# What is the origin of your SDMB screen name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 2, 2024, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131 "2024-08-02T02:17:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/121 "2024-08-02T22:38:01Z")
Yay! Though it’s somewhat true too. It’s been 24 years, and I don’t recall my actual motivation for selecting it. I probably answered the question in another thread at some point though! ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/122 "2024-08-02T22:57:16Z")
Mine’s pretty simple. When I firt went online, I signed up with AOL. I didn’t want any numbers in my screen-name, and I was getting peeved with all of my choices getting automatically added numbers to it. I guess that’s a lesson about my originality. I was living in Monterey at the time and my favorite game is Go. So I went with montereygo. When the Straight Dope community was on AOL, other posters referred to me as Monty. I liked it so when we got an independent board, I stuck with it. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/123 "2024-08-02T23:17:20Z")
Mine has a very simple origin. When my son was little, we got a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy. This is a large breed, and the puppy grew quickly. Soon he was big enough to stand on his hind legs and put his front paws on my son’s shoulders, and my son would hug him and emphatically inform him, “you are a wolf pup!”. It turns out that “wolfpup” for whatever reason is a popular handle on various media and it’s usually been already taken when I’ve tried to sign up with it. I think the only reason it wasn’t taken here is that, as this thread shows, the denizens here tend to skew to the obscure and esoteric in their name selections. I like the name not only because of the nostalgia, but because it reflects my love of dogs, wolves, and generally all canines. @Exapno_Mapcase – that’s one of the more unusual backgrounders to a name selection. I had assumed, without giving it much thought, that it was some obscure term from typography, maybe something to do with Linotype machines! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/124 "2024-08-02T23:17:40Z")
“I came here to gyre and gimble in the wabe. And I am all out of gyre.” ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/125 "2024-08-02T23:37:35Z")
It was my first cat’s name. I read it in a sci fi book as a teenager and just liked it. I started using it online because it was always available. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/126 "2024-08-02T23:54:55Z")
I had zero experience with online social anything. The only user IDs I had ever had were assigned to me by schools or employers. I heard of this place, read threads avidly for a day or 3, then happened to visit when there was a current then-GQ thread asking a question right up my alley, but I was dismayed to see I needed to invent a username to be able to post. Curses, foiled again! Forced creativity is not one of my strong suits. Wrack brain, wrack brain … At the time I lived in a suburb whose name was a long-winded pile of marketing-speak but whose initials were LSL. So many people just called the city “LSL” as in “I live in LSL; do you live there or in [some other adjacent burb]?”. Many local businesses were named like “LSL Shoe Repair” or “LSL Liquors” or whatever. So locally common slang. I’m male. I found the SDMB folks with gender-ambiguous or gender-absent names to be interesting but I wasn’t really wanting to join that crowd. Hence @LSLGuy. Some male dude hailing from the minor burg of LSL. I haven’t lived there for 10+ years, and my 21st Doperversary is next month. But I’m stuck with it. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Tom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc348/32.png) [@Big\_Tom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Tom)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/127 "2024-08-03T00:32:41Z")
Very boring - my first name is Tom, and I’m a pretty big guy. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/128 "2024-08-03T01:09:49Z")
I’ve seen and used mapcases and they’re kind of cool in concept, although just storing a bunch of maps on top of one another without any easy way of identifying what the fifth map is makes my skin crawl. The Exapno part, though… Well, it’s unique. There’s been a number of Marxian names here, although I can’t think of one still actively posting. No offense: bad memory. The only map person I know of is @JKellyMap. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/129 "2024-08-03T01:14:19Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > A tribute to Eddie Murphy and his Buckwheat character on SNL. I thought " lookin’ for love" kind of meshed the whole fighting ignorance thing I recall several years ago (vB days, before avatars) someone thinking it was instead **WOOKIE IN A PUB**. * * * Mine is the name of the anti-hero protagonist of the Incal series of graphic novels; felt apropos given my absent-mindedness, quirky way of looking at and interacting with the world, and the whole tarot “soul in search of experience” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/130 "2024-08-03T01:21:45Z")
I for one am happy that your name isn’t Richard. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/131 "2024-08-03T01:32:49Z")
Or Johnson. > **[Big Johnson - HOME OF THE BIGGEST JOHNSON](https://www.bigjohnson.com/)** > > Big Johnson T-shirts provides the world with a laugh and a Big Ole Johnson to get your day going! We are the funniest and most popular t-shirt brand since the 90s. Big Johnson is a great icebreaker and conversation starter for any occasion. "It's not... ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/132 "2024-08-03T01:35:37Z")
LSL Guy Johnson is right! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/133 "2024-08-03T01:37:19Z")
Great idea! I may have to ask for a username change. Thanks. **LSLGuyJohnson** really sings, doesn’t it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/134 "2024-08-03T02:07:14Z")
No worse than @Sicks_Ate. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/135 "2024-08-03T02:17:49Z")
I saw birds, flying over farmland, and it seemed … ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/136 "2024-08-03T02:29:19Z")
I made it from a “create your own Star Wars Name” website. Revealing that I have secretly been a Raccoon, who has learned to use a computer, came later. Fun Fact : when I attended in person SDMB get togethers, I was actually **two** Raccoons, one on top of the other, in a hat & trench-coat. ---
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/137 "2024-08-03T02:30:41Z")
My SDMB screen name comes from being a fan of my favourite Smooth Jazz group, the Rippingtons. ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/138 "2024-08-03T03:00:36Z")
Mine is a homophone for my surname and given name spelled backward. I first used this as the name for a D&D wizard character in the 1970’s, then it caught on as my general nickname by the time I was in college. I was surprised when I learned that some people thought Tox was my actual name. Who the heck would name their kid Tox? ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/139 "2024-08-03T05:06:27Z")
> [@Retzbu\_Tox](#): > > Who the heck would name their kid Tox? It’s got an X in it, so… Musk I’d assume. 🙂 Perhaps he’ll take it for his next, all Texas gene-carrier: Texas Only Musk And then in 35 years, we’ll have the next Great American Candidate For Life “Tox Musk”. Although, at this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the surname rewritten as Muxx. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![X.L.Lent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a5b964/32.png) [@X.L.Lent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X.L.Lent)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131/140 "2024-08-03T06:19:38Z")
Before retiring I spent the last couple decades testing webpages and a few apps. I frequently had to enter fake data when testing pages with forms but after a while this got a bit boring so I started to use names that were puns. Here are a few that I used: - Hugh Mungus - Artie Choke - Ken Tucky - Ellie Fant - Ann Teak - Harry Katz “X.L.Lent” was one of the names I used while testing. Almost used “Ray L. Rhodes” as my SBMB name but thought “X.L.Lent” sounded better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-your-sdmb-screen-name/1005131.md?page=8)