that I wanted to be called Lynn, then pretty much everyone else switched over except for my parents and my oldest friend.
I have my phone number listed under my birth first name. On the odd occasions that I answer the phone, if someone tries to stutter through that name, I know that this person doesn’t know me (because I fill out official forms with “Lynn”), and that this is probably a telemarketing call of some sort. In which case I get all medieval on the caller’s ass.
I’ll probably change my name to Lynn legally when my parents die, as they are attached to the first name on my birth certificate.
)
