once I had to log somewhere on the web and a nick was requested so I looked at my book shelves and
I picked out these three authors

Graham GREen
David LOdge
Saul BEllow

my real one is Massimo, really common here in Italy, especially among whom was born early in the
sixty , like me.

grelobe

I originally came here from the cooking forum whence I arrived via GardenWeb, I can't remember how many years ago. I wanted a flower name for GW, but realised that the most common names would be taken already, so I chose a screen name in my native language. I becamse Netla, which means "nettle" in Icelandic, because I was feeling a bit prickly at the time and I wanted something short and easily remembered. You will also occasionally see me called Jo, especially over on the cooking forum. It's the short version of my real name.

Lacey is a very old man's name in this part of the world, though it's usually spelled without the 'e'. Vail is a family name in my ex-husband's family (yes, they founded the town, at least according to the family legend I heard.) Many years ago, when I was pregnant and we were thinking of names, I suggested Lacey, which my ex immediately turned down. Sometime later we came up with Vail for a boy or girl. And sometime after that, I suggested Lacey Vail, which we both got a chuckle about. I had an early miscarriage, so I have no child named Vail, but here I am as Laceyvail.

When we went through "the change" here at RP, I could not sign in under my old name of 'bookbum' so I had to choose a new one.

twobigdogs is a window onto my life. I have TWO BIG DOGS in my house with the smaller one being 90 pounds, and the larger one being 120 pounds. They are my bodyguards, my alarm system, my pillows, my pals and my confidantes. I love them both very much. A perfect reading evening is comprised of me in the middle of the couch with a dog on each side. Warm, cozy, and big ol' puppy eyes keeping an eye on me. And they both LOVE tea, so I share.

PAM - the other tidbit for newbies, I sign my name in all caps simply to differentiate between the three to five Pam's here on RP.

I am Marianne in Sweden so I added SE after my name. I forgot the hyphen I should have put in to make it Marianne-SE. I didn't realize that capitals wouldn't show.

You have a beautiful family, Martin!

I'm also here under my real name. When I had to re-register, the system wouldn't let me do it as just Sheri, so I added my gardening zone to the end -- hence the Z6.

These are all great! Lacey that is a very moving post. And Grelobe - I wish I'd thought of that! Mmmm.....Wonder if I should make a name with my fav author names and change my name here...Nah, too much work.

Interesting that many others have had the experience I had -not being able to use a former name on a site. I remember when I was trying to log in to a professional site, I tried every name possible, including my hebrew name and my mother's name (very uncommon) and kept getting the same message. Finally I contacted them and said 'you guys give me one' and it did, with 3 consonants and 5 numbers. Still have to have a piece of paper nearby to remember the darn thing.

My real name is Liz but my screen name is Lemonhead. This comes from the fact that I come from England -- leads to the nickname Limey. Limey is too obvious for me so I changed it to Lemonhead - it still has the citrus connotation but without the obviousness.

I also like the sweets/candy Lemonheads. :-)

I respond to Liz or Lemonhead or Lemon.

I used to be VAwoodnymph here, because I live in the woods in Virginia. Then we had to re-register and I changed to woodnymph2. I am often to be found in the woods with camera and notebook and I walk on wooded trails almost daily. I live in a house surrounded by various tall trees and adore wildflowers.

This is interesting, as I somehow pictured Laceyvail with a lace veil on her head....;-) (My too-vivid imagination!) And lemonhead, I thought you were a platinum blond!

My mother gave me mine, plus I had to add the KY when we re-registered. KY is, obviously, the abbreviation for the state of Kentucky where I live.

I met Martin and Anyanka once in London, and Martin and I were amused to find that we both have a daughter named Lisa and my first name (for my grandmother and never used) is Ona.

Mine is not terribly original. I live in Georgia (USA) and we are often referred to as the peach state. Between work and personal interests I struggle to remember all different user IDs that I have.

What fun these are to read! Just like Woodnymph I pictured Lemonhead as a platinum blond.

So many great names, clever and surprising. I would never have guessed the origins.

As for the straightforward names, that is really how we all started out, and it certainly is the easiest to remember and picture. I was just Paula until we had to register, then Paula_SFBay when we first did, giving my garden location as a useful bit of information to fellow gardeners. I was inspired to change when I heard an offhand comment from a good friend and fell in love with the name. we do get to change once, if we like, or so it went under Spike'e rule. Since I don't plan to change any more, I haven't checked to see what the rule is now.

By the way, I seem to recall that we used to be able to have capital letters in our names and at some point that went away. I was confused when it happened. Some online names that had made perfect sense up to that point suddenly did not.

I used to be Cece, what my very young cousin called me in response to his mother suggesting, as I was a grownup and he wasn't, that he call me aunt..."she's not my aunt, she's my cousin." So I became Cousin Carol, quickly shortened to Cece. When we had to reregister, it was too short, so I became ccrdmrbks
Cece reads more books.

You all made me laugh when you told me that you thought I was a platinum blonde!! Actually, I have brown shoulder-length hair in a bob. :-)

I have pictures of each of you in my head as well. I wonder how close we are to the real-life picture of each other? I think it's a bit like developing images of your characters in the books we read - we each have a different image.

My first name is Karen, but that name, and many variations on it, was already taken. So I finally used my first initial and middle name. At the time I signed up, it was recommended that we add our gardening zone or state abbreviation, so I used the latter.

When I saw the subject line, I didn't realize that it referred to screen names. Karen was the title of a book popular in the 50's about a girl who had a disorder (written by her mother, Marie Killilea). My mother read the book and named me after that girl, down to her last name's initial for my middle name. I've never read it--doesn't sound like my cup of tea.

bumblebeez - thanks. I really must bring the pictures up to date...

My screen name comes from the family trees in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings. The Old Took had 3 daughters: Donnamira, Mirabella, and Belladonna, the last being Bilbo Baggins' mother. When I went to Mythopoeic Society costume parties, I always dressed in yellow and green and told people I was Donnamira Took, so when we had to register here, I used her name again. I'll answer to Donnamira, Donna, hobbit, and even occasionally my real name, Cheryl.

I was originally Merry and added the world when we had to reregister and Merry was taken. I live in a merry world, most of the time.

Lemonhead, there is a very popular comedy show here called 30 Rock and the main character played by Tina Fey is named Liz Lemon. Now when I see your name, she pops into my head.

Great topic, I love people's screen names. I also came from the cooking forum and before that the kitchen forum when we remodeled. My real name is Janet and I have always hated being called Jan. However, when I was about to become a grandmother I realized that the other grandmother, who lived near my son, would get that name. And I think Grandma Janet is too long, formal and awkward.

At a Giants game a message on the scoreboard wished a happy birthday to Granjan from the grandkids. And I said "I could be a Granjan", and I am! It seems to be such a popular name that this is the only place I could registere as just granjan, including my e-mail. I took gramjan for that. My young grandson said "Does this mean she'll have to change her name?"

>When I saw the subject line, I didn't realize that it referred to screen names

Same here. That would be another fun thread, but for some reason it sounds familiar - did we do that recently?

ccr, I thought your name was because you loved the band!

I was on GardenWeb before joining here and had to use the name I signed up with at GardenWeb. It was probably part of my e-mail address at the time--"jwt" being my initials and "trans" is short for "translator" because I've usually worked as a translator.

Does anyone else find it hard to believe that the names we want to use are always taken? It just seems a tad unlikely to me. I think it's a computer glitch or something. And not just at this website, but most of the sites where one tries to register.

I guess I should have added in my post that though I have no child named Vail, I do have a son and now a daughter-in-law who have made me a very happy grandma. No lacy veils for me now, but in the 60's I was very much the Victorian long dresses and lace type of hippie. Still wear (and knit) shawls, however, and my now white hair is still very long.

And yes, my images of people are also probably way off what you really look like. Funny how the internet gives us both anonymity and sometimes a great deal of intimacy with others on line.

Back in the late 80s, I had a friend who was quite active in the hacking/cracking community in Toronto. He was going to give me a free account on some bulletin boards (BBS) so I could get some games. He asked me what username I wanted. I asked him to give me the name Blue Eagle after the mascot of my old high school. Unfortunately, there was some mix-up somewhere and he gave me the username Blue Falcon. (He must have thought I simply meant a blue bird of prey of some sort!)

Anyway, I was ok with this since I knew of the cartoon character The Blue Falcon and his trusty sidekick Dynomutt. When I signed up here, I wanted something different from Blue Falcon but not TOO different. I therefore went with Dynomutt. And yes, I like cartoons. ;-)

(I'd add a WOOF but Dynomutt doesn't bark. He actually talks.)

Here is a link that might be useful: More info than you'd like to know about Dynomutt!

>Does anyone else find it hard to believe that the names we want to use are always taken?

I have long wondered about that. It just seems really strange that there'd be that many people using my mom's name (rare except for the 1920s), esp when I try adding numbers and such. There have been a few times that I gave up; if they didn't want me, I'd find somewhere else to go. But it is odd.

This thread has made for fun reading. Since I have one of the most common names in the universe, I wonder how I was able to simply use my first name and last initial as my sign on. It's clear that thinking up a screen name really brings out the creativity in people.

There is an easy way to see if a name you want to use has already been taken. Just go to the member services page and search for the name. They should all be listed.

Rosefolly

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardenweb member services page

Cindy-what band? oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh-it just fell into place-creedence clearwater revival? nope, they are of my vintage, but I wouldn't take their name...if I took any band as a moniker, it would be chicago or the moody blues! If i had been thinking quickly enough, I would have named myself Ngaio Sayers Christie.
(for those visual readers, 5'7, short grey hair, middlin' weight, glasses, and I collect cashmere turtleneck sweaters in bright colors...)

I didn't mention that I started out on The GardenWeb too, more years ago than I can remember!mostly being very active in the Pond forum as my DH & I tried to get our pond up & running again after draining it to reseal it for leaks.
I remember getting lots of advice & tips on choosing fish & maintaining the pond, things changed, mostly members left for other pastures and I drifted over to the Rose forum & the sewing forums. These days I rarely venture from RP or the Circle Theatre.

Pat

I first signed up on the herb forum before finding RP so just kept the same name. I had quite a problem choosing my screen name too, as everything I though of was already in use. I finally settled for rouan as an alternate spelling of Rowan, which is what I really wanted to use. Now, of course, I much prefer rouan. I like to think of it as being unique even though I know there are other rouans out there.(with numbers after their names) I even like it better than my IRL name (Janet). I was fortunate enough to be able to keep my original name when we had to reregister on RP. Rosefolly (my sister in case you didn't realize it) also calls me rouan in emails etc.

My mother wanted to give me a short name, so I got Ann without an "e" but then was nicknamed Annpan! I thought that it would make a nice nom-de-net!
I wonder how I am visualised? Actually I am an active 70, 5'5, curly short grey hair, rather overweight at 15 stone and with eyes that change colour with the weather from blue to green to grey, which is a family thing. I wonder how that would be described in a police report, not that it has been needed so far!

btw rosefolly, I know another poster with your name on another book forum. Might that be you? She used to post on the Young Adult thread.

Cindy, I don't even know about another book forum. I am aware that there is another Rosefolly out there though, because when I tried to get Rosefolly for yahoo and hotmail, it was already taken. I was surprised. It was invented in an offhand moment by a dear friend of mine. I recognized it instantly as the exact name I'd been looking for and seized upon it. I thought it was unique. Well, nothing is really unique, is it? Except possibly for ourselves.

Since we are doing descriptions, I am middle height, middle weight, middle age, fair and lightly freckled, with short curly red hair. I look to be of Irish-Scottish-English ancestry, which is true. I share with my younger sister Rouan dark blue eyes, almost a navy blue. She is dark haired and more romantic looking than I am. When we were growing up, I used to think she looked like the subject of a Pre-Raphaelite painting. Actually I still think so.

Rosefolly,

Perhaps you are prejudiced....? But I appreciate the compliment anyway! And I too am middle height, (although I'm a tad bit taller than Rosefolly) middleweight, middle aged, and fair with some freckles. Those freckles, like the red hair/reddish highlights we got from our mother, run in the family.

While looking through the Gardenweb members, I was surprised to see another friedag (with numerals) who is obviously not me. Perhaps that explains some of the odd emails I've gotten.

Some RPers have seen photos of me, but I don't know if they thought I matched up to their mental image -- too polite to say, I guess! I'm 5'6" which is right in the middle, but in my family I'm considered short. My mother, her sisters, and my sisters-in-law are/were model tall. The males in my family are/were all basketball-player height. I was always rail-skinny until I hit middle age -- never had a bosom to speak of and still don't.

I was a tow-headed blonde as a child, but my hair darkened to dishwater so I took to frosting it. Now I don't bother because it's lightening up again...to white. I keep it between jaw- and shoulder-length, because I got tired of haircuts everything three to four weeks.

Annpan, are your eyes described as hazel? Your eyes sound like mine. Hazel appears as my eye color on my driver's license, but I've had people tell me that hazel is a mixture of green and brown so I don't know what my eye color really is.

what fun to read this thread-guess what? pam is my real name and I was 53 when I signed up here at RP-time flies, now I am almost 58! my e-mail and screen name for everything else I do is jazzrose or jazzrose17 which is short for my dog-jasmine rose and my birthday is the 17th.

kkay, I remember reading Karen, when I was very young and have loved the name ever since.
ccr, we appreciate some of the same bands.
As for my name, anyone familiar with Elizabeth Goudge will remember that Froniga is the name of the main character in The White Witch, a book I first read many, many years ago. According to the book, Froniga is the gypsy pronunciation of Veronica.

Well, I'm actually an 18 yr old male.. not. My rather uncreative name, which I do use elsewhere, too, incorporates my love of reading, my "main" job as a stay-at-home mother (at least at the time I came up with the name) and, horrors, my age at the time.

Friedag: No, I'm not hazel-eyed, which is green/brown I'm more blue/grey with flecks of green. Sadly I have never had a driver's licence. Although I have driven on private land, I have never felt comfortable in traffic even as a passenger!

Annpan, I drive in traffic all they time and I don't feel all that comfortable either! I learned to drive on rural roads that were paved for the first time when I was in high school. Imagine my shock when I moved to the Bay Area and had to learn to drive on freeways. It took me several years to get up my nerve, and I still won't drive in LA.

Rosefolly

I'm hoping "Dido" posts and explains her name. Dido, in some eastern European dialects, means grandfather and I had imagined the poster as such. That is, till one day she posted something and it was apparent a Grandad she was not.

Bookmom, I'd love to hear why Dido chose her name, too, but I just assumed it came from Dido, the Queen of Carthage, and perhaps from the exchange between Lorenzo and Jessica in the "Merchant of Venice":In such a night
Stood Dido with a willow in her hand
Upon the wild sea-banks, and waft her love
To come again to Carthage.Our Dido loves poetry and, I think, classical mythology so it didn't seem strange to me when she came up with it in a new incarnation.

But I know what you mean about the name Dido seeming masculine. When I first ran across it when I was an adolescent, I was confused because I thought all names ending in -o were masculine. Same thing with Hero and Leander...I couldn't believe Hero was the female.

Well Freida, in Australia all names ending in 'o' are masculine, like Davo, Damo, Johnno, Robbo, etc. And women's names end in 'ene' - Noelene, Sharlene, Darlene. Of course you can't tell if it ends in 'azza' - we have Gazza, Bazza and Shazza.
Hahahaha!!

Frieda, thank you for the probable explanation. Now I feel so ignorant--kind of like when I first went off to college and got into an argument, claiming cannoli were a Russian dessert, because one of my Russian aunts always made them for Russian Easter (for her Italian husband, most likely.) And yes, I had a Dido myself. Mythology and poetry are not my long suit, obviously, but your explanation seems vaguely familiar so I wonder if once Dido1 did explain her name.

Grandad..... no..... though I answer to Grandma to a couple of sprogs.

Frieda, you are very partly right in that'Dido' is from classical legend of course - Queen of Carthage - and I love references like that; also poetry, yes, and I particularly love Purcell's opera 'Dido and Aeneas' with her dying lament, 'When I am laid in earth' before she climbs her funeral pyre as her lover sails away to found 'another Troy on Italian soil'. The opera also has a very beautiful viola solo - I used to be a viola player and have played it in several productions, up and down and here and there.

But also, in another life I was a Diana.... let's not go into that, shall we..... but when I had to change, I realised I can't seem to let go of my name totally - it's me. So 'Dido' was one of the closest I could manage: even so, simply Dido was already taken so I had to put a 1 after it. Reallly, I should have registered as Dido Jones which I now consider to be my alter ego, though at first it seemed strange. For a while I felt like a different person, having a different name. Now I've just reverted to my old, grumpy, usual self.

And, to cut a long story short, I suppose I look fairly Welsh (what I am - hence the adopted surname 'Jones'), being smallish (5'2", 56lbs), with dark-brown eyes, ex-dark hair (now white) and of an 'excitable' nature (have been known to throw things like ashtrays, in the olden days when there were such things lying around in any old places)

Dido

No - sorry - Vee has just pointed out that 56lb is not poss., . Did I mean kilos then? (or litres?) (or kilometres?) Since we all went Continental with weights and measures in UK,. I don't know where i am!

Thank you, Dido, too. I'll stop imagining you to be a little old Slavic grandpa.

My actual given name is YVONNE.......and my mother always called me BONNIE ( don't know why not Vonnie, but she didn't!)and my friends call me BON.
When my daughter went to college she would refer to me as "Yofon" to her friends. ( why? don't know!)

So my choice of moniker is YOYOBON

( Are you still with me!?)

My name refers to the fact that I am constantly trapping the groundhogs which populate the creek bank behind my home. I've lived in this house for 55 years but about 6 years ago groundhogs took up residence and they destroyed my gardens. So now I am ghoghunter!
Joann