If you could choose any name, who would you be right now?

[Eamar]

So a certain recent thread got me thinking: our names are a major part of our lives. Your name is the first piece of information other people find out about you, and for a lot of people their name is a key part of their identity. Yet in most cultures, it isn't the norm for people to choose their own. Plus there are endless potential complications with the whole unusual vs traditional debate, not to mention the upset that can be caused within families when someone wants to change the name their parents chose for them.

HOWEVER, imagine if you will a world in which all bets are off. You can choose any name you want and no one's going to get upset or judge you too harshly for it. The only condition is that your choice is permanent, so if you're considering a joke name it'd better be a damn good one...

What name would you choose, and why? It can be real or made up, traditional or unconventional, the name of a fictional character or a favourite family member. Maybe you'd want to keep your current name. Whatever does it for you.

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I'll go first: my real name is Emma, and I've never particularly liked or felt connected to it. That could be because it's an insanely common name for women my age in the UK, but it's just never really felt like it's 'mine,' so I've always loved the idea of making up my own name, which is why I'd choose Eämar (pronounced AY-a-mar). It's a Quenya name I made up for myself many years ago, and I've grown very fond of it. It goes without saying that I'm a total Tolkien freak and completely in love with the Elvish languages, and that Tolkien is very important to me. The name was an attempt to create a sort of Elvish equivalent to my real name - it looks and sounds a little like Emma, and is a combination of the words eär (sea) and amar (earth). Because Emma means 'whole' or 'universal,' I thought combining those two words would be a decent way of getting the same sort of idea across.

In my head, I actually kind of think of Eämar as my 'real' name nowadays, though I never use it IRL. I certainly feel more connected to it than to Emma.

 

[JoJo]

Funnily enough, I was thinking about this exact topic just before I opened my laptop and saw this thread. If I could pick any name, I'd be just 'JoJo'. It's been my nickname / online name since 2006, named originally after one of my close friends Joseph (it's a long story), and though I've often been forced to pair it up with other words since it tends to be already taken online, I like the pure form better than anything-else. Like you Eamar, I've used this name for so long it feels as real as my actual legal name.

I had to pick a surname to go with it, I'd probably pick 'Maporix' since it has a personal meaning to me. I don't have anything against my actual name, it's a fairly standard English name, but I don't feel a huge attachment to it either.

 

[omega 616]

snip

'cos I think clarity is such a wonderful thing, you don't feel connected to or really like the name Emma but you do like Eamar ... which you admit to "it looks and sounds a little like Emma"? So not a fan of Emma but Emma with a weird accent is peaches? Men really are from Mars, women really are from Venus...

On topic. Dunno, something more generic though. I got saddled with some obscure pop stars son's name, Kyle. I changed up the spelling in social circles to Kyal to avoid constantly being called Kylie. Now I started an apprenticeship I get called Kai ... Kind of going through them, huh?

I wouldn't go plain though, the likes of John, David, Mark etc 'cos there are fucking hundreds of them and it just gets confusing.

Always had a soft spot for Jason ... maybe it's due to Jason Vorhees, in the stoic, formidable kind of way (like Mick Thompson from slipknot in the dead memories video).

Spoiler: Dead memories

Go to around the 2:50 mark.

 

[Eamar]

snip

'cos I think clarity is such a wonderful thing, you don't feel connected to or really like the name Emma but you do like Eamar ... which you admit to "it looks and sounds a little like Emma"? So not a fan of Emma but Emma with a weird accent is peaches?

Hehe, I did kind of think about that as I was typing it. I like Eämar because it's mine, because it's Elvish and because I like the way it sounds, not because it's a bit like Emma. I don't know, think of it as me upgrading or customising the name my parents gave me.

Also, while it started off as a silly thing to pass the time when I was bored ("I wonder if I can Elf-isize my name") it's kind of taken on a life of its own in my head, and now has connotations of all the things I aspire to be. I guess you could say it's the name of my alter ego, or something.

Oh, and no matter how small the change may seem, pretty much anything that isn't actually Emma is 'peaches' by this point. My whole life I've always had to be 'Emma [initial]' or 'Emma [surname]' because I swear the world is overrun with Emmas. I have literally never been the only one with my name in a class/workplace/whatever, and it sucks.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

It's funny, I kind of hate my name because it doesn't fit me in the slightest, but at the same time I actually had an opportunity to change it a while back and chose not to, surprisingly because I realized I kind of enjoyed the fact that the name fit me so little. I love the confusion of people's face when someone introduces me by my name. Then again, the fact that I didn't change my name could be attributed to the fact that I don't put much stock in names and don't really see my name as a large part of my identity (since like I said it doesn't fit me at all). People have given me nicknames before and I answer to pretty much anything because I don't really care what people call me.

I think if I really had to change my name I'd change it to something simple and Americanized, like Johnathan Marshall. That way if I ever join the Marshall's service I can introduce myself as Marshall Marshall.

 

[Torkuda]

Probably Josh or Chris. You could have as asked me as a kid and it would have been Sam. What can I say, I never have been a very exotic person. I just liked those names because a couple people I liked have them or because a couple characters I liked on TV had them.

 

[Drummodino]

Mmmmmm that's a tough one. I quite like my name (James). Sure it sometimes seems every other dude has it as either their first or middle name, but I like how it's short, simple and easy to remember.

I wouldn't mind being called someting like Mark or Kane. I tend to prefer single syllable names I guess.

 

[FalloutJack]

To be honest, I'm getting attached to the whole 'Barry' thing. It has all the connotations of an unassuming decent guy who runs a bar and doesn't like riff-raff, but you can party loud so long as ya don't break something.

 

[Hero of Lime]

plus my middle name is Matthew. Sounds proper and mature!

Yup, that's that best name of all time! (totally not biased in any way)

OT: I love my name enough not to want to change it to be honest. If my quoting of Caramel Frappe wasn't clear enough, my name is Matthew. It's common, but not too common where I run into Matthews everywhere. My last name is pretty rare, yet we had a family name history book published for some reason. >.>

 

[Trunkage]

My name is Jonathon, and I also got plenty of Johnny's and Johno's when I was young. I decided to start calling myself Jon when I was about 18, after I found out a friend did something similar and picked her middle name to be called instead of her first. I wanted to be someone different yet remain linked to my past and family. In particular I always point out that there is no h in the name. Gradually everyone accept it.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

<- Arnox

Arnox Imoetholen to be specific. That last name gets pretty confusing for a lot of people though understandably. But it's fine because I'm cool with my current name and have never had any problems with it.

 

[William Ossiss]

It goes without saying that I'm a total Tolkien freak and completely in love with the Elvish languages

booo Elves booo
Ye should have gone with a Dwarven name instead!



In all seriousness, I would have liked what I was supposed to be named. Emrys.

That, or just make my surname Ossiss.
(which I actually plan on doing anyway.)

 

[Euryalus]

I'm quite fond of my actual name, despite it giving no small amount of grief when I was little (and now too to some extent).

So... uh... my real name. Which, despite appearances isn't actually T0ad 0f Truth or Even John McToad. I know, I know, shocking.

If forced to choose something else... umm... Ronan, because I like the sound of it I guess.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I wouldn't change anything about it, I like my name. There's certainly cooler sounding names out there, but this is the name I've went by for 31 years now, and it is imbued with my history and personality. Whenever someone calls it out they're not just calling my name, they're calling me. And no other name will ever have that same effect.

Besides, I like my autograph.

 

[Kolby Jack]

First name: John (nickname Jack). Named for my grandfather on my mom's side. Would kind of feel bad if I changed it, but then I don't really want to change it anyway. Jack may be a common name, but IMO it's one of the best (probably under Elijah, but over Simon). It's short, has a bit of impact, is connected to a number of phrases (though not all of them are good), and there's a plethora of awesome characters named Jack. Jack Sparrow, Jack Skellington, Jack Bauer... the list goes on. I feel very connected to my identity as Jack and am actually kind of protective of it. Strangers I'm okay with calling me John or by my last name, but people I know? If they ever call me John, I'd ignore them until they got it right.

Middle name: Arthur. Named for my grandfather (theme!) on my dad's side. Again I'd feel sort of bad changing it, but my dad's dad died before I was born so I don't have much of a personal connection to him. I used to be embarrassed by it as a little kid, but I don't really mind it. It's certainly not the worst name in the world; in fact it's kind of noble. I mean, King Arthur, right?

My last name however is apparently the Swedish version of "Smith." It's very common (though has many spelling variations). Still, I can't say I mind it much. But maybe I'd change it to something that sounds badass with the first name Jack. Like... "Sergeant." "Jack Sergeant." Kind of military, but it sounds cool, I think.

 

[Olas]

I'd be Olas

My real name is Nicholas, but I prefer something a bit more unique sounding, and it's also simpler and easier to write.

In fact I'm considering legally changing it some day, perhaps in the not too distant future.

I'd also like to change my last name from Farrell back to O'Farrell like it was before my Irish ancestors came to America and changed it to sound more normal. If I did this my initials would be OO, which is kinda cool.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Well aside from disliking my first name on the basis of all the jackasses I know named Justin (and yeah the whole Bieber and before that Timberlake shit) I wouldn't change it only because my Dad picked it and I wouldn't do anything to hurt him cuz he's one of my real-world heroes. And my family name is also off-limits because I love my family on the Martin side, and its in honor of my Dad's father that I'd keep it. I like who I am, where I came from even if my past has had its shit storms and stupid parts and traumatic experiences. Plus I worked so hard to overcome my insecurities it'd be an insult to myself to trash all that. But thats my reasoning.
I may not have the most awesome life, but I am relatively happy and have the future to do more with barring instant unavoidable unforeseeable death.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

If I did this my initials would be OO, which is kinda cool.

I'd nickname you "double O nothing." 00-

 

[Queen Michael]

I actually had my name legally changed when I was 21. I'm now called Katsuro. It's Japanese, which means it's extremely cool.