Persona names

[Ichabod Anderson]

Well, Ichabod came from a discussion with friends, about names that are uncommon in modern times. I was juggling between Boris, and Eddyson, but decided on something completely different.
 Anderson isn't that interesting, but the story is somewhat. I was sitting at my desk, wondering what would be a good last name. I wanted something intersting, something exotic, or archaic. But, just then, someone came up from downstairs where they were watching The Matrix, and opened the door, allowing me to hear what was happening. Due to the high volume, a loud voice shouted up the stairs, like the voice of God, "MR. ANDERSON'', before the door was once again shut, blocking the noise from down below. And that was how I decided.

[ClockworkToffer]

The name clockworkToffer encompasses quite a few things that I absolutely love. First, the clockwork reference is purely steampunk, though I absolutely love A Clockwork Orange, as well. Machinery. Time pieces. Yes yes, we all like those sorts of things. The word toffer is a Victorian slang work for a "superior prostitute". The combination, a machined prostitute is something that distinctly resonates with me. It is sexy, and though I love a good Victorian drama set to the ladies and gentlemen story... I love the idea of the intelligent and sophisticated high courtesan, knowing all of the shady secrets and understanding the true underbelly of a steampunk fashioned world.

I'm a class act, right?

[Torvald_Faust]

Anderson isn't that interesting, but the story is somewhat. I was sitting at my desk, wondering what would be a good last name. I wanted something intersting, something exotic, or archaic. But, just then, someone came up from downstairs where they were watching The Matrix, and opened the door, allowing me to hear what was happening. Due to the high volume, a loud voice shouted up the stairs, like the voice of God, "MR. ANDERSON'', before the door was once again shut, blocking the noise from down below. And that was how I decided.

That must be one of the, if not the most interesting stories about such a name I have heard

[EdwinJamesD]

I thought up me name meself. It just popped into me 'ead one day. I also go by Edge since that's what me first two initials spell. EJ. Actual James ain't me middle name, it is just a second part o' me first name. Me full name is Edwin James Polytetrabiphen Delford. quite obviously, me middle name is difficult for people to pronounce. so I never use it around others.

[OswaldBastable]

My favourite poet is Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

The Charge of the Light Brigade:

Half a league half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred:
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd & thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack & Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke,
Shatter'd & sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse & hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!

A most excellent choice sir, as you can see from my signature one of my favourites as well

[Pith_Helm]

Dr. Phineas Trippeswelle is a combination of a few things. Firstly, I chose Phineas because it's a great 19th Century name that's every hardly used anymore (it used be a running gag in a cartoon I used to draw in high school). And Trippeswelle because, truth be told, I'm an immense klutz. Trippeswelle = trips well. It's a name a friend of mine at work coined and I thought it worked pretty well.

[Mad Maudlin]

There's a famous song about an insane woman named Maudlin. Steeleye Span has a good version out under the title "Boys Of Bedlam".
My DnD char is called Vix. I have no idea where that came from. I have a sneaking suspicion it's something to do with the .flv download site vixy.
And I have a LotR fancharacter, an Orc, named Slaiug. It means "living", which is odd, but it's a direct translation of my "real" name.

[captainsmegma]

Since we're sharing favorite poems

Hurt Hawks (1938, I think)
Robinson Jeffers

 
     I

The broken pillar of the wing jags from the clotted shoulder,
The wing trails like a banner in defeat,

No more to use the sky forever but live with famine
And pain a few days: cat nor coyote
Will shorten the week of waiting for death, there is game without talons.

He stands under the oak-bush and waits
The lame feet of salvation; at night he remembers freedom
And flies in a dream, the dawns ruin it.

He is strong and pain is worse to the strong, incapacity is worse.
The curs of the day come and torment him
At distance, no one but death the redeemer will humble that head,

The intrepid readiness, the terrible eyes.
The wild God of the world is sometimes merciful to those
That ask mercy, not often to the arrogant.

You do not know him, you communal people, or you have forgotten him;
Intemperate and savage, the hawk remembers him;
Beautiful and wild, the hawks, and men that are dying, remember him.

II

I'd sooner, except the penalties, kill a man than a hawk;
but the great redtail
Had nothing left but unable misery
From the bone too shattered for mending, the wing that trailed under his talons when he moved.

We had fed him six weeks, I gave him freedom,
He wandered over the foreland hill and returned in the evening, asking for death,
Not like a beggar, still eyed with the old
Implacable arrogance.

I gave him the lead gift in the twilight.
What fell was relaxed, Owl-downy, soft feminine feathers; but what
Soared: the fierce rush: the night-herons by the flooded river cried fear at its rising
Before it was quite unsheathed from reality.

[Fyral]

so after months of debating and thinking about it I believe I have finally come up with a proper persona name... well more a title really since the local steampunk group doesn't really use persona names as much as we use titles with our real names. odd thing is the title should have been very obvious to me from the begining that being "brewmaster" or "the brewmaster" depending on context since well... thats my job in the local scene :p

[Mr. Sable]

I've been using this name for fourteen years now.  As many know me by that as my given one.

Initially I chose Mr. Sable because Mr. Black would be too obvious.  The word 'sable' came from 'The Encyclopedia of Forbidden Knowledge' and the word referred to the Dark Arts.  It sounds legit, because it is a real last name.  It was only years later that I learned it was a weasel or sand.    The contemporary Mr. Sable's first name is Warren.  Just to sound bland and legitimate.

I've gone to ridiculous effort to create some sort of elaborate lineage.  There is a 'Snakewhip' Sable, an adventurer active in the 1930's, and Augustus was his father.  So here I am Augustus Ernst Sable.  Ernst was my grandfather's name.  The story of the first name isn't near as good as Dr. Dayafter's, it just seemed period appropriate, maybe a bit flowery.  Though he was probably called either Augie in his youth and just by his last name later, as men tend to do to each other.  I figure he was named Augustus because he was born in August and because it's prophetic that he dies the last day in August.

Mr. Sable is no captain or aristocrat.  He's got no title or rank, though he had military training and had helped out in skirmishes and got into a few frays.

It seems some Steampunks and role players suffer from Klingon Syndrome, where each and every member of their society is a warrior.  No one engineered their ships or made their clothing, no one farmed their lands, no one cooks their food, or stamps their passports.  They're all just warriors.  Or Shirley Maclean Syndrome, where in all your past lives you were never less than someone famous, grand and important.

At least Steampunks realize a need for the builders and mechanics, doctors, scientists and such.  ...but there sure are a lot of captains.

So plain ol' Mister Sable suits me fine.  It was good enough for Spock.

[Sir Frederick]

Here is the story of how I came up with Sir Fredpod, I was round my m8s and I was listeing to my mp3 player, then my friends suggested we should all have nicknames, so my 1st friends became known as MoleMan (Jack), next is Smaadmin (Gary), then Jay (Jason), then WillakaMike (Michael) then came me, as I was listening to my mp3 Smaadmin (Gary) said we should call you <name>pod, but he didnt know what name so we wrote loads on some paper, toar it up then stuck it in a hat, I picked one out and it turned out to be FREDpod, then when I came to brassgoggles.co.uk, I wanted Fredpod to sound formal-ish so thats when I came up with Sir Fredpod 

[skidmarks]

my name refers to a fantasy F1 game that I used to run and has become my online persona. It has no connection with the Goons joke.

The only steampunk connection is that I asked Weta for it to be used to personalise my Unnatural Selector. 

I have a soft spot for most of Roger McGough's poem, but particularly like "You & I"

I explain quietly. You
hear me shouting. You
try a new tack. I
feel old wounds reopen.

You see both sides. I
see your blinkers. I
am placatory. You
sense a new selfishness.

I am a dove. You
recognize the hawk. You
offer an olive branch. I
feel the thorns.

You bleed. I
see crocodile tears. I
withdraw. You
reel from the impact.

[Dr_Gonzo_Esq]

Because Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is possibly one of the funniest, sharpest, most biting commentaries on life I've ever read.
Besides, put Hunter S. Thompson in a top hat, give him a monocle and let him loose in an opium den. Ta-da! Instant steampunk-esque madness (Although it does seem a little close to the latest interpretation of Sherlock Holmes...).

Favourite poem? Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven, by William Butler Yeats;

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

[Bernard Addlein]

Well, I have always that as the Name Bernard as a mechanic/Victorian name, and that is the blunt of what steampunk is Victorian Sci-fi.
The Name Addlein I got from the Some language with Lein meaning like Machine so I added the Add and then we have Addlein

[Vertiline_Cox]

I got mine from the Steampunk Name Generator... after going through all possible variations of my actual name (I didn't like Mildred)... My full persona name is The Baroness Vertiline Cox. Not quite sure what Vertiline means, but here is a definition of "Cox" that I like:

1) Form of COCK (little), -a term of endearment (i.e. WILLCOX, little Will), often used to denote a leader or chief man.

Therefore, Little Vertiline (Verd for short, Little Verd sounds so cute!)

[markf]

I got mine from the Steampunk Name Generator... after going through all possible variations of my actual name (I didn't like Mildred)... My full persona name is The Baroness Vertiline Cox. Not quite sure what Vertiline means, but here is a definition of "Cox" that I like:

1) Form of COCK (little), -a term of endearment (i.e. WILLCOX, little Will), often used to denote a leader or chief man.

Therefore, Little Vertiline (Verd for short, Little Verd sounds so cute!)

That's a really good period name for the period - unusual and interesting. markf

[Vertiline_Cox]

Why thank you! I always have to have some sort of unusual name, and Vertiline just sounds so pretty! I'm actually going to use my persona name on my business cards...

[Brightner]

A friend of mine told me that he wanted to make a steampunk outfit so I ended up looking into it and decided I would join him in his shenanigans. While I was lazing in my bed, thinking of ideas for an outfit... The first thing that came to mind was a lantern. This lantern is now going to be integral to my Persona. It was this that spawned the surname "Brightner" for me. I sat for a few more moments, thinking of a first name and "Nell" popped to mind, full name Eleanor Brightner. Even though I've only "had" this name for a few hours tops, I am completely enamoured with it and cannot wait to flesh the character out.

[Mr. Ethan Grammatikidis]

"Nell Brightner, Holder of The Lamp" sounds sweet.

Vertiline's mention of business cards reminds me of my former neighbour, a window cleaner by the name of Mills. I don't know if he ever roleplayed but he had an immensely silly sense of humour and would make business cards with made up names of varying degrees of sillyness. My favourite read "Kolly Kibber, camel importer and window cleaner, London, Cairo, Dubai." It's years old, and he would always give his real name to his clients, but to this day there's a little old lady who calls him Mr. Kibber.

While I'm posting I suppose I ought to talk about my name. It's my real name, but I chose to use it specifically rather than a persona name. My name all over the internet up to the time I signed up was "eekee," a name given to me IRL years before I had any contact with the internet. I thought "eekee" would never do for a community with much degree of Victorian sentiment unless I was to be a little mouse in the garden known only to the little girl, which is not the best role for a person of my age, gender, and living arrangements.

As it was, such a role never crossed my mind. I was simply fed up with being the eekee, the insignificant little squeaker, and wished to modify (but not remove) the implication that I am of profoundly excitable temperament. I first wondered what sort of name would a Victorian gentleman choose? Why, unless he were a pirate or a spy he would give his own right name. I am not well suited to either of those professions. Thinking it over I was surprised how well it suited. My surname is quite obviously Greek, and I don't think anyone will accuse me of racism if I say it is thus well suited to one of excitable temperament. ^_Q My given name is relatively individual as well as being ancient Hebrew by origin and Anglo-Saxon by modern use, appropriately hinting at my multicultural background and tastes. Then too there is the artistic sound of the name, which my father had just as well as I. Speaking to my father, an artistic friend once said (and I here spell his name by pronunciation): "DEE-nos Gra-ma-ti-KEE-dis, you ought to be a shipping magnate with a name like that!" I don't think my friend realised it, but the comment touched on my father's mostly-unfulfilled love for the sea, which I can re-write in persona to give him a history more suited to his passion.

And so here I am, thirty-five year old son of a shipping magnate, provided by inheritance with a modest independence, and exhibiting a shy exterior which hides a bold mixture of Hellenic and Saxon temperaments.

[xanthra]

It was "choose a different name day" many years ago : P
BTW Xanthra the Usurper is too long a user name on any forum I read ; (

[Miss Romwell]

Good day to you all!

I'm Miss Romwell, a name I use in various forms across t'internets, and which I've adopted as my steampunk persona name. It's originally from the (very dastardly) bad guy, Azura Romwell Jr, The Blue Devil of Maghreb, in a beautiful but hopelessly flawed shojo manga series called 'Gorgeous Carat', set in Fin De Siecle Paris.

I'm only a 'professional' Miss, though. ^_^

[Proff. Von Rook]

When we decided to make our group, we sat down and chatted about it.  We all wanted to help with each others outfits and gizmos and what-nots...  But, how to not double up?  It was then that we said, "You know, we're all gamers.  Why not just make characters, and as we flesh them out each will become unique and all that jazz..."  And so we did. 

I merged a name from our old Buffy the Vampire Slayer table-top game and a name from an old Exalted game. 
I am NOT really a professor...of anything other than "B.S."... 

I do study paranormal science and paranormal psychiatry, but only as a hobby.

So uhh...Hi!  And all...

[Ethan Blue]

It's been a long time nickname. Ethan is of course my real first name (sort of, it's what I go by because people can't pronounce Evstathious correctly... It says Ethan of my Driver's License) and I am not sure where the Blue came from. It has been appropriate on so many levels for so long, when I don't want to give out my real first name, I have never thought twice about using Blue as my handle.

[BrittleWrists]

I opted not to use my "Persona Name" as a screenname for this place, being that it's also my stage-name. But yeah, "Buckshot Billie." I mentioned it right under my avatar there.

The name didn't come to me as any sort of epiphany. On the contrary; I tried out ten million names and nothing seemed to fit. One thing was for certain, however: I wanted something melodramatic and befitting of an outlaw*. Something you'd see on an international WANTED poster in some campy, experimental sci-fi/western from the 70's. I also desired a bit of a departure from my real name. Thus, I thought. And I thought. And I thought. And I probably got up to pee at some point. And then I came back and thought some more.

Oscar Wilde and his circle have been my inspiration for countless art-pieces and writings, so I wanted to reference them, but not blatantly so. I chose "Billie" after Willie Wilde, Oscar's older brother. He was a decent guy with a needlessly rotten reputation, and because of that, he fascinates me. Also, on a much more superficial note, he's my "historical lookalike." So, that's wherefrom "Billie" originated.

The "Buckshot" part is a little more convoluted. My friend does this thing for her RP characters that she calls "the Punk Rock Name Generator." She takes a character's name, then puts a "hardcore" word after it that starts with the same letter-sound. I have a huge penchant for alliterations, so I did something similar. I considered "Bullet" and "Blue-Blood," but found them to be ugly-sounding (too many L's). I eventually went with "Buckshot" because it's a manly word. The heavy vowel sounds and the taut consonants make it feel like a cannonball to the gut.

There you have it. A little historical inspiration, ironic punk stupidity, some good old fashion think-time, and Bob's your uncle.



*Anyone could tell solely from looking at my facial hair that I'm "The Villain."

[Elizabeth Boswell]

Mine is a family name.

It was my grandmother and great grandmothers full names.. and previous to that many other relatives had the name going back through time. (and Elizabeth is also my middle name).

I feel rather boring not having some fabulous story of how I came to acquire the persona.

But for me - it has personal meaning, as well as sounding quite fitting within the genre.