Out of interest, how long has everyone had their 'alias' (or avatar,persona, moniker etc) and where did they come from??
I mainly want to know this as I am trying to create a new one..as I am sick of the generic 'Blade' ...it's also a hard name to get on any games, as it is usually already used..
Like how was the name Kero Kato...or Rex Ranarum..etc.. brought into existence?
Ho! Ho! Ho! to the bottle I go
To heal my heart and drown my woe.
Rain may fall and wind may blow.
And many miles be still to go.
But under a tree I will lie,
And watch the clouds go sailing by.
-Drinking song
Battalon127
Posts: 753
Member #25
Feb 23, 2007 10:21
Well mine, contrary to appearances, is not a misspelling of the word battalion. That word, in fact, didn't even occur to me when I created this name. I had been playing a game (I forget which) and finally made the high score. I realized I didn't have a nickname to post my achievement, and since I was running out of time, I simply put down something off the top of my head. It wasn't until later that I realized the similarity to the military term (and the fact that the number is my birthday). But by that time I was already using it pretty well everywhere so I just stuck with it. Lately though, I've been phasing it out in favor of my gaming handle, RazorBakk.
Good luck coming up with a new one. I always have a horrible time trying to come up with a good screenname. My only suggestion is don't go with any sort of pop culture references you might regret later. You may find that after time they seem lame (it's happened to me) and they just aren't original.
[Edited by Battalon127 on Feb 23, 2007 10:25]
MintMan
Posts: 4061
Member #1
Feb 23, 2007 10:49
Rex Ranarum and Kero Kato actually came from the same place. Back when I first got online eight years ago, I needed a name for my Yahoo email address. I just went with a stanza from a poem Gudrun's Incitement since I knew just about everything on Yahoo was already taken and (Golden Rule!): Never end a screen name with numbers -- it looks weak and means you are unoriginal.
This name was too long, and by the time I started frequenting boards, I needed somethign shorter. Nidafells' Dragon was way long (but still used as my eBay ID) and on a few places, I used Nyorozo, the Japanese name for Of course, most of my early internet days had to do with Pokémon.
I didn't want to be that unoriginal, however. My idea for a gym was fast approaching, and I needed a name -- me. Something a person would be called, not a reference to something I like. The name should still say what I am like, however, so with as a reference, I set out to make a name for myself!
The obvious choice for me was Latin. Rex Ranarum - the King of the Frogs! That stated my pension for Polis quite well. It was also alliterative, and as always, I am amiable about alliteration!
Really, wish I would have kept that name up, but the "Rex" prefix didn't seem like a good first screen name. That is the name of big growly dogs, not skeletons such as myself.
So I looked to another language, and since Poke was a Japanese game and Japanese things were not yet incredibly sweated, I went with it for what I thought would be a throw-away name. "Kerokero" is the onamatapoeia of a frog's chirping (that is, "ribbet ribbet"). "Kato" is a bull-frog tadpole. Add 'em together, and another alliterative appellation arrives!
It was the name I created the REL with and gained popularity in the old online Pokemon circles for being the recoder of PBS. Those circles no longer exist, so I am trying to keep it restricted only to REL.
Then I also have Mint Man and Geirrek. Mints just came about because it is alliterative and I always carry around Mentos or Winterfresh. It is a largely poor name choice as 1) it is actually a dictioary word for a coinmaker, and 2) some people construe _-Man as some sort of superhero name attempt.
"Geirrek" is simply an Icelandic translation of my real name.
So what does all this mean about how you should pick your name? Well, for starters (and this is repeating what was already said a bit):
1) No dictionary words
2) No pop culture references or fad names
3) A name that will not require numbers at the end (Google it, man!)
What I would suggest for you, Blade, is to go with what you already got -- just amplify it. For example, if I wanted to change my Kero Kato name, I would probably have to adjust one half of it (probably the Kero as it is the most Japanese) to another K-word to retain some of my identity.
I would recommend sticking something in front of or after "Blade" and making that your new screen name. It is very full of possibilities, it will make you unique (if you chose something unique, that is), and you will retain at least some of your rep.
"I eat the squirrel and pee on the tree!" - Dwarf-O, The Greatest Comic
MadGoblin
Posts: 1515
Member #2
Feb 23, 2007 12:50
I'm a little freaked out by the fact that Ems and I were literally just having a conversation about this within the week. Coincistance?
Anyhoo, my name has a long and sorted history, full of explosions and Chinese take out. It all began long ago, before the internet, back in ... grade school!
Beany Joe: The precursor to all names. When I use to draw myself, normally wearing a shirt that said "I suck" and being killed in some horrible fashion, I used this name. I haven't any real idea why. Beans were funny, I guess, and Joe was the Schmoe name. Later, as my personification evolved and eventually deveoped into a bastardized, independent character, the name became detached. In all truth, "beany joe" is just a term for coffee.
Anyhoo, back in the early days of the internets, I had nothing better and thus used this as a handle. It's still my Yahoo ID and was used at my Alltel (not really used in much of anything, tho'). But, since the name had "beany" in it (hardly flattering) "Joe" (which isn't close to any of my names), I started looking for something else.
Jackdaw: Oh, boy. Where to begin with this one? It was an utter and complete fluke. Much like Ems' fluke name, it all had to do with Pokemon. Back in the REL's youth, I was avid about doodling the trainers I made. One of them was Rick, the lad who had giant brutes. There was something else I drew at the time, tho', a femme that, through my round-about naming tactics of chop, flip, and relate, got the name Jackdaw. "Hm, need a name for this dark haired vixen. But what? Let's see... there's a dark haired vixen right before me, but her name sucks. I know! Naming powers, mutilate! Daw? That's lame, but it's like jackdaw, and they are like black birds, and she has black hair. Good enough for a throw away name." Now, I have a problem with not liking to think of new names and having pictures drawn very cramped, very close to one another. Since Rick was also raven haired, and since I could utilize a full naming of Jack Daw, the Jackdaw was born!
And after all that long winded-ness, it wasn't a handle. Oh, my no. Rather, I signed up for a forum under one name (another character), made a total ass of myself, and re-signed up as this name to compensate for the matter. From there, it mainly stuck as a Pokemon community name. However, being a dictionary work and animal, it was hard to get at most places. Thus, I had to get a new one.
Doku Tengu: Yet another name of a character. Thorn goblin's had more names than you could shake a stick at, and when switching my website out of its early "Dragon's Den" gimmick, it was DT's Lair, as Shadow Aura was being pushed at the time. This lasted no time at all as the switch came right when I noticed, "Holy crap, everyone mindlessly sweats Japanese". Keep in mind, I had originally used Japanese for SA nomenclature as the entire idea was, more or less, inspired by Kaiju.
Mad Goblin: Even tho' it is by far my most recognized name, I don't really know how it came about. It was kinda... just plopped out. Goblins were always a fave of mine, being vile, disgusting, small, and generally the most pathetic of races (that sums me up pretty good). The familiar pointy-nosed, orange haired freak was an old staple of mine since childhood, and since I could not have a handle that was not first a character, I went with it. Strangely enough, that wasn't how I originally drew "Mad Goblin." Huh.
The "mad," now, came from... a studio naming. My "production company," Mucky, was the label used for the creation of Rubber Man (not... really. It was more just the icon in the corner). Since that name was really, really stupid, I quested to find a better one. I had a big page of junk and spiffy icons to go with it. There was lots of junk, but mainly words to be paired up. Alchemist, Mage, Magi, Goblin, Tower, Circle, and Mad. One such paired thing with a non-terrible icon was Mad Goblin, more or less a pointy green head. That pretty much subconsciously lodged itself into my brain and, later, when signing up for a new email, I just chucked that down. Later, it became an ID and a website. It sure got far on a whim. MG still ain't sittin' pretty on my mind, despite its five year run (the longest by far). It has a problem of being the title of a book in a lame series and having Google gankin' properties. Basically, I'm not the only "Mad Goblin" out there. However...
Bimblesnaff: The name to end all names. It was originally crafted for a Gnomish Bard as my first PC in D&D 3.0 and also had two M's in it. It ventured to be the name of star golem in Arena Terrae, gained more stem, became the moniker of the Mad Goblin, and was able to be procured as an AIM. If you can get one of those without numbers, you got yourself a good name.
So, there it is: The history of my nameness. I doubt anyone will want to read it I mean, it's such a long winded piece of crap! Gah! Crappy! Sorry for wasting your times.
What's that, you say? You only wanted the history of this handle? Well, I don't read! "They're nutty as a squirrel's breakfest."
- John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Commentary God
MintMan
Posts: 4061
Member #1
Feb 23, 2007 13:42
Only thing ya left out (and he always leaves this out) is that Jackdaw Simmons was an NPC in a DnD adventure of mine that 'Snaff was a part of. It was one of the later adventures played, too; I would have to check whether or not we were in high school yet.
Anyway, as soon as I hear the name Jackdaw, I immediately thought of this character and that Gobbs had stolen it. He refutes this point even until this day...
Lunar_Mage
Posts: 119
Member #148
Feb 23, 2007 15:35
Well, the first name I came up with for here was my RELeague account, Mark Lanston. When I signed up for that account, I wanted to have a name that sounded somewhat like an actual person as my role in that game would have been that of a more or less realistic person.
My other name, Lunar Mage, was simply one I made up for the old vgf forums - which I promptly left after a few months. After that I came here, don't really remember how long it was, but I just used that for my forum name here, and kept that name for all the other accounts that I made here simply for the sake of simplicity. As for the name itself, I simply wanted something that sounded vaguely wizardish, and I liked the moon, so there ya go.
It all sounds kinda boring when compared to Gobbo and Mint Man. "I'm sharpening my knife, kupo!" - Moguo, FFIX
[Edited by Lunar_Mage on Feb 23, 2007 15:43]
Shinyumo
Posts: 57
Member #236
Feb 23, 2007 20:03
Well, my first ever alias from way way back in lower school was the legendary...archerelf2577! 'Cause, you know, Legolas was cool.
Of course, sometime in my transformation from lower school student to middle school student, I discovered that I disliked having myself associated with my favorite childhood hero. Well, one of my favorite childhood heroes. I had many. One of my favorite childhood heroes would have to be Goku from DBZ. In fact, I was tempted to use the ever original xXxxSSJGoku2039840239xxXx as an alternate to archerelf2577 but that never came to fruition.
...Oh, on-topicness, right.
Anyway, as I was saying, by the time I hit middle school, I realized that I didn't really want to be associated with Orlando Bloom or his screen character anymore, although this did take a couple of people asking me about my chosen alias first. But I digress. I finally decided to change my alias, and its first usage came out in a MUD I used to play. Yeah, I played MUDs as a kid. I went to a harem in one such game, but exactly what it was flew completely over my head.
Uhh...right. On topic. So anyway, as I was saying, I needed a name. I could tell you about how I looked countless hours for a name that was meaningful and embodied who I was, but the best meaning I could come up with would be that I like shins, I like you, and I like to mow. Therefore, I won't lie. I just picked the first thing that came to my mind, and thus Shinyumo was born.
Cool story, huh? We'll ignore the fact that all of it minus that last sentence is completely useless.
[Edited by Shinyumo on Feb 23, 2007 20:03]
boyachi
Posts: 1161
Member #92
Feb 24, 2007 24:10
Shin, I honestly believe that no one can match that story. Or xXxxSSJGoku2039840239xxXx.
Boyachi stems from Dan Hibiki. For those who don't know, Dan is the suckiest character in the streetfighter series. Which, strangely, I found I was rather adept with him. In his final battle (or a perfect match) he shouts something. Now, apparently it means "father" or "grandfather"; something in japanese. *looks it up* Well according to wiki, which i'm only quoting because it came up in the google search first:
"OOYAAJIIIIII!!!!!" (Japanese for "father" or "old man", in reference to his father) Oyaji...Boyachi...lack of understanding japanese, and thats me!
I use Wicker a wee bit after Halo actually gave it to me as a random name and I liked it. Speaking of Halo, nothing beats the name RacySpeedo, came up when I needed a name that was dirty and boastful.
Anyone who has looked through my DA gallery knows of THAT picture.
Just make sure that your name is acceptable in in at least one social circle that you aren't. Be it with the opposite sex, old people, or teachers. More importantly, make sure you're comfortable being referred to as that. Having a friend walk up to me saying "Hey, Boyachi!" whilst I converse with a neighbor is tolerable and MUCH less embarrassing than "Hey, Racyspeedo!"
You get the idea. Make sure its offline acceptable if people can pronounce it. And if its anything like or worse than Schlotzchy, be prepared for people to MISpronounce it.
"My side is dead, my beliefs have been forgotten, my youth has left me and my innocence was slaughtered infront my eyes. Why should I care when it is only my life on the line?" - Neverdais
[Edited by boyachi on Feb 24, 2007 24:12]
Zedd
Posts: 286
Member #76
Feb 24, 2007 7:28
Zedd is... Just a name I came up with, one winter's morning, whilst sitting around wondering what to name a character in... Uhh, I think it was Zelda: A Link to the Past, on a SNES I borrowed from someone or other...
Problem was, a bit later on I found out about the Power Rangers dude, so I really should come up with something better than that and The Stranger, which are both frequently taken. Not that I actually sign up for much for them to be taken in...
To sit on the fence is a dangerous call, but someone's gotta do it.
MadGoblin
Posts: 1515
Member #2
Feb 24, 2007 9:42
Wow, how shocking is it that most all names were just kinda pulled outta the ? I guess no name really has much thought put into it. Just sorta a victim of opprotunity. Hope that helps ya, Blade. You could be named "Monkey Juggle", and it'd probably just settle on ya.
Hm, Monkey Juggle...
And Zedd, Zedd really ain't all that Power Rangery. I mean, yeah, it was the name of Lord Zedd, but zed is also just the name of Z. Granted it's less a D, but that's not really too far off. Now, if you were using, say, TommyGreen, things would be afoul...
"That is the least heterosexual thing I have ever heard."
-John "Bradshaw" Layfield
TheFireToad
Posts: 60
Member #244
Feb 24, 2007 11:49
My online name appeared kind of like Zedd's. I just randomly thought it up one day.
It came from my being a Mario fanatic really. Toad is my favorite Mario character. Not sure why I chose a little kid wearing a shroom as my favorite, but he has been since I started playing.
Fire doesn't really mean anything to me. I'm not like a crazy pyro, just thought it sounded cool. And I'm not sure why I added the "the" to the beginning, I'd probably get rid of it given the choice, but it just kind of stuck.
In this world there are things that people mustn't touch. Who cares!
-Kalas (Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean)
Battalon127
Posts: 753
Member #25
Feb 24, 2007 12:46
Oh yeah, Halo. I hate the game (and I suck at it) but it did inspire my favorite of my screen names which I will bring back out if my roommate get a 360- StalinsMustache. Like most of the others listed here it was pulled out of my... donut hole? But, I don't know, this one amuses me, somewhat.
Here's a good test of a screen name- try and get it for AIM. If you can do it and it's not full of numbers or horribly bastardized, you've got a keeper. I don't know about StalinsMustache, but I know my AIM handle, LightSideofChaos, came about after countless changes and modifications to my original idea (long forgotten), trying to find something avaiable. I'm still not sure what it means.
Oh, and Shin, you're name has always made me think of dragons, probably reminding me of Shinryu.
[Edited by Battalon127 on Feb 24, 2007 12:52]
Afiag
Posts: 252
Member #242
Feb 24, 2007 14:58
My name pretty much came out of nowhere too. There was something that inspired it a bit, but I can't recall it at all. All I remember is I was drawing a random character who needed a name. Afiag is what I came up with, and apparently it was sticking to my mind the next time I needed a screen name. I rarely use anything else.
And my AIM account originally didn't have a number. It's just that my old account was forsaken, and both the password and e-mail address attached are long forgotten. Like my current one is coming to be. If ignorance is bliss, then you must be orgasmic.
Blade
Posts: 366
Member #99
Feb 24, 2007 19:04
Well, it does help somewhat...I'm really going for the unique-stick-with-you-five-years-gobbostyle name..... I think I'll have some fun researching one, maybe a mix of latin/jap/eskimo would be cool? we'll see what happens.
F*** off! *headbutts* still need a www.dictionary.com?
Lugiatrainer
Posts: 400
Member #20
Feb 24, 2007 19:07
Wow, something to brink me out of lurking.
For starters, I can't stand numbers at the end of an alias, it just makes it too hard for me to remember across three dozen places I'd be likely using slight variations of it.
Anyway, my name here is pretty obvious for it's source, if not, go check wikipedia's entry on Lugia
Time has progressed and I've started to use the alias of Faylone.
I came up with it when I was starting some new game, the name of which I can't remember, but I worked to make it based off of nothing but being able to sound good, or so I think.
Pikang
Posts: 61
Member #230
Feb 27, 2007 15:13
Pikang-What do you get when you get bored on a trip to Washington D.C. and have nothing but Paper Mario and Pokemon Staduim for N64 games to play? You get Pikang, a talking Pikachu! Pikang's storyline WAS based off of PM (so was the game's music), but I changed it dramatically. Sometimes I add "X" on it, due to me having played Mega Man X before and having LOVED it.
Stinkowing-I use this one when I play RuneScape. "Stinikowing" is Stinkoman's flying ship. Stinkoman is from Homestarrunner.com. End of too many short sentences.
I also use the name Genda sometimes, though that's very rare...it came from playing Twilight Princess a bit too much. How I came up with "Genda" is beyond me, but I think it had something to do with not being able to tell male and female Zoras apart (thusly, Genda is an aquatic character). On a side note, it is pronounced with a "g" like in the word "gold", not like the "g" in "gender".
Bity-Bity is a character I made totally out of boredom. Although his most common form now is a Cookie Monster (eyes and arms) and Blobert (Body shape) hybrid, he can also manifest in the form of a literal hand puppet. Lerioi oftentimes finds herself on the recieving end of his insults. (of course, many people think that I am talking to myself...)
OMG! CORNFLAKES W/O SUGAR!!! HOW COULD YOU KONYOSHI!!?!?!
*Paradox goes on a rampage, throwing chairs, boxes, pens, markers, dirty diapers, #2 pencils, recliners, couches, beds, Vajra, Mark, a barell, some sneakers, a tv, another tv, another tv, the boxes for those tv's, a bell, a ring, a handle, a box of cards, George of the Jungle, himself, and finally a toilet.*
[Edited by Pikang on Mar 6, 2007 8:43]
Battalon127
Posts: 753
Member #25
Feb 27, 2007 19:58
Pikang, when I see your screenname, I picture something like this.
Get Firefox 2.0 and never have an excuse for misspelling things again.
[Edit- whoops, link fixy]
[Edited by Battalon127 on Feb 28, 2007 24:15]
Skulkraken
Posts: 73
Member #128
Feb 28, 2007 24:15
My original online name was greenyoshi0. Yes, it breaks all sorts of naming rules, but I only ever used it on MPlayer and in the Internet Gaming Zone (before it turned into the stupid MSN Gaming Zone).
My current name, Skulkraken, came from Pokemon. I once downloaded a pokedex from a random site so I could keep better track of what moves my pokemon could learn. Anyway, it happened to have a different set of names for several of the pokemon; they were apparently names used as the game was first being localized. My favorite pokemon is Gyarados, so it seemed natural to use a name related to it as an online handle.
In practice, the name has been somewhat of a mixed blessing. I've never found this name to be already taken in any online community I've been to, but it always seems to be misspelled by other people as "Skull" rather than "Skul". On an slightly different note, is there anyone who knows about something called "Shannara"? In an online game, I ended up being mistaken for a fan of that series by another player because of this name.
I'd probably consider trying out a different name, but I don't really have any ideas.
Michael
Posts: 54
Member #224
Feb 28, 2007 2:10
There's a series of fantasy novels written by Terry Brooks, most of which contain Shannara in the title somewhere. I've read a couple but can't say I was a big fan.
Back on topic though. My name, as you can no doubt tell, took a lot of soul searching and a great deal of thought. This being about the only place I attend regularly means that the availability of the name is rarely a problem and if it is I usually just decide to look weak and unoriginal by putting some numbers on the end.
I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none. ~ Macbeth
Pikang
Posts: 61
Member #230
Feb 28, 2007 7:55
On Feb 27, 2007 19:58, Battalon127 said:
Pikang, when I see your screenname, I picture something like this.
Get Firefox 2.0 and never have an excuse for misspelling things again.
[Edit- whoops, link fixy]
[Edited by Battalon127 on Feb 28, 2007 24:15]
Ick.
I'm-a gonna edit my post, seeing as I forgot to describe Genda and a few other names I VERY RARELY use...
OMG! CORNFLAKES W/O SUGAR!!! HOW COULD YOU KONYOSHI!!?!?!
*Paradox goes on a rampage, throwing chairs, boxes, pens, markers, dirty diapers, #2 pencils, recliners, couches, beds, Vajra, Mark, a barell, some sneakers, a tv, another tv, another tv, the boxes for those tv's, a bell, a ring, a handle, a box of cards, George of the Jungle, himself, and finally a toilet.*
Of course, most of my early internet days had to do with Pokémon.
I mean, it's such a long winded piece of crap! Gah! Crappy! Sorry for wasting your times.
'Cause, you know, Legolas was cool. 
? I guess no name really has much thought put into it. Just sorta a victim of opprotunity. Hope that helps ya, Blade. You could be named "Monkey Juggle", and it'd probably just settle on ya.
