Names, Nicknames, and Their Origins

[Moonlight Soldier]

1. Who named you? Why did they pick that name? Does it mean anything special? Do you like your name? (If not, what would you want to be?)

I'm pretty sure my mom picked out my name. I'm the fifth generation of 'Ellen', though not strictly as a first name. My mom and grandmother both had Ellen as a middle name. I like it, never really had a reason not too, and it's fairly uncommon, so I never had a problem with multiple Ellens in a class or anything. I do remember as a kid though being sad that places never seemed to have my name on custom souvenirs/magnets/mugs etc. But I've since got over that If I ever have a daughter I don't really plan on naming her after me, but if the guy in the equation doesn't mind, maybe as a middle name hehe.
My name means "light bearer" and is often traced to Helen of Troy as a reference. (I really don't see any resemblance >_>)

Apparently my mom wanted my middle name to be Michiko, a name she learnt from one of her closest friends, but as far as I know my dad was like... ummm no. lol. Kinda funny given my interests. I ended up with two names from her other best friend though, and I'm happy to have them because that friend has been such a big part of my life and I've always considered her family.

2. What about nicknames? What do people call you? Do you have any interesting nicknames for anyone else?

The only nicknames I had growing up were what my brother called me. He calls me "The Kid" and even refers to me as such in letters and cards Another nickname he gave me was Cheesypoof. That came from watching a movie called Gargantuan, where the kid fed the monster cheesypoofs. He enjoys naming me after things that large monsters want to eat Actually I'm pretty sure he wrote Cheesypoof on the tags for my christmas present last year and his now wife was like WTF?

On a similar note, he still calls my best friend Erin Sharkbait. Heh.

Some people still call me Elle and I'll turn my head if it's used, but mostly I'm just Ellen.

My boss at work usually calls me "Keebs" or "Spliff" The latter is because he knows I'm mostly a straight-edge so calling me Spliff apparently amuses the hell out of him.

Most of the org types call me Moonie (from Grace) or Mewn (I think Brad was the first to call me that IIRC), which are probably my first real nicknames. I've embraced it

Oh yea, Scoot calls me Ehllen. (And consequently I call him Scoot. I used to call him waffle, but I like Scoot better ) And Ileia calls me Erren sometimes. Other than that I don't think I've ever given someone a nickname, though I do sometimes have my own terms of endearment for people, I call AquaSky Aquakins for example, and I call Kinsey Keeks and Haunter103 Ghostie.

3. What about your username(s)? Does anyone call you by a username in "real life"?

Well, Moonie and Mewn obvs. I don't think anyone's ever called me Moonlight Soldier or Moonlight Firefly and frankly, I'd probably look at them funny if they did

My one big thing with nicknames is I don't like people adopting them if they were never part of how it originated. Like, if my family ever started calling me Moonie I'd be like WTF. Same if anybody other than Ileia calls me Erren or someone other than Scott calls me Ehllen.

[godix]

I also remember calling someone Two Tabs for reasons that I'm sure made sense at the time.

Pressing D and then tab twice used to bring dj_ultima's name up in the IRC.

Pressing D and hitting tab once used to bring up dj_izumi's name in IRC. IIRC, Ultima actively encouraged me to use Two Tabs instead of mistakenly calling her Izumi like I'd often do.

[GloryQuestor]

1. My name came from being my father's name, the 2nd direct descendant to carry it. I also have a Catholic confirmation name, Matthew, after both my brother and the Christian Biblical saint of the same name (he chose the name "John" for the same reasons). I don't really mind my name -- it's as generic as they come.

2. My nickname was created when I used to assist people with their Quest for Glory games on the older networks. The name pretty much stuck with me for all this time.

3. Everyone around the community calls me "GQ". Around where I live, however, no one really cares about my user nickname.

[BurningLeaves]

... and the second son could be Callan, fully intending to never have a third child/second son. Hello? (this story irks me since I've always hated my name and I was so close to avoiding it)

I really think that's a great name. It's uncommon yet not weird (at least where I'm from) and has a really great sound to it. Yes.. I have been sitting here repeating your name over and over, listening to how it sounds... Creeper much? It's a shame you don't like it, I think it's great... But this is coming from the guy who thinks Deaf Jester was a cooler name than Prodigi =p

[Prodigi]

... and the second son could be Callan, fully intending to never have a third child/second son. Hello? (this story irks me since I've always hated my name and I was so close to avoiding it)

I really think that's a great name. It's uncommon yet not weird (at least where I'm from) and has a really great sound to it. Yes.. I have been sitting here repeating your name over and over, listening to how it sounds... Creeper much? It's a shame you don't like it, I think it's great... But this is coming from the guy who thinks Deaf Jester was a cooler name than Prodigi =p

>.>

My main irk with it is Callum is the most common. So I'm constantly, constantly having to spell my name to people. Even people I've known for years -_- I had it changed at work from "Callan" to "Cal" because people were contacting me on Office Communicator and mispelling it even though the name was right in front of them.

Also, I have no problems with creeping I'm a creeper at heart.

[BurningLeaves]

My main irk with it is Callum is the most common. So I'm constantly, constantly having to spell my name to people. Even people I've known for years -_- I had it changed at work from "Callan" to "Cal" because people were contacting me on Office Communicator and mispelling it even though the name was right in front of them.

If these are pronounced in the way I would imagine, yours being Callan sounding like calendar minus for the -dar part, and that one being Call-umm. I think you definitley lucked out in that one even if people do misspell it. Small price to pay for an infinitely more beautiful sounding name imo.

[Nessephanie]

I agree BL, I've always like his name too.

[Prodigi]

My main irk with it is Callum is the most common. So I'm constantly, constantly having to spell my name to people. Even people I've known for years -_- I had it changed at work from "Callan" to "Cal" because people were contacting me on Office Communicator and mispelling it even though the name was right in front of them.

If these are pronounced in the way I would imagine, yours being Callan sounding like calendar minus for the -dar part, and that one being Call-umm. I think you definitley lucked out in that one even if people do misspell it. Small price to pay for an infinitely more beautiful sounding name imo.

Yep, you've got the right idea. and thank you

I agree BL, I've always like his name too.

Only so you can call me callywal :p

[Ileia]

I agree. Having a cool name totally makes up for having to correct spelling or repeat pronunciation. *nodnod*

[Kireblue]

My Dad always wanted his name to be Eric instead of Nixon. My Mom's name is Kersandra and is pronounced for the most part like Cassandra. So to keep the trend of having a "k" in your name instead of a "c", I was named Erik. I actually really like my name.

In high school, I set all of my user names to be "Cerberus", and made it my avatar for most things. Up until Otakon, Cerberus was also the name of both my DS and my DSi. Oh and, someday I plan on having a fully functional secret base called C3 (Cerberus Command Center).

Today, I use the name "kireblue" a lot more. It is simply "Erik" spelled backwards + my favorite color "blue". IRL people only call me kireblue when they are trying to be funny, but I don't mind.