Username and why we use them ?

Well my name is my real name in reverse Frank/Knarf.

I basically started using it cause on alot of forums the name 'Frank' is already taken, and I dont like using my entire name as a profile name.

So I figured I'd turn the name around, which is hardly being used by anyone. Probebly because it looks (and sounds) verry silly.

I like it tho.

I have been writing a novel prior to my modding 'career' and took names transforming words from different languages to sound even more foreign. One I came up with was Toltic Gisteron. However I have been forgetting many names and so the one I wanted to pick. The time I registered to the space sim community 'Station Network' the only one that came to my mind was Gisteron and that's what I picked. Eversince it became my pseudonymus and identity on about everywhere. I have been using this name for my pragmatic and artistic work and some of my fellows recognise and associate this name with me and my contributions to the communities and platforms I did contribute to.
While I do not directly identify with the character I created on this name initially, I very well identify with the name and I do indeed feel addressed and referred to when someone uses 'Gisteron' just as much as my real name.
I did not know, btw, that the term 'Gistron' already appeared in the Lord of The Rings novels.

Halcyon wrote: When I first joined the Jedi Community, I went by JediKnightKeiranHalcyon. It was a character from the Star Wars books. I took it on as a sort of avatar of a person I wanted to be. Eventually I just became Keiran Halcyon. Some places I called myself JediMasterKeiranHalcyon, and I was far more vain back then.

This is confusing me.

http://www.templeofthejediorder.org/forum/profile/userid-97

But on a personal note, Akkarin is the name of a wizard in A series of books written by Trudi Canavan and since I thought I should have a surname as well I added Hanlar which is completely made up. I also sometimes go by the name of Bodexius which is another made up name that I use.

I use a username because I like the idea of having a different identity. While it doesn't mean very much or have much importance, I'll tell you now that my real name is Michael James Kitchen, it is just something that I like to have.

Yes, I've been confronted with that before. No I am not the same Keiran Halcyon. Keiran Halcyon is not an uncommon name. It's been used before. I'm a different Halcyon. So, to help clear up any confusion, elsewhere I was KeiranHalcyon. The only carnation I have ever had here is Halcyon. I promise.


P.S. Congrats on the promotion, Akkarin.

I just wanted to clear that up, because I had been meaning to mention it.

And thank you

(I'll stop the thread drailing now...)

But it does raise an interesting question concerning someone's identity.

After all what if your name has already been taken, forcing you to be someone else almost?

I guess that it why I choose unusual names.

Ahh this should be entertaining...

In the days of yore I went simply by Christopher, for it was my name. I did not see a reason not to be Christopher. Then I came online and saw the plethora of unique usernames and decided that using my real first name just did not fit in.

Thus began the confusing days of random usernames... the first was Devastator, which at some point became rendered as DEVASTATOR. This was actually named for either the merging of all of the Constructicons from Transformers, or it was named for the Imperial Star Destroyer which captured Princess Leia's Tantive IV.

At any rate, as time went on I decided that was a silly name. At some point, probably while logging into a game program where Devastator was already taken, I became StarMan.
This meant I was invincible for a while. *hums a familiar tune from Mario*

At times I would change name to UltraStar randomly until the days of the Nintendo64, when I became StarMan64 and ceased the UltraStar nonsense.

And so I remained StarMan64 for many years until the day I saw the finale of the anime Outlaw Star. It was at that point that I thought of the many interesting sci-fi names I had heard over the ages...

"Starbuck" from Battlestar Galactica, Luke Skywalker, Biggs Darklights, Bendak Starkiller, etc. from the Star Wars franchise,

And of course Gene Starwind from Outlaw Star since I had just seen its finale when I was coming up with this.

And so, I decided I would continue to have a Star-name, but it would be a paradoxical Star-name.
I became Chris StarShade, since I wanted the name to be a surname replacement, and so it is. BOOM.
I am Chris StarShade.

...and first use of this name was on an X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter forum as the name of a TIE Avenger pilot. And so it went on from there...

because i had other names in other lifes, names that i used way longuer then my actual given name. Pretty natural that other names might suit me more.

LLAP
MTFBWY

This is a direct pull from my introduction, but entirely relevant. I can't add much more.

I chose the name Reacher because I never want to be satisfied with who I am. Content? Absolutely. But my goals in life aren't fixed. I suppose my only goal is constant evolution as a warrior and a man.

I actually didn't put much thought into the name I chose. Back around '97 I was joining a Star Wars chat room where I first found someone taking Jedi realism seriously, and I needed a name. So I flipped through the Jedi Academy trilogy novels, and found Streen. Later on it became clear to me that it was no coincidence that I chose that name, because the character is very much a loner, as am I, among other things.

I see your original point from the initial post, keithmewes. Usernames, while providing a certain degree of anonymity, can also seem rather arbitrary. Some people choose their birth names, or something meaningful to them, or something entirely random. But in the end, the username ought to have no bearing on the person and what they're bringing to the forums.

I've noticed a number of people who elect to change their usernames. And though I don't put much weight on the name itself, it does provide a clarification on who is speaking, should they retain the same username. To change it, particularly when the person has been around the forums for a while, is to invite confusion as to who is speaking.

So usernames are useful in that they distinguish our identities, much like our birth names do. Were we to scroll down in our mobile phones and find that all the names were blank, we would have no idea how to reach the person in question. Usernames, since we cannot see each other's faces, give us that necessary divide. And with the option to choose one's own username, a person can decide to shed their birth name and take up a name that is more appropriate to the online community they happen to be dwelling. I, for one, use the same username everywhere, though that information quickly becomes known, and I sometimes want something different depending on the community so that I may not be known straight off the bat.

Usernames are the names we choose for ourselves, and it is purely our decision (unless it has been taken before). I, for one, made up a word for my username, thus preventing me from encountering any place where it has been taken prior to my arrival. But in the end, they really hold no bearing on the person and their words. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," after all.