Why is your handle your handle?

[Razgon]

So, I've always been curious about people and their secret identity identifiers, and why they choose them. Honestly, I know I did this a few years ago over on OO, but I dont think I've done one here.

So, let me ask you this - why is your forum name the name you choose? I'm sure most of us has some great story about it :-)

I'll start

I'm Razgon, because, well - the funny thing is, its a spice from an old Amiga game called Dragons Breath (Awesome game, simply loved making new baby dragons, riding them into battle, and conquering new places) - for some reason, I liked the name, and I started using it in games, and it kinda stuck.

My *really* old handle is "CAT", but thats from arcade hall gaming days, where you had three spaces to fill out and that was it...I did use FLM as well, as an abbreviation of my name though.

I've had quite a few russians contact me in MMO's and other games, since its a russian name, and also means something akin to sideroad in russian...kinda fitting I guess ;-)

So - Why is your forum name the name you use?

[CeeKay]

it is because it is.

[Victoria Raverna]

I found out that people are nicer to a female character in an online game.

That plus the fantasy naming guide that I read somewhere. Raven -> Raverna.

Victoria was the first female first name came to my mind when I tried to think of one. Maybe because of my female ex-roommate's Victoria's Secret catalogs.

[ravenvii]

Because ravens are damn cool and gothic-like, and because 7 is my favorite number, and because ancient Roman history fascinates me (hence the Roman numeral), and that makes Raven VII. I changed it to ravenvii because it's cooler and less obvious.

Or maybe because it's just easier to type ravenvii when I'm loggin' in, instead of Raven VII.

[TheMissingLink]

Because back in 199x, when I registered at Gonegold, I was self-conscious that I looked a little bit like a monkey.

[Suitably Ironic Moniker]

It seemed appropriate.

[warning]

My last name.

[Razgon]

really?? I was sure it was a moderator thing :-D Thats a pretty cool last name - almost as cool as Max Powers, or Captain Steel!....

[raydude]

I almost always greet my friends with "dude" or use it as an incredulous remark "DUDE!" And my name is ray. Hence, the name. 

[Bullwinkle]

We had a similar question about naming characters: http://www.gamingtrend.com/forums/index.php?topic=34549.0

Not everyone names their characters the same thing they name themselves, though.  I do, so here's what I said:

I was playing Minesweeper at an office computer one day and nabbed a high score.  I tried to figure out a good name to drop in.  I do enjoy Bullwinkle, and I think I'd just seen a couple of episodes.  The name has been with me ever since.

[Creepy_Smell]

Mine's a Melvins song. Used to play a lot of Counter Strike and was going by Bad_Airplane (Possible band name some friends thought up) and wanted to change it after 9/11. Was listening to tons of Melvins at the time so picked Creepy_Smell. Also played some CS as Pope17 before settling on BA. No clue why I picked that one.

Also sometimes go by Nebula24, which is really my oldest handle but mainly used it for emails and stuff. Way back in time was worried about spam or MP players getting to my real handle so used BA and CS (Not sure why I thought this would work or really cared but it was the mid 90s and I was an internet noob). N24 just comes from my interest in space and my age at the time.

[Dan_Theman]

Many, many, MANY years ago I had the audacity to complain to a group of friends that none of them had any creativity when it came to nicknames for me.  I was always referred to as "Dan the Man" whenever someone felt the need for a "cute" name.   They subsequently took that as a challenge and came up with a large assortment of names and phrases to associate with me over the next few hours (some of them not quite family-friendly, such as "Sliding down the Dannister").  Keep in mind that these were being blurted out in public places.  

I finally relented, expressed my sincerest apologies, and told them I'd be happy with "Dan the Man" from then on.  

I kept my word.  

[leo8877]

Astrological sign + birthday

[Azhag]

I used to play Warhammer in middle/high school and one of the Orc haracters (I played an Orc/Goblin army) was Azhag the Slaughterer. I really should get a new handle so people on xbox live don't say "What's up Ass-hag" but I like the private meaning of I'm going to slaughter you...

[ATB]

Stuff

But why did you type it out the way you did...with the underscore.

Astrological sign + birthday

WEll I'm disappointed. I thought your real name was Leo.


As for me, when I got my 360 I was was trying to figure out what to call myself when inspiration struck (Einstein got relativity, I got SensuousLettuce).  It's pleasant to see and in my mind a clever combination of names.

People seem to react strongly to it and enjoy the name as it gets quite a few comments when playing online. Brits seem to LOVE it. Anyway, I decided that I wanted to unify my 'online profile' so I changed from ATB to SL on GT...I guess about a year and a half or two years ago...?

[JayDee]

My initials are J.D. and that's what all my friends call me. So I decided to spell it out.

[rickfc]

When I first logged into the interwebz, Hotmail suggested rickfc based on my name.  I've used it for pretty much everything since.

[Jag]

My initials are J.D. and that's what all my friends call me. So I decided to spell it out.

My initials are JAG. Been using this since the coin-op pac-man days of putting in your initials for high scores.

[Devil]

I am

[cheeba]

The short of it is that way back in 1990 when I registered onto the Internet for the first time at the University of Michigan, I had Tone Loc's "Cheeba Cheeba" in my head.

[Chaz]

It's a short version of my real name that my mom used to call me when I was little.  Also, it's similar to Chas Adams, which makes it extra awesome.  

[YellowKing]

Two reasons for mine.

I used to play Age of Empires quite a bit and always chose the color yellow because I found it easier to quickly identify my units. At the same time I was really into H.P. Lovecraft and he had a character in the mythos called The King in Yellow, who originated in a set of (excellent and extremely weird) short stories by Robert Chambers entitled "The King in Yellow."

I was looking for a new internet handle after my previous moniker became too popular, so I combined my two loves of AoE and Lovecraft/Chambers into one name, YellowKing. The rest, as they say, is history.

My previous (and first) internet moniker was "Taxman." I chose that because I loved The Beatles and in their song "Taxman" they mention a "Mr. Wilson." Since that's my last name I figured they were referring to me. 

[msteelers]

When I first registered with AIM I needed to come up with a username. My first name is Mike and I really like the Steelers, so I combined the two. It's stuck since then.

[Kevin Grey]

It's, uh, my name.

However I've been strongly considering changing it (the handle, that is).  In this day and age I'm not entirely comfortable with having my real name floating around on the internet like that. 

[CeeKay]

Because back in 199x, when I registered at Gonegold, I was self-conscious that I looked a little bit like a monkey.

true, your brother was always the good looking one

[Boudreaux]

I wish I had some cool story about a mysterious voodoo past in the swamps near Lake Pontchartrain, but I don't.  I have no idea why it's my handle.  I think I just liked the sound of it.  It's what I used when I started out on Gone Gold way back in the late 90s, and I've just kept using it ever since. 

I do wish I had used some variation of it for my Live gamertag, but the first few I tried were already taken and I didn't realize the hassle of changing it later. 

[TK-421]

Because I'm never at my post.

Actually, I originally used it as an Alt on Gone Gold (where I was Metalhed) that I would use to discuss potentially embarrassing subjects that I didn't want my sister or mother (both members) to know about.   Or at least to know that I was involved with said embarrassing subject.

Later, after GG went down I went to OO as Amish Warlord and here as TK-421.   Later, I changed my OO handle to just Brian but never really got around to changing it here.

I also once created an Alt on Gone Gold for a specific post where the topic was "How Long Can You Hold Your Breath?"
To answer this I created an Alt named Guybrush and posted that I could hold my breath for ten minutes.  Sadly, I don't think anybody ever got the connection.  Either that or nobody commented on it.

[Freezer-TPF-]

It's what I used back when I played TFC, at which time I also signed up at GG.  The Freezer part goes further back and was what I originally used as my callsign in space sims as a parody of the ubiquitous Iceman moniker, made most famous in Top Gun.  The TPF part comes from a group of mature, like-minded players I played TFC with back in the day called Team Play First.

[Isgrimnur]

My source material.

My briend from HS at the time was using Eolair as his game tag.  Since he was my best friend, I picked up the character's name that was Eolair's best friend in the book.  My friend has well and truly moved on from the days where he associates himself with that name, but mine has stuck with me.

[Scuzz]

because it has been my nickname for 30+ years.....derived in part from my real last name.......

[lildrgn]

I played in a band with this tall guy. I was shorter than him and, since I am Chinese, obviously he thought I knew martial arts .

Short + knowing martial arts = little dragon

I then decided I wanted a vanity plate (7 characters) for my then 95 Integra (I'm hitting all the Asian stereotypes, huh?), hence

little dragon - tt - e - a - o = lildrgn

Since some bastard has it on Xbox Live, and at the time I signed up, I was enamored with G&L SB-2 basses (still am), it became

lildrgn + sb2 = lildrgnsb2

[warning]

Because I'm never at my post.

Actually, I originally used it as an Alt on Gone Gold (where I was Metalhed) that I would use to discuss potentially embarrassing subjects that I didn't want my sister or mother (both members) to know about.   Or at least to know that I was involved with said embarrassing subject.

Later, after GG went down I went to OO as Amish Warlord and here as TK-421.   Later, I changed my OO handle to just Brian but never really got around to changing it here.

I also once created an Alt on Gone Gold for a specific post where the topic was "How Long Can You Hold Your Breath?"
To answer this I created an Alt named Guybrush and posted that I could hold my breath for ten minutes.  Sadly, I don't think anybody ever got the connection.  Either that or nobody commented on it.

I didn't know you were Metalhed!  I remember your Bad Day.   

[warning]

really?? I was sure it was a moderator thing :-D Thats a pretty cool last name - almost as cool as Max Powers, or Captain Steel!....

It's definitely a different last name.

My mom's maiden name was actually Cool by the way.  I liked that one better than mine.

[dbt1949]

I just combined my initials and my year of birth. It's easier that way than trying to remember my name.

[Jag]

When I first registered with AIM I needed to come up with a username. My first name is Mike and I really like the Steelers, so I combined the two. It's stuck since then.

I just assumed you were a woman named Ms. Teelers.

[msteelers]

When I first registered with AIM I needed to come up with a username. My first name is Mike and I really like the Steelers, so I combined the two. It's stuck since then.

I just assumed you were a woman named Ms. Teelers.

Yeah...I get that a lot. 

[Eel Snave]

Holy crap, I didn't realize that was you, Brian!  I've seen TK-421 countless times and never made the connection.  Weird.

Mine is just my full name backwards.  I have no idea what possessed me to use it back on Gone Gold, and I never really liked it anyway, but I can't think of anything more clever, so it just sticks.

[Darren8r]

Darrenator ---> Darren8r.

Some kid in elemantry school called me it and it stuck with me all throughout High School and even after.

I eventually came up with my own: Darrenzo due to my first name being Darren and my middle name Lorenzo.

[Mr. Fed]

When I was a federal prosecutor, I had a long trial in front of a judge who couldn't be bothered to remember lawyers' names.  He used to refer to me as "you, Mr. Fed."

It stuck.

[Destructor]

As I say every time this comes up, mine has a simple story:

When I was playing the original Wing Commander way, WAY back when, it asked for a callsign. Destructor sounded good at the time, and I've been using it ever since.