I Want to Know Your Name

Recently the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) highlighted Germany's rigid naming rules (Oct 12, "No Hyphens, Please: Germany Tells Parents to Keep Names Simple").  No to hyphens.  A forename must indicate a person's gender (if not, the second name should)...  As the director of the German Language Society (which helps enforce the rules) stated it: "Everyone knows you cannot have a name that is 'Refrigerator' or something."

This fuss leads one to wonder about the emphemeral quality of virtual world names.  Do they reflect too much freedom and too few anchors in a common experience, or are they liberating?  Is there no information worth conveying in a virtual name aside from (often) a minor and obscure peccadillo or pun in the real life of the owner, or is that the point of freedom?

At the center of the recent WSJ story  is a boy who's divorced parents wanted their son to be known by their combined last names.  But remember, no hyphens.  So his passport now has  no last name and reads merely, "son of Stefan Grunkin and Dorothee Paul."

N. Scott Momaday  in his "The Names: a Memoir" recalls a lyrical, magical property of  the names in his childhood as a Native American growing up in a pueblo in New Mexico.   Oddly, when viewed by this light, "daughter of Fredrick Brown and Paula Gottin"  may be awkward, but at least a quality of something worth noting  is conveyed.

What qualities of avatars or owners might virtual world names convey, if anything at all?

You know, everything had to begin, and this is how it was: the Kiowas came one by one into the world through a hollow log. They were many more than now, but not all of them got out. There was a woman whose body was swollen up with child, and she got stuck in the log. After that, no one could get through, and that is why the Kiowas are a small tribe in number. They looked all around and saw the world. It made them glad to see so many things. They called themselves Kwuda, "coming out."

    -Kiowa folk tale

Comments

[Bryan-Mitchell Young]

1.

Man, I wish my mom would have remembered her German ancestry when my parents were naming me! I would have saved me a lifetime of explaining that no, my last name is not hyphenated, and no Mitchell is not my middle name...

[Torley Torgeson/Torley Wong]

2.

Oooo what's in a name! This is a very thought-provoking thing for me. My biological name offline is Torley. I wanted to be "Torley Wong" on Second Life, but alas, I found from some helpful Resis at SLUniverse.com that I had to select my "family" name from a dropdown list. After some deliberation, I did, in part because of the catchy alliteration. In hindsight, there isn't another name that's come along that I would rather have... TorTor just sounds so kewt! So I'm happyhappy I went with this.

Second Life names are interesting that way in that you can pretty much freely choose your given name, but you combine it with something predefined for you. I've known some fans of Anne Rice to recently go for "Talamasca" which is one of the choices, as an example.

Hyphens aren't allowed in SL names that I know of, so no Alexander Chung-Sik Finkle-McGraws. But, you can choose numbers if you're so inclined.

"Torley" is a pretty flexible name. It's short for something else, and still, it gets abbreviated to "Torl" or "Tor" and other things. I've used it when being a cyberpunk princess, squoofy melonjay (an avian), a robot who I called TorBot JL-2086 to the side, and even a fuzzy bunny I nicknamed Torlop with big cute ears. And soforth.

I think one of the challenges is for someone who's used an online first name without a last one in online worlds for some time, and then they have to pick one. That can require careful consideration, since as of now, once you make your choice it cannot be changed.

In that respect, it's kinda like offline.

[Timothy Burke]

3.

Some names in synthetic worlds serve as unintentional signalling devices: names which are unironically l33tspeak or names with slight alternative spellings derived from major cultural sources for MMOGs such as Legolas or Gandalf are to me the equivalent of bright-red colors on a poisonous animal, or spines on a porcupine. They say, "Stay away from me! I am probably ten years old and/or really annoying".

Equally certain very clever names, or names with pleasing obscure referentiality, may signal the opposite to me: someone interesting, self-aware, with a sense of proportionate humor and engagement within the gameworld.

But most MMOG names seem to me to be low-signal, telling you little about the player with them, either in terms of that player's predilections or otherwise. Sometimes that becomes less so as you get to know that player and understand their private rules of nomenclature.

Some MMOG worlds seem to create much more competition for particular names due to the character of their fiction: City of Heroes has much more intense naming issues (and naming pleasures) than the generic sword-and-sorcery games, which of course the Marvel lawsuit has exaggerated in various ways.

What's also interesting is when people have a lot of investment in reputation capital and want to have the same name cross-game, and what they do when someone else gets there first.

[Michael Chui]

4.

My first reaction was, "Why didn't they give him the last name of Grunkinundpaul?"

All this order and ensuing fuss leads one wonder about the emphemeral quality of virtual world names. Do they reflect too much freedom and too few anchors in a common experience, or are they liberating? Is there no information worth conveying in a virtual name aside from (often) a minor and obscure peccadillo or pun in the real life of the owner, or is that the point of freedom?

The nature of the Made Up Name is quite fascinating, in part because of the severe breakage of the magic circle that certain names cause, like Dennethor or Matrimcauthon. (Both names that have caused me some fits.)

But all in all, a self-applied name almost always demonstrates some kind of revelation about the person named, provided you know how he came up with that name. For instance, in the same game, my name is Diarik, but you wouldn't realize how that was built unless you knew that 'dia' (walk, dream) and 'rik' (think, accuse, can) are words from the language of his character's race, and that they mean something important when combined. So inside the magic circle, the name means something to those who know. Which aren't many.

[Brent Michael Krupp]

5.

I'm with Timothy Burke in using dumb names as a signal to avoid folks.

But, one interesting thing I've encountered in some folks I know in RL that are casual MMORPGers (as in, not otherwise computer gamers) is that they pick really dumb names and haven't the faintest idea that this is itself a dumb idea. I guess they're heir to the folks that even in pen&paper RPG days would pick stupid names and think it was funny and not care about the RPing. So they're actual grownups who are mature in RL but it just doesn't occur to them to take the game world seriously or use a name that isn't horrid.

[Lisa Galarneau]

6.

Speaking of names, City of Heroes/City of Villains has just re-worked their naming policies so that names associated with accounts that are over 90 days inactive can be taken for new characters. This is significant given the relatively large number of toons CoH/CoV players tend to have... I'm not sure what happens if one of your names gets taken under this new scheme, but I suspect it's the same as when someone uses a disallowed name - the character reverts to something like hero3456. As you'd expect, many forum posters are none too happy about it, though some think it's fair. Is this common practice in other MMOs?

[Michael Chui]

7.

I'm with Timothy Burke in using dumb names as a signal to avoid folks.

Well, on the other hand, some of the nicest people I've met have the stupidest names. For instance, "Bowgirl" is a very kind woman who exhibits things I consider indicators of a good roleplayer, and spends time teaching youngsters the ropes. These are all high marks in my book, but the name was a complete turn-off. =P

[Richard Bartle]

8.

Nate>Germany Tells Parents to Keep Names Simple

This from a country that gave the world Scheiss as a surname...

Richard

[ren reynolds]

9.

Most people here have probably had the experience of going to some kind of user meet up and seeing the virtual / physical identity clash.

At the Star Wars Galaxy fest that I attended last year some of my favourite moments were watching lines of people coming up to the mic and stating their name, guild and server. I loved the way that so often the name seemed to say so much about what the person wanted to be / felt they were in side (I picked up a quote the other day, Lecan I think, that truth often has the structure of fiction).

The other thing that stuck me was just how /boring/ most of the names we use in every day life are. I mean what’s wrong with a name like Refrigerator (it was the nick name of an American Football player I think).

I wonder if the gamer generation will spark off more fun naming of their children. And I hope that TNers that are likely to reproduce will set an example 

Then again, most people seem to think that ‘ren’ is just out-there weird.

[Lisa Galarneau]

10.

Ren said:

I wonder if the gamer generation will spark off more fun naming of their children. And I hope that TNers that are likely to reproduce will set an example 

Does a daughter with the middle-name 'Miyazaki' (after Hayao Miyazaki of Spirited Away/Princess Mononoke fame) count? The Japanese all think we're wacko when we tell them, like someone giving their kid the middle-name 'Disney' or something.

[Richard Bartle]

11.

Ren>Then again, most people seem to think that ‘ren’ is just out-there weird.

I certainly do. Your name's funny, too.

Richard

[ren reynolds]

12.

pfft

[Steffen Adria]

13.

Make all the naming regulations you'd like, but you're still going to get stupid ones unless you force people to choose from a predetermined list.

No hyphens? Ok, just combine them without hyphens. "Grunkinpaul" (Ooh... Big difference. It's the same pronounciation. :| )

As per the stupid/unoriginal/1337 names, it can mean a lot. Little kids often do have stupid/unoriginal/1337 names, but so do, as mentioned above, newbs who have no clue that the name is stupid/unoriginal or that 1337 is stupid/unoriginal. Also, the satirists (the 20 year olds who hate stupid/unoriginal/1337 names) and the people who know that they'll be labelled as stupid/unoriginal/1337 (and want to!) will choose those names. Then, there are the fanboys who couldn't care less that their name is unoriginal. They're a Night Elf Hunter, so they're Legolas, damnit!

Come to think of it, I think I'm going to go name my pet "13G014|)" (Legolad, which is unoriginal, stupid AND 1337)

[Keith M Ellis]

14.

A Harvard memory researcher, Daniel Schacter, points out that contemporary western names are very difficult to remember because they don't have an intrinsic meaning related to what they signify. It's interesting to me that a considerable portion (but not the majority) of VW users who self-name take something that is actually meaningful.

[Jim Self]

15.

When I first began playing MMOGs, the sheer number of unoriginal, dumb, and l33t names amazed me. I was also one of those who saw this as a red flag, though I agree with the case of ignorace as above.

Being from a MUDding background, I have better-than-average typing skills and probably judge other gamers unfairly in that respect. That said, those who had UD&L names consistently had poor grammar and punctuation. Just last night I helped a character called Uckfay Emay with a quest... what can I say, I felt generous. He confirmed my suspicions: poor grammar and seemed to be either young or immature.

On the other hand, I spent about 2 hours exporing an area considered to be dangerous with a character named with both a first and last name that would satisfy any fantasy fanatic. He used proper grammar, was well-mannered, and seemed to be an exporer type as well. I had a good experience with him (though admittedly I was using a female avatar, which might have affected things).

One last point: none of us (including me) seems to stop and consider that the avatar "Flying Dragon" may not in fact be the proverbial 10-year-old AOL customer, as we would think from the name and his poor grammar, but rather is a Chinese gamer whose name actually is Flying Dragon when translated.

On the meaning of names, I don't know if it's different here in the US or not, but names mean basically nothing. They are chosen for how well they go with the family name, which itself is nothing more than an inherited antique whose origins are unknown. I googled my family name once upon a time (Google and I are close friends, you see) and found that Self does in fact come from an area of England where the people lived on a shelf by the sea. And here I was making fun of the junk mailers all these years for their misspellings.

[Michael Chui]

16.

On the meaning of names, I don't know if it's different here in the US or not, but names mean basically nothing.

Most names are originally derived from some more archaic root that has a specific meaning. If you read the right stories, you'll see a lot of "So-and-so, whose name means blah, went and did stuff."

I've long been highly aware of the fact that my name, Michael, derives from a Hebrew poem asking "who is like God?". Furthermore, when I chose a pseudonym, I intentionally based it off actual names. Errol, for instance, means wanderer.

My favorite resource for name etymology is http://www.behindthename.com/

I'm not saying that people choose their names based on that; my parents originally waned Samuel, because it fit into a pattern through my cousins. (Our names corresponded to a Chinese poem, and going down from eldest to youngest would recite it.) But that doesn't mean names are meaningless.

I had to defend that, since names are something important to me.

[CherryBomb]

17.

One thing to consider when you are picking a name for your avatar: Anything longer than 6 letters, and you are likely to get a nickname, whether you want one or not. In the cas of Mr. Emay who was mentioned above, I can imagine him being referred to as "Uck" in chat, which is not much of an improvement.

CB

[Jim Self]

18.

Michael, what I meant is that names don't have a contemporary meaning. As you said, we have to do research to find out what they mean. Names are important to you, but not to most people in the US, at least not in the same way. I'm guessing from your family name and the mention of the Chinese poem that you're from a family with a strong far eastern background, which does have strong emphasis on name meaning, as I said. I got my name from a great uncle, who got his name from the Bible. But what does it mean? Uh... let me look it up.

[Darwin]

19.

I've chosen the name "Darwin" for myself, and I've had it as an online-and-then-necessarily-RL nickname for about 10 years now. Over that time, I've met about 25 other people who also call themselves Darwin. We seem to have a lot in common and get along well. I've often dreamed about forming an association for every person with the online handle "darwin" ...

I know this isn't exactly on point, but I'd like to think it's slightly relevant.. :)

=darwin

[Darwin]

20.

I've chosen the name "Darwin" for myself, and I've had it as an online-and-then-necessarily-RL nickname for about 10 years now. Over that time, I've met about 25 other people who also call themselves Darwin. We seem to have a lot in common and get along well. I've often dreamed about forming an association for every person with the online handle "darwin" ...

I know this isn't exactly on point, but I'd like to think it's slightly relevant.. :)

=darwin

[Darwin]

21.

I've chosen the name "Darwin" for myself, and I've had it as an online-and-then-necessarily-RL nickname for about 10 years now. Over that time, I've met about 25 other people who also call themselves Darwin. We seem to have a lot in common and get along well. I've often dreamed about forming an association for every person with the online handle "darwin" ...

I know this isn't exactly on point, but I'd like to think it's slightly relevant.. :)

=darwin

[Darwin]

22.

Um. Yeah. Go typepad. Sorry.

=darwin

[Peter S.]

23.

TRIPLE POST

There's a fourth category of names besides Names with hidden meaning, Stupid 1337/Cliche names, and Normal names (not chosen for hidden meaning). Where do punny names fit? Hidden meaning? Avoid the Idiot?

I was so proud of Gnomemorgank, my first experiment on a PvP server in WoW.