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Twitter Username Selection: What’s in a Twitter Name?

Posted April 8th, 2009 by Mark Aaron Murnahan
Categories: Books, Internet marketing, Twitter, social media.

My job is to make you more money. It's that simple. Call Me Today at 866-a-web-guy.

Twitter username selection may not be my most interesting blog post, but the stories behind them may be. I want to keep this short, because what I am really after is your input. I wish to use some of this information in the release of the book, Twitter for Business: Twitter for Friends. I want to know if there is a story behind the Twitter username name you selected, so please share your story, and I will tell you mine.

I am @murnahan

My Twitter username does not have a particularly unique story, as it is simply my surname, @murnahan, which has become a personal brand. My wife is @pegmu, which is her first name and part of her last. Her name is Peggy Murnahan, so @pegmu fit and sounded cute. When her name was chosen, length was a consideration in the selection. When I helped a friend choose his username, I suggested keeping it short, due to the limitation of 140 characters on Twitter. He really got it right with @uj1. His name is Uday Jadhav. I don’t think he could have done a lot better to keep it short and sweet.

How did you choose your Twitter username?

Did you consider length when choosing your Twitter username? Did you use a name that carried over from another service such as Google, Yahoo, Digg, etcetera?

It is your turn to share. Tell your story, and give your username. Be sure that you enter the URL for your Twitter profile (example: http://twitter.com/username), because you never know who you may meet.

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This article was tagged as follows: social media, social networking, Twitter, Twitter Book, Twitter humor, Twitter username, Twitter username selection, Twitter Users

digitalgodess

I think one of the most important elements of building a personal brand is consistency and context. Whatever you might call yourself on the social bookmarking tools and connection platforms should be in line with either your personal brand (your personality) or your formal corporate persona (your company's brand or personality).

Whatever you choose you should use it across all related content. It makes you easy to spot in a digital room. If you are choosing a personal brand persona, be authentic and be the real you. A conservative youth minister might get lots of follower by calling herself @Hoochiemama but it no one would take her seriously (I don't know if there is such a user with such a name - it is just an example.)

@DrPain or @DrPayne too would not be good choices if one were a dentist, even if that were their proper name. @TheSmileGuy would probably be more favorable.

If anyone ever needs a review of their social brand (as it relates to branding on the social web) hit me up on http://www.knowyoursocialmedia.info - it is the newest online community that is uniquely about social media. Create a profile and share with others what you are doing, innovating or wanting to collaborate on.

@Digitalgodess
http://www.twitter.com/digitalgodess

Mark Aaron Murnahan

It is funny you should mention it, but I have some Payne in my family. I would not suggest that either.

I noticed that you gave some good points, and your advertisement, but yet, you never actually answered the question at hand, which is how you chose your Twitter username. I know you are not a bot, so come back and give us the scoop on digitalgodess. ;-)

Desy

@desympsons
My name is DESY
And i like THE SIMPSONS
So,i combined it.
The simpsons sounds so similar wiv desympsons anyway.haha

mm

@akomuzikera

ako means "me" and musikera means "musician"

i just threw in the 'z' for some kick

Naomi Most

@nthmost expands to Naomi Theora Most, my real name.

It's also an adjective describing, in the Set Theory branch of mathematics, the penultimate (second-to-last) item in an infinite set, as in "the nthmost number of this set".

--Naomi

TigerMel

I am a Tiger. fierce, loyal, majestic, always hungry, dangerous, great sense of humour, protective (specially of kids & underdogs) and I take life in my stride... one day at a time... what else would I have called myself on Twitter

Shailee

My username on twitter is shaileelathe that is my name and surname together, I use the same name all over the internet and now on my site too. So that kind of makes my name a brand too :P
as I had no clue about twitter/ microblogging I didn't keep in mind it's length now I wish that I had.

http://www.twitter.com/shaileelathe

Kim Hutchinson

I chose my twitter name because it was my grandmother's actual name, and I think she would have liked twitter. Interestingly, most people on twitter call me Kim, my real name, so I probably should change it. But I still like grandma's moniker and it's old-fashioned charm.

debbie

i use the name LeglessLush lol.

i'm paralyzed and an amputee. a friends mom was an older woman (almost 70) who had a grudge against a guy in a wheelchair from the neighborhood. he was drunk all the time and she would yell at him really loud with her boston accent while he was wheeling by... " you f'n leglesslush you're no good ect." bad taste maybe but that always stuck with me and it was funny as hell to see this conversation live lol.

i'll take that name over handicapped, disabled, handicapable (my worst lol) any day! :)

Gary McNinch

Nothing too fancy. My website and my branding are all about my business in real estate helping people buy and sell homes in Renton WA. @rentonhomefinde was available, the R on the end wouldn't fit, so here ya go.
Figured it would work. I make sure my name and info is available so that people can see that I am really a nice guy human and not just an advertiser. Gary

Arron

My Twitter username http://twitter.com/razorianfly is a bit unusual. Originally I was looking to create sharp branding for a new graphic design company.

I first tried Razor Fly, but it was taken, so I thought how can I generalize it?

In the same way 'ian' is added to the end of 'Liverpudlian' I decided to add ian onto the end of Razor (sharp). Sticking with the idea of 'Fast' I stuck Fly on the end.

Pronounced it, sounded pretty cool. The rest is history. :D

Melody Hopkins

My name is Melody and I sometimes have a rational mind and like to let people know what's on it...hence "melodysmind" Unfortunately, no one told me in advance to keep it short.

Terri

My Twitter username is for my blog http://twitter.com/Diggin_Digital I'm diggin my blog and I'm diggin digital. Simple... Can you tell I was raised in the 60's? lol

Joann

My name Twitter name http://twitter.com/sccouple7156 represents my where I'm from (south carolina), couple(hubby and I) and his and my birth years (7156). Easy to remember and we use it all over. :-)

Natalia

I just love expressing with what I made.

Rose

My name on Twitter is Bloggertalk after my blogging community.

Anna

I am @Annakabana
With a name as short as mine, rhymes are pretty easy. Someone came up with Anna Kabana years ago. I suppose I chose it for my Twitter username as it's only explicitly 'me' to people who really know me. The concept of anonymity and mystery is certainly appealing! There's that 'filtering of self, and use of selective details' element, I suppose.

rimone

mine's the same story as a few above; it's the same name i've been using for ages all over the Internetz (apart when i had to spell it w/a 1 instead of an L cos someone else snagged it on youtube before i got an acc't there.

it has a long story, part of which has has sump'n to do w/the Fugs'tune 'Slum Goddess' (but i'm younger than the original SG).

ps, i'm @slum_goddess on Twitter. :-)

Buffalo Escort - Ciara

self explanatory :)

Karen D'Aprile

My twitter name http://twitter.com/fallencross is one of my favourite martial art techniques from Kenpo.

Initially I used it as a wrestler name in a Facebook game and seem to have used it ever since. :)

Daryl Walker-Smith

Mine's a simple one really @darylsws is my first name plus middle initial plus initials of my last name (it's double-barreled).

It's short and simple and I use it virtually everywhere. Wish I had a more interesting story to share about it!! :o|

Helen Thornber

Mine is my name @helenthornber. I'm developing a career as a writer and my surname is fairly rare so my name is my brand.

Charity Todd

My user name @mystiquetur was picked for twitter because I use it for everything else. I did not take the 140 char max into consideration when I chose it. I've been using Mystique since 2000 when I started playing Ultima Online I picked it for my character's name. I got the name from X-Men. The TUR comes from Ultima Online as well. It is the name of the guild I was in "The Unruled".

bruxedo

My name means witchery in Portuguese and it was what my friends used to call me when I was 17 years old and I was looking at them playing on pinball machines. I didn't play and I just watched them playing so they began to joke, every time they loose a game, that it was me that had made a witchery. After it they began to call me a witch every time they referred to me in conversations. It began to be my nickname. I don't use witch instead of witchery because there are always a lot of witches as nickname.

Safcblogger

My name simply orginates from my love of my Football club (sunderland Association Football Club) (Soccer to those of you on the wrong side of the pond) and my blogging.

It is the username on a billion sites (probably less than a billion) both new and old.

tom clifford

My twitter name @tommytrc is my firstname and my initials TRC added together. I have had that username since back in the early 90's with my AOL screen name...that takes me way back. The screen name just stuck with me for all these years.

Randy Inman

My Twitter name is my real name. I write articles for websites and blogs. I am trying to get my name out there as a sports writer. I don't sell anything on Twitter, I make money when people click my articles.

pelfusion

thanks for all links…keep the good work high

This comment was originally posted on AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming, Hacks, Downloads, Math and being a Web 2.0 Hipster?

Claire

My Twitter username is claireyawen, Claire is my English name, YaWen is my Chinese name :)

Jerlyn

Oh get this! Well, it's my name :-)
I did consider it crossing over to Google, etc. I usually use my pseudonym however I realized I may need to use my real name now that I am building my career.

Rene Robinson

http://twitter.com/reerob My dear grandmother Robinson was "MaRob" and she called me "Ree" and so "reerob" was born on Twitter!

Michelle Matthews

I chose Tymlee because I felt that Twitter was a very timely tool for me and, I'm sure, millions of others. It was a flash of genius if I say so myself. LOL

Erica DeWolf

Not a very interesting story to the username I use most often: emd5005 It was the college userid that was assigned to me my freshman year of undergrad- emd are my initials, and i was apparently the 5005 person to go to that school with those initials!

Dani McDaniel

Well mine is really interesting... my name is Dani so my twitter username is dani :D lol

Jacci

For reasons long forgotten I used tweebleone as my name when I signed up for a pogo account several years ago. Then I used it for a youtube account a year or two after that. When I signed up for twitter, I thought "Why not?" Figured it was one less name to have to remember.

stephanieq

@steakRIOT
Random imagery that crossed my mind- a NY street riot with people throwing steaks at each other like pillow fight day. At the same time, the name seemed fit to describe the curve balls life throws at you and the way it's dealt with- chaos cooked and served medium-rare. The way to eat both social media and steak.

rampantheart

I have always been rampantheart. First thought of having the name as Rh but decided against it. I am rampantheart everywhere in Social media circles. Didn't want to change the name.

Will K

I have used @collisionbend as my user name just about everywhere since I bought the URL collisionbend.com: I hail from a very old family from Cleveland, so I wanted something that was uniquely Cleveland for a site name, plus I wanted it to come from an area of the city where my family actually lived and worked. "Collision Bend" is a bend in the Cuyahoga river (it's that hairpin corner in the river just to the west of Progressive Field as seen from a blimp), has been a Cleveland landmark since the 1840s (my family came here in 1832), is uniquely Cleveland, and is instantly memorable as a name. The bear (Brutus) is my alter ego, and has no bearing on my branding, but is, in effect, my "spokesman."

Heidi Cool

My username is based on my real name. My last name is Cool, which of course would be an optimal username—I had it on Pownce—but it tends to get snagged pretty quickly. So when I can’t get that I just append my initials in front to make @hacool. The sad thing is that whoever nabbed @cool. isn’t even updating. Bah!

Valerie

@valster50 is a combination of my nickname (derived from the old SNL skit) and the magic number that I originally was afraid to admit to, but now am proud to be. (also, Valster without the 50 was already taken!) My nickname is also on the license plate of my red convertible :)

Eric P. Wait

My twitter user name is My first name, my middle initial and my last name. I have been using it since I first got my gmail account which includes 55 my favorite number. You can Google epwait and that will be me.

Stephenie Rodriguez

When I logged onto Rwitter I thought about the "persona" that I wanted to generically create. I don't use Twitter for lead generation as much as I use it for research and idea alchemy. @DigitalGodess was available and would allow me the platform to engage others in humor and inspiration as well as grow a peer group that enjoyed interacting with me.

Lindsay Maddox

I'm @LJmadd

I *really* wanted my full name for twitter, however it was already taken. Boo.

So, after trying multiple variations with my name, initials, etc.. I opted to go with the name I use on several other things such as Flickr and Delicious: @LJmadd It's just Lindsay J. Maddox shortened :) Plain and simple. Although, I do want to change it because people often think that I'm associated with M.A.D.D. (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers). While it's not a bad thing to be associated with, I just wanted it to be my name and nothing else. :)

Tisa White

@tisawhite -- that's my name - Tisa White. I never met another "Tisa" but I found a group on Facebook for people named Tisa and I was the 100th to join!

Meg

@megapixel - because my name is Meg, and I do photography. It's also a memorable name. No crazy combo of numbers or alternate spellings for people to say, "crap, WHAT was that Meg Porter gal's username again? Meg..492? No wait.. 429.. CRAP I can't remember". Just... Megapixel.

I've had several @ replies that were meant for a "Meagapixel" -
Try not to make your name too similar to what you think someone else's may be, to avoid confusion. If the spelling you want of a particular name is taken, avoid using an alternate spelling just to secure some hope from your original "idea". I guarantee the original will be more memorable than the alternate. Try going for something more original, sweet, and easy to remember ;-)

Carol

I was just trying to keep it simple as when I joined, I knew nothing of twitter & wanted to make it something I could easily remember. My first choices were already taken (around my name), so I had to do an underline (@nc_carol). In retrospect, I wish I would've spent a little more time on it and come up with something that has a 'kool factor'. lol

TwiztidInk

I've used this name since High School. It's on my e-mail and myspace. I created the name because of my sarcastic talents. People often ask me what does it mean. I feel it is self-explainatory but basically I'm a writter by nature. I found that there is a tattoo shop who bears the same name...I'm not happy about it. I sent them an e-mail expressing their lack of creativity. I know I've used the name for longer. That may sound petty but I feel copied and I don't like it.

Ryan Stephens

Just wanted to echo Manda’s sentiments. There’s something to be said for someone who takes the time to collect and filter good content for others. You’ve clearly done a tremendous job of that here. Thanks for including my post Andy!

This comment was originally posted on AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming, Hacks, Downloads, Math and being a Web 2.0 Hipster?

megan

I was internet dating and my surname was Fox at that time. My friend thought I should use the Fox and call myself Foxy or something equally silly which I wasn't keen on.
I was watching a film (20th Century Fox) and it just came to me that if I called myself 21st CenturyFox it might come across that I was vaguely like a film star and therefore attractive. Ha Ha. Still single though so I guess it didn't work! Lots of people comment on it though.

Manda Szewczyk

Thanks for including my post, Andy! As always, you’ve given us a ton of great links to look through! If only I could keep up…

This comment was originally posted on AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming, Hacks, Downloads, Math and being a Web 2.0 Hipster?

reddsmitty

Redd is my last name and Smitty is my nickname. The reverse order was chosen from a line in Young Guns..."I seen Redd Smitty hang once, seen his head come clean off" and there you have reddsmitty!

Christpopher D. Norton

Been trying for a year to get an urban based civil rights groups made in my city representing the interests of either African Americans or African Americans and Latins, and entirely made up and supported by them; to deal with the active attempt by the surrounding suburban and rural areas to ghettoize it and make ppl afraid of it.

Civilrights was taken so I chose civilactivist

Kiki Hart

KikiD2 actually pretty simple ~Kiki my nick name~D is my first initial for my middle name Darlene ~ 2 because if anyone remembers Kiki Dee sang a duet w/Sir Elton Don't Go Breaking My Heart......so she is the original Kiki Dee so I am KikiD2! Ta Da!

jan_geronimo

Jan is my nickname, while Geronimo my surname. Chose it because I've registered in a lot of social media with that username. I need to have a uniform handle across the social media space. Well, my StumbleUpon profile is in another handle, but that can be helped since I've been a long time SU user. So that's it - no funny anecdote behind this at all. lol

Craig Whitney

Not much of a Story, I chose @dragonwheels 'cos it's the name of my motorcycle tours business in Wales. Started tweeting to promo it and find out more for my day job, in creative industry. Now I'm hooked like a fish - bugger!

Patricia Scott

@8s on Twitter. I like eights, infinity, Mobius strip, the Weather Channel. Back in Aug'08 these usernames were taken: 8, 88, 888, etc. In exasperation I tried just @8s and it was available. Short name is great for saving s-p-a-c-e in tweets. As an emoticon it represents when I get bug-eyed and do my Elvis sneer.

Chauncey D

i chose my name, like pretty much every other screen name or handle i've ever chosen, using a play on words. my name is chauncey and my twitter name is 'the chaunce' as in...hehe...the chaunce of a lifetime

Alessandra

My full name is 'Alessandra Colla Soletti Tussi" and I'm a professor. Just becase I have a big name, I said to my students they could call me just Ale (in portuguese - I'm Brazilian - 'Ale' is the short form of 'Alessandra'). But some of my students started calling me 'Justale", instead of 'Ale'. I got many awards for teaching and decided to use this nickname 'Justale' on sites, blogs and on Twitter.

Best regards
Alessandra

Cristhian Bedon

My name is the combination of my first letter and my last name "cbedon"... I tend to used that ever where I go and my own site is cbedon.com so it is also a type of personal brand for me.

MicheBel

I came up with my name back in 1992, when I first got on AOL. It was suggested then (when people were using Usenet and such stuff) that something catchy would keep you visible, and that you should have it be the same everywhere you are in cyberspace.

And so it is that on every social media network that I enter, I always use MicheBel as my "handle." It, like your wife's choice, is part of my first name and part of my last name.

Thanks for asking.
--MicheBel
http://www.twitter.com/michebel

Jannette

Well, some people call me Netters. Short for Jannette. Netters was already taken when I signed up, but I did get NettersJ. I would have liked something better but there wasn't much I could think of.

dan

My twitter name, djscram, is one I've used a lot of places. DJ are my initials, and scram stands for Super Critical Reactor Ax Man. Yes, there is a story to go with that.

Gopal Raju

I just considered my name Gopal Raju :) @gopalraju

Verleen

Nothing super interesting in mine, either. The first 3 letters of my first and last names, which I started using when I bought my first computer in 1999. For Twitter, it was an easy choice, being short and easy to remember!
http://twitter.com/verwon

1 Million of us

1 Million of us.
1 million of us can accomplish anything.
1 million of us will accomplish what 1 of us can not.
1 million of us are 1 in a million.
1 million of us are 1 of a million.
1 million of us will not quit.
1 million of us will not stop.
1 million of us will not give up.
1 million of us are making Internet history together.

Shreyas

My twitter username - @thisiswhoiam was a spur of the moment kinda thing; thats related to my first tweet. And also becoz the username i wanted - @css was already taken.

Robin Garcia

I've used variations of my twitter name on the internet for about 10 years...gaming sites, dating sites, ets. Currently, it's robinznest, but I used robinsnestks when I lived in Kansas. Beyond that, it's kind of self-explanatory ;-)

JKScatena

Mine - JKScatena - is a short form of my given name, Jaime Kuchembuck Scatena.
At my Internet beginning I used only scatena, but as a 'brand strategy' I've recently incorporated the JK.

Illiya

Hi I'm Illiya.

I work in Digital Marketing it is my life, I love all things Digital.

My twitter username comes from my love of digital and my love of Kung fu (which I have been practicing for two years now)

I am called @kungfudigital also because I coined the phrase and I pride myself in “putting the Kung fu (chinese translation - achievement through hard work) into Digital Marketing”

This why I am called kungfudigital!

ribaro

My nickname "ribaro" (macedonian), is the same as fisherman. However,I do not like fishing :). I only netting the other persons thoughts, and share them with the world.

Sail

My fav color is black. And I liked the word Dark. So I tried dark____ until I found Darkdoor available.

Gypsy

My name is Gypsy and I'm a blog & website designer. I'm 27 yrs young and I'm single...

Sorry I ramble too much.

My twitter profile is http://twitter.com/DesignsByGypsy. My domain name is Http://DesignsByGypsy.com so I try to use "DesignsByGypsy" as my user/screen name for everything business related.

For those interested, by the way, I'm taking applications. You can meet me in the @murnahan chat when he's streaming or obviously, hit me up on twitter!

LOL!

Christine

My sons first initial (j) his middle name (esden) and last initial (m) = jesdenm

I use it all over. It's unique.

http://twitter.com/AlishaV

My Twitter username is @AlishaV which I use all over the Internet. It's simply my first name, Alisha and the first initial of my last name Vargas. I thought it sounded friendlier and easier to use than Alisha Vargas.

SwankyRedRidingHood

i chose @learnedlove because well, my typical choise is SwankyRedRidingHood, but thats a for fun kinda thing, and it was toolong anyways, so i figured i'd take a piece of myself, keep it short and sweeet, and use that. i lhad to teach myself to love, but i learned, therefore making it learned love. hence my username =)

San

At that moment I didn't think on how long it is but I went with uglydoggy because is the name of my blog. Then in my blog (that is not about dogs except here and there due to my love for them) I did explained "why uglydoggy": http://www.uglydoggy.com/2007/03/why-ugly-doggy.html

Catalyst Echo

I actually just switched my username today. I was microchaotic and now I am @catalyst_echo. I'll explain both.

microchaotic was a word I made up in a poem back in '98. For a long time it was my "brand" because, when selecting my first url in '99, microchaotic seemed the best word to describe what my website would eventually become. And it was. But I lost that url back in 2004 due to forgetting my network solutions (verisign) password to renew -- a url snatcher grabbed it up while I was trying to work with their support people to get the name back.

Catalyst Echo (as a name) actually predates me having my own hosted website. The first appearance of Catalyst Echo was actually Catalyst Echoes. It was the name of a piece of art I made. I adopted as my own name in chat rooms and whatnot in the mid 90's. It's been my online "handle" ever since.

My "fun" url is catalyst-echo.com. I don't think I'll be getting microchaotic.com back so switching my twitter name is just one of the many ways I am phasing out that "brand" to one that makes a lot more sense.

DaveTheCompGuy

Simple story behind mine... I had a company for a short time, showing people how to use their computers... under the name Dave The Computer Guy. I've used it on emails and nearly everywhere else since then, so choosing it on Twitter was a no-brainer... DaveTheCompGuy.

thadson

My twitter username is @Thadson A long time ago I was looking for a nick for a chat room account. I liked how Hudson (the river) sounded and I also have just seen the movie Hudson Hawk (stop booing) so I choose it as a base. But I needed to personalize it. I added a T to start with because it is the first letter of my Last name and I changed the U into an A which is the First letter of my First name.
Hudson became Thadson. Suddenly everyone I know started using it as a real nickname too, somethimes shortening it to Thad, and it stuck. So now I use it whenever I need a nickname, and even in real life.

Dixie Gillaspie

I used DixieDynamite when I set up my twitter account because it's my nickname (since early teen years and NO I won't discuss the origin) and I was actually just "playing" on twitter with the intention of using it for a networking association I work with. It stuck, I got hooked and still have Perry Belcher's tweet "with a name like DixieDyanmite I gotta follow you!" Love his tweets, but that one is still my fave! :)

Andy Sowards

Wait for it... Wait for it.... @andysowards is my name! Yup, totally just blew your minds, well deal with it! :)

Marc

I registered my last name @hemeon because it matches my domain hemeon.com which is sitting vacant and needs me to post a blog there someday.

I also registered my full name @marchemeon so if people look for my name they find me. I have one tweet @marchemeon which says to follow me at @hemeon.

Annelie Näs

I started out my Twittering as @anaes which is the first letter of my first name and the English spelling of my surname. When I got more serious with twitter I changed it to @annelienaes because I felt that with only one letter from my first name and with the surname "misspelled" people who knew me personally might be confused. I honestly never thought about the amount of characters until recently and perhaps I should switch back, what do you think?

Madeline Palmer

Wellll. The way I got my twitter username (maddielion_) is because maddieLION is my nickname. How it became that, still makes me giggle.

Wellll. I met my friend's dad for the first time like, 3 years ago. He was drunk beyond the wazzoo and I told him my name was Madeline, he then replied with "Wait, your name is maddielion, so, you're a lion?" I giggled profusely. And the name stuck.

Devin Draper

My Twitter Username is drdlovespcs. DRD is my initials, Loves PC's (Love's Computer's) It has been my username for things for awhile =]

Cody Woodman

Hey Mark and Readers,

My Twitter username is Codsta. I have been using this name as my online handle for several years. My nickname as a child was Codster, but I took that and spun it a little more ghetto. Thus Codsta was born.

Codsta became popular after my personal website which was later converted into an online gaming community "codsta.com" which is no longer active.

Codsta is a name I know, and people know me by in various corners of the internet from web forums to chat services.

There you have it, the history of Codsta.

Khayyam Wakil

@iamkhayyam

Ummm... cause... I *am* Khayyam?

http://tr.im/iamTwitter

:)

jophesine77

Jophesine is a play on my name, Josephine, and also references a character on one of my favourite TV shows from my childhood, The Comedy Company. It's an Australian comedy program from the late 1980s. The Jophesine character was a three year old, with a broken doll and an inclination for blaming all the bad things she had done on her dolly. "I didn't... it was Dolly!". I've used the name Jophesine for years on the internet. It's me.

Nicoline

Hi Mark,
See what you have started! How fun. This true emotion is what you get when people can pick their own names....
My name on Twitter is Nickysme, it's a personal brand that..bla bla NOT. My real name is Nicoline, that was taken - Nicky was taken too, so NickySME - sounds good and fun, just like the real thing.
Cya on Twitter!

Brijhe Cortes-Fears

@iPenginBrijhe - Originally I had 'Brijhe' as my Twitter account. And something went wrong, because someone started hacking through it. [It is still open, but I suggest not following it.] It kind of pissed me off, because all my ID's are uniformed via my nickname.

My second Twitter account [which is closed] iPengin. It's my nickname from my boyfriend who is 'Pengin.' I also use it for most of my internet sites. But again, I had trouble with it, therefore, forcing a permanent deactivation.

And my currently active Twitter account is just a combination of both. Teehee. lol.

Foolish Sage

I'm @trappermark, my nickname from high school, when MASH was popular on TV (character Trapper John). It's a reversal of my first and last names (Mark and Traphagen). I use trappermark everywhere on the web, except on my blog where I'm the Foolish Sage, which has another story behind it.

Great idea, Mark. Fun to read!

imjustagoyle

So why am I “imjustagoyle” and not just my real, normal name?

Because my real, normal name is boring. imjustagoyle is more catchy. :)

It started years ago when I was selecting a screen name to use on Yahoo IM. My choice was inspired by the No Doubt song, “I’m Just a Girl. “imjustagirl” was already taken, so in a play on words I chose imjustagoyle. Say it out loud, with a Jersey accent. ;)

I’m actually not from Jersey though. I was born and raised in Tampa, FL. Go figure.

Once I had chosen my screen name, I just kinda ran with it. I wanted to make sure no one else took the name so I signed up for all the free mail accounts with my “name”. It’s the name I’ve used online now for many years.

When the time came for professional endeavors and for choosing a Twitter and site name for myself, I thought it was appropriate. There is so much talk of branding yourself these days I saw more possibilities of being remembered with “imjustagoyle” than I did with my real, normal name. (which by the way is Robin Eads. See? Boring.)

Now you know why imjustagoyle. :)

Mishon8

Mishon8 because it sounds like my mission is to machinate - which is what I usually feel I am doing: planning, organising, plotting the future

kimsherrell

kim sherrell is my actual name... a bit of a social experiment. 'transparency', ftw!!

☮ peace

Richard

My screen name @newhorizons72 was mostly chosen due to wanting to make a change in 2007. We always hear the phrase.. "Look into the horizons!" So I wanted a new horizon period! I was born in 1972 so I took the last two digits and added them with the screen name. I strive for improvement so new horizons will always be part of my day to day operations.

Heidi Richards Mooney

I wanted Quirky Redhead but decided to use my name because that is how I position myself. People do remember fun names if they are short or rhyme with something or can be an alliteration of something. Quirky doesn't rhyme with anything that matters to me so I didnt' want people to start calling me something else! Heidi Richards works for me!

Great question and thanks for allowing us to share our Twitter Name Story ~ SMILE!

Lisa P

hmmm should have said the user name huh? @gumby007

Lisa P

well mine is because im Gumby Damn it, hahah nah just always loved Gumby and who doesn't dream of being a spy?

joseph noia

My name is Joe Noia so I use @joenoia on everything http://twitter.com/joenoia

Kim

It seems to me that people who have been in college for years gradually become known only by their initials. Maybe it's people who have gone to big schools, but I've only heard people who have had quite a few years in an academic setting answering to a word made from their initials. Since I fantasize about being further-educated I thought I would make up a name that used my initials - ksf - and coincidentally they made a cute little sounding name...kissif.

Claire

I began using my full real name but I am not so serious on the web and didnt need work-related searches to find me so I changed.... right at that time the baby I work with bit me and what began as a silly convo became @zombie_claire. And no I didnt consider length!

Tom Glenn

Mine is just my first name (Tom), the first initial of my middle name (Elliott) and my last name (Glenn)... tomeglenn. Simples!

The JaceMan

I'm Jace Barnett; so I went with @JaceBarnett. I thought it was -- shall we say -- 'fitting.'

Shahid Awan

My full name @shahidawan, as my first name shahid was already taken...I was also thinking of SERPs, branding etc...

Marie Foote

Hi Mark ... my UNORGINAL username is @Marie_Foote because that's who I am.

I was @ChrysalisGal because my online journal is entitled "Still in the Chrysalis" (meaning it records my journey of this earthly life) but then SOMEONE named @murnahan decided to post some great tips about how to be a better twitterer and the first point was: use your real name. So, I'm just plain @Marie_Foote now. =)

Sigh. Why do I have to follow @murnahan's instructions? Well, because the dude knows what he's talking about! =)
M

Travis Wright

First of all, @murnahan it was great talking with you... sorry I had to get off so abruptly... had to answer that call to give her my FAX number.

Anyway, My name is Travis Wright, and my Grandpa always called me "Tee Dubya" So, there it is, I spell like he says it, phonetically.

@teedubya

Bonnie burns

My twitter names consists of my nickname as well as my profession. It has my fun side and my professional side as I tweet both ways. Burnsie_seo

Will LePaz

My Twitter "handle" _SDO (http://twitter.com/_SDO) actually came from a spontaneous abreviation given to me for my ESPN profile Sun Devil in OREuhGun...I noticed how quickly amongst that group of friends it caught on & so, have been using it ever since. It does seem to be far more easily remembered, AND people can find me just as easily if they search for my real name (Will LePaz) as the two are linked in the twitter directory. *Sometimes I will need another charachter or two ( as in the underscore here for the 4 letter requirement ).

Sejal

My twitter name stems from my aim sn. Sejalee what my mom used to call me when I was younger and I hated it....but it eventually grew on me....and I'm pretty optimistic, hence the smiley part.

@1southerncross

I chose this name as there is only one southerncross, I can see it at night from the window next to where I sit at my PC, I'm an Australian and proud of it ! It's on our flag and I also have it tattooed over my rib cage ! I use the Eureka Flag as my picture as the southerncross was used by another twittera

Mike Keller

I'm a photographer, and my Twitter handle (and my blog name) comes from a Susan Sontag quote:

“The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people’s reality, and eventually in one’s own.”

So I'm http://twitter.com/realitytourist

Giselle

My Twitter username is @Martine2323. My story is pretty simple. I wanted to use my first name Giselle, but it was taken. So I went with my middle name Martine. 23 is my favourite number. It is also the number of my birthday, my mother’s birthday and my husband’s birthday. My birthday is on May 23rd, my Mom’s birthday is on March 23rd, and my husband’s birthday is on April 23rd. A little freaky isn’t it!! http://twitter.com/martine2323

Dee Saville

When I first got online in '95 I wanted to get "LadyDee" on AOL but it was taken. I tried the capital I, taken, went to IadieDee and got it. It's carried on throughout the web as my ID. It's simple, unique and, well, ME. If I speak it aloud eye-ayyy-dee-dee. My favorite Uncle called me Dee Dee so it fits all around. :)

If you see Iadiedee as a user name it's most probably me. ;) I've been around a long time.

Brian Wahoff

@ackbarr - has been my online handle since the late 90's. It was a combination of character names from Star Wars and Life In Hell.

I've kept it because it is unique - very rarely do I find it taken on a new site, and if is taken, is usually taken by me.

Willie Favero

I wasn't very creative. My ID is my first initial and last name. I decided a long time ago I want people to know who owns the site, the post, the blog, or the ID.

Willie

Andrea Tannouri

@AndreaTannouri the @HolisticMamma @HolisticMom @HolisticMama and a few other ones (shhh don't tell Twitter)... pretty self - explanatory no? =) LOL

Mark Essel

@VictusFate
7-8 years ago I used that name in a futuristic homebrewed rpg and it stuck

DealBrothers

For some reason, our icon did not show up next to our comment. If we've hijacked someone else's avatar, we certainly apologize! We are experts at finding deals and making smart-ass remarkes. However, we are a bit sophomoric when it comes to tech stuff. =)

DealBrothers

We chose this name to let every reader know that there is a family behind all the deal postings and humorous observations. Also, it's fun to make fun of DealSister and the Deal-In-Laws without them knowing which DealBrother to hit!

aMY L cavENDER

I chose mylender because I do mortgage loans and with letters of my name it spells "my lender" as well.
aMY L cavENDER

La Vergne L.Thatch

My twitter name is the initials of my first and maiden names LL short for La Vergne Lestermeringolo and the initial my surname T for Thatch. That is how I got @LL_Thatch.I always use the underscore if the system allows me to. Ooops...no magic!

Alexis

I chose @trashwire for mine (http://twitter.com/trashwire) cuz it's the name of my website and would make it easy for people to find me. When I felt like I needed a more personal twitter account, I went with http://twitter.com/alexisgentry, which is my name. Again, picked because it made finding me easier, but I do kinda wish it was shorter. I really like a lot of the aliases people have chosen, I just feel like I can't commit to any name that's not my own.

Ronnie Manning

For my name I decided to combine my first initial/last name with the name of my company - @RManning_Mynt Figured would be a good idea to combine the two things that people know me as.

elevenser

I'm obsessed with the number 11, and have been for years. Sometimes I've been elevens, and now I'm even Elevenser. In remote circles I'm also known as the badass, "El Evenser".

Andrew MrBanjo Conde

My twitter name is http://twitter.com/mrbanjo. I chose it to reflect my love of playing the banjo, the greatest instrument on earth.

James Ramos

my first twitter account was simply my name: jamespramos. my 2nd & 3rd accts, i wanted to get as close to my other website names as possible. 2) gaytravelguys = www.gaytravelguys.com & 3) gloryassisted = www.gloryassistedliving.com I was limited on gloryassisted by the number of allowable characters otherwise, it would have been gloryassistedliving Cheers. James

Michael

My Twitter username (@savagemike) is the same as my username for almost every other service out there. My friends started calling me "Savage" over 10 years ago, and my given name is Mike. Boring, I know :-)

Mary Lee Shalvoy

I write a column called "Mom Mom Mom" for a local newspaper about my life as a single Mom of three girls, twins and a two-year-younger sister. (Moms get it right away.) It works for the paper and it works for Twitter, too!
@mommommom

Scott Taylor

I picked my twitter name http://twitter.com/scottataylor simply due to the fact that it is my name. I was using lettheworldin, but decided I am my brand so why not use it to avoid confusion. Plus when I go to tweetups I don't have to be called "lettheworldin" lol Great post Mark!

Webconomist

Cool question!

I used "Webconomist" as I use that across the Social Web and it goes with the title of my blog "Webconomy" as I love to look into the economics of the Web and such. I think using ones real name is better, but was kind of stuck with this so for 'branding" purposes have just left it that way...

Michelle Denise Norton

Lonelypond turned into my internet tag because I had a blast making my first movie with friends -- LONELY POND MONSTER (looking for love) and I like having a reminder of it; a little bit of cheer handy for the slow days...plus, easy to remember and descriptive.

SamRag

My SamRag name is a combination of my real name and made up name. When arriving in England about 15 years ago, no one could pronounce my real name Svavar. They used to call me Svava (which in Icelandic is a girls name), or "Hey you there". Some guy asked me why I just didn't make up a name, like Sam
After that I was known as Sam Ragnarsson in my travels around the world - and still to this day I somewhat prefer the Sam name. Combining the two together resulted in SamRag, which is my online identity on many sites. Said to much, well heck - who cares anyway ;-)

Mark Aaron Murnahan

I love all of the stories. I think @cowhateration had something similar to the disorder called Bovilexia which was named by HBO's "Not Necessarily the News" (a 1980's television show). Bovilexia is a "Sniglet", which is defined as a word that does not appear in the dictionary, but should. Bovilexia caused the afflicted to uncontrollably "Moo" at any bovine passed while driving down the road. I was unfortunately afflicted with this disorder at a young age, and it is apparently passed genetically. Simon and Madeline (The Twitter Kids) have Bovilexia as well.

Mélane Lago

Hello everyone! My twitter name is @melanelago and actually doesn't have a story behind it, its my first and last name: Melane Lago. Nice to meet you! :)

Candice Yee

@cowhateration - stemmed from a family vacation in Hawaii (Big Island). being from LA, at first we excitedly exclaimed "COW!" every time we saw one. but after a few days of countless cow spotting, i got tired of seeing cows all over the island and lethargically said "cow" every time we drove past one. the fam started calling me a "cow hater" (due to my lack of excitement) and it stuck.

and it's a name that's never taken. :)

Melissa

I really hadn't given much thought to my name when I started twitter, since I had no idea what it was about.

I use RC73 for a few things, another friends website and such. His website is all about rugby and since I was (still am) the only chick who posts there, I called myself rugbychick, and later shortened it to RC73 (73 being my birthyear). Lame? I dunno. It's short, to the point and I use my real name on my twitter profile ...so...yeah... that's how I became RC73. :-)

Mark Aaron Murnahan

Lu: That is funny. I think your hubby is just wishing for the best.

Jim Cim

I have been called "Jim Cim" since kindergarten, as a shortened version of my real name, James Ciminera.

Lu

I orginally went with my first initial last name. Remembering how when I first joined AOL I chose petunia15 as an email account and then was mortified when I'd give it in public, I decided to make it more "personal" and came up with @lovelylu. My husband just told me it sounds like a stripper name. UGH!

Milana

(^c^) tuiittttt :☼ ♥♫♥♫♥' ☼
my username is made up from my real name and also use it for YAHOO and other email provider,nothing special about it... except that if i use my complete name,..*phiew* u'll be wasting the 140 char for it only (^_^)

this is a great idea of sharing people username especially on twitter, they really have so many interesting name.. some funny and some strange.

(stop and posing) thanks Mark you ROCK!!!!

Lauren

honeybee + elbow + a brain that operates like ow.ly = beebow

kafka

this a good idea, perhaps even a whole site...
I chose the nick cause the writer behind it is the voice i'm missing in life. The clarity and truth I read out of his writing inspires me till today. and that is all.

Volker Brunke

Thanks Mark, your idea does Rock. It's great to share this with ppl.

Mark Aaron Murnahan

Volker: That story takes the cake so far. I am feeling really rather boring now. LOL I like the "Burp Stuff", too!

Shannon Ramiro

I am surprised more people don't ask me about my Twitter ID. Mine is bluestreak23. How did I come up with it? For a few years now I have played soccer on Sunday with a local team called the Blue Streaks. My jersey number for that team is 23. So, bluestreak23 as a Twitter ID was born.

Laurie

My fiance and I are addicted to caffeine. I am always buying 2 cups of Java wherever we go. I sometimes feel that I have enough energy for the both of us. ;)

Volker Brunke

Well, how did I come up with such a long Twitter Username; well I was pondering for quite some time, what would makes sense to describe me in 1 Username. Well I could have used the NATO Alphabet since I am a former Solider, turning Volker Brunke (My real name *smile) into Victor Bravo. But I found this is too lame, so I kept pondering until I remembered a comic I used to love in Germany in the 80's. Yes ppl, I'm 42 and the 80's been MY DECADE. The comic was published in Germany and of course in German. It talked about a guy named, Werner Broesel. He lives in North Germany (very important to know, trust me), does love to drink Beer (he calls it Boelckstoff, which is translated Burp Stuff). One of his friends is driving a Red Porsche 911 and he is riding an old Horrex Motorbike. In his dreams, he wants to burn this Red Porsche 911 very bad, so he is building a Drag Bike, named the Red Porsche Killer. In reality, this Comic became the ultimate cult comic in Germany, everybody did love Werner and so did I. The Bike was build, the race happen, but Werner messed it up and lost the RACE. So I thought, I'm a realy Gear Head, have 8 Vehicles, I drink Gasoline for Brekky, so I created (actually it was Rich83, my son after lengthy persuasion) RedPorscheKilla to prevent the term Killer from becoming offensive, we don't want to provoke, don't we?
Well this is the story behind my user name, yes it is long and cuts valuable space of my tweets, but I can live with it.

Rob Nelson (guruvan

I have been guruvan everywhere on the internet for at least 10 years. I am easy to find that way ;) guruvan was the name given to a VW van I had in 1999 for a couple years. I gave it away before I ever got the vanity plate for it. I used it to travel my 4.5hr commute from Mt. Shasta to work in the Bay Area, as well as to travel to various musical events up & down the coast. It was for guruvin' and it was the guru van. The name stuck.

Mark Aaron Murnahan

Sally Ann: I completely agree, and I have written on this in previous articles. People want to connect with people. If a company name is used, and no person is identified, it may as well be used simply for broadcasting. Incidentally, broadcasting does not work for the goals a broadcaster seeks. :-)

Breanne

My Twitter name is @beautiful_waste, not meant as an insult towards myself, it's something I thought one night when I was bored out of my head, Google searching anything and everything I could think of, and I ended up thinking, "This is a beautiful waste of time." It's also what I think whenever I get all ready to go out, after I've gotten all madeup and plans to go out end up falling through.

SallyAnn

I went with my personal brand as well, choosing @sallyanngray for my twitter username.

Another interesting offshoot to this conversation is: using the company's name verses an individual's name for a twitter account. I have had this conversation with colleagues and all agree that people would rather connect with a person than a faceless company. Food for thought!

Denise Heng

This is really interesting!
I was ever pondering what is behind everybody's username for I'm seeing many kinds of funny username from a 'Tidy Cat' to just plain a real 'name'.
My username is @sn0wrose as I have been using it for many other services.
Well, when I created my Twitter account I wasn't aware of the 140 hah! I cud have shorten it to only @snow? LOL
Thanks for bringing this up @Murnahan ;)

So this is me at http://twitter.com/sn0wrose

Mojustice

My username is Mojustice. I did not consider length when choosing my username. Mojustice is a compilation of More Justice. As a community organizer & activist for peace & justice, I thought Mojustice was a good name. http://twitter.com/Mojustice. Peace

Misty Belardo

@mistygirlph because Misty is my nickname and girlph was added because its a name ive used ever since YAHOO and HOTMAIL dont accept just misty too many misty in the world ha ha.. Misty on the other hand is a different story.. I was born lactose intolerant so no Milk for me just tea hence Miss Tea but my mom spelled it M-I-S-T-Y geez lol = )

Tenaya

I use @inkedsolace for everything. My myspace displace name, facebook name, my blogger account &, anything I sign up for because its easy to remember. Im thinking about changing my Twitter name to just Solace so it can be easier for retweets.

Dusty Edwards

My Twitter username is made up of my first and last name ( via @dustyedwards ). I chose this method because it's part of my Branding Strategy I plan to use while building my reputation on the Web.

Toni-Lynn

Mine is not very original lol My name and the Initials for my website! Toni_GPB

I know how you picked yours Mark! Just as original as me! :)

Toni-Lynn

Araldia

My name on twitter is my name all over the internet. I chose this name in 1996 as at the time there was nothing on google with it.
I guess it's a brand now, but it beats thinking of new ones ;)

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