What's in a name?

Carbon

By Carbon
in General Discussions & Misc Topics

Recommended Posts

Carbon Pathfinder

Carbon

Posted
Posted

Hey all.

 I've always been fascinated by usernames; I wonder why people choose them, sometimes what they mean. There are some particularly interesting ones on the forum (looking at you to start @Ruruwawa) and thought it might be fun to provide some background.

 For me, "Carbon": I first just like the sound of the word. It's a heck of an element as well and while I'm not a scientist by profession, I have a deep appreciation for elements so ubiquitous in the makeup of our universe. I've been using it for a while in the Unreal game community (shameless collection pic here: https://imgur.com/NzxbmzC) and decided to stick with it. My second choice was "Neutrino" because...who doesn't dig neutrinos?! :)

 So guys, let's hear some background about your nicknames!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ruruwawa Pathfinder

Ruruwawa

Posted
Posted

First, Carbon is a great name.  I'd be ok with that as a real life name tbh.

Ruruwawa?  Well let me reconstruct because I've been using this one for a long time -- 15+ years.  Do you know Yo Yo Ma, the cellist?  Shortly after attending a concert I created a character in Everquest that I named Ruruma.  It got quite a few laughs, surprisingly, and guildies started calling me Ruru.  Later during a business trip to Japan one of my hosts was struggling with my name, Warren, because of the R sound.  He started calling me Wawa instead :D.  Steam came along a couple years later and I landed on Ruruwawa pretty much at random.

So nothing deeply meaningful.  More of a monument to my laziness in picking a good Steam handle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mroz4k Pathfinder

Mroz4k

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Ruruwawa said:

So nothing deeply meaningful.  More of a monument to my laziness in picking a good Steam handle.

I am sure its a lot more deeply meaningful then handles of most people. And quite a story at that too, Same as @Carbon, I wondered where your nickname came from. :D Also find the backstories of nicknames very interesting - great topic idea!

So, mine, its nothing special.
First part of my name comes from a simplified word "mrož" - because English doesnt have ticks and hooks in its signset, I used "Mroz" instead.
Mrož is a czech word for "walrus" which used to be my nickname in high school, one of those "victim" kind of nicknames, when your "friends" call you names and it bothers you (always was chubby, still am but getting better lately). At some point, I realized the only way to stop them from picking on me is if I identify with that nickname and start using it myself. And thus I became the walrus, it did not bother me anymore and my friends actually started using it as a regular nickname instead, not when they were trying to piss me off.

Now, how did I came up with the 4k part. 4 substitutes "a" like usually, and the word "mrožák" is a type of an old-time mustache (the one that looks kind of like a walrus" -  I didnt have that kind of a mustache back then, I was already growing a pretty sick goatie for a teenager (and pretty much ever since - though this is a bit outdated photo), but I had a general obsession for facial hair at the time. And thus my steam handle and Minecraft username was born. Before that, I was running with a self-imposed gaming nickname "Scarvin" which was (I believe) a World of Warcraft generated username for a gnome rogue I had at some point.

Finally, people also started to call me Mr. Oz, which is fine by me as well, not sure who came up with that but mostly new people called me that. Its also what my Google acc name is, for my smallish YouTube channel from ages ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
snakevondoof Prepper

snakevondoof

Posted
Posted

i  love hearing about the origin of usernames. mine is fairly boring but ill tell it anyway

2007, i made my first RuneScape account, ive never had to pick a username before, so i wanted to be original.

doof came up because I was basically the neighborhood goofball

there was a toss up between snake and wolf and bear, my 3 favorite animals

von because at the time it added a sarcastic fancyness

eventually with some fiddling around i came up with "snakevondoof" which i have used as a handle for almost everything since :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ruruwawa Pathfinder

Ruruwawa

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Mroz4k said:

Now, how did I came up with the 4k part. 4 substitutes "a" like usually, and the word "mrožák" is a type of an old-time mustache (the one that looks kind of like a walrus" -  I didnt have that kind of a mustache back then, I was already growing a pretty sick goatie for a teenager (and pretty much ever since - though this is a bit outdated photo), but I had a general obsession for facial hair at the time. 

And for the first time, I notice your avatar has a goatee. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Stormwolf1O1 Pathfinder

Stormwolf1O1

Posted
Posted

I originally went by the username "stormkiller" (badass, I know) during my early years of playing FPS games online. I enjoyed going by "storm" but felt the 2nd part needed to change, so I went with one of my favorite animals. Stormwolf was often taken, and so was Stormwolf101 (1-zero-1), so I became Stormwolf1O1!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
selfless Pathfinder

selfless

Posted
Posted

I needed a name to play online .vs battles of X-COM:whatever-was-the-first-one-released-this-century because I really wanted that game to be fun and playing against someone else instead of the AI was a step in the right direction.  "selfless" was a reminder to myself that my best strategy was not to role-play but rather to view all units as pawns to the greater good (victory).

Also it is an actual word that can be broken into two smaller words which is something I've required of all my monikers for no reason other than they remain easy to remember/spell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Prestermatt Pathfinder

Prestermatt

Posted
Posted

I've studied a lot of medieval and early modern history (particularly the Portuguese explorers) and always liked the legends of Prester John.  My name is Matt, but my brother's name is John, so those two names always go together in my mind.  At some point I came up with "Prestermatt", and it stuck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mroz4k Pathfinder

Mroz4k

Posted
Posted
On 9/19/2017 at 3:18 AM, Stormwolf1O1 said:

I originally went by the username "stormkiller" (badass, I know) during my early years of playing FPS games online. I enjoyed going by "storm" but felt the 2nd part needed to change, so I went with one of my favorite animals. Stormwolf was often taken, and so was Stormwolf101 (1-zero-1), so I became Stormwolf1O1!

Error 101: user is too dank.

On 9/19/2017 at 0:40 AM, Carbon said:

you're a fine looking fellow, both dapper and hip...

Thank you, this made me smile.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mroz4k Pathfinder

Mroz4k

Posted
Posted
On 9/20/2017 at 10:19 AM, alone sniper said:

Well, i like snipers. and since they usually work alone, I choose this username. ^_^

Not to diss on your username, but it was my understanding almost no snipers work alone - most of the time they work in teams of two (a marksman and a spotter, who gives marksman his targets and calls out weather condition updates, and distances) that go together, and coordinate with other teams of two out there - ultimatedly working as a team from several angles.

But I suppose some missions would prefer a lone operator. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
alone sniper Pathfinder

alone sniper

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Mroz4k said:

Not to diss on your username, but it was my understanding almost no snipers work alone - most of the time they work in teams of two (a marksman and a spotter, who gives marksman his targets and calls out weather condition updates, and distances) that go together, and coordinate with other teams of two out there - ultimatedly working as a team from several angles.

Wow !
Thanks for info !^_^
I thought they usually work alone! 
Well, I think i should change description to something like that :
" I am alone sniper cause i like sniper and i'm single :D:D ! "

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mroz4k Pathfinder

Mroz4k

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, alone sniper said:

Wow !
Thanks for info !^_^
I thought they usually work alone! 
Well, I think i should change description to something like that :
" I am alone sniper cause i like sniper and i'm single :D:D ! "

Actually you were correct, to some degree - some snipers work alone, as operators - because it is much easier to elude enemy when one is on their own. But my knowledge in this matter is very limited - actually got a chance to talk to a former sniper few years ago, was our instructor on a summer camp - but out of respect, I didnt ask him much about his time in service. But supposedly he would often work alone, especially on recon missions. ^_^

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TreeBeard Prepper

TreeBeard

Posted
Posted

I'm a Tolkein fan and TreeBeard is by far one of the most loveable and funniest characters he ever created - so, not me then! :)

This is my first outing as TreeBeard, on most forums or online games I usually go by a more Lovecraftian name because I am an even bigger fan of his writings.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing