I posted this on another forum but I figured I'll post it here for review.

Well, my name comes (Deltasix) comes from a combination of 2 games I used to play about 4 years ago. I don't think that is a very accurate representation of me, to tell you the truth. ;)

I would say a sense of "duty" due to the fact that one's parents felt this to be proper. Sometimes (as with my name, Paul) one is named after a family member or the like, giving that person a sort of homage/immortality in the eyes of the family. Sometimes people just choose names that are "pretty."

I would say, overall, that the lack of massive name change comes from the basic dislike of change among humans. We are comfortable with our names, and by the time we can legally change them, we've had them for about 18 or so years.

When you know more about a person, in any sort of relationship, it gives it a more intimate feel. A sort of deeper friendship. I'd say this goes along with anything, knowing if the person you are talking with is male/female, or what race you are, etc. When you know that, you feel you know the person more.

But I think your overall tone of "What is in a name?" is pretty good.

I didn't actually say that our screen names would be accurate themselves though but simply more accurate then what names we were assigned because our screen names come from our minds and so represent the way in which we see things. With you I would ask how did those two games impact your life? Would you have taken those two games in combination or at all if they didn't impact your life, who you are or anything of the kind in some way?

If our assigned names are not accurate in themselves then couldn't our screen names be far more accurate then they yet not be too accurate themselves?

Personally, I think there is a multitude of reason that causes us to stick with our assigned names. Some of the reasons I listed may play a factor as with what you listed.

Question, how do you think others would react if you changed your legal name to deltasix?

Yes but what makes us think that knowing ones assigned name is helping us to know them on any significant level? There are a wide range of views that can be manifested in the same way so does knowing ones assigned name really tell us much of anything about that individual that we can decipher?

It was a spur of the moment thing, actually.

They could be, they could also not be. The mere fact that one creates it doesn't make it any more accurate, really. Its more the intention behind it, I think.

Confused, probably. It isn't exactly commen. But a name dicates other things as well, in the job market and the real word. Thats an interesting point though.

Same thing with how a person looks or the like (asking for a picture). I'm not saying it actually does gets you to know a person better, but thats what it feels like it does.

Well, besides the fact that it's out of thin air and people can make names that don't represent themselves at all, then yes.

Well, my name is the combination of the names of the first sibling rivalry in history, the fight between Cain and Abel. I fight with my sister alot, I suppose it kind of represents me....

Well...I like my name.

Well, if I DID change my name, I wouldn't be Cain and Abel, I'd probably be Cerpin Taxt, although that will raise just as many eyebrows as the former.

I like my name, dammit! Contrary to popular belief, some people actually like their given names!

Because people are sick wierdos.

No, it's because people want to look you up, track you down and rape you.

Because the screenname isn't always an accurate representation of the person at the computer, they want to know you, not your screenname.

I don't think my name would give anyone any understanding at all.

Not really, unless my name means I'll be a great guitarist, which it doesn't. My name means I'll be a great speaker, which I'm not, so with my example, it isn't a label.

I didn't give any thought to my screen name. My keys were next to the laptop at the time I signed up. I just assumed the purpose of a screen name was just to be anonymous for security reasons so I didn't give it any personal reflection.

I've never disliked my legal given name so it was never an issue for me.

When I first started using the Internet I used my real name for a few screen names (stupid me). However I realized it wasn't very smart so I decided to make up some random names (usually for online games). I didn't really find one that stuck until I made the name I have now. It took be a few years just to find one I actually liked enough to stick with(without numbers). I even used my real name as a base so it's kind of part of my real name (Erik). However, I still wouldn't want to get mail with this name or have people call me it in the real world. It's just a moniker that seperates you from all the other poster123's and joesmith007's. We don't consider them real because they're like nicknames.

I guess if you liked your username enough you could legally change your name. That would be interesting to see (expecially if it had a lot of numbers, that's unique). I'm not sure, could you legally change your name to have numbers in it?

I suppose it's possible since Prince changed his name to a symbol that was unpronounceable (that's how he became "the artist formerly known as Prince.") If that was allowed I can't see why they'd disallow anything.

I've been thinking about this for several days now. A few thoughts:

I am hesitant to regard a name merely as a label. That is, I do not think that names are very much like some sticker that you can peel off a banana or a tear off of a soda bottle. Rather, a name, far from merely being an arbitrary set of syllables, not only reflects something of a nature of the thing/person it refers to, but can also help shape/create what that person/thing actually becomes.

A name first of all identifies someone within a particular culture, and then again a particular subculture: consider the names Ethan, Tyrone, Hwang, and Miguel, for example. You can almost picture what they look like. And not only does it identify someone as being from a particular culture, the name in fact helps to CREATE that person's identity. My parents, for example, decided to give my siblings and me all American names, rather than Filipino names. It was a decision that has continued to have consequences for us as we grow up. I find that my last name is mispronounced in the US, and my first name mispronounced in the Philippines. That has had effects on how I view myself and my identity.

Beyond that, the name that is given to any child reflects something about the child's parents. Did they give somewhat of an exotic name? Are they somewhat different thinking parents who want their child to stand out? Or is it something more run of the mill? Is it the name of a grandmother or cousin? Insofar as names reflect what parents value, they can in turn help shape how that particular child is raised.

The name is then drilled into the human psyche unlike anything else the human learns--"What's your name little girl?" "Can you spell your name?" "Can you write your name?" We write it on every quiz, test, and paper that we produce. We write it on application forms. On paper work. In doctors's offices. We are so sensitive to it that we can pick it out of a conversation on the other side of a noisy room. It becomes our default answer to the question, "Who are you?"

I'd agree with most of this. From personal experience I can tell you that my screenname is something of a reflection on my real name. My real name is Brian. I was named this for two reasons. Firstly, my mother was a teacher and had several names ruined for her by students who were... well... hell raisers. Brian was fortunately not one of them. Secondly, my dad wanted to name me Brian Boru(Boru would have been my middle name, my mom vetoed that but agreed with the first name) after the first and last Ard Ri (high king) of Ireland. I have always had a strong sense of honor and my personal integrity is something I have taken very seriously as long as I can remember. I remember learning at one point that the name Brian comes from the Gaelic for strength and honor. I've wondered if I have this fixation on my personal honor and integerity after finding out that's what the name means or if it just fit.

I think most people give their names as our default answer to who are we, yet qualify it. For example "I'm Brian a community organizer, or I'm Mark a teacher or I'm Doug a christian." I think what y'all are driving at is what is one's primary source of identification? Is it merely or name? Is it what we do? Is it our religious affiliation or is it something else?

To me, my name is my banner in the world which I flow to the passers by : "I am Michael". It is the first thing people will know about me that I can hide from them should I wish. My name means godlike which is somewhat ironic and somewhat true- as a satanist I am my own god but it seems oxymoronic that there is a godlike satanist. It represents a few aspects of me: my religion, my favourite form of humour (in the slight irony).

But it doesn't represent all aspects of me though- my screen name sitegod is a representation of being a few among many. I had been known as merlin but that had produced millions of results on google. My alternative screen name [Retired || Mr. || Sir || Lord || Baron || Count || Marquis || Duke || Prince || King] BobBilly represents my love of going against convention and taking an old concept and making it new (i.e the name billybob- I never did meet anyone else called BobBilly on Utopia). A further screen name (for my province in this game) [x]Sith represents a love of the mysterious (and cool lightsabers).

But above all of my screen names, and the various aspects they represent and do not represent of me- the name Michael means something to me because it is something I own- something that no-one can take away from me.

the concept of names is one of the very few I've seen from humanity that promotes diversity and difference.

I just have my actual name........because I feel for me, screen names are either a waste of time or ingenuine.

These are my inner thoughts on the world........and I dont want people to call me bluegunner316 or something stupid like that.

Well not quite. Your name here is Matt C.-- I'm guessing this is not your real name.

That's more or less my view as well. I did have invented screen names when I first started posting on online message boards, but eventually decided that I might as well just use my actual name. Names that I invented for myself in the past are ones I would never use now, and I imagine any screenname which I picked for myself now would only describe one aspect of my personality or interests which might not be an important part of me a year from now--and even now they only describe one aspect of myself. I don't like the idea of trying to give a one word definition of myself, so I figured I'd simply use my given name and let people develop any perceptions of me based on my posts.

I've never really gone by the name my mother called me. From the sixth grade through highschool, I went by the enigmatic "Bob" (long, drawn out story), then after graduation, I legally changed my first name to Mae, dropped my middle name, and took my husband's last name when I married. Even now, only a few people call me by my "legal" name. Depending on the person, I'm either "Skippy" or "Dickie," and both are perfectly fine by me. I also have a few friends who have their own nicknames for me, and if you were to call out one of these names in a crowded mall, I'd more than likely turn around.

Also, in my profession, a lot of people tend to change their names, if not legally, then just professionally. I have yet another name that's printed on my business cards ("Jadwin"), and one more, which I use for publication.

A name is just a label, and even if you change it yourself, other people will still decide that something else is more suiting. Which, in a way, is kinda groovy. It makes those who think up the nick-names that much more special, in a way, because they thought of it, and you think it's cool enough to let it apply to you.

Well my screen name is my legal name sooo...yeah

However it wasn't always my screen name. I believe my first screen name was 'jehova'. I had used this because I had earned the nickname in my programming class, but I dropped it for my legal name because...I didn't like it anymore. Well, I didn't like that things I said and did online were being attributed to the name 'jehova'. It's hard to explain. I hated the anonymousness of it.

Before I started using the name I'm using now, I'd go by Ambiguous Pirate, because hey! there's nothing funnier for a username than a sexually ambiguous inside-joke.

But I got really sick of having to explain where it came from every other day, so I dropped it in favour of Dickie.

I'm finding that people who know my real name still call me Delta. Heck, even when I meet up with them in real life (yeah, you Boru). It doesn't bother me, nor does being nameless (just being talked to).

The name I use, Sakrotac, is the name I go by everywhere (practically) that I pop up on the internet. So I suppose, it is a name I gave myself, and I feel comfortable using it.
But I don't think I'd rather use any other name in real life except from my legal name, Joe. It is what I feel most comfortable with, and I like it too.

My username comes from LA, meaning Los Angeles, where I was born, and Baller, a term generally used to refer to basketball players, and I just so happen to play basketball.

The name is important to me because it is a nick name I earned playing at several local basketball courts. A lot of basketball courts are more like territories. You usually have to beat someone there to be able to play on the court and such. (you could probably write a book on how territorial basketball courts can become) So earning the name by being a skilled player and having won most of my games puts a sense of pride in me.

Names can mean something, or nothing at all. I guess when you're faced with a registration form, you tend to put a nickname, and that's that.

Yahh, I chose mine because I was trying to think up a space-themed name waay back at the beginning of BNT1 over on Gaming Emporium. Looking back, it could have been any number of Star Wars/Star Trek names, although I guess I chose to go with a Matrix reference...