# Where do people get their SDMB names from? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 14, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940 "2008-06-14T18:48:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/141 "2012-12-07T01:01:08Z")
> [@sahirrnee](#): > > I was a belly dancer and Sahirrnee (Bewitched) is a song by George Abdo. I like the song to listen to but not to dance to. It literally means ‘bewitch me’. In Arabic the word actually has a doubled h but a single r. ---
**Author:** ![EMCEE\_98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@EMCEE\_98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EMCEE_98)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/142 "2012-12-07T01:47:12Z")
Emcee comes from my initials, “M” and “C.” ---
**Author:** ![getitrite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@getitrite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/getitrite)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/143 "2012-12-07T05:13:30Z")
It is the question everyone seems to ask me, or the way I tread every job I do, you choose the story, which is better. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/144 "2012-12-07T05:39:35Z")
Mine is a reference to the Warren Zevon song “Accidentally Like A Martyr.” ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/145 "2012-12-07T07:17:49Z")
Initials and year born. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/146 "2012-12-07T09:36:06Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > It literally means ‘bewitch me’. In Arabic the word actually has a doubled h but a single r. I’m going by the album spelling and translation since I don’t know Arabic. I think the spelling and translations on most of the albums are fairly loose anyway and depend on the nationality of the artist. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/147 "2012-12-07T12:53:50Z")
Jeff Buckley’s only album was called _Grace_. I have a live recording where he introduces it saying: “Bigger…fatter…gracer.” I liked that. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/148 "2012-12-07T13:13:29Z")
I’ve explained my UserName on several of these over the years. even though this is a zombie thread, I don’t seem to be in it. Here goes. **CalMeacham** is from **Cal Meacham** , the hero of a series of sgort stories by Raymond F. Jones that were collected into the novel _This Island Earth_, which was filmed under that title in 1955. In the film, the way-brainy hero was played by tall, dark, and handsome and deep-voiced Rex Reason (who has the _perfect_ name for an actor playing a Scientist Hero). As of this writing, Reason is still around and has his own website, selling, among other things, autographed pictures of him and Russell Johnson (who’s also still around) from This Island Earth. He’s not as dark, but he’s still taller and handsomer than I’ll ever be, and probably has a deeper voice. Choosing the name was clearly a case of Sympathetic Magic on my part. I hoped that by invoking his name I would take on the characteristics of the Hero. It hasn’t worked yet. The book was a lot more intelligent than the film, which dumbed things down considerably, and never explained the meaning of the title. It was unavailable for many years, but has been reprinted, and is worth the read. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/149 "2012-12-07T15:29:12Z")
Mine stems from an online site for that sells gifts for drummers. The missus got found it and got me - a drummer in my spare time - a few T-shirts and stickers. By the way, we had a similar [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=540702) a few years ago that might be of interest to the OP ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/150 "2012-12-07T15:30:50Z")
Mine is raloPirT spelled backwards. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/151 "2012-12-07T16:48:52Z")
IRL my first name is Kirk and when I say my name it is usually misunderstood to be Curt, Kent etc. I often introduce myself as Kirk as in Captain James T. I tour manage bands for a living and am known as Captain and credited as such on a few records. I also like scifi so… In my first post someone was astounded that my user name was not taken in the dozen or so years the SDMB existed before I joined I am a Mumper and they call me **Jim** **Capt** ---
**Author:** ![Krouget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b38774/32.png) [@Krouget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krouget)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/152 "2012-12-07T17:07:54Z")
Mine is actually my first initial and last name K Rouget, but I once had someone try to pronounce it as one word, and after the hilarity of that butchering, I’ve at times just had fun with it and did “Krouget”. ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/153 "2012-12-07T17:39:26Z")
You get what you get when you resurrect a thread. Two members have been banned \*\*Merkwurdigliebe \*\* and **Don’t fight the hypothetical** and three have died, **Norinew** , **Walloon** and **LiveOnAPlane** in the intervening years. My username is from a detective named Philo Vance who was in some 1930’s novels by S. S. Van Dine. I have never read one, but was taken with the name. I thought (in those early days) that you could not have a space in your user name, so I eliminated it. Not really very original. 😉 I have used the same name on several message boards since (mostly tech boards) but got away from the practice and now use a variety of names. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/154 "2012-12-07T17:52:48Z")
My mother named me Gagundathar, and although it is a remarkably common name in my culture, I was able to secure it as a screen name. How’d have thought? Dr. Gagundathar The Inexplicable at your service. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/155 "2012-12-07T18:02:15Z")
My father was a printer. He’d take me with him to work on Saturday mornings sometimes. I would pull the cases out and look at the different fonts when I got tired of watching him run the Linotype or proof press. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/156 "2012-12-07T18:08:05Z")
My first Dope screenname was based on a concept for a story I was writing at the time. My current one (chosen because the other seemed a bit more feminine than I intended) comes from a character from a “book” of stories I wrote as a teen and used to read my baby sister as bedtime stories. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/157 "2012-12-07T18:23:11Z")
Mine is an affectionate (yes, really) ncikname my first wife gave ca. 1992. We used it to name lead characters in video games like Shining Force that we played at the time. I carried over as a screen name when I started going on line. ---
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/158 "2012-12-07T19:14:55Z")
If there was a happily ever after in Dirty Dancing, that would be me. (Although I’m mad at myself for spelling Frances wrong!) Nobody puts Baby in a corner! Also…just a lesson I learned today. Don’t google “Johnny Castle” at work. Turns out he’s a pretty big porn star! :o ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/159 "2012-12-07T19:30:42Z")
> [@PhiloVance](#): > > three have died, **Norinew** , **Walloon** and **LiveOnAPlane** in the intervening years. …and **Autolycus**. My username is a real-life nickname. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940/160 "2012-12-07T20:05:38Z")
_Ambivalent; Invalid;_ combining these two words can mean many things. I am choosing them as a way of expressing my nuanced complex feelings as a handicapped man living in the world today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-people-get-their-sdmb-names-from/452940.md?page=9)