Such wonderful 'background' stories, makes me look at our user names and avatars in a whole new way.
Like many others, I was hesitant to use my real name on line. I chose merwoman since I swim regularly and love the water. Thought about mermaid...but the maid part didn't fit, and merwoman had a nice resonance to it. My real name is Susan, friends know me as Sue.
My avatar is a photo I took of one of my orchids in bloom. I've collected several over the years, love how they stay in bloom for such a long period of time. Thought about switching it up, just too lazy

Greenjeans is a play on the song title, Greensleeves. I like old-timey, romantic things but aim to not take myself too seriously, so Greenjeans instead of Greensleeves. Also, I aspire to own a pair of green jeans. Also, Mr. Greenjeans was a character on the American TV show for kids, Captain Kangaroo, and I always like its sound.

My avatar is a picture of two of the loves of my life, my cocker spaniels Cosmo Edward and Callie Ann. They are actual brother and sister, they have the same parents but are from different litters. My real name is Karen, Karie is a nickname (usually Karie Sue, which included my middle name) that both my father and my best friend used to call me.

I find it interesting that so many people were scared of using their real first names. I guess I don't have that big an Internet presence as I've chosen not to use Facebook or Linked In. I've got almost all the jobs I've ever wanted without Linked In. I haven't told you my surname but maybe I'm naive about how easy it would be to find it out. Anyway I'm not writing anything on here I'm ashamed of and I'm doing it from home. If work colleagues knew they'd probably just roll their eyes anyway that I'm going on about my shoes, yet again!
It has been a great thread to read and learn how people chose their names and avatars.

My name is Carla, however there was a Carla posting when I joined. I go by Runcarla like 'run Forest! ' from the movie Forest Gump, and because I have been a runner since I was 13 and fitness activities are a big part of who I am.

This is an early selfie attempt. My hair has always curled this way and I heard this rhyme all the time as a child:

There was a little girl,
who had a little curl,
right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
she was very, very good,
And when she was bad she was horrid!

This is such a fun thread!

Maneera is my real name. It's not a common name, because it doesn't mean anything. My parents combined the first few syllables of their names and created Maneera. I don't know any other Maneera's. Do any of you? Maybe it means something in another language?

These days, no one calls me Maneera. My sister always called me Manny, and when I met my husband, he started calling me Manny too. All our friends now call me Manny. Back in school & college, all my friends called me Maneera. These days I'm taken by surprise if I'm called anything other than Manny --- I think I'm rather used to it now!

PS: I always introduce myself as Maneera to anyone new I meet, though.

The picture is of me, taken a couple years back at a friend's bday party.

In case you're a newer forum member, here is a piece of history for you: it used to be true that only one forum member could hold the same forum name at any one time. Only one April, only one Sam, etc.

We didn't have avatar pictures in those days, as I recall, so having more than one person with the same name would have been quite confusing.

When Greg changed the rules, I remember asking something like, "So, there could be six Angies on the forum?" And the answer was "Yes." It's a little hard to remember now, but I remember some of us finding it quite disconcerting.

My name is Dianne and my photo is one of me holding my sweet little Cavalier King Charlies Spaniel, Charlie. The photo is at least 10 years old, as you can tell by my very dated glasses, and sadly we just lost our little Charlie this past Christmas at the age of 16.5 years.

Maneera, I have a made-up name, too. My mother wanted to name me Nell, but my father decided to put "Re" in the front and "e" at the end to make Renelle. As far as I know, it doesn't mean anything, at least not in our family. I like my name, though.

Renelle is not a common name, but it does exist. Maybe it has a certain meaning to those women.

My avatar is a photo I created for job interviews in my new city --- It represents a new me, except for the hair, which I don't like!

My parents wanted a name without a nickname; that, along with the length of my maiden name, "Eikenberry" made Elizabeth out of the question. My family still calls me "Beth," but in college, I began adding in my middle name, Ann, as I found that people seemed to struggle to remember a short, one syllable name. I made it to adulthood without a nickname, unless you count my father calling me, "Punky," which he still does. And then, there was the kid in 6th grade who riffed on "Eikenberry" with, "I can bury you if you give me a shovel!" That, at least, was clever!

When I was a child, Angie, I used to introduce myself regularly as "Angelique." In kindergarten, I used to run home to have my grilled cheese and tomato soup lunch in front of the TV. I loved to watch the original vampire series: Dark Shadows, and the most glamorous (and conniving) of the characters was the vampiress, Angelique. For over a year, I would announce myself with her crisp British accent and slightly creepy smile.

So um, my name is Dana. I think I thought my avatar name was going to be something else, but I must have misread the registration form. Just as well...I pretty much only identify as Dana. As a really little girl, my dad called me Peachie and does on occasion (which I like) but no one else has, ever. In HS a few friends called me Dane, but it never really stuck.

My photo is a professional one I had taken in 2012. It is my best picture of all time, so I'll probably be using it when I'm 90, lol! Oh, I wear glasses, but since I've worn them since I was 9 years old, I've only had a couple of pairs I really like, so I rarely wear them in pics. (I'm super picky--I could scour the word to find the perfect pair, but typically just settle after scouring Denver.)

I love the name Isabelle/Isabella (any forum members out there with that name? Your name is beautiful!), so years ago, I started using it as a name in the virtual world (anyone remember dial-up connections and icq? - yeah, that long ago). Somewhere along the line, it morphed into bella. I was unhappy with it for a while when Twilight was all the rage, so I am really glad that fad is over.

There are I would guess only a couple of people on the forum who know/remember my real name, perhaps those who met me in person. It is same as a US name of French origin, which is used as a man's or woman's name, or a last name, but my name is pronounced very differently. I prefer not to use it online though. It is distinct enough that with only one more bit of information about me it would be very easy to track me down.

My picture is from a photoshoot on my son's first birthday in 2015. I don't post wiw pictures anymore (haven't figured out the right set up yet), but the veterans will remember that sunglasses are a part of my signature style.

What a fun thread! Sara is my real name and there were already Sara's on the forum at the time so I just added my last initial. Not very original. Sara is very common for my age and there were always several Sara's (or Sarah's) in my classes in school.

My avatar picture is a pair of cage sandals that I wore once with rolled jeans and trouser socks. I thought it was a fun look so took a picture. I remember not really liking the rest of the outfit and never putting this look together again.

My avatar name is very straight forward....it's just my real first name and the initial of my last name. The photo is a selfie I did a couple of years ago.

It has been fun reading everyone's post. I have a unique name - think "Cher" "Madonnaa" "Prince" etc and I work in a confidential profession, thus for privacy and confidentiality reasons I have used mtnsofthemoon for over 25 years (I also feed awkward talking about myself). It's a code name my DH gave me which is an homage to my backside (his fav part of my physique) ;-). My photo represents our passion for travel. Since I have used this for so long it actually feels like a part of me and who I am.

Dianne's beautiful spaniel! Sorry to hear he's not with you anymore.

Thank you UmmLila, he was a very special little dog and we miss him dearly.

Avatar: a purple studded cuff from Eddie Borgo. I got it at Holt Renfrew in Vancouver BC. My style used to be edgier, and Angie politely told me I needed an picture. For my first year or so I didn't show my face, so this worked. Though the picture is a bit fuzzy.
Username: I joined around the time April mentioned when only one name could be used. Anna was already taken. So I defaulted to an old Yahoo! chat login. I used to sail & even briefly taught sailing in college. Gybe is the British spelling of jibe, which is to turn downwind. I decided to go with the British spelling, because fancy.
I thought about changing my user name because of gossip elsewhere on the web. But part of me thinks screw 'em.
Real name: Anna

Momo is the name a sweet little boy calls me and It makes me smile .

My real name is Monir

I am very proud to be name after this amazing lady and an old family friend!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik.....anfarmaian

Such a fun thread!

Marianna is my real name. My username used to have a capitalized M but a few years ago I went lower-case (not even sure why!)

The picture represents my favorite shoe style - flats!

My user name is my beautiful naughty torty cat who is the most exquisite chocolate colour, and I later added cat because it probably sounded like it was more Chanel inspired, which it wasn't.

My avatar seems to describe me and my life over the past 15 years....leaping into the unknown. I made a huge life change when I turned 40 and since then, there have been many, many leaps....often frightening....but also exhilarating.

I hope I'm not too late to this fun thread! So many interesting stories and insights. My user name is my actual first name. I tend to be a straight-forward person, so using my real name - straight and to the point - is logical to me. My picture is one that I took several years ago in the Boston Public Gardens. The tulips were so lovely that year, and they are one of my favorite flowers. Boston is one of my favorite cities because it reminds me of the time I've spent in European cities.

I'm still reading This thread is so entertaining. There's much to a name!

Jamie - I love tulips too, so much so that I've ordered this tee. I have terrible luck with j crew. It just doesn't seem to work for me, so not holding out high hopes.

This was wonderful to read! I have wondered a lot about the names and stories... I have learned so much! How unexpected that Joy is actually Ruth and Echo is actually Echo! (I have a sudden wish that Echo was MY name because it is awesome!) I also love those who have stories and double meaning as well as those who simply used their names!

As others have mentioned, those of us with more common names have had to get a little creative. (On a side note, I find it interesting how others have described the timing of their names with the trends. I've noticed that I'm at least 5 years older than most of the other Sarahs/Saras I have met). Anyway, I knew that "Sarah" was not going to fly, and was puzzling over how to make it more unique when my first WIW post garnered tons of comments on my hair. In describing my hair evolution, I explained how I changed my look to platinum after my daughter died of cancer. My husband and son said that I was like Gandalf the Grey who fought the most desperate battle of his life and emerged forever changed as Gandalf the White. And so I was dubbed by my family "Sarah the White". This seemed an appropriate place to take on that name. In so many ways, in both hair and clothing, my style journey has reflected this sense of having become forever altered, and the total lack of fear that has accompanied this.

The photo is one of my favorites because I see everyone always through a filter of great love.

My real name is Anita, but my close friends call me Anchie, and I used it as my nick name. Picture is a selfie from last year.
I was named after actress Anita Ekberg from La Dolce Vita movie, which was my mom's favorite movie of the 60ies.

Well my user name is my real name, so nothing interesting there. But the butterfly is from an old pillow. And I'm known for butterflies, most of my back is tattooed at this point, and a blue butterfly was my very first tattoo!

binkle is a conflation of my first and maiden names. Haven't figured out an image yet, though.

Aziraphale - a shout out to you as I am almost done reading Good Omens! My husband thought I would like it - what a fun read! About 1/4 of the way through I connected the angel to your avatar name.

Interesting reading these. Sally is my real name but this is the only place online that I use it. Like someone else I misread the registration form as I didn't normally use my name for privacy reasons. The photo is one of me last year...I have changed it from time to time.