We're always interested to hear how you came up with your name for the forum so let us know!
My sister and I give each other a new nickname almost with every breath; even if they sound nothing like our name. One of my major ones is "Micki or Mick" and so she started saying "Micki Moose." My husband picked it up because I call him Brown Bear (a different story) and so we became "Moose and Brown Bear." We started buying moose and bear paraphernalia. I eventually went by "MooseMan7" on many forums but figured it'd be misleading here because I'm a woman. I just happen to be a woman who calls everyone dude, guys, bros, or man. It's just my vernacular. So I went with Moose7 especially because it's vague enough to not give away anything specific but it still honors a bit my of identity. 7 is one of my favorite numbers; it is the number of "completion" in many spiritual practices.
I use mael because its short and easy ,i struggle saying my real name and because i'm dyslexic i spell it wrong alot of the time.
Hello, all. My name is one I used back when I was a teenager (20 years ago, when AOL was my social stomping grounds) and it's also the one I've been most embarrassed about, so I decided to bring it back. There's an inner child of some form or other in me who needs a voice and this is the first place i reckon I'll find safety and commaraderie for her.
Okay, I'm new here and I'm finding it really difficult to introduce myself somehow. Well, I never was supposed to speak about any of this of course. So, I'll start with 'what's in an name?'. I chose Desert Flower because I'm trying to blossom while I grew up in such a barren place. I just need a little water every now and then. And I'll be fine hopefully. I've been holding back the tears for so long, I can't believe it. Sometimes I just can't believe I'm still here, I'm still standing (sort of). It's been so rough and lonely. I'm just so glad you're here and I'm not alone with this anymore.
Quote from: Moose7 on June 10, 2024, 02:42:55 AMMy sister and I give each other a new nickname almost with every breath; even if they sound nothing like our name. One of my major ones is "Micki or Mick" and so she started saying "Micki Moose." My husband picked it up because I call him Brown Bear (a different story) and so we became "Moose and Brown Bear." We started buying moose and bear paraphernalia. I eventually went by "MooseMan7" on many forums but figured it'd be misleading here because I'm a woman. I just happen to be a woman who calls everyone dude, guys, bros, or man. It's just my vernacular. So I went with Moose7 especially because it's vague enough to not give away anything specific but it still honors a bit my of identity. 7 is one of my favorite numbers; it is the number of "completion" in many spiritual practices.
Love your name Moose! Moose is also the name of my favorite tattoo artist, tattoos being one of the ways I've tried dealing with myself or with my CPTSD as it turns out. So Moose has a very good vibe to me. Also like the 7/completion part. We'll get there!
I hadn't taken much time to think about mine. When I saw the box "username", I looked out my window at the big tree outside my house. I though of all the times on walks when I find myself sitting under a big shady tree and how it feels like a loving embrace from the planet to be carefully obscured from the suns harsh rays. It felt like a nice thing to be, and I guess I hope to be like a big shady tree.
Love the names you all picked :thumbup:
I actually found it really hard to choose a name. I started with just my letter - which I sometimes use - but that was taken. I added the question mark because genuine identity is hard. Identity is who I need to be and what I need to do to feel safe and hold life intact...in this 5 minutes...to be adjusted at any moment. It's strange to be posting somewhere that other people might relate.
I have used much of my learned behaviour as superpowers. I had to clean house and bring up my siblings from the age of 6 so as an adult my career was cooking, cleaning, childminding and being hyper aware of others is brilliant in retail I can sense others needs and moods.
Although it can be emotionally draining and exhausting it's also extremely useful I the right place.
Hypervigilant - I love the way you explain how you use what you've learnt as a superpower - even though it's hard. I feel encouraged when I see your courage :cheer:
Like someone else shared, I really struggled to come up with a name .... I stared at the thing for a loooooong time
After staring for a while, for some reason the saying "not all who wander are lost" came to me because more recently I seem to be doing a lot of wandering. Right now in my wander I am feeling a bit lost/turned around though
So yeah, that's where my name came from
Hi Lostwanderer, I like your name and I can relate. Lately, in my mind something has shifted, which is a good thing overall I think, but now I kinda feel like I lost my ground (even if that ground was not all that healthy). I'll start another thread about this. So I feel like I'm also kinda wandering/lost.
Hi Everyone,
I saw this thread when I was having a look around before becoming a member, so that's how I picked my name. The full quote, if you're curious is "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
I always liked the idea that a label isn't what gives a thing its meaning, meaning comes from the qualities a thing possesses. And of course in the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet are saying this because they don't want to be defined or bound by the families they came from, which is a sentiment I'm sure many of us survivors know well.
You can call me Rose for short.
Sending warmth to you all
That's a great name Rose and I like what you're saying about qualities instead of labels and of course not wanting to be bound by our families. Warm wishes.
I chose my name because Fozzie is a muppet and the muppets remind me to say yes to silly stuff. It is a gentle reminder to lighten up when I can.
I am 55 years old, so Fozzie55 felt right.
Animal is my favorite muppet but Fozzie felt softer and happier!
Very nice Fozzie! And welcome to the forum.
Hello. I'm new here.
I first tried using "blueberry" for my username, but it was already taken. Then I thought of using "blackbird." But both of those terms come from names/nicknames my childhood family gave or called me when I was young.
Then I thought using something that better represents me now was a better idea. "Azul" is blue in Spanish. I am 1/2 Cuban and deep, dark blue has always been my favorite color. I find it soothing.
Quote from: Azul on November 14, 2024, 12:47:26 AMHello. I'm new here.
I first tried using "blueberry" for my username, but it was already taken. Then I thought of using "blackbird." But both of those terms come from names/nicknames my childhood family gave or called me when I was young.
Then I thought using something that better represents me now was a better idea. "Azul" is blue in Spanish. I am 1/2 Cuban and deep, dark blue has always been my favorite color. I find it soothing.
Azul is a nice name, seems very personal to you - it's fitting. I also like Azure, Cobalt, Sapphire, Navy, and Cerulean as some blue names. :)
Regards,
Aphotic.
I find nicknames quite personalised and precious to me. Family ones especially which have been there for life. Picture a friend of yours using a family nickname, just feels weird right ahha
hello!
very new here and sending love to everyone in their healing!
my name, i was surprised was not taken, is the archetype i closely fall into in the cast of characters children raised by narcissists/addicts/etc. this is where the C-PTSD came from (my cluster B mother) so it felt suitable for a name on a forum where these types of things will be discussed :)
thanks for existing!!
Welcome to the forum, s-goat! :heythere:
I can understand you choosing that name, but I find I don't want to write it out and I especially don't want to call you by it. There is a reason behind that. My previous trauma therapist, unfortunately now retired, cautioned me not to repeat in full words that "I'm the FOO s-goat". When I write s-goat, I think of a goat, see a picture of a goat in my mind's eye, which is fine. If I were to write the word out, I'd connect in my head and feelings with FOO. I wouldn't see a goat, I'd be swamped with feelings of FOO.
Apart from my writing the above, which is maybe not very welcoming or appropriate, this is a very supportive forum with tons of information and experience. I hope you feel supported here.
I spent a lot of time alone as a kid. My parents or my sibling didn't spend time with me. I was isolated on a farm 10 miles from nowhere. But in the spring, summer and fall there were tons of birds singing in the trees outside my bedroom window. Also, I am a singer which makes birds, especially owls, a sort of mascot for me. Lately though I feel more like birdseed hence the name.
I just found this thread and it´s really nice to read all the backstory about our nicknames. :) I chose my name because at the time I joined this forum, I was reading Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. The novel, just as her other ones, resonated with me very much. Woolf´s writing is deeply touching and lyrical. She can express the existential pain her characters are suffering from with only a few words. She became one of my favorite writers and Mrs Dalloway one of my favorite book characters. Also, Virginia Woolf struggled with depression most of her life, which made her stories and characters so heartbreakingly real.
we put this name (Asdis) together while researching Old Norse. we then found out it's already an Icelandic name. the first part "Ás" is Old Norse for "god" and "dís" is Old Norse for "goddess". we like the name because we have a very large system and have many different genders within and it's one of the few names that feels like it can encapsulate all of us.
Quote from: asdis on May 10, 2025, 08:55:13 PMwe put this name (Asdis) together while researching Old Norse. we then found out it's already an Icelandic name. the first part "Ás" is Old Norse for "god" and "dís" is Old Norse for "goddess". we like the name because we have a very large system and have many different genders within and it's one of the few names that feels like it can encapsulate all of us.
Hi Asdis,
I'm glad you found a name that fits all of you. That's very nice and important too.
A warm welcome to you.
Desert Flower
As is the case with many stories, mine is a strange one. My CPTSD is derived from childhood trauma, but intensely worsened by my time in law enforcement. I worked undercover in narcotics investigations and my undercover identity was "Jack Evans". Whenever I trigger, dissociate, experience what I call a "white out", or become irrationally angry, I call that version of myself "Jack Evans" to distinguish the "monster" from the real "me". Sort of like a Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde type arrangement. The guilt of my reactions is easier to deal with when I see the actor as a different person.
Quote from: Jack Evans on May 11, 2025, 07:18:33 PMAs is the case with many stories, mine is a strange one. My CPTSD is derived from childhood trauma, but intensely worsened by my time in law enforcement. I worked undercover in narcotics investigations and my undercover identity was "Jack Evans". Whenever I trigger, dissociate, experience what I call a "white out", or become irrationally angry, I call that version of myself "Jack Evans" to distinguish the "monster" from the real "me". Sort of like a Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde type arrangement. The guilt of my reactions is easier to deal with when I see the actor as a different person.
Welcome Jack Evans, and all your characteristics that may not be 'nice' but were/are necessary nonetheless and who are allowed to be here and be who they are too.
DF
Welcome to the forum Jack, that's really interesting. I don't think we've had a story about a pseudonym quite like this before. I can see how it would help you help you to deal with parts of you you'd rather not have. Just my thoughts of course but I think it's important to acknowledge those parts because they do contribute to the whole of who we are as people and maybe yours are angry for very good reason; that is, your abuse/neglect. I believe we deserve and need to be angry, afterall things were done to us that should never have been done. When we stuff it down it finds a way or ways to seep out so best to let it out, maybe not all at once but in bits to defuel it. This is where having a therapist to guide you through this is helpful. Again, just my thoughts.
Perhaps you could tell us a bit more about yourself in the Introduction section?
Hi all. I'm new, but thought I'd stop here before I introduce myself proper to shake off some newcomer jitters...
I picked windsor_hum because I'd just finished a deep dive into the "hum" phenomenon. Someone interviewed about it described it as feeling like a pit opened up in their chest every time they heard it, and that really stuck with me. I picked the Windsor Hum in particular because in the end, it was sourced to a real cause (a factory); I guess I found it comforting to think that something that could unsettle someone viscerally for so long could one day be resolved just like *snap* that.
Maybe a bit of a weird conclusion to pull from all that - but it ended up being the push I needed to actually sign up. ;D
Thank you both for your replies. I would be happy to introduce myself in the new member section. This feels like a good space.
Amazing back stories here for everyone's names!
I chose Marcine because it is the name of one of my ancestors, 5 generations back, who emigrated from Hamburg to Quebec in 1863. She got on a sailboat with her elderly parents, husband and their 3 month old daughter for what surely was a harrowing trip across the North Atlantic.
The family originally lived in West Prussia/Poland and settled in central Wisconsin.
I only found this family history out very recently through my own research. No one ever talked to me about this remarkable, ancestral courage.
Shame was the muzzle.
So choosing this name connects me to Marcine's courage to make a better life for herself and her parents and infant. Without that choice, I probably wouldn't be here today.
I'm paranoid. I don't want the things I say here to be easily linked to me, both because I don't want to give people the opportunity to weaponize it against me, and because I don't want that worry to keep me from opening up here.