# Will we ever run out of user names? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 18, 2003, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-run-out-of-user-names/182657 "2003-06-18T07:35:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![guava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/71e660/32.png) [@guava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guava)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-run-out-of-user-names/182657/1 "2003-06-18T07:35:21Z")
Is it just me that can’t access list of members? Assuming it’s NOT just me, could the FAQ be updated to reflect this change? > [@](#): > > The member list contains a complete list of all the registered members of this board. You can view the member list ordered alphabetically by username, by the date that the member joined the board, or by the number of posts the members have made. > > The member list also has a search function, which allows you to quickly locate members according to categories you specify, such as searching for all members who have joined in the past week etc. I’ve heard several people report that they had a problem selecting a user name. Several tries, and all of the times that they tried, they were informed that the name was already in use. People are having to get more and more creative with their user names, adding numbers, symbols, and oddly backward and upside-down spelled names. Does anyone anticipate this creating real problems in the future? Obviously, there are approaching infinite combinations of letters, numbers and symbols, but I wouldn’t want to register as g58t26r, and even guava2 lacks the finesse of simply guava. Is there any mass purging of inactive memberships? If we haven’t seen a post from you in five years, you’re gone. Let someone else have the cool name. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-run-out-of-user-names/182657/2 "2003-06-18T07:43:49Z")
Off th’ top of my head – I believe the members list was deactivated some time ago. The FAQs accessible by the link button above discusses some features that aren’t active here. Will we run out of user names? My bet’s on “Nope…” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-run-out-of-user-names/182657/3 "2003-06-18T21:45:13Z")
If a service (hah!) like AOL, with millions of subscribers, hasn’t run out of screennames — and they have more rigid limitations than we do – it’s a safe bet that we won’t. I mean, after all, if there are 26 letters plus 10 numbers for each space, and we cut names off at 10 letters, we’d still have… um… lessee… 36 x 36 X … say, over 3 quadrillion names. That’d be enough for every human being currently alive to have several hundred thousand names. So I’d say, not a problem. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-run-out-of-user-names/182657/4 "2003-06-18T22:10:55Z")
> [@](#): > > That’d be enough for every human being currently alive to have several hundred thousand names. Great. Now you’re _encouraging_ them. Bastard. Now I gotta run off and delete all those posts by CKDextHavn and his evil ilk. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-run-out-of-user-names/182657/5 "2003-06-18T23:32:06Z")
Anybody remember that letter to the editor in _Rolling Stone_ where the guy said, in effect, “According to my calculations, we will run out of pop music in seven years,” or whatever it was? Back in the late 60s or early 70s, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Durabrite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Durabrite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Durabrite)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-run-out-of-user-names/182657/6 "2003-06-21T14:25:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by C K Dexter Haven \* > \*\*If a service (hah!) like AOL, with millions of subscribers, hasn’t run out of screennames — \*\* You shouldn’t be so fast to compare yourself to AOL. Like the OP requests, they _do_ recycle inactive names. When my bother switched to a cable modem I asked for his old name and got it that day. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-run-out-of-user-names/182657/7 "2003-06-21T14:31:39Z")
Besides, Dex, those aren’t _names_, necessarily; they’re unrelated series of letters and numbers and whatnot. Still, I suppose a thousand monkeys in a room for a thousand years might come up with C K Dexter Haven. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-run-out-of-user-names/182657/8 "2003-06-21T15:15:07Z")
Oh, yeah, like **da nth e-man** isn’t an unrelated series of letters… ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-run-out-of-user-names/182657/9 "2003-06-21T20:05:52Z")
Oh, boy, thank God that **GF4HG90d23** isn’t taken yet. That’s my real name and was thinking of switching to it. Peace, GF4HG90d23 ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-run-out-of-user-names/182657/10 "2003-06-22T03:49:00Z")
I just happen to be from Danthe, France. That’s all! And you know, Dex made it tough on all of us when he added those spaces to his name. I was all set to use C K Dexter Haven, too. ---
**Author:** ![waddamaroon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/41988e/32.png) [@waddamaroon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waddamaroon)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-run-out-of-user-names/182657/11 "2003-06-24T00:08:30Z")
Uh, Bunnyfoofoo isn’t taken. I dare ya.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-run-out-of-user-names/182657/12 "2003-06-24T03:05:22Z")
There is NO way I’m changing my name to Bunnyfoofoo! I like my name, and wouldn’t change it for the world… unless I could come up with something more imaginative than this, of course. Somehow, I don’t think I could… so **Flamsterette\_X** it is. F\_X ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-run-out-of-user-names/182657/13 "2003-06-24T04:05:21Z")
Let’s assume that the Straight Dope boards become popular beyond our wildest dreams and that billions of people flock to register here (let’s also assume there are wonderful new servers that can handle this). **A38NMD9RPX** registers on the boards because he is sick of trying to find a username which is not taken. The next person comes, sees a lack of good usernames, and in frustration becomes **A38NND9RPX**. Would **A38NND9RPX** be considered to be impersonating **A38NMD9RPX** due to the similarity in their usernames? ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-run-out-of-user-names/182657/14 "2003-06-24T07:10:26Z")
Come on **IEI** , everyone can see in a glance that those are different? Like, would anyone confuse **lno** and you? This post is completely proofread. So there. 😉