Let's Talk About Your Username/Penname

[thirdly]

MichiTheThird is a fusion from my real nickname (Michi) and Thirdly, which was/is my online pen-name. Thirdly was what I named a golden cat character I had drawn as my avatar. I can't remember exactly how I chose that word as a name, but if I had to guess, it was because it was one of my favorite words to write on five-paragraph essays (for the points, I would write: Firstly, Secondly, and Thirdly since it was easier...I'd also end the essay on a "Finally..."). Another reason might be because I was the third child born of the third-to-last (but later on I found out that wasn't true, I was more like the sixth born since 3 siblings died before me and one was my undeveloped twin). Sixthly doesn't sound nearly as smooth as Thirdly, though, so I just kept it.

[jkb4753]

I made a whole music video for twitter about my penname. You can watch it here: https://twitter.com/brightside_jack/status/1375261574412300290?s=20
It has my real face and everything.

"Jack" is the main character from Fight Club and "Brightside" is from "Mr. Brightside" by the killers. I came up with this pen name when I was like 14. I should never be allowed to live it down

[Caro]

I’ve never really liked names that were more like usernames than actual names and one of the reasons is that I noticed no matter how many followers I have I have this instinct to click through on profiles where the username is just the person’a name (or at least something that sounds like a real name) because I associate that with someone who is a professional in whatever it is they’re doing and a lot of times they are OR are trying to be and I end up finding a lot of reallly great work this way.

My name isnt my actual name but it is a name I stole from the year book of a very aggressive 3rd grader I found in a free bin outside of a thrift store. He scrawled out all sorts of hilarious insults in his big 3rd grader handwriting and its still one of the funniest things I own. I tried to find him online because he should be a little bit older than me but I haven’t been able to find him. I took the nickname version of his first and last name as my pen name though. Firstly, because I wanted to try and trick people into thinking I was a male cartoonist (didnt last long because sometimes I like posting selfies) and second because I was making some sensitive content I worried about family seeing.

because I’ve gotten some success my pen name isn’t really a secret to my family anymore (one I was visiting them and someone working at the grocery store we were at recognized me and called me out by my pen name). They also don’t really read my comics so honestly I’ve thought about just going by my real name. But the pen name is so engrained that I haven’t heard my husband use my actual name in maybe six or seven years and when he does its uncomfortable and foreign but I wish it wasn’t sometimes because its a nice name and more professional sounding! Oh well!

[jkb4753]

the grocery store clerk recognized you by your pen name?
I dont even know what i would do.

[Caro]

Its happened a handful of times and everytime i get reallllly red in the face my blush is all consuming and not cute at all.... sometimes i feel like i should delete every picture of me on the internet but..... i like people telling me im cute....

[Crippling_Anxiety]

Well mine is crippling anxiety because I used to joke around that I was crippled by my anxiety whenever I was anxious (which is often).

[jkb4753]

just accept the compliment. you are adorable. we see you, and we think you are cute.
(i have never seen what you look like im going off description)

[Panqiuyan]

For me I just use my Chinese name because I hardly ever get to use it. My name is Pan Qiu Yan but people can't pronounce it right. plus I didn't want to use my English name because people made fun of my last name.

[azzy-m]

(Hello fellow Filipino lmao, I'm also victim of the mañana habit lmfao)

My name is basically just a shortened version of my old alias, Azure, combined with the first letter of my last name (the -m part). The "Azure" part was from a randomly generated username in a game I played as a kid called Growtopia. All of my usernames in my current accounts and even past accounts are all variations of it lol.

Azzybluu, Azzybluee, Azurebluuu, lalazure, _azzym.... they are all other ways to twist the word Azure.

[NickRowler]

Nick Rowler is a pen name but I prefer being called Nick over my real name.

I don't remember where it came from. I originally thought it came from "Rick Roller" but it predates the meme. The name was first used as a version of "John Doe" and in my older works, the name would pop up. I think I had a character who no one knew his name so everyone just called him "Nick B Rowler". I started using it as a username because it is usually available but dropped the "B" because I don't want people to call me "Browler".

[ReneVergence]

I use the name Rene Vergence. Rene means "rebirth" for my pursuit of art and writing, which are activities I love but don't do often because of dedicating time to other responsibilities or my own fear. Being able to pursue them feels freeing to me like a rebirth. (I'm honestly not sure if that's more romantic or cheesy.) Vergence is from "verge"/"convergence" since I started using the name for my comic which is merging together art and writing.

There's also Rene Nocte, which I created first but use specifically for posting dark art on instagram (at least currently). Nocte literally means "night" because it's for dark art. Very clever I know.

[sorin_gran]

I needed an english name... that's all.

[Lady_T_Musings]

idk, those are some pretty good alias names hahah!

[Legendofgenii]

‘Genii’ was taken already.

I wasn’t creative I just used my comic title.

[Fun-SizeMojo]

I have a cat that I adore named Mojo who was quite obese when we first adopted him (he has since become a more healthy weight), so we called him fun size!

[Vvu2X]

hey, im new to tapas so i think this is the best way to introduce my self, my penname is VVU2x .The VVU part is an abreviation for VivaVideo User, VivaVideo was a 5 dollar video editing software i had on my phone, i used it a lot back when i was 15, And the 2x part doesnt mean anything in particular, since its 2021,i decided to add 2x this year as a sign of a new, revamped, and updated me.

[Macarenaoftime]

A video

[MerrowBros]

Umm... It's just my last name and referencing the fact that I have a brother who also makes comics. This was supposed to be a joint account where we could both post our comics, but... he's slower than molasses going uphill when it comes to drawing. He colors my comic though, and that's collaborative enough for the username to make sense.

[skyfarron]

Yes, like Batman, sometimes it helps to take the name of the thing that makes you truly afraid.

[mcmx]

I've had my pen name for years - MCMX
lots of people think it's roman numerals or a date but it's actually a mix of initials and some of the letters stand for other words which I like. Even though it's hard to remember for others I've just kind of stuck with it and not cared to change it. I think the reason I still have it is because of what it represents for me and it's been a consistent thing I've been able to use to express myself . So yea probably didn't need to share my life story lol.