# Why did you change your username? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 12, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191 "2007-11-12T23:05:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/1 "2007-11-12T23:05:09Z")
Huh? Why’d ya do it? Inigo Montoya is my hero IRL. Don’t laugh! It’s true. He’s got his issues but in spite of them, or maybe because of them, he’s a master at his chosen profession even to the exclusion of anything else. But while I love his style I wonder if the world at large might be better served if I adopted a more accurate name. “Milford Cubicle” or “Brad” or “That guy in the corner.” Not saying I plan on changing, just want to know why you did. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/2 "2007-11-12T23:10:42Z")
I was tired of being identified as male. I have enough problems with that over the phone. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/3 "2007-11-12T23:13:27Z")
Huh. I had no idea you were **The Sausage Creature**. I expect this’ll be happening a lot as more and more people post to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/4 "2007-11-12T23:14:22Z")
Why? Why not! Just look at me! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/5 "2007-11-13T04:34:10Z")
Because I was tired of everyone thinking I was some guy named Dan. Although I think sometimes I should have just stayed **fisheroo.** ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/6 "2007-11-13T04:57:44Z")
Because as much as I like Wheel of Time, I just couldn’t stand being _that_ geeky any more. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tibidabo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@Tibidabo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibidabo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/7 "2007-11-13T11:12:17Z")
I promised **Nevermore** I’d change it from \*\*Quoth the Raven \*\* if I subscribed. We agreed we were likely to get sick of people pointing it out 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/8 "2007-11-13T12:00:22Z")
I wanted a name that sounded more female. With the old one people seemed to assume I was a man. Plus, I just thought of the old one on the spot one day six years ago and it didn’t have any special meaning. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/9 "2007-11-13T12:02:26Z")
“Big black sausage to kill” was assumed to be a racial remark. So I was forced to abbreviate it. ---
**Author:** ![as\_u\_wish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@as\_u\_wish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/as_u_wish)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/10 "2007-11-13T13:24:10Z")
I’d just like to say Inigo is my hero too. I haven’t changed my name. I probably should at least request that the underscores be removed. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/11 "2007-11-13T20:48:50Z")
Well, I used to be **javaman** (after Pithecanthropus), and then I got briefly banned by **manhattan** for politicking in GQ, along with several others. The banning was done with the understanding that we could come back, and when I did I decided to change my name. So now I am **Spectre of Pithecanthropus** , back from the banned. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/12 "2007-11-13T20:54:20Z")
I was **Occam** when this place was free. For some reason when I started coming in here again and subscribed I couldn’t take it because it was already being used (by me?) so on a whim I just used the one I have now from a **Space Ghost** ’s Zorak poem. I was going to change it, but what the hell…who cares. ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/13 "2007-11-13T20:56:07Z")
I was originally \*\*ellykat \*\* but just got sick of it. I kept hearing that song “smelly cat” from friends every time I saw my name. So I changed it to **Rez**. I then went through some divorce issues and since my husband was a former doper I changed my name again - no so much for anonimity but to at least make it a little harder to search on me. Turned out everything is OK with that now so I’m comfortable associating all names with me. Plus, searching my posts I haven’t posted anything that bad anyway. So now I am, once and for all, **ShelliBean**. Which is how many people know me in real life but I don’t sweat it because I made it a policy last time to not share anything I couldn’t face in (theoretical) court. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/14 "2007-11-13T21:01:00Z")
I changed as I felt my user name was boring, I originally chose before I realized how much I would be hanging out on the dope. My name was decided by a small contest. It is an old New Jersey joke\* that works well for me. **Crotalus** was the user that suggested it. [QUOTE=as\_u\_wish] I’d just like to say Inigo is my hero too. I haven’t changed my name. I probably should at least request that the underscores be removed. [/QUOTE] You may want to keep the underscores; I find my current username nearly is nearly impossible to find in a search. Jim - Someone finds out you are from NJ, so they ask as a joke, “What Exit do you live at?” The joke being that everyone in NJ lives near a highway exit. I had never heard the joke until I got to boot camp, some wiseass asked me and I had no idea he was joking. I replied, “Between 105 and 109, do you know the area?” This caused several jaws to drop and more laughter than the joke would have. ---
**Author:** ![Swampwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Swampwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swampwolf)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/15 "2007-11-13T21:07:42Z")
Years ago, when the site was free, I was **Blessedwolf.** By the time I came back I had moved to the [swamp,](http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z115/swampwolf42/740308124_l.jpg) but since Blessedwolf is a translation of my Hebrew name, I wanted to keep part of it. And thus, **Swampwolf** was born. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/16 "2007-11-13T21:50:18Z")
I registered using my real name initally because I hadn’t really read the boards too much yet and was pretty much just reading the Comments section. The first poster I really recall was [John W. Kennedy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?userid=514) and figured that name was the style of these boards. I have no idea what prompted me to go with the current one, but a drunken leprechaun works well enough for me. The poster formerly known a really long time ago as **Ryan Mahoney** ---
**Author:** ![Kalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/df705f/32.png) [@Kalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalypso)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/17 "2007-11-13T22:53:01Z")
I changed last week from **_bec_** because I was tired of the underscored lowercase thing I’d been doing for years. I’ve also been absolutely enamored with the name **Kalypso** since I named my Clan Lord (MMORPG) character that a year ago, so I’ve been using it wherever possible. I thought a long time before I finally wrote the email to **TubaDiva** to ask for the change. I took it as seriously as I might have taken getting a tattoo. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/18 "2007-11-13T22:56:08Z")
\*\*Elenia28 \*\*was my handle for ages, and boring. I wanted something more ME. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/19 "2007-11-13T23:16:42Z")
To avoid a cyberstalker. Actually, I guess I didn’t really change my username. My account lapsed. I went to sign up again, and, since I used the came credit card, I had to explain to someone here why I was using a different user name. Anyway, I’d had a (brief) relationship with a woman, which did not go well. Subsequently, she engaged in behavior that can only be described as extremely inappropriate. That’s being polite. If I wanted to be accurate, rather than polite, and what the hell, I do, her behavior was batshit insane. She was then and is now a stalker. I literally had to change my phone number and move. She would definitely cyberstalk, so I’ve changed my username on every forum I frequent since that breakup, just in case she was aware of my old usernames, or could figure them out. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191/20 "2007-11-13T23:31:57Z")
My original SDMB name was just an old username I was using at the time, it was just a series of letters with no meaning. “Hello Again” was the name of my horse so it just seemed a little more significant. I requested my name change late at night on Sept 10, 2001! :o As the “real” Hello Again passed away Feb 2005, its a nice memorial now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-you-change-your-username/426191.md?page=2)