What is in a name?
By celticeagle
@celticeagle (189793)
Boise, Idaho
June 25, 2012 8:51pm CST
I actually use two names online. Back about ten years ago when I was on AOL exclusively I kept getting hacked into and they were using my name to send out mass mailing and charge things. So I decided on another name and started using it. It worked because it was a fake name, not really mine so if someone used it it would be fake anyway. So, now I go on Facebook about three years ago I guess and am trying to decide how to do it on there. Real name, fake name? I put one on and then the other in perenthesis thinking most people online new me with my fake name. Then I changed my mind and wanted to use my real name and put the other in perenthesis. Ugh! Now I can't change it. My own fault but still it is confusing for people. I even had one guy on a social networking site think I was commiting a fraud because I was using the other name. (It took me a while to feel comfortable using my name again and it had become quite a habit using the other name.) And I found out that in gypsy families they actually have three names. One is the family name, one is a secret name know only to a very few and one is the tribe name for them. Talk about confusing.
So which is worse: the fraud that people were trying to commit against me or the two names I have gotten used to using online? It was only about a year ago that I realized I still had this other name and decided to go back to my real name. Your thoughts.
So which is worse: the fraud that people were trying to commit against me or the two names I have gotten used to using online? It was only about a year ago that I realized I still had this other name and decided to go back to my real name. Your thoughts.4 people like this
8 responses
@allyoftherain (7208)
• United States
26 Jun 12
Well it would be fraud if you were like, applying for credit cards with it or something. I don't know, something where you were pretending to be someone you're not which was like really official. If it's just an alias you use on online sites, I'd say it's just keeping things private! I didn't like using my real name on facebook and having everyone be able to find me through my real name, but I just up and deleted my facebook rather than play charades. 
2 people like this
@celticeagle (189793)
• Boise, Idaho
26 Jun 12
I just have my BFF and alot of her family on FB so I went back and forth about whether to use my real name or go with the alias. Some people are just paranoid and want to think the worst I think.
2 people like this
@allyoftherain (7208)
• United States
26 Jun 12
I might be one of those paranoid people you're talking about. 
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
26 Jun 12
I really do not think you are committing fraud. It is good to keep a little bit of privacy. I am certainly not named GardenGerty in real life. I make no secret of the fact that is like a stage name. You do what feels right for you.
2 people like this
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
26 Jun 12
I would definitely agree with the words of dear GG - You do what feels right for you - MyLot is a place where people are honest and the ones who arent get caught soon.
Cilticeagle - You with 17k+ posts here definitely says a lot about you being an honest person
Cilticeagle - You with 17k+ posts here definitely says a lot about you being an honest person1 person likes this
@celticeagle (189793)
• Boise, Idaho
27 Jun 12
How does how many posts I have say anything about my honesty?
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
26 Jun 12
it is not fraud, actors use stage names, authors write under pseudonyms, and online site accept different names. I have two I have winterose an and my real name which I use for my professional writing.
2 people like this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
26 Jun 12
one of my favorite authors as a teenager, Taylor Caldwell, went by several pennames.
I know a few of my writer friends today that are using pennames,
Ann Landers real name is Esther Pauline Friedman
Ayn Rand is Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum
here is a good one a columnist for daily mirror was a man,William Connor who went by Cassandra
Dr. Seuss is really Theodor Seuss Geisel
Ellery Queen is two different people by the name of Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee
George Orwell is Eric Arthur Blair
you can see the full list I found here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pen_names
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (189793)
• Boise, Idaho
26 Jun 12
Oh, cool thanks. And Anne RIce and Stephan King both had pen names. Maybe it says something about my future. Hehe
@celticeagle (189793)
• Boise, Idaho
26 Jun 12
Really. ALthough mine isn't a username like 'winterose' I do see your point. I always explain the other name and some understand and some don't. Weird.
2 people like this
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
26 Jun 12
Hi celtic, I also have aliases, except in a way, it really is my real name. See I took my real name and found what it means in a different language, so in Israel, my real name would be Carmela or Nirel. Plus I am thinking of using one of my Hebrew names for my book, because though when published, it will be very public, my husband has me terrified of putting my real name online.
I don't think it is fraud, but on my FB, I have my foreign name first, and then my real first and last name..
1 person likes this
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
27 Jun 12
Well, to tell you the truth, when it comes to online sites, it really isn't anyone's business what your real name is until you become closer. I mean I have people both here and on FB who are not anyone I personally know, and I can even say some have requested me only so they can get a high count friend list, so why would I want a complete stranger, who has no interest in who I am, to know what my real name is? Now if I communicate with someone for a long time and have become close, I do tell them, but other than that, I don't feel it is their business..
@celticeagle (189793)
• Boise, Idaho
28 Jun 12
I do the same thing. I changed my name way back so that the cheaters who were using my name for these mass mailings and such wouldn't use my real name. I just got used to using the other name and then when I went to FB I couldn't decide how I wanted to work it there.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (189793)
• Boise, Idaho
27 Jun 12
What you write here is why I wrote about the gypsies and their three names. I thought it was very interesting. The guy I befriended thought it was fraud against him. Like I was lying to him.
1 person likes this
@blue65packer (11826)
• United States
26 Jun 12
I think people need to mind their own business! You are not commiting fraud and you should be able to use any name you want to. Real or not! You aren't hurting anyone! I don't use my real name on Mylot. Of course alot of people don't! I decided on my name because my favorite color is blue. 65 is the the number of my all time favorite NFL player. Packer comes from my favorite NFL team. Anyway I am on Facebook and use my real name. Most of my friends do also. I have two friends who use different last names then their real ones. They do this to aviod relatives finding them! Not sure if it really has worked! A few added their nicknames to their real names.
2 people like this
@celticeagle (189793)
• Boise, Idaho
26 Jun 12
I think so too. I use a username on sites like this but the two names are actual names not surname and name. One is mine and the other my great grandmothers. I love her name. It is very old fahsioned. I think this guy thinking I was being fraudulent with him says alot about his whole persona. He turned out to be pretty weird when I got to know him better. I was just trying to be straight but and honest with him.
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
26 Jun 12
Hi celticeagle
Your having two or more names on the Internet cannot be fraud - as I feel the way you interact and use the names determines whether you are into fraudulent things or not.
People would always be people and as there is always good and bad, so are the people. Some who try to use your name and commit the fraud, they will do it even if you have only one name all over the Internet. So it is quite unadvisable to think and care about these people.
My own fault but still it is confusing for people
Your mentioning this is surely enough to make me believe that you are not any fraud, maybe a victim.
@celticeagle (189793)
• Boise, Idaho
27 Jun 12
I was a victim and I chose a route so it wouldn't happen again.
@vidhyaprakash_2 (7116)
• India
26 Jun 12
Hi friend, i am using my real name in online sites, i am not interested in using a fake name. In your case, there is nothing wrong in using a fake name, as you mentioned you account is hacked while using your real name, so only you used the fake name for your safety.
1 person likes this
