chosen names

[redbird]

I don't normally judge people by their names--if you're named Kevin, that doesn't mean you're anything like the Kevin I knew in seventh grade, or for that matter the other Evil Twin, it just means that your parents liked the name Kevin. (Or that you did--but my first assumption is that people are using the names their parents chose. [Aahz, Avedon, yeah, I know.])

Handles are different. On the one hand, everyone needs a unique handle here, which may be part of why filkerdave isn't just "Dave." On the other, okay, maybe your own name was already taken, but if someone labels zirself "Amok the Berserker," I figure that's like putting a "warning, dangerous cargo" sign on a vehicle, and I'm going to be careful.

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I try really really hard to appreciate the names people chose for themselves, but it is an effort. This is so, I think, since I have never had any slight wish to change the name people call me by, even when it's something I don't really recognize, like "Kare." I don't really understand why people change their names or what they get out of doing so.

I've changed my last name at marriage a couple of times, but that is more societially acceptable than any other kind of name change, and is practically expected. It was inconceivable not to take my husband's last name the first time I got married

Anyway. Our handle here was chosen for a couple of reasons, not least because it is the name of the street we live on.

K.