How did you choose your forum name and what does it mean?

[spirit4711]

Title says it all.

Some names are very straightforward but others are mysterious, poetic, weird, extravagant, bone-chilling, inspiring, funny, ...

So how did you pick yours, and what does it mean?

[Holistic Star]

Mainly because I love stars and like the word holistic!

I would probably pick a different username now though, something more personal.

[Angela]

I chose my first name because I wanted to be my authentic, real world self, but at the time I signed up I wasn't bold enough to use my whole name, Angela Lord, which is how I would do it now.

[cacheborn]

just a combination of two random words. cache is the browser cache which you clean and born because I was born.

On second thoughts, there were many interesting names I could have chosen, Art Vanderlay, Dr. Van Nostrand, Kel Varnson and off course the killer Bob Sacramento!

[spirit4711]

Why didn't I explain my own forum name?

Spirit comes both from spiritual and drive, enthusiasm. 4711 does not come from Kölnisch Wasser (eau de cologne) but this number was often used by one of my university professors whenever he needed a numerical example. It kind of stuck .

[aelle]

Many people IRL call me only by the first half of my name. I felt the second half deserved some loving too (that's also why my username isn't capitalized)

Angela, isn't there another Angela Lord on these boards?? Or do you have 2 accounts?

Spirit, I always wondered if the chain of numbers was random! I like their origin.

[spirit4711]

Originally Posted by aelle

Angela, isn't there another Angela Lord on these boards?? Or do you have 2 accounts?

I think you mean Angela Leeds? I was confused before, too.

Spirit, I always wondered if the chain of numbers was random! I like their origin.

Me too .

[lifetimelearner]

mine is pretty obvious

but I will explain further -

I am a fan of Maya Angelou and this is one of my favorite quote of hers -

"I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better."
— Maya Angelou

so in other words I am always learning !!

[aelle]

Originally Posted by spirit4711

I think you mean Angela Leeds? I was confused before, too.

Ah, yes, you're right. I had to check, though!

[Angela]

Originally Posted by aelle

Ah, yes, you're right. I had to check, though!

Sometimes even I see Angela Leeds and I think it's me for a moment! I think she and I have a lot in common even aside from our name.

[brendannz]

It's my name, and it's my country!

[ssandra]

I would always use my first name, only usually it is already taken.. so ssandra it is.

Why ssandra instead of sandra01 or something? I don´t know... I choose it for my very first forum and it just stuck.

I don´t use my second name because it is irrelevant. Besides that... I don´t see the point because I do not really identify myself with my second name, only with my first name.

[Angela]

I love the names brendannz and ssandra for the same reason -- the kind of sustenato they both give me in my brainmouth.

[lifetimelearner]

to be honest I never really liked my real name and therefore chose not to use it
for some reason it never 'felt' like my name to me


does anyone else feel that way ?

[Brutha]

Brutha is a character from Terry Pratchett's novel Small Gods.

[joelyle]

I am the pilot of my life...
also, I am a pilot-in-training.

[Rose of Cairo]

Woody Allen, The Purple Rose of Cairo.

When I joined the forum, I wanted a nickname that has nothing to do with me. I hate Woody Allen. On the other hand, I like this particular movie. And when I pronounce it, Rose of Cairo sounds a lot like my real name. But I didn't realize that when I chose it! Only later. So it's all contradictory. There must have been some unconscious desire of being openly myself even back then.

Today I would call myself Harmony Warrior or something. I don't really identify with my real name, and I intend to change it anyway.

But because of my nickname everybody calls me Rose now, and that I really like. I think I will stick with this name which has become a strong part of my "brand". I even have a rose on my websites as a symbol.

Some forum members have awesome nicknames! I particularly love Excellent Lodestar and Smelly Orc. Always makes me smile to see them online. I also like Karma Police and Akashic Librarian (too bad he's not here anymore).

PS: Spirit, I've been wondering a lot about your nickname, so thanks for the explanation.

[Michelle]

Originally Posted by Brutha

Brutha is a character from Terry Pratchett's novel Small Gods.

Don't kill me. ForEVER I thought "Brutha" was some Wagnerianesque hairy beast of a German woman's name. Sorry ... Please don't kill me

Michelle is my real name and it means "who is like God". Very easy to become arrogant with that one

[FeelGood]

Because that's the key to everything - feel good!

[Alfonso Crawford]

I'm gonna leave you to make your own punch-line, eh.

[lifetimelearner]

sorry Brutha but when I first started posting on this forum this is the image of you that came to my mind

[Rose of Cairo]

LOLOLOL

Maybe we really need avatars.

But at first I, too, associated "Brutha" with "brutal".

[spirit4711]

Originally Posted by Rose of Cairo

...
But at first I, too, associated "Brutha" with "brutal".

For me it was like 'brother' in a slang sort of way.

[Michelle]

Originally Posted by spirit4711

For me it was like 'brother' in a slang sort of way.

I know! You'd think this would be obvious - at least to those, like me, who were born and raised in the states. Doh.

Brutha in a brotherly sense feels much more sympathetic than Brutha the big angry Wagnerian beast. It is amazing what we project onto a name.

I have really learned a lesson here.

[seeker5]

I associated Brutha with "Brute" when I first saw the name on here. Like, a big tank who smashes everything in his way . However, since it had an "a" at the end, I thought it was a woman. So I had pictured this stock, stogy middle-age woman until one day I saw he entered his age as "male" on a forum poll

[seeker5]

Oh yeah, for my name it's simple. I wanted to use a name I hadn't use anywhere else. I came on here to be a seeker of information to help make my life work. I originally didn't come on here to socialize, to make friends, or engage in "meaningless" forum chat, I simply and purely came to seek that information. So, I wanted to use the name seeker. However, that was taken so I added a number to it and there it is.

[Aleksander Krstic]

Authenticity.

Originally Posted by joelyle

also, I am a pilot-in-training.

That's great!

[emeadow]

Interesting thread, this has always been a curiousity of mine.

Born in the mid 70's, and based on the phase my parents were in at the time, they tried to get creative in my name. My first and middle name is Erin Leigh, a gealic and old english combination that loosely translated was intended as "Peace of the Meadow"

I used to go by peacefulmeadow (dropping a letters now and again due to space constraints for various programs)......recently I reduced it to Emeadow as the prior was just too long, and I would say peaceful is probably not a common term used for my level of outward energy, lol

Originally the name meant nothing to me when I started using it over 13 yrs ago, but the last few years, the 'Meadow' has been more symbolic to me, as I truly see it as a place of peace, calm, and tranquility which I am always striving for and finally finding internally.

Funny how its original intention was just because I couldn't think of an AOL name eons ago with my first PC, and now its a whole way of life for me. Full circle I suppose.

Originally Posted by lifetimelearner

to be honest I never really liked my real name and therefore chose not to use it
for some reason it never 'felt' like my name to me


does anyone else feel that way ?

I would agree, my own name of Erin sounds 'off' for me personally, most of my friends have a dozen nicknames and rarely use my real name (even though I have never mentioned the issue to them). If someone actually uses my name, even in writing, I have an almost automatic cringe. Never quite figured that one out. Just plain 'E' tends to be a common nickname, and I sign most of my emails as such once I know a person.

[blossom]

I chose blossom, as I feel like I am in bloom and blossoms seem to be a theme for me. They are on my doona cover and I guess they signify spring and new life, which is pretty much where I am at.

[Mynder]

"it came to me in a dream"

Okay, there was more to it in the context, but I have come to identify myself with this "tag" in respects of my spiritual and human development. It kind of represents "who I am" on a deeper level, a level I am still every day learning more about.

So in a way it's "the light at the end of the tunnel", and although the tunnel and the quest for knowledge never ends, it serves as a kind of light, a beacon, something to move towards.

It's not hard to find out who I really am when you follow my signature links, so it's not really to "cover up" my real name. It still serves as separation to some degree, though, especially since search engines don't instantly relate the two.