As for how I chose my name, it was a sore spot for awhile, in that it reminded me of how my story is slightly atypical. My first name came from a character I had on a roleplaying website. I really identified with him, and then started talking to people as him...it really helped me make sense of my feelings, and I've gotten close to the name. My middle name, Elliot (a name that seems to have come up a couple times already), came from looking through a list of names in the appendix of a dictionary from the 70s, waiting for one to speak to me. I'm still unsure about how I'm going to spell it, because it reminds me of both the musician Elliott Smith, and the writer TS Eliot, both of whom I look up to. Two l's and one t is a nice compromise for now. I think Michael Elliot sounds nice...and it fits me. Also, the initials are ME. Unintentional, but it makes me smile. I'm finally me.

Quote from: freespeechz on August 18, 2008, 05:17:13 PMWas wondering, are you guys keeping your last names? Since nobody's seemed to mention last names...

I definitely intend to change both my first and last.

I am sure I am keeping my last. It is, however, the American spelling. I might change it back to the German spelling.

Kept my last name, and i chose my first name because if i was born how i should of been. It would of been Marc, second name was because i like the name Andrew and it seems to fit lol.
Other wise my first name would of been Andrew but it didnt suit as much as Marc does.

Well I was kinda looking for some names to keep my Initials at first, I looked through some baby naming and meaning sites online, and came across Aiden, which is Celtic meaning fire.  I thought it fitting because of my pride in the bit of celtic heritage I have and well I can have a rather firey temper lol.

After that I looked for names starting with D for my middle name but couldn't find one that was happy with and didn't come off as some science fiction character's name.  So ended up going with an old favorite Jonos which is actually my own alternate spelling of Jonas (still wondering if should go with Jonas instead though)   But as for last name, keeping it.  I tend to be someone raised to hold strong to family ties.  Plus it's a part of my heritage

I'm  keeping my last name too, just gives that connection back to my family again and makes me feel like someone, not just a name.

I chose sammy cause i think its a sexy name lol
>

i want to change my last name.  i dont like my dads family and i dont want to be associated with them.  plus itd be better for if/when i decide to go stealth.

Quote from: Chet on August 18, 2008, 08:45:35 PM
i want to change my last name.  i dont like my dads family and i dont want to be associated with them.  plus itd be better for if/when i decide to go stealth.

If I wasnt close to my family and didnt like them, I would change it too.

Keeping mine and changing my first name gives me that "i'm my fathers son" attitude though, and since I love my Dad, I really like that idea. Hope he sees it that way too 

Okay, so this is a really stupid question.  I was registering for another website and had to come up with a user  name.  The one that popped into my head that was perfect was Jim Elliott.  Which got me thinking maybe I should legally become James Elliott F****** instead of Jonathan Ellis...

My only hangup over the name is that I kinda sorta gave it to my dog a while back only in the reverse (elliott james).

Should I name myself after my dog???

Or is that so lame?  I guess I really liked the name when I used it on the dog, not knowing that (at the time) that I surely COULD use it on myself.

Dopey Jay with a cockamamie idea...

My last name has nothing to do with what my family members do... I don't see why I shouldn't keep it. I don't like a lot of my family members, but it's no reason to disown my name. I like it at any rate.

Jay, do whatever makes you happiest Don't overtthink it, especially not if James Elliot is a name you REALLY like and could see yourself answering to.

James Elliot sounds nice, and as Nate said, go with it if you like it. Why not? And how many people are going to know you had a dog with a similar name? You don't *necessarily* have to introduce yourself as "Hi, my name's James Elliot F******, I'm named after my dog."

No, as Nate said, do what you want and forget what other people think, it's not their name. (And it really isn't a silly idea at all, either).

Well I picked a name first that had the same first letter as my birth name (which was Kaden) but realized that kaden didn't suit me, so I changed to what is actually my most favorite male name, James. James-Allen C.

Quote from: sneakersjay on August 18, 2008, 08:52:46 PM
Okay, so this is a really stupid question.  I was registering for another website and had to come up with a user  name.  The one that popped into my head that was perfect was Jim Elliott.  Which got me thinking maybe I should legally become James Elliott F****** instead of Jonathan Ellis...

My only hangup over the name is that I kinda sorta gave it to my dog a while back only in the reverse (elliott james).

Should I name myself after my dog???

Or is that so lame?  I guess I really liked the name when I used it on the dog, not knowing that (at the time) that I surely COULD use it on myself.

Dopey Jay with a cockamamie idea...

Don't worry about it. Most people won't know that. And besides, Indiana Jones made his alias from his dog's name too, and look where it got him!

Arch is a pseudonym. I took my real name from my high-school alter ego, who was a character in a novel I was writing. We have different middle names, and he is known by the diminutive version of our first name (you know, shortened and with a -y ending), but the last name is exactly the same.

I tried out all sorts of different names. I wanted to keep my original last name at first, but it's so uncommon that it wasn't practical for someone who wanted to cut all ties with his family. For a little while, I wanted to return it to its original German version--slightly different spelling, with an umlaut (sounds a bit like what Elwood said). Then, I wanted to keep my initials, but the more I thought about it, the more I disliked the idea of retaining anything at all that my parents had given me. So I changed everything and took my old teenage name. It seemed the only reasonable choice. That name and that persona got me through high school and helped me to stay strong when my parents were making life difficult for me. Sometimes I would repeat it like a mantra.

The one thing I sorta forgot about is that the fictional character is so real to me that I could never change his name!

Wow, just realized I hadn't replied to this, finally, after reading it god knows how many times. I picked the male version of my female name and kept my last name. All of that was out of respect for my parents, who chose that name for me and I was always close to my dad (who died 6 years ago) and remain close to my mum.

I can see how people who are not as close to their parents would do something different, but that's why I chose it. And I chose my grandfather's name as my middle name.

Dennis

Quote from: sneakersjay on August 18, 2008, 08:52:46 PM
Okay, so this is a really stupid question.  I was registering for another website and had to come up with a user  name.  The one that popped into my head that was perfect was Jim Elliott.  Which got me thinking maybe I should legally become James Elliott F****** instead of Jonathan Ellis...

My only hangup over the name is that I kinda sorta gave it to my dog a while back only in the reverse (elliott james).

Should I name myself after my dog???

Or is that so lame?  I guess I really liked the name when I used it on the dog, not knowing that (at the time) that I surely COULD use it on myself.

Dopey Jay with a cockamamie idea...

Depends how much you love your dog.

Posted on: August 20, 2008, 12:26:18 AM

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I grabbed a baby book and started crossing out names I hated that started with the same letter as my birth name.  Gradually, the list became shorter and shorter.  When it got down to five, my girlfriend started using them to refer to me.  I chose the only one I actually responded to involuntarily.

I picked my name which went closest to my birth name. I went from Laura Elizabeth to Lee Euan..

My dad is scottish and I wanted a scottish middle name so I chose Euan. Which I do really like!

I was hard to change the first name as I couldn't find one to suit me!

I have kept my last name!

I chose a more masculine version of my birth name out of respect to my mom. (It's Steffan. My screen name is from my father's name Leo)

The thought of choosing whichever name I like would be fun, but I dunno, maybe it's because I'm older now plus related family issues, but I feel like I have to show respect for not just my mom but for my living siblings as well.

Quote from: Lee on August 20, 2008, 11:05:39 PM
I chose a more masculine version of my birth name out of respect to my mom. (It's Steffan. My screen name is from my father's name Leo)

The thought of choosing whichever name I like would be fun, but I dunno, maybe it's because I'm older now plus related family issues, but I feel like I have to show respect for not just my mom but for my living siblings as well.

Yeah, that's why I'm going with Joseph Evan. Basically a masculination of my given name.  Just don't call me Joe!!!

Jay

A lot of my friends have said I should be Elwood. But I already know that Dan's going far enough. I think my mom would completely (instead of just mostly) disown me if I named myself after a fictional character.

That's why my name is going to be Leland Joseph "Apollo" Adama. 
Don't Google it. You'll regret it.