What's in a name?

 

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

What IS in a name?

When we are born, we are given a name by which we are identified. It doesn’t dictate who we are, what we think, or how we behave. It’s not like the title of a book that describes the adventures within. It’s just a name, given to us before we even have a chance to figure out who we are. 

If you are a woman and marry, your last name changes to that of your husband, joining you in his family tree. Still, it does not define who you are but more so to whom you belong.

The digital age has changed the entire name game. People choose who they want to be known as online, often choosing something that defines who they see themselves as. Now it is common to even go by this online persona in real life with those who connect closely both online and offline. For our generation, it’s easy to go by these pseudonyms.

A while back while playing FFXI I made a character named Araili. An Elven girl who had the worst adventuring luck. I based the name on the word Awry. I feel that sums me up perfectly. For me, things always seem to go awry. I loved this online name that when I started playing FFXIV, I named my character Aralina Araili. I’ve made several friends over the years using this online name, many of whom call me by my real-life first name. I even met my love in this game.

Having just married my sweet husband, I have been rebranding myself in a sort. I have full intentions of taking his real-life last name Cline. I feel my story as McBay is over and I have changed so much from who I was when I took that name. I will also be taking my husband’s in-game name as well. I have merged our gamer names and my online presence will now be Araili WIlde, as evidenced by the change on my website here. I do believe I may use this as my pen name as well later down the line.

Honestly, I’m rather in love with the new name. What do you think?

I have already made the changes to the website and most of my social media pages. This weekend I made the change on my FFXIV character. I want the world to know I belong with him, always, heart and soul, and that he is now a part of who I am.

Online names are a way we describe ourselves to the world, like the title of a book. It’s always interesting to hear how people come up with their online names. Do you go by an online name? Let me know how you came up with that name in the comments section!