(no subject)

[katallison]

I've been really enjoying the comments on my earlier post about names, and find myself moved to follow up by tossing out a few questions for anyone who feels like responding:

1) Your LJ user name--how did you come up with it, where did it come from? And do you have a different pseud for writing/lists/whatever? How do you decide when to use which?

2) Any stories about how your family chose your RL first/middle names? Is there something you were *almost* named until saner heads prevailed?

3) What's the coolest name you've encountered (either real or pseud), one you really wish you had?

Answering for myself: (a) Kat Allison is simply a slight revision of parts of my RL name; it's the only name I've ever used in fandom. (b) My mother once told me that, if my father had had his way, I would have been named "Ariel," which ... well, let's just say I'm very glad he lost that one; it would have been wildly incongruent with both my RL last name and my basic temperament (I'm not remotely ethereal and poetic enough to be an Ariel). And (c) there are two public figures whose names I've always envied: Tai Babilonia (figure skater) and Moon Landrieu (former mayor of New Orleans). Those are just ... *cool.*

Comments

[callmesandy.livejournal.com]

My most used online pseud is Sandy Keene, which my fellow Sandy Keene picked in honor of Sandra Bullock and Carolyn Keene (of Nancy Drew fame). It was a "quick, pick a name!" moment, we weren't exactly expecting we'd still be writing in the same fandom almost two years later. If I write FPS again, I'll go back to using "k" for that which is simply the first letter of my first name. Witty am I.

My father wanted to name me Hezekiah or Obadiah. My mother said no firmly. They almost settled on Caroline, which I once hated and now think is a really beautiful name.

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Ohmygod, I never realized that you are k., she who wrote those fantastic Sports Night stories! (And, uh, also West Wing, except I didn't read those because I've never watched the show.) Wow, you are right up there on my shameful list of Writers Who I Really, Really Should Have Sent Feedback To Long Ago Except That I Totally Suck.

But anyway. Um. Really dug the stories, and if there's anything I could do to nudge you back toward the FPS world, let me know. *g*

Re:

[callmesandy.livejournal.com]

Seriously? You remember those stories? (Not that I've taken them down or anything, but still.) I still really like them, so it's always nice to see other people did.

And I swear, I really am seriously contemplating a Smallville story I want to write before the season premiere, really, really. I'll consider this another nudge that I need to get my butt in gear on that.

[colleenkane.livejournal.com]

1) it's my name. I'm boring and have no sense of consequences. I do sign most stuff, including my fic, as Cee, which is just a nickname.

2) I already told you. *g* I love my name, personally.

Aside: When I was about nine, I wanted to change my name to Jack. No reason. I just thought I was more of a Jack Kane.

3) The best name I've ever met was Carolyn Antonian. Amazing person, too.

[yonmei.livejournal.com]

1) Yonmei is a typo. On Christmas Day, sitting in front of my computer, I was trying to think up a label to go with the LJ code green_amber had sent me, and I had just opened a present (a seal with the meaning of my real name in Chinese characters) from Atropos. Atropos had written down in Latin characters the Chinese word on the seal, and I looked at it and thought it said "yonmei". By the time I found out I'd misread Atropos's handwriting, it was Too Late.

I use my real name for all fanwriting: I always have, and it's way too late to stop now. I did once have a story published under a pseud, but that was mainly just for fun. It was cool that for many years no one knew I'd written it.

2) I don't know why my parents picked my first name. Maybe they just liked it. My mum says she was thinking of her younger brother when she picked my middle name: he has the male version.

3) Marin. It means "Of the sea", and I liked it: the sound, the meaning, and that it was unusual. Up to five other girls had the same name as I did in my class at primary school.

[demrepic.livejournal.com]

a.)Demrepic doesn't really mean anything at all. I just thought is sounded cool. I bunch of friends and I were once sitting around trying to figure out a name for another friends band, and one we came up with was Demrepic. I was Mad Capper (the bar we were at) backwards but switched up a little. We were also, obviously really drunk.

b) My Dad picked out Arianna. He found it in Graves, The White Goddess and "ari" is based on a Minoan Goddess who spun the wheel of fate (I think, the place could be wrong the fate part is right.) and "anna" who was the original sumerian mother goddess. My parents played with my family by telling them that they were thinking of naming me "Play around us Merrily". They were however, seriously considering naming me Fastwater. I am thankful everyday I was a girl.

c) I love the name Ethan and Gavin. If I ever have a boy I'm gonna have to have twins because I don't think I could choose.

[xander03.livejournal.com]

1)'03 is the year of my college graduation, which I had to add because plain "Xander" is always already taken. I earned the nickname "Xander" when I took a semester off from school and stayed in my parents' basement, and I'm still there. Variations I use include "xand03" and "xanderd03."

I've been using it mostly for fanfiction type stuff because I didn't want my RL getting mixed in with my internet life (?) during college. Now I don't care so much and also use "julesumr" and "jules492," which are variations of my first name. I figure if someone is going to stalk me using the internet, they'll probably find out what they want eventually anyway (since I reference my RL so often on the internet and vice versa), so there is no point in being paranoid.

2) "Julie" is the name of some actress my father had a crush on when he was in high school. "Edith" is the name of one of my great grandmother's children. She died when she was only a few days old and apparently appeared in a dream to my mother when my mother was pregnant. I think all their thinking went into naming the first three. I was just a happy accident 15 years later.

3) I really like the name "Veronica." My mentor in high school had that name, although she didn't use it. And if I find a cool nickname to use online, I'll probably steal it, because I'm only going to be in my parents' basement for so long. :)

[meri-oddities.livejournal.com]

My LJ name comes from my website Meridian's Other Oddities of Fiction. Meridian was the name of the steet behind the street I lived on as a child.

I was named after my grandfather. If I had been a boy, I would have been named Milton.

[movies-michelle.livejournal.com]

1) My lj pseud is actually my hotmail account address, which is in turn based on the pseud I've had since I was about 12. I have since kind of wished I'd picked an lj pseud that was cooler or flowed better--or was, at the very least, shorter. But there you are. Like you, my pseud, Michelle Christian, is actually just a weird jumble of my RL name.

2) My parents chose my RL first name mainly because no one else in my family had it. My father's family is huge, and I think they just didn't want to run the risk of offending anyone or starting any family wars about who was named for whom. (I was the first grandchild either side, so I think that increased the need to politic, too.) My pseud first name is actually my RL middle name. My mother gave me Michelle after the archangel Michael. Why, yes, she is very Catholic, why do you ask? *g*

The last two, I think I already answered in my previous comment. As I said, Loveday Conquest is one of my favorites, although I also like a former student of ours named Amity Trowbridge. I just love that.

[bluster.livejournal.com]

1. Until LJ I always used my RL name. When I first got online I couldn't think of a "cool" pseud and I wasn't worried about being identified. However, experience has taught me that a certain level of anonymity is a good thing. Plus my RL first name was already being used so I chose Bluster because it seemed to fit.

2. My RL name is Betty. I was named after my grandmother and my aunt, who both went by the name but neither of whom was actually named Betty. My mother was fearful that if she named me Elizabeth I'd end up being called Liz or Lizzie, and she really didn't like either nickname. She came very close to naming me Susan, which would have been strange since her dog at the time had that name. Honestly, who wants to be named for the dog?

3. I don't really have a really cool name that I wish I had. I've always been fond of the name Grace, though.

[giglet.livejournal.com]

1) I wanted a name that began with G. As I was flipping through the dictionary I saw "giglet: a lascivious woman" -- which was really everything I could wish for in a pseudonym: short, hard to misspell, unclaimed, and accurate.

I have a different pseud for non-RPS fanfic. When I started writing RPS, it seemed vitally important to keep the two identities separate. Now I'm not sure it matters at all. Nevertheless, separate they remain.

2) In RL, I was named after the neighbor watching my three elder brothers while I was born. The name is unusual and often misspelled, but other than that, I have no beef with it.

3) I was terribly envious of both Resonant and Punk Maneuverability's pseuds for a while there.

[dine.livejournal.com]

1. I use Dine in most areas of my life - it's a family nickname from my very young childhood, and in my early 20s I invented a spelling (which guarantees that I'll have to explain it/myself to everyone) and began using it within the gay community. family and friends use it, and when I got internet and didn't want to use my "real" name, it was an obvious choice.

2. my mom told me they picked a boy's and girl's name - mine has something to do with a song, but I'm not sure which one. they then selected another girl's name, and finally got to use the boy's name when my brother was born years later.

3. I've always liked unusual names, but at this time can't remember any of my favorites. years ago I decided my (hypothetical) children's names would be Gertrude (pronounced *gare-trude) Analise and Bartin Joaquin - lucky for them I'll never actually have kids.

[trixiesfic.livejournal.com]

1) When I forayed into popslash, I intended to do it undercover, so to speak, so I came up with a new pseud. When I was a kid, my grandfather called me Trixie and it just seemed like a good sparkly kinda name. The whole two identities didn't last very long because I quickly embraced my shame and came out. But I liked Trixie by then, so Trixie I have stayed, but I haven't abandoned C.L. Finn entirely. I'll probably reclaim it when I move on from here. Or, I keep thinking about integrating the two and becoming Trixie Finn. Who knows. (oh, and C.L. Finn is my real first initials and my favorite book character of all time.)

2)My dad picked my first name and I don't know why. He just liked it. But I picked my little sister's first name and so my mother has grumbled for many years about the fact that she didn't get to name either of her kids. My middle name *would* have been Cramer if my dad got his way. His family tradition was to give a child the mother's maiden name as a middle name, but mom hated her last name and didn't think it made a good middle name, so she refused. Instead I got her middle name.

3)There are a lot of names I've always thought were cool and I desperately wanted a different name when I was a kid (there were more Christines and Christys then you could shake a stick at), but now, I'm pretty happy with my name.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

"1) Your LJ user name--how did you come up with it, where did it come from? And do you have a different pseud for writing/lists/whatever? How do you decide when to use which?"

Verdandi: The Norn (Norse goddess equivalent to a Greek Fate) in charge of present-day events, which seemed appropriate for a journal. Violetisblue: Violet Baudelaire, the Lemony Snicket character who is my favorite I'm Going to Jail and/or Hell Inappropriate Crush.

Writing pseud Valeria: An MST3K villainess best remembered for sneering repeatedly to the hero in an Elmer Fudd accent, "You and your daughter are DOOMED!" All those V's aren't a coincidence: V = Roman numeral five = my lucky number. Silly, I know, but still. roxann_ireland recently suggested a pseud surname that I like, so I am now officially Valeria Philomena Fate (Fate = a Norn = Verdandi; Philomena, I just like the name). Bet you're wishing you never asked, now aren't you?

"2) Any stories about how your family chose your RL first/middle names? Is there something you were almost named until saner heads prevailed?"

Not too exciting a story--my mother picked a first name which, thanks to a certain First Lady, is now very popular (and misspelled, thank you!), but at the time the maternity ward nurse deemed the choice "a little strange." She liked its meaning and its medieval roots. Middle name from my father's late mother. I have no idea what I would have been named if I had been a boy, because my mother was so convinced she would have a daughter she didn't plan for that eventuality.

"3) What's the coolest name you've encountered (either real or pseud), one you really wish you had?"

I have a strange affinity for old-fashioned girls' names--Virginia, Maud, Matilda, Philomena, Augustine, Isabelle--or the floral variety--Violet, Daisy, Rose. Don't know why. As far as actual online names, my very favorite is a since-deleted LJ chum who went by the handle Dipsticklesbian.

[rowanfairchild.livejournal.com]

Fun questions!

1) A lot of people think Rowan Fairchild is some kinda pagan thing, but it's not, like, at all. *g* Originally, I was gonna be Elaine Fairchild (after the plainspoken puppet from Mr. Roger's Nieghborhood) but when I arrived in DS, there was a bigtime writer named Elaine Walker and I didn't want any Elaine confusion. The book I was in the midst of reading at the time was Anne Rice's "Witching Hour" (which is one of only two Rice books I've ever read) and her protagonist was named Rowan, who was tall and tomboyish and had a big black dog. So... *g*

2) My RL first name is compromise on my mother's middle name (which my Dad deemed just a tad too plain.) Everyone in my family have 19th century sounding names. If I'd been born a boy, I would have been named Russell.

3) When I get crushes on people, I tend to fall in love with their names. In HS I had a dumb little pash for a girl named Cybele. Yeah, I'm a dork.

[luminosity]

Obviously, my LJ name was a joke. I just wanted to say that my sockpuppet had a live journal, and of course "sockpuppet" was taken.

My online pseud, Luminosity, has been around since I've been online. Back in the days of FidoNet and EchoNet, I frequented the Mindless Chatter net, and we all had umpteen nicknames, each of which meant something silly. Luminosity Deville (Light of the City) was my "World's Greatest Authority" pseud, since someone else had already taken "Professor Irwin Corey." And I liked the way it looked and felt. I've had it for so long now, I'll answer to my given name or "Lum" equally .

My real name is for my mother and my grandfather. I saw the list of names that my mom had picked for me when she was pregnant with me, and among her choices were "Jillian," "Marshall," and "Marguerite." I would have loved "Jillian" or "Marshall," which is my father's name, but I like my real name, too. Had I been a boy, I would have been "Henri Marshall."

As I said earlier, "Fantasia Spite." :)

When I was in high school, I knew a girl named "Superficial." I was just brusque enough to ask her mother why she was named that, and her mom said it was the most beautiful word she'd ever heard. Go figure.

[wax-jism.livejournal.com]

1) I've had the same one since mid-1999. I needed a yahoo username and all the sensible stuff was taken, so I opened a book (Drawing Blood by Poppy Z Brite) and picked the silliest thing I could find. So no one would have the same one, natch. And it totally worked. I've never needed another pseud.

2) My middle name is Agneta for my Aunt (who has never used her given name for anything, really, so I guess I could have it for free.) My first name is Maria because my mother decided that I would never be bullied because of an unusual name. So I got the most common one she could think of.

3) You know, I've decided that mine is the coolest. It's naughty, it's unique and it's really kind of gross. I've heard people have been so put off that they've refused to read my stories. You can't beat that.

[theodosia.livejournal.com]

a) LJ name is from my boardname at Buffistas.org, which I switched to from my realname when we went to a standalone site there, figuring that I'd be better off with a pseud given that we were going to be much more 'open' to the general public.

'Theodosia' is because my mom used to call me Theda Bara when I got the least bit dramatic. (It was the real Theda's real name.) Not as many people as you'd think even know who Theda Bara is these days (or recognize the woman in my default picture) but it amuses me greatly, and sounds regal.

b) Real life name is Connie, which I don't particularly care for, but I've never come up with something else that didn't sound pretentious and/or stupid -- Theodosia is the closest I've come yet to finding a name that I could stand in real life.

I was named after great-grandmothers Constance and Caroline; I suppose I should be grateful they weren't named Wilma and Ethelene.

c) One of my Buffista friends has the pseud 'Trudy Booth' which has the wonderful property of sounding perfectly normal until you remember the quote by John Keats. I also really admire 'Resonant' as an evocative pseudonym.

[jackiekjono.livejournal.com]

My LJ name is simply my name. I've never really felt the need to be anyone else so yep - that's me.

My mother wanted to name me Michelle but while she was still unconscious, dad filled out the birth certificate and now I'm Jackie. When I first heard that story, I was annoyed at yet another example of my dad being a jerk. Still, I was content with my name. I knew four or five Michelles and they were all mean and horrible. Of course, Dad couldn't help but turn out to be a big jerk. His parents stuck him with Orris Erwin Kjono.

I've always been a fan of names that end in -da. Miranda, Amanda, Belinda.

[prillalar]

1. I picked my writing pseud Halrloprillalar because I wanted something that was associated with SF, but not with my specific fandom (TXF at that time). Also, I wanted something that would stand out.

My LJ name prillalar is the "username" portion of that. People *call* me Hal, but I'd never be able to get that as a username anywhere. prillalar is always available AND it's possible to spell, unlike Halrloprillalar. It's even my domain name now: http://prillalar.com

I do use a diff pseud to vid, but it's not a big secret.

3. There is a name I wish I had been given instead of my RL name, but I've now given it to myself anyhow -- it's my secret name, A Name I Call Myself, and nobody else knows it. :) Yes, I'm a freak.

In the realm of other cool names, I don't think I ever sent feedback to Iain Padraic Jackson about one of his TXF stories without also gushing about how much I loved his name.

[destina.livejournal.com]

It's a measure of my state of mind that these questions seemed hard. *g*

1. My LJ user name is my writing pseud, which I chose because it was pretty and unique. I've had other one-shot pseuds - Sonata in Sentinel, Paradox in LotR - but I didn't really want to be anyone other than Destina.

2. Apparently, I kicked a lot as my mother was about to give birth to me, and my RL name inspired lots of activity. *g*

3. I like Killashandra, and Luminosity...I lean toward lyrical names. There are several that make me go, ahhhh. Pretty. :-)

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

1) When I started a livejournal I didn't want to use my full pseudonym as a livejournal name, because I didn't want to be discovered that easily. What I really wanted was to use jae, but that was taken. I was annoyed by this. I stomped around (only mentally, thank god) for a while saying "I'm the *real* Jae." Ergo ...

2) I was supposed to be named Christine. My mother and my aunt were pregnant at the same time, and they had a big fight just before my aunt gave birth. Out of spite for my mother, she named her daughter Christine so that my mother would have to pick another name. So I got stuck with Jennifer. In retrospect, it's a good thing I'm not Christine, though, 'cause my girlfriend is Christine, and that would almost certainly confuse people.

3) I don't wish for another name, real or pseud. But I do really like "Dafna Greer."

-J

[the-star-fish.livejournal.com]

1) I have (approximately) the same pseud for LJ and writing. I got the name "Unstable Starfish" as a suggestion from yahoo back in the early days of my 'net experience, when I was trying to figure out how that "chat" thing worked... I kept the name when I found Sports Night fandom because there was another person with my RL first and last names (Debra Fran Baker) and I wanted to avoid confusion. It doesn't always work, since my email addy is "dbaker" plus my zip code ...

2) My middle name, Jean, is actually the French version of the name John -- I was named after my paternal great-grandfather. We don't pronounce it like that, though.

3) I used to have a list of cool/unusual names when I worked for the non-profit. One of my faves was Ewaldine Beerwinkle. (Swear to God -- it was on her check.)

[unmisha.livejournal.com]

1) Back in college, one of my friends came back from summer vacation after hearing her godmother talk about Mikhail Barishnikov and decided that I fit his nickname: Misha. Nevermind that I'm female and decidedly not a ballet dancer. When I signed up for LJ though, it was taken (darn early adopter) and I fell back on my IRC habits, and slapped 'un-' in front.

2) My mother named me after a girl she knew in high school, very pretty and very popular. I was almost a Melody, but they've never told me any potential boy's names. My middle name came from my grandfather's middle name, which is an old family name. Years later, we found out I have an actual Great-some-odd-aunt with the same exact name.

3) None, really. I'm fond of Elizabeth, Catherine and Anne and Victoria for girls names, but they don't fit me. Melissa and Misha are both rare enough names I don't have to worry about duplicates.

[thepouncer.livejournal.com]

1) When I first started posting online, it was summer of 2000 and I was in the midst of huge Buffy-love. I decided I didn't want a show-related pseudonym because what if I became interested in other shows? (And I did). I picked Pouncer because I'm huge fan of Tigger and because pouncing was a game I'd played with my boyfriend. I don't have any other online identities, although my e-mail and Yahoo groups IDs have various numbers after them. I went with thepouncer because Pouncer was taken and I didn't feel like adding a number for a journal.

2) My older sister was named Lisa and she was one of five Lisa's in her kindergarten class. I was born that fall and Mom was determined that I'd have an unusual yet not too outre first name. She went with Hilary because of our family's English heritage and chose Joan as my middle name in case I hated Hilary. Which I don't - I really like it. My paternal grandmother lobbied for Sara Jane, which was her name. She was a witch of the highest order, so I'm pretty damn glad Mom resisted.

3) I love names associated with mythology, but I have a cousin named Athena and always felt a little sorry for her. Online it wouldn't be too bad, but in high school? Probably worse than Buffy. Any female children are likely to be named Madelaine and Emily after female relatives, and I've always loved the name Colin for boys.

[heuradys.livejournal.com]

1) Since I've gone into detail about this before, I'll just link to it:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/heuradys/73620.html?mode=reply
Years ago, when I had aol, Heuradys was the only of my screen names to never get spam. I'm vaguely proud of that.

I'm also known in a few circles as Fox. Being much easier to pronounce than Heuradys, it's what I tend to be called when I meet people face to face.

2) My birth mother named me Sharon Elaine - that's what the adoption order says, so it must be true - and I only spent almost four months as a Sharon. I was nearly saddled with the moniker of Fayga Cecillia, thanks to my paternal grandmother and the habit of Jews to name for deceased relatives, and my father was more than willing to go along with this, but my mother fought and got Cynthia Faye as an acceptable substitute.

3) I've run into so many cool names in the course of my work - both at the current insurance job and the prior business card printing-related job - that I lose track of them. I love talking to men with names like Florian and Marlene (pronounced Marlin) and Garland and Buford. I do really like that I know a woman named Tesla. I can't say that there's any name I wish I had, because I particularly like Heuradys.

[beledibabe.livejournal.com]

Very interesting questions, Kat.

1. My real name. I write fanfiction under pseuds, but couldn't be bothered for my lj. I may, at some point, be sorry about this and change it.

2. I'm named after my father, although my parents almost named me Cassandra, which, given my maiden name, would have been a real mouthful. They also contimplated naming me Anastasia, which was my great aunt's name.

3. I love Ukrainian names, and wish my folks had been a little more adventurous in their choice for mine. And I love my dance name, which is also one of my pseuds.

[caille.livejournal.com]

I'm just going to respond to the "cool names" question. I wouldn't necessarily want to be named any of these, but they are real names, and they feel good in my mouth when I say them.

Ruby Madonna Maguire
Eve Eden
Raffaella Pace (PAH-chee)

I think the odds of any of these three people seeing this are pretty slim, but...I'm only posting them because I think they're so pretty.

[rliz.livejournal.com]

"Rebecca Lizard" is my online name. It's from the Donald Barthelme story "Rebecca", and I chose it almost two years ago when my little sisters made me join a MOO for homeschoolers they were in love with. I knew I wanted something from Barthelme (I'm still utterly charmed by his work), but nothing from my very favorite stories seemed to work-- the Beautiful Enchanted Symbol? Gris Grue? The Pin Lady? I was actually Miss Mandible for a while, but people started calling me Mandi so I asked the mod to switch my name.

When I'm writing a new story, I always label it "by Niña Black". That's a very private joke-- "Gina Black" was a poetry-writing alter ego for a while, and Niña came naturally after her to write prose-- and the idea, however silly, is that if I'm not *really* the one writing it, then all of my internal editor's screaming won't start up.

My real-life name is Lauren Rile Smith. Lauren Smith! I was named in 1986, and my mother swears there were no Laurens around at the time. It was a lovely and unusual name. Plus, it was my parents' "Laurance" and "Karen" added together (a sort of gesture I've secretly always found to be kind of self-obsessed-- what about the woman Jeanette who named her daughter Ettenaej?). I've never identified with it, though, at all. In my head, I don't really have a name-- I guess I feel most comfortable with Rebecca, or Liz, as some people call me (the thing I hadn't anticipated about "Rebecca Lizard" is the wealth of diminutives it invites), and my girlfriend, since we met online, thinks of me as Rebecca, she says. I've seriously considered unofficially switching names once I get off to college where nobody knows me.

... When I was little, I wanted to name the dog Glorious Diamond Rose, because it was the most beautiful thing I could think of. My mother's friend stopped by and was very impressed with me-- she thought I'd said I wanted to use "Gloria Steinem"....

...

[rliz.livejournal.com]

forgot to add

"Caterina Fake". I always thought that that was lovely.

[fictionbya.livejournal.com]

From some random person you don't know who thought this sounded like an interesting thing to reply to...

1. I used "fictionbya" because I wanted to exact same username I use for other stuff on the web. My web page username and my e-mail username are also the same. I post fiction and whatnot under "A." I don't really like it and if I had been thinking more when I started out, I would have picked something cooler and more recognizable. I used to post under my real first and last name and then I read a site that suggested using a pseudonym so I just took my first initial. Bleh.

2. My first name, Andrea, was one of three names my parents were considering. The other two names were Jennifer and Stephanie. I like my name so I like what they picked.

My middle name, Christine, was after my aunt even though she spells her name with a K.

3. Alaleh Mohajerani

I went to high school with her. It just rolls off of the tongue so beautifully.

[lapillus]

1)Carol S (which is my real first name and real last initial) are almost always taken on large services by the time I get there, and such was true with LJ so I decided to look at the languages I'd studied (French, Japanese and Latin) and see if there was some play on my last name, either in whole or part, that would be fun and finally settled on lapillus which means a small stone or piece of a mosaic. Since individual LJ's always seem to be but small pieces of a larger whole I thought that it worked nicely.

2) My parents picked my first name because they liked the meaning (not for my Aunt Carol or my cousin Caroline) and my middle name because they figured if I didn't like my first name my middle name or one of the near-infinite variations would fit me. Up until I was about five I used to be called by both names within the family at which point I asked just to be Carol (except around my aunt where we both go by both first and middle name.)

3) I've occasionally played with other names, but I have never one that fits me as well as the one I was given which is one of the reasons I have never had a psued up until LJ. I have joked that one of my requirements in a potential husband is a shorter last name, nearer the beginning of the alphabet, preferably both easy to spell and believable (mine's easy enough to spell but no one believes it - despite being utterly phonetic English my boss of four plus years still never manages to get it right.)

[jacquez.livejournal.com]

1) Your LJ user name--how did you come up with it, where did it come from? And do you have a different pseud for writing/lists/whatever? How do you decide when to use which?

"jacquez" is my RL middle name. I've used it as an online ID since at least 1995. Very rarely is it taken anywhere.

Fannishly, I tend to use variants on my RL name - Laura Jacquez Valentine, Laura JV, jacquez h. valentine. I admit I'm not the best at keeping track of what I use where - I don't *think* "Laura JV" is on any archives, but some non-auto-archive archivists make strange choices about how to list me - I've seen a few stories attributed to "Jacquez", and some to "L. Jacquez Valentine", among other things.

2) Any stories about how your family chose your RL first/middle names? Is there something you were *almost* named until saner heads prevailed?

"Laura" is a family name from both sides of the family, though much more common on my mom's side: my mother is Laura, her mother is Ethel Laura, Grandma's aunt and grandmother were Laura...back into the dawn of time, apparently. My father's grandmother was also Laura.

"Jacquez" is the original not-munged-at-immigration spelling of the family name "Jakeway". The last person to carry the original spelling only did so for a short time - he was born at sea, on the boat to America, in 1888. Then came immigration and the Jacquez -> Jakeway change.

And yes, "Jacquez" is pronounced close enough to "Jakeway" that it's a reasonable transliteration (djay-kway).

3) What's the coolest name you've encountered (either real or pseud), one you really wish you had?

I like my name, really. For a long time I hated it, but it's me, and that's kinda that.

I do like nlanza's maternal grandmother's name, though - Evelina Fortunata DeNarro (say it! It rolls off the tongue!) - and my great-grandmother's first name, Constanzia. One day I may inflict "Evelina Constanzia" on a child.

[colleenkane.livejournal.com]

All these years I thought it was pronounced 'HA-kez'. Thanks for the enlightenment. *g*

[umbo.livejournal.com]

Cool questions, Kat--I'm enjoying reading everyone's answers.

1) When I started writing, I wasn't really thinking about having a pseudonym as such, so I just used my nickname, which I usually signed in lowercase in emails. There was already a shell on LJ, though, so I went with my email username, shellmidwife, which combines my nickname and what I do.

2) I know my mom picked out my name, as well as those of my two sisters. And I have the same middle name (Jeanne) as my mom does. Other than that, I have no idea ;-).

3) When I was in kindergarten I had a friend named Rosemary, and I thought that was a better name than mine, which was always being mispelled and mistaken for being short for another name. Now I really like my name, but I also really like Sinead, Hannah, and, uh, Callum ;-).

On a side note, I once had a patient (back when I was a labor and delivery nurse) whose last name was Arroyo. She married someone with the last name of Stiffy. And hyphenated her name. Which made her Mrs. Arroyo-Stiffy. *Not* a good choice for hyphenation, but it might make someone a cool pseud--hey, look, royalstiffie's written a new story! ;-)

[tracy-rowan.livejournal.com]

Hmm, cool questions.

1) Dargie, short for Dargelos. Dargelos=character in the Cocteau novel, "Les Enfants Terribles." He was Cocteau's schoolboy crush. One of those boys who grows up fast with muscular legs and a perpetual sneer. I didn't pick the name for those reasons though, I picked it because I like the sound of it. I've used other names in fandom, too, the most common of which are Araminta Carrington, for the funny stuff, and Fanny Adams, which I made up when I was doing Pros. Fanny Adams was an unfortunate woman whose husband chopped her into little pieces in the 18th C., just about the time the British Navy introduced chopped, tinned meat into naval stores. And the Brit sailors, with a fine sense of irony and the macabre, immediately christened their new rations "Sweet Fanny Adams." Eventually it became Sweet FA, which also stands for Sweet Fuck All. I chose it because there was a faction of Brits who said Americans couldn't write Pros, and my opinion of that nonsense was that it meant Sweet Fanny Adams.

2) I was named after my grandmother (Mary, though she went by Mame) but my mother also wanted to give me her favorite name (Jean). Since Jean Mary didn't sound right to her ear, she named me Mary Jean, but everyone always called me Jean.

3) I like my name quite a lot, but if I had to pick a pseud to use in RL, just to confuse the issue a bit more, I'd choose Gala. I don't know why, I just like it.

[shayheyred.livejournal.com]

1)"Shayheyred" started out just being "Shay" but there was another Shay (Shae, really) who frequented the same lists I was on for a fandom. So I went to "Shayhey" but that sounded like it needed "Willie Mays" after it. And I had red hair, then. So, Shay+Hey+Red.

Of course "Shay" itself came up because there was also a "Sherry" hanging around the lists I was on, and I detested her, though Sherry is what I go by usually. All my fic has been written as "Shay" or "Shay Sheridan" (Sheridan being a rejected stage name from when I joined Equity). But basically I stick with Shay because it's a contraction of my first and middle names. And it suits me, I think.

2)My legal name is Sheryl Rae (see, Sheryl + Rae = Shay). I narrowly missed being named Robin Sue (no doubt my mother would have spelled it "Robyn") and since there are millions of women my age named Robin, I'm glad she changed her mind. However, I also was nearly named Samantha Rae and I would have loved to be a Sam. The initial letters come from honoring deceased great-grandparents Sam and Rachel. It's a Jewish custom.

3) For a while I wanted to be an Alexandra, then flirted with Sheridan as a first name, but all in all I like Sherry, though every Sherry character on TV is a bimbo. Guess I should start an anti-defamation league or something. Frankly, I like Shay the best. That's my nickname and I'm stickin' to it.

[amadyce.livejournal.com]

1) It's my RL middle name misspelled, because someone else had already stolen the correct spelling. Actually, it's a name I picked for myself. Unlike my other siblings, I was not given a middle name. By the time I came along my mother was having a hard time coming up with names, so she always told me I could pick something for myself if I wanted. Never could decide until about nine years ago. I'd always been interested in names and etymology. I used to read name dictionaries as a kid. Still do. Amadis was one I came across and liked instantly. Originally, I'd intended it for some future daughter, but I got tired of waiting and it started to feel more like my name so I added it. It's Spanish for Amadeus and is the name of the protagonist in a medieval Spanish Arthurian style fable. I don't think I've ever used any other pseuds. It's too hard for me to pick a name that feels like mine. I've either used Amadis or my first name.

2) My first name is Adriene. My mother had a cousin with the more common spelling, and my mom always liked the name, though I was wasn't named *for* her. I think my mom saw the "one N" spelling in a pamphlet the nurses gave her at the hospital. According to highlighted marks in my moms baby name dictionary, I was almost named Wenona. I can't remember the other almosts. I fared better than my two oldest siblings though. My grandmother picked their names and they are one step away from cruel jokes. As a kid I always thought my name wasn't exotic enough, *snicker*, and was always trying to come up with the most outlandish fantasy names. Orianna was my favorite for a long while, though I cringe at the thought of that now. Not me, at all. Incidentally, I recently learned that that was the name of the literary Amadis' lady love. Hmm.

3) I'm so absolutely happy with my name as it is now. There are a lot I've found really interesting. I once knew a girl named Kerenza de Mars and really envied her name. Thinking about it now though, it's a tad on the MarySueish side.

[bientot.livejournal.com]

1) 'Agnes' and 'Tomorrow' were already taken. 'bientot' is French for 'later', which is sort of a play on tomorrow. My only published story was under my own name.

2) The name my parents picked for the person they wanted me to be was the name of two aunts and a cousin. (My brother's name was shared with two uncles and a cousin. Our parents were original.) I was never all that keen on the name, since in my age group there are always at least 27 Barbaras in any group of 3 or more. My aunt Barbaras refer to each other as Mildred and Gertrude.

3) I think my taken name is pretty cool. It's kind of fun making reservations and so forth...and it feels good on me. I also love the name of the title character of William Kotzwinkle's The Fan Man (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679752455/qid=1057490430/sr=8-5/ref=sr_8_5/102-5734493-1976160?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), Horse Badorties. I really love this book, but I also found myself telling people about it simply because it was a hoot to say, "Horse Badorties".

[thewildmole.livejournal.com]

Answer to #1: It came from the only Escapade I ever attended. There was a comment made on how I wasn't saying/doing much and The Wild Mole was born from that. I could be all layered meaning here and say it has something to do with hidden depths but...no.

Answer to #2: My family has a weird history with names. My father's name was changed by his parents six months after he was born. They immediately changed my name when they adopted me (I became one of four "L" names that they had picked out should they have been able to adopt four girls), yet they very nearly left my brother with his original first and middle names - Christopher Robin. Yeah, that would have gone over well in high school :).

My middle name is the ubiquitous, goes-with-everything "Ann". My first name is okay, I guess. Unfortunately, it has multiple spellings so I don't even think about it anymore. Any time I have to give information, I just spell it.

Answer to #3: I liked my original name and wish my parents had somehow left it as part of my adoptive name. I've given some thought on occasion to incorporating it into my current name via a legal name change or just starting to use it in my signature but haven't yet.

I haven't really run across any psueds that made me sit back and say "hmmmm..." (character names from books or fics do that for me). Instead, I find myself fascinated with the icons people choose to represent themselves.

[heresluck]

1) "here's luck" is the only name I've ever used in fandom. It comes from the Honeydogs album of the same title, which I was listening to fairly obsessively around the time I began to participate in fandom and needed a pseud. My fondness for the phrase predates the CD title, actually. And the cool cover art sealed the deal.

2) My real first name is one of my father's less brilliant ideas. It's an old family name, unusual (to say the least) and apparently unpronounceable for most people, and with a logical nickname that's not much of an improvement. My mother insisted on giving me the middle name "Emily" so that I'd have an alternative when I came to an age of discernment, but by then I'd gotten used to the nickname (although I don't especially identify with it) and didn't want to bother making the switch. My mother also likes to tease me that if they'd been going with old family names from her side of the family, I might have been Katerina Ulrika.

3) Melymbrosia. Which, conveniently, has the advantage of being attached to a very cool person.

[batdina.livejournal.com]

(a) My LJ user name came from my pseud's email address. The pseudonym comes from my real life middle name and the area of Philadelphia (the city where I was born) that I last lived when I was in grad school. When I stopped using my real name in fandom, I still wanted a name that sounded like a name, not a moniker. (b) I was "almost" Meredith, to be nicknamed "Merry", but most of my family were not native speakers of English and I believe it was my grandmother who said something like "What kind of a name is Mary for a yiddishe kinder?" and that was that. Of course, my parents were children when I was born, and there were no recently deceased [old] people to name me after, (there was a young cousin, but in Ashkenaz, we don't name for those who die young as it's bad luck) so my dad and my uncle read the Torah portion for the week I was born and chose my name that way: "The month of Adar ushers in a season of light and joy" so my Jewish name is literally light and joy (OraSimcha) and my American name is Cynthia Joy, which is just about the same thing. (c) Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, who was the Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto. The man and his name fit each other perfectly and I love that.

[jenboo.livejournal.com]

I can see why you've enjoyed them....some very interesting answers!!

1) My LJ username is a nickname that a couple of my closest friends call me. I tried for the handle I write under, JennyB, but it was already taken, so I had to come up with something else. And if I remember correctly the username jennybee (some of my longtime Hornblower fandom buds call me that) was already taken, too. So...jenboo it is.

2) well, I was the third of three children and we're all J names...Julie, Jerry and then there's me...named Jennifer Lynn at birth. I pretty much resolutely ignore the fact that my name is Jennifer...it just doesn't fit me. I'm a Jenny or a Jen. But most of the Jennifers in my life, and there are quite a number, go by Jen, so I tend to gravitate to Jenny. Lynn...I have no idea where it came from, but I like it.

3)hmmm...I really am coming up blank. hmmmm...JoEllyn Loehr...love that name. I actually think Callum Keith Rennie is a very cool name...though it makes me think as much of a grizzled old man drink Scotch as it does of the actor. *g*

[ann-tara.livejournal.com]

1) LJ name is a pseud I've considered using for years(and wish I had) which is simply my middle name and first four letters of my maiden name (Taranto). When I've written fan fiction, I've used my real name or some variation of it, which now I wish I hadn't, though it doesn't particularly bother me that I did either. Only for one story in one zine years ago did I use another name (due to the violent theme of the zine), and it was a variation of my LJ name. On lists and most mailing boards I usually use my real name. I used to have a fandom-specific handle on TWoP, but dumped it months ago to start over with Ann Tara.

2) My father wanted to name me Nicole, but my maternal grandmother ended up naming me Pamela. My middle name is my mother's.

3) The coolest pseuds I've seen are everyone else's. ;)