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[Ina Vegt]

Ina Vegt == my online handle
Ina van der Vegt == The name on my few published works of fantasy and one scientific article, also my real name.

Considering that Ina is a reasonably uncommon name in my country, and pretty much unheard of in the English world, yet short and not that hard to remember, I think this works.

[Hayden Scott-Baron]

I'm forever going to be in two-name limbo I expect. But I think that's okay, so long as you make both names quite vivid, rather than shielding one or the other. I am Dock and I am Hayden!

[Eclipse]

Still not my real name.

And I barely know anyone now, quite a few, but only for their avatar.

Why would you compound this by changing your nick to something other than Imp or The-Imp? It makes no sense to me that people would deliberately change their username to look like a real name when that isn't their real name. And then to top it off, to complain about not knowing who everyone is!

who the hell are you 

oh wait.. deadrock 

[JamesPopStar]

I use my real name in all of my work for professional reasons, so there becomes a brand assosciation between my work and name. (So, if we meet and I say "Hi, I'm James Montagna", you could say "Oh, DODGE CLUB, right?".) However, on forums and blog comments and such, I usually don't go by James Montagna mostly because I don't want someone to Google the name and have something I say bite me in the ass somehow...

Example: I don't want anyone googling that 'James Montagna' said... "OMG Sony PS3 more like Sony PS... stupid! ... amirite?", if perhaps I'm some day being hired to do some work with Sony. 

It's a fairly small industry. Once you start networking and getting your name out there even more than now, I'd imagine you'll realize more and more where it's appropriate to use your real name as opposed to your internet handle.



*Disclaimer: Sony makes grand products, and I happily own all of their consoles. 

[rogerlevy]

my real name is Zombax.

[gunswordfist]

I'm often conflicted about using my real name or not. My nickname of 'Dock' is fairly well known in both the indie game scene and (especially) the 'manga' scene.  However, as a result of this, people don't so much know my real name of 'Hayden Scott-Baron'.   

This places me in a difficult situation in terms of 'marketing' of anything I do because my name is splintered across two different brands. I have books published under my real name, for example, but people would unlikely associate them with 'Dock from the internet'.

In general, I feel that it is professionally beneficial to not use psuedonyms.

Derek, Alec, Edmund, Terry, Annabelle, etc have all 'claimed' their own name, and it has become their brand. It would be much more complicated if any of these people had a nickname as an additional layer.

I often go through the doubt of 'should I stop using my nickname...' but somehow I would feel uncomfortable with someone online addressing me as Hayden, not least of which because Dock is also my IRL nickname.

What do you think?

Write your own wikipedia page. Problem solved.

[pixeltao]

I don't see any problem using both. I use my nickname on forums, and I will use it on my blog. But, I will use my real name for copyrights and legal stuff.

Using a nickname like XXxDarkLord666xXX is obviously a bad idea, but choosing a nickname that has the values of a good brand can be a good way to stay into people's mind.

I even read somewhere that people with catchy names had generally more successful careers than people with complicated names... I don't take it too seriously tough.

FYI, the book 'The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding' by Al Ries and Laura Ries is an excellent overview of what makes a good brand name.

 

[Jóhannes G.]

...Why did this thread appear as if it had new replies?

Well since I'm already here: I'm under the impression that a nickname is easier to remember than my real one. After all the Finnish Akseli Tarkkio is fairly exotic to the rest of the world.

I don't see why some people regard handles as "unprofessional"... We didn't get to name ourselves when we were born, so it should only be right we get to do so now.

I'd change my name to Xii if I could but I do not think that's possible, because it's not a Finnish name.

Perhaps it's just me and my nationality (Iceland) but i find Akseli quite easy to remember and also looks quite "international" in a way. Tarkkio is although a bit harder to remember.

[Rudolf Kremers]

I have been all over the place with this. I stuck with my nick "Borsato" for a decade or so because people used to know me under that name making Quake levels. However when I started to get more and more involved in professional situations that required pretty serious correspondence it became more awkward. In the end I realised that there are real advantages to just being yourself online, for one thing it helps in promoting your game as an indie developer. It also forces you to maintain a certain level of conduct in discussions, which I think is a good thing in most cases. ;-) (Sometimes it is tempting to go all Derek Smart on people though)

[Will Vale]

Sometimes it is tempting to go all Derek Smart on people though

Don't say that name three times!

In fairness, he does seem to have become a lot less confrontational in the last ten years. Yay for growing up.

[HybridMind]

I've found I definitely have to use an alias (which I eventually decided to use for my actual studio name anyway) because my real name (Dave Evans) is like not only the "Bob Smith" of Wales but there are already a bazillion famous people with the name and even a few game developers already in the industry (EA in particular) whose name are Dave Evans.

Best I can do is use my middle initial David W. Evans but I doubt I'll ever stand out from the Google noise and all the other actually famous Dave Evans' (The Edge from U2 is another one.. The original singer of AC/DC from Australia is another..  There is a famous blues musician... A famous banjo player... the list goes on and on heh.  )

So.. for someone in my case.. Dave "HybridMind" Evans or Dave Evans aka HybridMind I feel is a perfectly acceptable option on the whole name thing... as much as I can't stand the middle quoted name or "aka"s.

Oh well.. what can one do.. heh. 

[JLJac]

Is it that common? Sounds like a pain :D

[Strong]

I'm going to go by my real name eventually, but I just don't feel ready forthat now. There's safety issues with my age and stuff like that.

[ChevyRay]

I use my real name, and I'm lucky enough to have both a cool and memorable name. Actually, my last name is "Johnston", but I use "Ray", my middle name, because it results in a much shorter and more memorable alias.

Almost super-hero quality, actually. Someone the other day on MSN (I think it was Inane) called me Chevy "Sugar" Ray Johnston, which gave me a laugh.

Another thing, I think, is that my name "Chevy Ray" sounds out a lot like "Chevrolet", which is a huge and very well-known automobile company. I think that fact alone makes people remember it, because they tie it to something like that in their mind, making it easier for them to remember (perhaps every time they see a Chevy commercial, I come to mind? )

[GregWS]

Haha, do I sense a tinge of ego Chevy?  :D

Mmm, well, my last name is so long and distinctive that I abbreviate it a lot of the time.  I'm the only Greg with my last name, and people usually either remember it perfectly or don't really at all (even though it's very easy to pronounce, a lot of people mispronounce it), so I just use GregWS as a handle of sorts because it's pretty easy to remember.  Even if people can't remember my whole last name, I'm satisfied if they can remember it's two word's initials are WS.

[skaldicpoet9]

I was actually born skaldicpoet9.

no joke.



ok, ok, but if you googles hard enough you would be able to find my real name no problem. I would make a terrible hacker with this alias since it is pretty much tied to my actual name as well. I thought about changing it for the forums just so I could be like all of the cool people and use my real name but I like using skaldicpoet9, it has become my not so secret identity

oh and btw my real name is Stephen Haroldson....! now you all know too much and I will have to wipe your memories of this event with my psychic flare....

[Matt Thorson]

YoMamasMama was a name based on an inside joke way back in... grade seven?  So... about 10 years ago now

I realized how stupid that sounds around 4 or 5 years ago, and sought to shorten it to YMM, and that seemed to work pretty well.

Now I've sort of given up YMM except as an alias on some forums, and go by my real name FOR GLORY REASONS.  Most people who were around for my early games (in the GM community especially) still call me YMM or Grandma though.