# What's in a name?



## Waluy (Aug 5, 2013)

I always find it interesting when I am on a forum to find out how people came up with their display names. Some are fairly obvious but others tend to be more unique. 

So here is my question. 
How did you come up with your forum name? Also where did your company name come from?

I'll start.
My display name came from a game I used to play (Ultima online). I needed a screen name that was unique and had just watched the movie "The One" whose main character's name was Yulaw. So I thought sure why not I'll reverse it and be Waluy. After playing that game for over a year people started calling me Wally because they couldn't pronounce my screen name and Wally just kind of stuck.

As for company name it just made sense that I call my company Wally's Custom Designs because I make chainmaille, pens, other woodworking items and custom one of a kind non reproducible works of art. With VERY few of my pieces not being custom tailored to the customer.


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## healeydays (Aug 5, 2013)

That's easy on mine.  Look at my Avatar.

Mike B
59 AH 3000 BT7


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## Waluy (Aug 5, 2013)

healeydays said:


> That's easy on mine.  Look at my Avatar.
> 
> Mike B
> 59 AH 3000 BT7



That's a good looking Austin Healey. I used to work for a company that sold parts for "British Sports cars" including the AH, MG, Sunbeam and Triumph. I must say I never really understood the appeal but seeing the one in your Avatar I begin to see it.


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## stonepecker (Aug 5, 2013)

I design and engrave tombstones for a living.     My handle is a play on my profession.
I also make yard signs, pet markers, wedding gifts, and engrave boulders on site.
Granite is what I love but I also engrave glass, wood, mirrors, etc.

Everything I make is one of a kind.  I will use ideas from other things I have made but I always change it for each person.  The only time I make matches is if it is ordered that way.


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## healeydays (Aug 5, 2013)

Waluy said:


> healeydays said:
> 
> 
> > That's easy on mine.  Look at my Avatar.
> ...



It's all about the drive.  Nothing like driving down a winding road with the top down and a sweet engine sound coming from the pipes.


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## firewhatfire (Aug 5, 2013)

I have been involved with fire and EMS since 1991. And currently work dispatch.    I have always been told that I have a bit humorous side also.  So on scene one day when someone asked did you see that fire I said Fire. what fire?   Been attached to m ever since.


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## BSea (Aug 5, 2013)

I decided on mine when I joined a scuba forum.  I wanted something easy to remember, and somewhat aquatic sounding.  I also was just turning 50, and  I recalled my brother-in-laws 50th party.  Someone asked him what year he was born (after a few drinks, I guess they couldn't do the math).  Anyway, he said 49.  Then someone else asked "AD or BC?"  Everyone laughed.  Ever notice how things are so much funnier after a few?  Anyway, I remembered that story for some reason, and decided BSea instead of BC.  And I've used it for every forum I've joined since.


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## longbeard (Aug 5, 2013)

My avatar, love to chase those turkeys. One of the first things you do is check to see
how long his beard is and how long his spurs are.


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## PTownSubbie (Aug 5, 2013)

PTownSubbie

I live in Portsmouth, VA which is nicknamed P-Town

I have been a Navy Submariner for the last 28 years....Subbie

I guess I could have been more creative.....:biggrin:


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## gimpy (Aug 5, 2013)

Well, after 10 knee surgeries on the same knee, 3 of them being replacements, it was pretty easy, as my son started calling me Gimpy back in the 80's, And yes, that is my business name also.......thanks for asking


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## MrsPTownSubbie (Aug 5, 2013)

Okay so less original than yours is the MRS...LOL.



PTownSubbie said:


> PTownSubbie
> 
> I live in Portsmouth, VA which is nicknamed P-Town
> 
> ...


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## skiprat (Aug 5, 2013)

I'm actually a real live rat ( but a nice fluffy cuddly one) and I forage for stuff and live in a skip. (Dumpster, for you guys that need a brand name) 

My favourite member 'handle' here on IAP is Bitshird's. My foreman used to tell me that was how I welded !!!! (Figure it out )


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## D.Oliver (Aug 5, 2013)

I don't remember how I came up with mine ,  but for the sake of a story I'm going to say it involved a bottle of grey goose and a german enigma machine!


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## Turned Around (Aug 5, 2013)

There was a time that I wasn't so....... good, I guess. I got into a few issues and had to go "away" for a few years. Anyway, when I came home I turned my life around. Stopped getting into trouble. This was one of the hobbies I picked up during this little chapter in my life, so I thought "Turned Around" was fitting for how I started this stuff and for the fact it's all done on a lathe. A bit of a double meaning, if you will.

It was either that or "Nic's Awesome Must-Have Pens Made With Pride in the Texas Heat". The former was shorter......


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## ttpenman (Aug 5, 2013)

When I started making pens I worked for a company called Timeless Timber.  People that worked there called it TT so I became ttpenman.  Don't work there anymore but never bothered changing it.

Jeff in northern Wisconsin


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## Akula (Aug 5, 2013)

I got mine while in the Army.  This was before any movie LOL  I was working with some of my Russian counterparts and one day while talking about what we used to do before the military, I said I did a lot of shark fishing.  The Russians had just put out some of their Shchuka subs.  The name stuck.


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## Waluy (Aug 5, 2013)

ttpenman said:


> When I started making pens I worked for a company called Timeless Timber.  People that worked there called it TT so I became ttpenman.  Don't work there anymore but never bothered changing it.
> 
> Jeff in northern Wisconsin



Isn't it funny how things that are no longer exactly relevant play into screen names. I know the game server I was on when I originally created Waluy is no longer around (hasn't been for over 5 years) but the name stuck with all my friends. And as such has made its way to most every forum I have ever been on (its always available). Chances are if you are on any forum and the name Waluy shows up its me. And I have so many hobbies its on a LOT of forums.

This has always been one of my favorite "get to know each other" topics.


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## TLTHW (Aug 5, 2013)

I always referred to my 3 daughters as Toad, Toadette and The Lovely Toadella.

 When asked by my ex-wife how I felt about my youngest shaving her head and wearing bicycle spokes for earings I replied The Lovely Toadella Has Warts. 

It has been my internet ID for 16 years now.


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## TellicoTurning (Aug 5, 2013)

I've actually changed my name here.. or Jeff did it for me at my request... I started out as ozmandus which was an artificial intelligence in a sci-fi book I read...only I misspelled it when I first set it up...so I was stuck with the misspell... when I set up my hobby turning business my step son suggested TellicoTurnings... I liked it and changed.... I live in East TN in the Cherokee National forest in a little town called Tellico Plains.... as a side note: Tellico is Cherokee for plains... hence I actually live in Plains Plains....:biggrin::biggrin:


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## Dale Lynch (Aug 5, 2013)

If you ever played the video game Whiplash you'd know Spanx (the weasel).His sideffect from electrocution testing is random jolts through his body.I have a similar  but not as extreme side effect,though mine is probably from mild head injuries.I feel he makes a good avater.

My cards that I give out (I'm not a business) are titled Blackbelt Woodworks.I have a 3rd Degree BB in Hapkido.


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## joefyffe (Aug 5, 2013)

Congratulations, Nic, on "turning around"  !  



Turned Around said:


> There was a time that I wasn't so....... good, I guess. I got into a few issues and had to go "away" for a few years. Anyway, when I came home I turned my life around. Stopped getting into trouble. This was one of the hobbies I picked up during this little chapter in my life, so I thought "Turned Around" was fitting for how I started this stuff and for the fact it's all done on a lathe. A bit of a double meaning, if you will.
> 
> It was either that or "Nic's Awesome Must-Have Pens Made With Pride in the Texas Heat". The former was shorter......


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## joefyffe (Aug 5, 2013)

My Mother and Father wrote mine down, for me, with pencil and paper, back in '42.  So, it only made sense, when I got a computer, they would have wanted me to use their choice for my avitar!


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## Dustygoose (Aug 5, 2013)

Some 33 years ago while playing football in jr high, The coach said my neck was too long to play tackle.  Said it looked like a goose.  It stuck all through grade school and My army time too.  Now I work in the oil and gas industry and my friends call me goose.  The dusty part is when my wife and I started doing wood working.  We do scroll work and turnings of all kinds.  So...  Dustygoose I became.


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## Wraith (Aug 5, 2013)

I got my nickname in college. Several of my friends started calling me wraith because I was so quiet when I walked. It was like I would just appear out of thin air. We all played AD&D, thus the choice of wraith. I told them it wasn't me being so quiet, it was them being so loud that they couldn't hear me coming.


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## NewLondon88 (Aug 5, 2013)

a long, long time ago there was a bunch of us ...

.. no, wait ..

that wasn't me.

never mind.


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## Alzey (Aug 6, 2013)

When I was stationed in Germany, our little RADAR site was called Alzey Air Station. Years later I started playing on-line games and used that name. I now use it on several forum and had it through multiple games and servers.


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## Scott (Aug 6, 2013)

Uhhh.....Guess!


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## rrfd4 (Aug 6, 2013)

I was a Rural Route Free Delivery (rural carrier) in the postal service for 33 years, and I carried route number 4.  Hence "rrfd4."


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## CabinetMaker (Aug 6, 2013)

The very first forum I joined was a theology forum.  I hadn't started turning yet so I was still doing mostly flat work as a hobby.  When I joined the forum I wanted a screen name that reflected my love of wood working.  I also kinda liked the tie in to a certain Jewish Carpenter.


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## Smitty37 (Aug 6, 2013)

After Using such things as "Nightlife" and "Yesterday's Wine" (both are titles to songs that I happen to like the first by BJ Thomas and the second by Willie Nelson) some other places I decided to keep it simple here.."Smitty37" Smitty is what folks have called me since '37 when I was born. Business name Smitty's Pen Works is obvious.


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## Si90 (Aug 6, 2013)

Mine is a a pure coincidence.

I always wanted to be (still do if I'm honest) a movie prop/model maker when I was a kid. Amongst others, I  really loved the Jerry Anderson TV shows, so when my ISP suggested my email should have 90 in it, shortening it to Si90 for a user name (as in Joe90) just jumped right out. 

Si90


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## wood-of-1kind (Aug 6, 2013)

Wood-of-1kind is a play on words..."one-of-a-kind". I work with wood as my preferred medium and I only make "one of"  pen, pen case or any other item that I choose to make.


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## flyitfast (Aug 6, 2013)

As I toodled around the sky in a Cessna 150, I always had a dream while watching the other big birds zoom by. 
After flying into a headwind one day and watching the cars below me going faster than I was, I decided it wasn't fast enuf. 
Never got much faster, but there is always hope............... the P-51 is the ultimate!
gordon


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## OKLAHOMAN (Aug 6, 2013)

Can't imagine why OKLAHOMAN,for my forum name and had the computer locked on caps when I joined. As to Classic Nib, that was because of the first item the we sold. My retail site is Bella-Penna which in Italian means beautiful pen and all my pens are named after Italian cities and sections of Italy.


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## wobblybootie (Aug 6, 2013)

No! I do not have a saggy rear end :biggrin: ... Bootie  shortened from Bootneck, an Inter service nickname for a Royal Marine (just like your US Marines and Leatherneck) Wobbly ... 'cos that's the way I walk (when I'm not wheeling myself around in my chair) after injuries sustained during the best 16 years of my life!! Would I change anything ?? Not a Chance!!


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## farisdayoff (Aug 6, 2013)

My last name is Faris, so as a child of the 80's I played on the nostalgia card. 

As for the business name, I was having trouble coming up with one, and one day mentioned I was making saw dust in the shop. My Aunt suggested SawDustin' Creations. My first name is Dustin. So it stuck and thats what I ran with.


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## alankulwicki7 (Aug 6, 2013)

My name came from NASCAR driver Alan Kulwicki. He was a favorite of mine until he died in a plane crash in 1993. When I started selling on eBay, my screen name was alankulwicki7 and it's been with me ever since...


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## Brooks803 (Aug 6, 2013)

Mine's fairly simple. Last name is Brooks and I live in area code 803. 

One of the best things that's come from my username is I get called Brooks by everyone. Which has a special meaning for me bc that's what everyone called my Grandfather. He was my inspiration to get into wood working. So I enjoy having that moniker like he once did.


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## Leatherman1998 (Aug 6, 2013)

I do some leather working (not as much since I started turning) and 1998 is my birth year. Woodard is my last name so Woodardwoodworks  is pretty self explanatory. One other screen name I have thought about using is CAPmember1998 because I am a Civil Air Patrol member.

BTW my avatar is me and my dad at Ellsworth AFB for a CAP banquet.

Levi Woodard 
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Forum Runner


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## Rink (Aug 6, 2013)

Um...it's my name, sort of.  My grandfather was named Reynolds (first name) and his friends called him Rink. By the time I came along nobody knew where, how or when he had picked up that nickname. When I was born, against my mother's wishes and while she was unconscious, I was named Reynolds after my grandfather. So I, too, picked up the nickname of Rink. It's funny...I've been called Rick, Rex, rock, Ron, rod...you name it, but nobody quite seems comfortable using "rink" until they get to know me.  Never met another Reynolds or another Rink and glad of it!


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## maxwell_smart007 (Aug 7, 2013)

Mine's easy - I'm a dork! (and had this as my email since high school, when email was just coming out!)  

Andrew


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## Buzzzz4 (Aug 7, 2013)

My mom has called me Buzzy when I was good and Buzzard when I wasn't quite an angel. The number 4 is my favorite number and now just happens to be the number of kids I have.


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## RichB (Aug 7, 2013)

Mine is just very original.  Can't think any further than that.


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## RetiredJake (Aug 7, 2013)

Last name is Jacobson and I have been called Jake since I was 17. I retired from the USN, then too many years later I retired from GE. Just seemed a good fit.

Jake


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## mredburn (Aug 7, 2013)

mine comes from an old Cherokee word that means
"He who just thinks he can make pens but really cant"


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## Waluy (Aug 7, 2013)

mredburn said:


> mine comes from an old Cherokee word that means
> "He who just thinks he can make pens but really cant"



If your pens are from "He who just thinks he can make pens but really cant" then I would hate to think of what that makes my pens. Must be something like "He who knows he can't make pens but enjoys creating sawdust".


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## Donovan (Aug 7, 2013)

Mine is easy my name is Donovan


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## JustmeinMS (Aug 7, 2013)

Mine is easy. I am no one special and I live in MS so "justmeinMS" is perfect. As far as my business "Patriot Penworks" I bleed red, white, & blue and I make pens.


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## TLTHW (Aug 7, 2013)

mredburn said:


> mine comes from an old Cherokee word that means
> "He who just thinks he can make pens but really cant"



Your stories are getting as bad as dad's!


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## Russianwolf (Aug 7, 2013)

My nickname comes from my Navy days. I was a Russian Linguist and most considered me a bit of a wolf. So RussianWolf was born and stuck.

I used it for a long time in my business too, but wanted to go more professional so now it's Michael T Shue Studios.

Just be careful what you name your company and register as your website. Pen Island ran into this when they first started out and still haven't fixed it apparently. Pen Island Pens - Home


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## jyreene (Aug 7, 2013)

Russianwolf said:


> My nickname comes from my Navy days. I was a Russian Linguist and most considered me a bit of a wolf. So RussianWolf was born and stuck.
> 
> I used it for a long time in my business too, but wanted to go more professional so now it's Michael T Shue Studios.
> 
> Just be careful what you name your company and register as your website. Pen Island ran into this when they first started out and still haven't fixed it apparently. Pen Island Pens - Home



I see what you did there. 

Mines from my mom. I enlisted in the Corps and she smashes jarhead and Marine into Jyreene. I've been using it ever since. Not since 37 like some but it did start in the last century!


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## jsolie (Aug 7, 2013)

Mine isn't terribly interesting, but I've enjoyed reading about how others selected their screen names.


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## triw51 (Aug 7, 2013)

My initals are WWW and I was born in 1951, so triw51.  Not to creative but it's me.


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## Mike8850 (Aug 7, 2013)

The first 8849 Mikes were taken.
Nah, just my first name and address number
Mike


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## sbwertz (Aug 8, 2013)

flyitfast said:


> the P-51 is the ultimate!
> gordon



Love those Mustangs!


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## sbwertz (Aug 8, 2013)

alankulwicki7 said:


> My name came from NASCAR driver Alan Kulwicki. He was a favorite of mine until he died in a plane crash in 1993. When I started selling on eBay, my screen name was alankulwicki7 and it's been with me ever since...



Do you turn counterclockwise?  (Polish victory lap!)


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## sbwertz (Aug 8, 2013)

Leatherman1998 said:


> I am a Civil Air Patrol member.
> 
> BTW my avatar is me and my dad at Ellsworth AFB for a CAP banquet.
> 
> ...



I was in CAP in the late 50s when I was in high school!


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## sbwertz (Aug 8, 2013)

Russianwolf said:


> My nickname comes from my Navy days. I was a Russian Linguist  http://www.penisland.net/



When I went into the WAC in 1961, I wanted to go the Army Linguistic School and study Russian!  I was told after I finished basic that I couldn't go on a first enlistment.  I was working in the Pentagon when I got married and my husband was transferred to West Point.  I had just got transferred up there with him when I was notified that I had scored so highly on the Army Linguistic Test that they were going to go ahead and let me go the the Army Linguistics school on my first enlistment.

I was a newlywed.  My husband was in New York.  The school was in California.  I politely declined.

So I wound up being a computer nerd instead.


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## Richard Gibson (Aug 8, 2013)

I was on another forum where everyone was complaining about the "stupid screen names". I found this site that same evening and decided to just be me...


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## seamus7227 (Aug 8, 2013)

my first name is Seamus(pronounced like Shea-mus), Its Irish so its like the pronunciation of Sean. The 7227 is from my birthday(7 for July, 22 for the day and 7 for the 75, i just wanted to leave the five off, looked better to me.


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## Dan Masshardt (Aug 8, 2013)

I like it when people just know what my name is.


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## Jim Burr (Aug 8, 2013)

Mine is on my birth certificate...I always forget who I am if I'm not me!


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## mick (Aug 8, 2013)

Oops!


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## mick (Aug 8, 2013)

My screen name has been Mick or Mick58 in every chat room or forum since my first computer around 96 or so. (58 is my birth year.) Some of my friends even call me by this since it's a nickname for Michael. 
Our company name is MikCon Creations, a combination of Mike and Connie, my wife and CEO. She makes journals from old books and different bracelets and pendants from the pages left over. Nothing is wasted, customers love the idea of recycling or as she calls it,           re-purposing. 
Tag on my truck PEN GUY even makes me think I can make pens!


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## hukcats1 (Aug 8, 2013)

I am a Kentucky Wildcats fan. Years ago, I wanted ukcats1 as a user name but somebody beat me to it. Since my name starts with an H, I added an h to ukcats1 and their you go. Been using this moniker for about 15 years now.


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## Mickey (Aug 8, 2013)

Uuuuuuuh, it's my name.


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## edman2 (Aug 8, 2013)

Prior to retirement I worked in church related vocations for 46 years in the area of Christian education. I became known as "our Ed man" in the various churches I served.  The 2 was added some years before because the name "edman" was already taken on another forum I was joining.


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## plano_harry (Aug 9, 2013)

Mine is pretty plain.  I live in Plain-o'


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## Paul in OKC (Aug 9, 2013)

When I took AutoCad years ago one of the class projects was to come up with a logo kike we were a business. My logo was an oval with PHd in it so that it looked the same upside down. Around the oval was Paul Huffman Designs. Shortened it to PHDesigns after that. email is phdesigns1 because the plain name was taken.


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## sbwertz (Aug 9, 2013)

When I first started my computer business in 1980, women computer consultants were scarce on the ground. As a result, some people wouldn't even call me.  So I started just using my initials on my business cards and other paperwork.  Once I got in the door and they saw that I knew my business, it was never a problem.  But I used SBWERTZ because it was "unisex" and didn't prejudice prospective clients against me just because I was a woman...which was a real problem at the time.


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## Mason Kuettel (Aug 9, 2013)

....I hope I don't need to explain!

Just FYI, it's pronounced Kettle, like "Ma and Pa" or "kettle corn"


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## panamag8or (Aug 11, 2013)

Back in 1998, I joined a Gator message board, and I was living in Panama City, FL. Pretty simple, really. It's just always stuck, although that same board now calls me "penama", because of my penmaking obsession.:biggrin:

Business name? I wanted something local to Gainesville, and my long-time neighborhood is known as Anglewood. I thought that sounded pretty cool for a business name.


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## walshjp17 (Aug 11, 2013)

After 26 years in the US Navy (serving in mostly aviation units) and another 20 + years working in the under-appreciated computer/information security field, I lost a lot of brain cells imbibing in uisce beatha (water of life).  Trying to remember anything complicated or cute is not going to work for me anymore, hence the name, initials and date of birth.  

Similarly, the unincorporated 'business' name -- Woods of Walsh -- is just a reference to me making things from wood -- and it is easy to remember (see the brain cell comment above).


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## navycop (Aug 12, 2013)

I was doing security at NAS Oceana when I joined IAP.


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## SloLouie (Aug 13, 2013)

Well I live in San Luis Obispo and the dog in my avatar, was my dog Louie. BTW I get the British car thing, I love driving my TR6.


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## AnachitlPut (Aug 13, 2013)

So my soon to be name. ( I hope ) will be AnachitlPut which I love becouse of it ties to my family. My last name is Putman and if you fallow that back all the way to the early 1000's it will change three times. Putman Putnam and Puttenham. Put being the only part to neve change. As for Anachitl, it is the name of the last known family member. He was born abt 1,000 and was supposedly a champion of William The Conquer at the battle of Hastings.


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## camb (Aug 13, 2013)

I took the camb from cambidextrous the name of a standardbred racehorse I had a few years ago.


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## jaywood1207 (Aug 13, 2013)

jay comes from the first letter of my name.
wood comes from Woodstock where I live
1207 is my birthday.


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## bjbear76 (Aug 13, 2013)

I've used bjbear for years (the family car even has the license plate BJBEAR).
B is me, Bill
J is my wife, Jody
Bear is our son.  We always called him our Pooh Bear when he was little.
Of course, back then BJ and the Bear was a TV show and it stuck.
BTW, my 36 year old son still grins when we call him Pooh Bear


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## Sataro (Aug 13, 2013)

Now this topic made interesting reading this morning!!!

Mine is fairly simple. My brother got me into playing UO a long time ago. When I started to setup my account, I realized I needed a game name. Wasn't sure what I wanted to use, but I had been reading a book with Japanese characters. So I took a Japanese character's name--Sataro... I ended up keeping this name, not sure why...I've used it as my email address & all of my different Internet games have used this name. My business name is simply my initials & Woodcrafts. I use to make a lot of woodcrafts. So I thought I would get back involved in more than just pens. Needless to say names stick sometimes. I wish now I would have selected some type of name associated with pen making only. I realize with turning pens, I have no time to learn how to turn bowls or make other items.


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## Waluy (Aug 13, 2013)

Sataro said:


> Now this topic made interesting reading this morning!!!
> 
> Mine is fairly simple. My brother got me into playing UO a long time ago. When I started to setup my account, I realized I needed a game name. Wasn't sure what I wanted to use, but I had been reading a book with Japanese characters. So I took a Japanese character's name--Sataro... I ended up keeping this name, not sure why...I've used it as my email address & all of my different Internet games have used this name. My business name is simply my initials & Woodcrafts. I use to make a lot of woodcrafts. So I thought I would get back involved in more than just pens. Needless to say names stick sometimes. I wish now I would have selected some type of name associated with pen making only. I realize with turning pens, I have no time to learn how to turn bowls or make other items.



Wow a fellow UO player. Of course I was playing on a free server (Ackadia) with our own custom twists on the original game. I even became a programmer for that shard and created some new items myself.


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## Hexhead (Aug 23, 2013)

When I used to race cars I always had a wrench in my hand and they called me Hexhead


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