this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2025
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This has probably been asked before but I wanted to add another layer/an alternative.

So, I ask, where did your username/pseudonym/nickname originate from? What's the meaning behind it?

Or alternatively, which is the most creative/interesting nickname origin you have come across?

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[–] TheKracken@lemmy.world 1 points 15 minutes ago

Found a Kraken in Ultima Online. Thought it was rad and didn't know how to spell it as an 11 year old.

[–] stringere@sh.itjust.works 1 points 20 minutes ago

Star Wars Galaxies I was on a red wine kick at the time and had found Ecco Domani to be a good low priced red. I meeded a character name for SWG so I looked up "to seize" in Italian to make "seize tomorrow".

It's actually "squeeze tomorrow" or "tighten tomorrow" and should have been "cogliere il domani" which is cooler. But c'est la vie, or questa è la vita.

[–] SpicyTaint@lemmy.world 1 points 53 minutes ago

I believe it's self explanatory.

[–] Bongles@lemm.ee 2 points 1 hour ago

It popped into my head while I was thinking of one, felt kind of clowny, then I searched for it online and didn't find any results. I was shocked that, apparently, nobody else is using this, so I've decided to.

[–] hanrahan@slrpnk.net 1 points 56 minutes ago

From a famous Australian poem called... "Said Hanrahan"

https://www.australianculture.org/said-hanrahan-john-obrien/

[–] Sasha@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 hour ago
[–] TheDarkestShark@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

I made this account shortly after watching Jackass 4. One of the new guys brings his dad on, this guy served time and did not look like he was one to fuck with. They put his head in a fishbowl with a tarantula and he instantly went into full bitch mode. That man's name was Dark Shark.

[–] Braz666@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Surname plus 3 random numbers

[–] jeena@piefed.jeena.net 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

This is a question I was asked all my life, so already in 2004 I wrote a blog post about it: https://paradies.jeena.net/weblog/2004/oct/jeena-paradies but it's in German so I'm posting the translation here:

It was sometime in the year 2000 when I had already been DJing at small parties for a while, playing house, drum’n’bass, big beats, and electro. When people asked who the DJ was, everyone just said, "That’s Richard." Naturally, that didn’t sound very cool for an alternative DJ. Then my cousin, who was also a DJ but played the more mainstream style of techno, chose the name DJ Alec-tron, which put some pressure on me. Since we often DJed together, and I didn’t want to go down in history as "DJ Richard," I needed a proper DJ name.

So I started looking for a suitable artist name for myself as a disc jockey. One day, we took the train to the Love Parade in Berlin. We stocked up on canned beer the day before and opened the first can as early as 3:00 AM (in the middle of the night). The fun and drinking continued merrily. I occasionally glanced out the window, hoping to find inspiration from some distant land (aka eastern Germany).

And then it appeared—like the Holy Grail once revealed itself to King Arthur and his knights—from out of nowhere: the station sign "Jena Paradies." I instantly knew that this would be my new artist name. It was as if the hand of God had guided me along the tracks to Jena Paradies station and bestowed this name upon me.

Jena Paradies train station

A month after the Love Parade, I had my first gig as DJ Jena Paradies. There’s even photographic evidence from that time:

People at a party, a DJ spinning vinyl records

But over time, I didn’t want to be named after a station in eastern Germany anymore, so I started thinking of a new, better version of the name. I realized that if I added an "e," the name would be pronounced like Gina Wild’s first name. That sounded much cooler to me, so it became my stage name to this day.

Pronunciation: First name pronounced like Gina Wild’s first name roughly "Djeena" and last name pronounced like the German word "Paradies" paradise

I now use it almost everywhere related to me as an "artist"—very often online, with my band, and for photography, which I want to do more of in the future.

[–] uhmbah@lemmy.ca 1 points 35 minutes ago

You could have at least answered OPs question! ~/s~

Love the evolution!

[–] Hominy_Hank@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Hank likes hominy.

[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 hour ago

My nickname was originally "Stoy On" but over time it got shortend to "Stoy".

"Stoy On" comes from a small Swedish comedy film by "Galenskaparna och After Shave", a fantastic group of theatre actors who has had a very long and successfull carreer of comedy theatre, television and film. They specialized in musicals, with plenty of amazing wordplay and some fantastic songs.

Anyway, the film I am talking about this time is the TV film "The Castle Tour", the summary of it is that a group of Swedish tourists are going on a tour of a castle in Sweden, the guide has them confused with an English tour, and the joke is that the guide just speaks a nonsense language.

Now, one of the nonsense pharses the guide used was "Stoy on!", which is meant to mean "Se upp!" in Swedish, and that experssion has two meanings in Sweden, the normal one "Look out!", and the litteral one "Look up!"

At the same time I was getting annoyed at not having a standard nickname online and when gaming.

And since I thought it was fun to have a nickname that meant "Look out!" in some ways, and I liked the sound of it, I adopted "Stoy On" as my standard nickname, and since it got shortend I mainly go by "Stoy" online, or, if it is taken, "Stoy On".

[–] traches@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago

It’s like 15 years old from back when I used to PVP in EVE online. Vaguely weird to pronounce and towards the middle of the alphabet so I don’t get primaried

Redditors are stupid in very specific ways and it annoys me.

[–] Gaspar@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 hours ago

The Old Man waiting for you at the end of time in Chrono Trigger is Gaspar, the Guru of Time. (At least in the US - in Japan he was called Hash)

I thought it was fitting since I ever so briefly ran my own instance (endofti.me) when I first jumped ship from Reddit.

[–] ethaver@kbin.earth 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)
[–] twice_hatch@midwest.social 1 points 1 hour ago

Same, diceware generated

[–] grasshopper_mouse@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

Because I like these little guys: Grasshopper Mouse

[–] tacosanonymous@lemm.ee 1 points 2 hours ago

A bunch of goofy bureaucracy name fuckups to my real name. It’s a long and boring story. It’s in no way related to being a group for tacos addicts.

[–] superminerJG@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Minecraft username I coined at the age of 8. The name speaks for itself.

[–] jeena@piefed.jeena.net 1 points 1 hour ago

What is the JG at the end?

[–] TokenEffort@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

"Behold, a token effort" sick line dropped by best boy linhardt in fire emblem warriors three hopes

My display name is probably from the most mysterious song on the internet

[–] helpImTrappedOnline@lemmy.world 4 points 3 hours ago (1 children)
[–] hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 3 hours ago

May you get out soon.

I am kind of introverted, am I actually introvert or socially awkward or whatever doesn't matter, but for the simplicity I'm introvert and I like cats.

[–] LNSS@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

It's related to my first name. But some letters removed and others rearranged.

[–] rmuk@feddit.uk 2 points 2 hours ago

Borpborpborplorpborpnorpborpsorpborpsorpborp? Is it really you?

[–] ethaver@kbin.earth 1 points 2 hours ago
[–] hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 hours ago

I love frogs and was hungry when I made my account.

[–] TrippaSnippa@lemm.ee 1 points 3 hours ago

https://youtu.be/FhykvrPZwA4

The pinnacle of Australian culture

I couldn't think of a name but I wanted an account. Every time I tried to think of something, I hit a mental block. "I don't want to"

[–] Tower@lemm.ee 4 points 4 hours ago

I'm 6'4" / 193cm, so I'm taller than most.

[–] sbv@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 hours ago

I mashed the keyboard.

[–] UntitledQuitting@reddthat.com 1 points 3 hours ago

Every time I go to make a new username I just choose the first 2 words that come to mind

[–] WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works 22 points 7 hours ago (3 children)

My username is literal. I'm literally a wood scientist. Or more specifically, I'm a current PhD student in civil engineering and wood science. Identifying Wood by Hoadley was actually a textbook in one of the courses I took.

[–] pip@slrpnk.net 9 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

That's awesome, keep up the wood work ;)

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[–] Zero22xx@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 hours ago

Around the time I first started using this username about 7 or so years ago, I was playing through the Megaman Zero games, that take place approximately 100 years after the events of Megaman X, which take place during "year 21xx". So 'Zero22xx' specifically references the version of Zero from the Megaman Zero games.

On top of that, I also just thought it was a cool mix of letters and numbers that can look pretty random if you don't know the games, or if I'm not using a profile pic.

The only annoying thing is that at some point around the time I created this username, I started seeing an anime character called 'ZeroTwo' around. So I guess it could be mistaken that I'm referencing that too.

[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world 45 points 9 hours ago (1 children)
[–] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 24 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

All of Lemmy knows. Never stop. Your account is basically a cultural heritage site at this point.

[–] hypna@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago
[–] gigachad@sh.itjust.works 25 points 8 hours ago
[–] ladytaters@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago

When I was younger, I was crazy about Idaho and wanted to move there. One of my old nicknames was Lil Miss Potatoes. Now I'm a grown ass woman, so I'm Lady Taters. People tend to think it's a nickname related to my chest though.

I read an article, that the executioner who operated the electric chair was sometimes called the state electrician. I liked that, as I like many little known words and phrases. It has nothing to do with his job, the euphemism just tickled my fancy.

[–] QuarterSwede@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Do I really need to spell it out?

[–] pip@slrpnk.net 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

No, but I wonder what the 3/4th is

[–] QuarterSwede@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

Scottish (clan Armstrong), British, Irish, and who knows what else. Ironically I married a woman whose background is clan Campbell and German.

[–] kubok@fedia.io 5 points 6 hours ago

My username is called after my first home brewed beer. It's a portmanteau of a slur used for people of my city and the type of beer I brewed that day.

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