Topic: How Did You Pick Your Screen Name?

[Sarah]

There are some interesting screen names on this board, and I was just wondering how everyone picked the one he/she uses.

Mine is simple--Sarah is my chrismation name.

[SouthSerb99]

Mine has nothing to do with Orthodoxy.

SouthSerb, is where my family comes from; Southern Serbia (Polog Valley currently).

99 is for the greatest Hockey player of all time (Wayne Gretzky).  So there you have it!

Good topic, by the way... although I can sense some pending controversy. LOL

[Veniamin]

Mine's easy, too.  Veniamin is my chrismation name (as well as the Russian variant of my birth name).

[Ebor]

Mine has nothing to do with Orthodoxy.

SouthSerb, is where my family comes from; Southern Serbia (Polog Valley currently).

99 is for the greatest Hockey player of all time (Wayne Gretzky).  So there you have it!

Good topic, by the way... although I can sense some pending controversy. LOL

I have to admit I wondered about yours.  

What "pending controversy" do you sense, though?

Ebor

[SouthSerb99]

What "pending controversy" do you sense, though?

A couple of controversial names, which have caused a bit of an uproar. LOL

[sdcheung]

(S)herman (D)avid Cheung = sdcheung my secular name.
I use it all over the Internet.

[Fr. David]

"Pedro" is "Peter" in Spanish, which was my chrismation name.

I've since been tonsured a reader and took the name "David" (my actual given first name), but since everyone here already knew me as "Pedro," I just stuck with it and put up the icon you see there to the left.

[Asteriktos]

In Greek, my name means something like vacillating. I may by flaky, but I'm an honest flake!  Previously my name was Paradosis, which means something like tradition in Greek. With that said, I don't know a lick of Greek beyond a few a theological terms here and there.

[Ebor]

Ebor is the abbreviation for "Eboracum" the latin name of the city of York in England which is the *other* place with an Archbishop (Canterbury being the primary one).  When an Anglican bishop signs an official letter he will use the abbreviation of his see along with his name.  For example the Archbishop of Canterbury (the "ABC"   ) would sign something "+Rowan Cantuar"  Some places don't have latin names so, as another example, Desmond Tutu would sign as "+Desmond Capetown".

Now, I'm not The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr John Sentamu (the new ABY), nor any kind of cleric nor in England.  My 'net handle is a kind of clue that I'm not EO but Anglican.  Pretty obscure, isn't it.  

And that's probably *way* more then anyone really wanted to know.  

Ebor

[FrChris]

Well, mine is pretty obvious....

Perhaps through the direct intercessions of St. Christopher the Great(est) Martyr, whose name day is fast approaching, was I led to go by the name pretty much everyone calls me, except for 3 people:

-the seminary chaplain;
-my 'adopted' Greek mother;
-the head librarian here at HCHC.

It was either through the intercessions of my patron, or perhaps my startling lack of creativity for my screen name to be chosen...

[sdcheung]

Ebor is the abbreviation for "Eboracum" the latin name of the city of York in England which is the *other* place with an Archbishop (Canterbury being the primary one).  When an Anglican bishop signs an official letter he will use the abbreviation of his see along with his name.  For example the Archbishop of Canterbury (the "ABC"   ) would sign something "+Rowan Cantuar"  Some places don't have latin names so, as another example, Desmond Tutu would sign as "+Desmond Capetown".

Now, I'm not The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr John Sentamu (the new ABY), nor any kind of cleric nor in England.  My 'net handle is a kind of clue that I'm not EO but Anglican.  Pretty obscure, isn't it.  

And that's probably *way* more then anyone really wanted to know.  

Ebor

+Photios Photioupolis
hehehehehe

[Elisha]

My middle name (given).  No, I was not Orthodox until my family converted when I was 12.

[Pravoslavbob]

Well, "pravoslav" means "orthodox" in Russian.  Bob is my given name, so I just strung the two together.  It seemed kind of amusing at the time.    Lately I have begun signing things on this board "James" or "James Bob" because James is my Orthodox name.  (I took James the brother of the Lord as my saint.)  

[Pravoslavbob]

My middle name (given).  No, I was not Orthodox until my family converted when I was 12.

Yeah, but really, we all want to know how your orange cat Falafel got his name.  

[Pravoslavbob]

Mine has nothing to do with Orthodoxy.

SouthSerb, is where my family comes from; Southern Serbia (Polog Valley currently).

99 is for the greatest Hockey player of all time (Wayne Gretzky).  So there you have it!

Good topic, by the way... although I can sense some pending controversy. LOL

Very controversial.  A dyed-in-the-wool Leafs fan like yourself taking Gretzky's number and not Dave Keon's or Darryl Sittler's?  Even with that dive that Gretz took in '93 to effectively end the Leaf's best playoff run since '67?  The horror.  The horror.  

[BoredMeeting]

Having spent several years serving on my parish's Board of Trustees, my family took my comments about the thrill level in our monthly meetings to heart and now refer to them as "Bored Meetings."

[TomS]

"Tom" is the reverse of my christian name: Mot, and "S" is the upside down version of the beginning letter of my last name.

[Pravoslavbob]

Mot(t) the barber?  Mot the Hoople?    That's out there.

Oh wait.....Mott's Clamato. Mmm.  Nothing like dead sea creature remains combined with tomato juice.  Okay, sorry, I'll stop.

[serb1389]

upside down?  the saddest part is that I really sat here thinking about that...

My name comes from:  

Serb = obvious, i'm serbian and darn proud of it.  

1389 = the year of the Battle of Kosovo, which is a national and church holiday celebrating the 70,000 (number varies) martyrs of the Kosovo Polje (Kosovo field) who died for their people and country against the turks in a 2-1 odds battle.  There is a lot more to that story, especially its connection to the church.  If you want more info, Personal Message me (PM).  

[Amdetsion]

This is an interesting topic!!!!

I read the post so far and the only thing I would like to suggest is if each person along with giving the "reason" for picking the screen name also provide a little etymology and background about the name. It does not have to be extensive just a little background on the word (or words used) to form the name.

For example:

"Sarah" :
Other Scripts: שָׂרָה (Hebrew)

Pronounced: SER-a ÂÂ  [key]
 
Means "lady" or "princess" in Hebrew. This was the name of the wife of Abraham in the Old Testament. She became the mother of Isaac at the age of 90. Her name was originally שָׂרָי (Sarai), but God changed it (see Genesis 17:15).

"Peter" :
Pronounced: PEE-tur ÂÂ  [key]
 
Derived from the Greek Πετρος (Petros) meaning "stone". This is a translation used in most versions of the Bible of the name Cephas (meaning "stone" in Aramaic) which was given to the apostle Simon by Jesus (compare Matthew 16:18 and John 1:42).


I could not help wondering about the meanings and root meanings ov names.

My name was selected because it is my Baptismal name and I use it all the time. In Ethiopia we use our Baptismal names first after Baptism. It effectively replaces the common birth name (in usage).This keeping with BIbilical tradition when the Lord changed the names of His elect which no longer had a realtionship with the world but with HIm first and primary; such as Abram to Abraham or Simon to Peter.
Ethiopians recall the situation where Christ in rebuking Peter referred to him as "Simon"!! instead of His God given name 'Peter' and thus find it more worthy to speak the name given by God which also reminds us not to sin or anger the Lord. It is felt that when called in the judgement Christ will speak only the Baptismal name when calling His elect. Those who He will call by their secular or birth name and NOT the Baptismal name are at risk of not being among the elect.

This is not to say that the Orthodox community in Ethiopia are fixed on names as a way to grace and salvation (not at all); it is symbolic of the gift and grace we hope for and prayer for and are thankful for as promised for the true believers through the sacrament of Baptism ( Like a wedding ring, we never remove it).

We believe as all Other ancient Orthodox Christians do on salvation.

We however maintain this tradition as a way of keeping ourselves aware that we are Baptised and now our lives are now Christ' first and all things in our lives are gaged in away to NOT conflict with that fact.

I just wanted to share that part of my story and why I use the screen name I have.

I will add:

AmdeTsion: is actually two names Amde and Tsion
Meaning: Amde = Pillar or support
 ÃƒÆ’‚  ÃƒÆ’‚  ÃƒÆ’‚  ÃƒÆ’‚  ÃƒÆ’‚  ÃƒÆ’‚  Tsion = Zion in English

Origin: Geez or "Ethiopic

The name Pillar of Zion implies the following:
1. The Ark of the Covenant of Israel
2. The Holy Virgin Mary
3. The ark which carried Moses
4. Noahs Ark
5. Israel
6. The Priesthood
7. The Chalice
8. The established Church of Apostles, universal and Orthodox in the Lord.

All these conditions are a repository of the grace and Power of God and His plan of salvation for mankind. Much more can be added.

The name has been given to Christian Ethiopian Kings primarily due to the power behind the meaning. It is also given as name for Patriarchs. The rare chance of it being given to a person like me is a blessing within a blessing and does happen from time to time as the Priest is guided by the Holy Spirit.

Its a very difficult name to live up to if a person is serious about his Orthodoxy.


Anyway; I love words.

So much can be learned and understood from a name.

Again; thanks for starting this subject.

[Sloga]

Sloga means Unity in serbian and a few other slavic languages...unity is what we need, Serbs, orthodox and people in general.

[erracht]

I play the bagpipes. When registering for a bagpipe-related forum, I took the name "erracht" which refers to Alan Cameron of Erracht, the first Commanding Officer of the 79th Regiment of Foot (the Cameron Highlanders).

[Elisha]

Yeah, but really, we all want to know how your orange cat Falafel got his name. ÂÂ

Easy.  He has an older brother from the prior litter named Waffles who is the priest's family's cat (younger of two).  Falafel rhymes and was one of the names the family threw around and I liked it.

[SouthSerb99]

Very controversial.  A dyed-in-the-wool Leafs fan like yourself taking Gretzky's number and not Dave Keon's or Darryl Sittler's?  Even with that dive that Gretz took in '93 to effectively end the Leaf's best playoff run since '67?  The horror.  The horror. ÂÂ

Oh, thems fighting words!!!

Yes, Gretz broke our backs in 93, but it's better to go down to the greatest of all time, than some louse like Alfredson.  

BTW, I bet your breathed a big sigh of relief when my beloved Leafs narrowly missed the playoffs, because we ALL know what happens when the heartless Sens, play the Leafs in the playoffs.  

[SouthSerb99]

Well, "pravoslav" means "orthodox" in Russian.

Not just in Ruskie, JB.  

And now for some trivia...

How many NHL Teams have hoisted Lord Stanley's Cup, without a Canadian, or American team Captain?

[dantxny]

Originally, I posted on the internet with the name Canisius, but when I converted, I figured it wouldn't be a good idea to continue to use the name of a Catholic Jesuit.  So, I couldn't think of a name and took my nickname (Dan, I prefer to be called Daniel, I just can't get them Yanks to figure this out.)  And Texas is my home, and I live currently in NY.

[Asteriktos]

As a Penguins fan, I feel that I must post here the obligatory Pittsburgher comment that Lemieux is the greatest hockey player of all time, and that it was just those pesky things out of his control--like playing for crappy teams, or serious medical issues--which prevented him from stomping all over the Gretzky's records.

[PeterTheAleut]

I just used my Chrismation name as my screen name.

On the Life of St. Peter the Aleut Martyr
http://oca.org/FS.NA-Saint.asp?SID=4&Saint=Peter

[SouthSerb99]

As a Penguins fan, I feel that I must post here the obligatory Pittsburgher comment that Lemieux is the greatest hockey player of all time, and that it was just those pesky things out of his control--like playing for crappy teams, or serious medical issues--which prevented him from stomping all over the Gretzky's records.

Hey, can't deny Lemieux's greatness and who knows what "could've been", but it wasn't.  I give him number two.  (Remember, Don Cherry says Bobby Orr is better than both of them).  

[zebu]

"Zebu" means "water buffalo" in Dutch, and its origins in relation to me are quite confusing. Bascially it started out WAYYY back in junior high when my friend Kelly and I were really bored and we started talking about what would happen if her and this Dutch guy we knew got married.  Somehow we both thought they would live on an onion farm in a biosphere, and would have waterbuffalo, and so their biosphere would be called Zebu.  Then somehow I started calling my friend Zebu, and then that stuck.  Then I used the name for this site because it was unique and I couldn't think of anything cool and theological to use...

[Donna Rose]

My username is my first and middle name...I took Mary the Mother of God as my patron saint when I was chrismated, and I was chrismated "Donna Mary" (since Donna is an Italian derivative of La Madonna - the Virgin Mary), but my non-church friends and family mostly know me as Donna Rose. It's also my username in a few other places.

D

[Timos]

Timos- my given name w/o the "os". Thats just a nickname some of my family members give me.

Timothy/Timotheos means "Honour of God"

In modern greek, pricy, or something of value, expense is "timi" and so my name can also mean precious...which I now no longer like after havign watched a play on "the Hobbit" - "my preciousssss"

Ppl always call me Tim Hortons which is a very popular Canadian coffee shop chain named after some popular Canadian hockey guy. I also get Timtim and as a small child "Tiny Tim" which we all know is from the Scrooge movie.

[GiC]

I chose my screen name because when I first came here the board seemed to have an anti-greek slavic-convert bias, though it doesn't seem to so much any more.

So, like most things, I chose my screen name for shock value.

[Carpatho Russian]

CarpathoRussian is my ethnic background.  My ancestors come from the Carpathian Mountain region of what is now Slovakia.  My picture is of my grandparents' church in Jurkova Vola.  The following link is a view of the church's interior.  The church is dedicated to the Birth of the Mother of God.
http://www.grkatpo.sk/fotoalbumy/grafika/246_7.jpg

[augustin717]

This type of church is very familiar to me. Very Uniate-like, common throughout the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Ours however (built by 1820) doesn't have pews, but stalls and chairs.

[ozgeorge]

When I joined the forum I simply assumed the name "George" (my chistian name) was already taken, so rather than go through the trauma of a screen popping up at registration saying "sorry, that username is already taken", I added "oz" to it, Australian slang for "Australian"....then I found out that "george" had in fact, not been taken and became depressed about this for some time, never going out, refusing visitors and subsisting on a steady diet of only coffee and cigarettes. I'm over it now.....I think.......<sniff>.

[jmbejdl]

Mine's the name I use in most places on the net. That's because my Christian name (James) is so common that it's almost always already been taken, whereas this just looks like a meaningless jumble of letters. I've thought about using James the Persian (because that's my patron saint) but by the time I thought of it I was already registered as jmbejdl.

In actual fact, there is method in the madness. It's James Meyer-Bejdl, which are my actual Christian and surnames. For those who wonder, Meyer is German and rhymes with higher (It's NOT mayer as most English seem to pronounce it) and Bejdl is Czech (that side of the family is Moravian) and rhymes, more or less, with ladle. That's probably not much of a surprise for the others with Slavic backgrounds here. I always sign my posts James, though, as everyone knows how to pronounce that, even if they struggle with the consonant heavy Czech.

James

[aurelia]

Edit to add where I got my screen name: I have answered this before so i forgot I didn't here!

When I started playing Sims1 I joined the Roman Sim forum, I have a huge obsessive interest in ancient Greece and Rome. ÂÂ Plus I needed something for a prefix to my files, I created quite a lot of Roman/Greek themed objects and clothing for the game.  I had read The First Man In Rome (Colleeen McCullough), and Caesar's mother was Aurelia, and I really liked her. ÂÂ So when I went to pick a screen name for that, I picked Aurelia Romae (bad latin, I know) and that is the name I have used in the sim forums ever since, and quite a few other places too.

99 is for the greatest Hockey player of all time (Wayne Gretzky).

I dunno, my hub fnally met his idol Gordy Howe at the local KFC (yes it's true) and I'm sure he would argue a bit about it. ÂÂ   ÂÂ He was tongue tied. ÂÂ The only two people in there, and all he can come up with is "You're Gordy Howe!"

And what about Yzerman?  I wonder if he is going to retire this year? We are highly disappointed in the Wings' playoff performance. *cry*

BUT on the other hand he used to tell me that if we had a boy and he got his hands on the birth certificate he would name the poor kid Mario TheGreatOne Mayo.  Luckily they are smart at the hospital and I always got the certificates first.

[Veniamin]

never going out, refusing visitors and subsisting on a steady diet of only coffee and cigarettes

Are you sure you're not just in law school?  

[Bizzlebin]

I've used Bizzlebin for years in different places, it's just a unique name of my own creation.

[Mo the Ethio]

Moses The Ethiopian ( baptismal name)

aurelia, when did you get promoted to section mod?

[ozgeorge]

aurelia, when did you get promoted to section mod?

March 9:
http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php?topic=8385.msg110511#msg110511

[Ebor]

When I joined the forum I simply assumed the name "George" (my chistian name) was already taken, so rather than go through the trauma of a screen popping up at registration saying "sorry, that username is already taken", I added "oz" to it, Australian slang for "Australian"....then I found out that "george" had in fact, not been taken and became depressed about this for some time, never going out, refusing visitors and subsisting on a steady diet of only coffee and cigarettes. I'm over it now.....I think.......<sniff>.

One is relieved that you are on the mend from the trauma, OzGeorge.
 

From what you wrote about your Pascha cookout, it looks like you're up to taking a bit of protein after all that caffeine and nicotine.  

(what drink was it you mentioned some months ago? Mango  margueritas?  At least you were getting some vitamins with those)

Ebor

[ozgeorge]

One is relieved that you are on the mend from the trauma, OzGeorge.

Someone has registered as "Georgos" today.......
I'm typing in the foetal position (very difficult)

[Robert]

I chose my screen name because when I first came here the board seemed to have an anti-greek slavic-convert bias, though it doesn't seem to so much any more.

So, like most things, I chose my screen name for shock value.

Oh, please elaborate on this one.