how did you get your name

[Oni]

As in your Online handle or nick name. How you got your birth name is easy. LOL.
But how did you get your online handle or nickname.

[Taylor-MadeAK]

Taylor-Made?  Brother-in-law gave it to me, actually.  He used to crack jokes about how wicked-strong I make my coffee, in the vein of "It's not just coffee, it's Taylor-Made!"  Of course, my last name being Taylor lends itself to that sort of joke (but it's still better than McHugh!).  When I started homebrewing beer and wanted to create a web site about my hobby, the name once again presented itself as reasonable both for a domain name and a brewery name.  Obviously, most forms of "taylor-made.###" domain names were taken, so I went with taylor-madeak with .org because it's not, nor will it ever be, a commercial site.

I have a couple other online handles, but they're falling into disuse these days.

[Zev The Dog]

My hebrew name is Zev Sheleg Nekama ben Avram but I figured using the whole name was too wordy...and pretentious 

and I've been known as a dog my entire life...ask my ex *cymbal smash!*

[Rachael]

It's my name.

[Im1ru1]

I've used this handle for AT LEAST 15 years now, I came up with it in a particularly lucid moment one night after drinking most of a bottle of Jagermeister.  I like the simplicity and at the same time the universality of it.  Think of it this way---I am one, are you one...well of course you are, just perhaps not the same "one" that I am...*LOL*

[Rosa D.]

I used to use silly made up names, but my shortened name works. I really like the name "Rosa" anyways, it's just too cute and pretty for someone like me. 

[lazydullard]

it represents the most powerful epitome of my lifetime.. that it's okay to be lazy and dumb if it makes you happy!

plus, i wanted a name that would be unique across all domains. it's been like what.. 4 or 5 years that i've had this name? haven't run into duplicates yet.

[Eternimus]

I took the words "eternal" (limitless, without end) and "terminus" (limited, a boundary marking) to make a bit of a oxymoron-based user ID with which I could spread across the net like a horrible plague, from looking at a 1 dollar bill and thinking of something that sounded like e pluribus unum. In a brief moment of dyslexia I accidentally switched the "n" and "m" and decided it was fine.

[PhoenixRising]

my favorite mystical creature is the phoenix. nuff said.

[Goman Fox]

I'd like to point out that sometimes your real name origins aren't simple, and can be interesting.

Anyways, my online name, Goman Fox.  Back in middle school, I got sucked into a huge time-wasting hobby, playing on MUDs.  Found one in particular (Lensmoor) that became my favorite and ended up sticking with for a few years.  My main character there used the name Gomamon (Yeah, I had a Digimon obsession at the time, and he was the cutest :3) for a few years until the day someone decided they didn't like me and reported me to the people in charge of the MUD that I was using a name that violated name rules (which generally exclude names of famous people and fictional characters).

I had to pick a new name for my character and the first thing that came to mind was a typo that someone made when referring to me a few weeks before that, 'Goman.'  Little did I know at the time that "goman" still broke the name rules, since words in other languages weren't allowed either and "goman" is Japanese for 50,000.   But anyways, I used that name on the MUD for a while, so it sorta stuck.

The "Fox" part of the name came when I discovered furries and 'decided' I was a fox.  Yeah, really, just that simple.  I've used "Goman Fox" for probably 7-8 years now and I don't see myself changing it any time soon.

[Wiley]

My nickname came about during middle school. My last name is Weiland (pronounced "Y-land", not "Wee-land"...crazy German pronunciations...) and evidently the first thing that came to most of my classmates' (and teachers) minds is "Wiley."

This obviously wouldn't be something new in the family--my dad's got the same nickname...for the same reason.

[Frankie87]

My real name is Frances and recently, my best friend's mom started calling me Frankie. I like it because at times, it confuses people about what my gender is. 

[akguy34]

My name's Joshua and I got it because of the Dolly Parton song "Joshua" it reminded my mom about how her and my father met a big guy in a little shack with a big bushy beard and a big black dog that hated her

[Reythefox]

Mines simple, My names Rey, I'm a fox.
Although my full name happens to be Reynaldo.
Its Mexican D:
It means council to the king

[Rake]

Well.  My original handle, long ago and far away, is often taken, and wasn't an identity I wished to express here, in any case.  So I had to choose a new one, for here.  A combination of part of the name of my favorite character in my latest fantasy series and an archaic descriptive of my persona, "Rake" seemed a reasonable fit for me here.

Yrs,

Rake.

PS: The fantasy series is The Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, and the character is Anomander Rake, the Lord of Moon's Spawn and Knight of High House Dark, Son of Darkness, etc.