Why/How did you choose your email/blogging name?

from JoeUser Forums
I was watching a news program the other day, I forgot which news magazine program, (or at least I think it was on tv) and they featured the odd names people call themselves for email purposes. That got me thinking to the moment that I chose my Email name, Foreverserenity.

I remembered I was going through a lot at the time, and I wanted some peace of mind, and thought of the word Serenity because of an email I received at the time. It's a nice word and I love the feeling saying it gave me and the thoughts of being peaceful and the calm that it evoked in my mind. So I decided to create an email address with that name on Yahoo.

I actually wanted to be Serenity Now, (especially because of that Seinfeld episode where George was having a vexing time and he kept yelling, "Serenity now, serenity now"!), Anyway, when I tried Serenity Now, that name was already taken. So I thought, well, I want to have serenity forever, and I tried, that, already taken; so I tried Foreverserenity, that was taken but no one had the 2003 version, so I added that, and hence I became, foreverserenity2003. That also got me thinking about a lot of JUsers name I've seen on this site and I wondered how did you get your Blogging/Email name and why?
blogging
6,244 views 31 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
I don't know why I came up with this name...something about how the hamster runs and runs on his wheel and never gets anywhere...it's like my life. I'm kinda sick of it already (this name, not so much my life right now) and I've already gotten teased about it. I'm NOT really a hamster, ya know...

I didn't know, in the beginning, exactly how long I'd be sticking around JU. I thought I'd just try it out for a bit and didn't give it much thought about being stuck with a silly name for the rest of my life or otherwise indefinitely. Do you think I can/should change it?

I've gone through a lot of screen names because sometimes I'm a bit of a privacy freak. My nickname is Meg (in real life), but I thought I'd exhausted all the creative usernames I could do with Meg (maybe not here, but other places and times). So much for trying something different.

Anyway, anybody, feel free to call me Meg!...it's still not my "real" name, but it's better than Hamster.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
Warning: Insanely boring story follows

I purchased Galactic Civilizaions by Stardock and registered it. Had to come up with a nickname, randomly picked BlueDev (I am going to grad school at Duke, home of the "Blue Devils"). Suddenly I realized that, now that I had a Stardock account I also had this blog, just had to finish setting it up. Came over and bluedev.joeuser.com was there waiting. Oh well. I have grown rather fond of it now.
Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
That was a nice story about your name, mine isn't nearly as exciting. I went without a name for a long time and then found I needed one for various reasons so I thought and thought and decided to go by the name Crazedpsychopath. At the time I felt it was an appropriately silly and crazy name Now I go by Danny Bassette, which is close enough to my real name that it might as well be (I'm really Daniel). Never been good at picking fake names, so I decided to go with who I am, simpler that way
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
Mine was out of string of jobs I have had with a common suffix.

Parachute Rigger, Paratrooper, Paramedicine Major, and Paramedic.... Now Parasite (lol).

The 2k was in celebration of gaining my Paramedic certs (and the year I set up the Email account).

Who knows, for reasons of tradition, maybe next I'll be a Paralegal. ;~D
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top

My blogging name is also one of my pen names, and it was chosen for the following reasons:

"Gideon" is a name that, loosely, means "warrior", and it also expresses a kinship with a biblical character with whom I closely identify. The biblical Gideon was a weak man by nature, made strong by his faithfulness to God...so to me it signifies my utter weakness, but ability to be made strong through God.

"MacLeish" is an alteration of a family name. It comes from the Gaelic "Mac Gill Iosa", meaning "son of the servant of Jesus".

Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
Wow, really interesting stories you guys. I thought Danny's and Gideon's name were actually their real names. I think each person's name is unique and quite a good fit.
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
Nothing fancy here. It goes back to an old computer game, Civilization. When you started a game, it would fill in a leader’s name for you. One time, it filled in Genghis Khan. So I started deleting the name to put my own in. I got to the “han” and realized that Khan was an anagram for Hank. So I started playing as Genghis Hank.

I thought about it. Genghis means “great” doesn’t it? Great Hank! I kind of liked that. I’m the only Hank I know, so why not be Great Hank?

So, when I needed an online name, I started using it. It’s unique. I’ve never seen it taken before. I don’t have to be Hank 19xx or Hank100 or anything forced. Just Genghis Hank
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
I chose Manopeace because I live in Israel and am very much involved in the peace movement here. It is more of a way of life for me than merely a screen name
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
Greywar was a character in some fiction I wrote only for my own consumption.
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
that one guy in SLC (Salt Lake City) Although i'm rarely there. It's where my stuff is... I've been using it for years. Someone actually offered me money for my yahoo acct once because they wanted the name.
Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top
I read Ulysses.
I was enamored with the phrase: "History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake."(seeing as I was a history major)
I started a short-runned zine called "History is a Nightmare....", and I got a yahoo address for historyis
I tried to register here as "historyis", but it was taken, so I added here, and that's how I got to this point.
Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top
Mine is kind of involved. When I first got online and started going in chat rooms, I used the name LadyImp. Lady because I was really into dressing up for the Renaissance festival, Imp because at the time I had less of a sense of dignity than I do now. When I changed ren fest costumes to go as a peasant, I changed to Cari_Imp. Eventually I acquired a sense of dignity and decided that "Imp" wasn't appropriate anymore. I've always loved elves in books and games (I almost always play as an elf or half elf in RPGs where I have that option) so I chose CariElf. When I started working here at Stardock, I tacked on the word Maiden because people kept thinking that I was a guy. I eventually changed it to Cari_Elf_Girl_Geek because I'm very proud of being a geek.
Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top
While I currently have the account set to show my real name, my actual handle here is SmartAz.

Like so many, my first choice (WiseGuy) was taken, so I started playing with it till it transmorgified into something functional that satisfied me.

I once wrote an article to tell the entire story (click here to read it). From the last paragraph: 'So, SmartAz means "Smart As...," "Smart Arizona," and (last and least) "Smart Ass." Unfortunately, the last one is the only one people seem to pick up on.'

Also, a blogger named Karen Hobbs once posed this question. You can read the responses from many other JUsers in her comments section by clicking here.
Reply #14 from JoeUser Forums Top
er, I think I was a bit unclear in my earlier reply. My real name is Daniel Bassette, but I don't like Daniel so I use Danny.
Reply #15 from JoeUser Forums Top
My screenname comes from my desire to be a potential zoologist and the number comes from 2003 which just kind of kept sticking around because I use it a lot and I don't want to change it every freaking year....so that's my story.

~Zoo
Reply #16 from JoeUser Forums Top
Thats a really interesting thread

Well i'm a girl and i live in Vanuatu, so that's why i'm isalnd_gurl. 12 because i was born on the 12/03/83
Reply #17 from JoeUser Forums Top
12/03/83 as in 12th of March. Just precising cuz i think in the US they show dates different (?)
Reply #18 from JoeUser Forums Top
12/03/83 as in 12th of March. Just precising cuz i think in the US they show dates different (?)


Yes, in America "12/03/83" would be read as "December, 3rd, 1983." (We put the month first, then the day.)

My message board software was programmed in France. Until I figured out how to change the dates to American, I was never sure when the older messages had been left.
Reply #19 from JoeUser Forums Top
it must have been a headache Gene!

Well thanks for clarifying
Reply #20 from JoeUser Forums Top
My screenname comes from my desire to be a potential zoologist


You only want to someday become a "potential zoologist"?

Sorry, couldn't resist
Reply #21 from JoeUser Forums Top
I explained in my initial Blog. Mine is from my Great Uncle, Dr. Guy Faget. He was my Grandmother's oldest brother, and famous for his work on treatments for Leprosy.
Reply #22 from JoeUser Forums Top
Sorry Danny, now I'm clear. I love these stories, I think they definately give an insight into each individual. I used to get the dates wrong too when I first came to the US. Sometimes I still get the spelling of some words mixed up, color - colour; favorite -favourite, but that's a different story for another time.
Reply #23 from JoeUser Forums Top
just john stems from my first night working as a radio personality at the local college station. I was about to go on and had not even considered using anything other that my given name (John). The girl on just before me was on air, paused to ask who I was, and I replied "I'm just going to use John". Born by silly mistake, just john hit the airwaves and doesn't really bother me. I am a simple person. It just fits.
Reply #24 from JoeUser Forums Top
I'm from Texas, but we live in Hawaii on my husband's military orders. "Wahine" is the Hawaiian word for girl or woman, so I'm "Texas girl."

Oh, and it's pronounced Wa HE Nay.
Reply #25 from JoeUser Forums Top
I chose Fox in the Snow from a song by that name by Belle and Sebastian--one of my favorite bands. (although not my fav song on that album, I thought that it was a better choice than "get me away from here I'm dying" (awesome song)