Making usernames?

[nerdvain]

So how many others here dread that moment in creating any webpage, any title, any online profile--the creation of the username? You know, that moment where 'xxcandygirlxoxo4778' doesn't quite cut it anymore and you need something good. You want it to be mature/funny/expressive/you.
It's always a need to make it short, sweet, catchy, and memorable...accompanied by NO ideas. NOTHING.
It's like the poor (internet) man's writer's block.
Let's face it, the online generators stink. And everything you can come up with is garbage, or awkward sounding....or...already taken.
How is one to effectively create a username that sticks?
Are there effective formulas you use, or is it just sporadic?

For me, things just come at random. I stick with one username for a while until I get sick of it or realize how terrible or silly it truly is.
Then comes that awful block again. Doom.

What do you all do?

[Nazo]

I just always use the same one. Except for here.
Makes things easy.

[duriru]

I also use the same one except here. I don't really like duriru, but I used it because it was similar to my other one so I wouldn't forget it lol.

[nerdvain]

Yeah, I tend to use the same one for everything, but it gets stale after a while, and one sometimes needs to make a different name on the same site. Then it returns.

[FleetFish]

I ALWAYS switch it up. I don't like to be able to be tracked throughout my interweb adventures, so I always make new usernames.

I will randomly be doing something, and the thought of a great username comes to mind. Usually by the time I am creating a username, I have forgotten it, though.

A try to think of what represents me as a person, and what is important to me. A lot of mine are music-related. When I made this username, I was listening to Fleet Foxes a lot, and I really, really love fish, so FleetFish became my username. I like the sound and look of it. It has actually become one of my favorite usernames.

Come to think of it, on my other two main forums, one username is fish-related, and the other is music-inspired. I guess I really like fish and music!

[thecat06]

I used this name on two other sites but I don't use it anymore and deleted the accounts a long time ago. I came up with it because I liked cats and it happened to be 2006. I'm not really good at coming up with usernames.

[Colton]

I basically just use my name. And If it's already taken, I just add a bunch of n's at the end

[solarcat]

I like to use different names on different sites. It's usually something that automatically gives people an impression of me- one's screenname and avatar are the internet equivalent of clothing. But it takes forever for me to choose a name.

[Porphyrogenitus]

I have 3 or 4 different usernames that are appropriate for different sort of sites and just choose between them. Also based on whether or not I want people to be able to find other things where I use a particular username.

[Allegro molto]

I started using forums back in '09, and the username I used for the first forum I joined is the one I use the most. However, I also use variations of that username. Both my former EC username and my current one are unique to EC.

[Kerze]

I have quite an unusual sirname so jdh usually works in most situations. When I was making one on this site I couldn't do that, obviously, so I named myself after the song that was playing, until I got bored of the username (it wasn't a very good one)

[adam88]

I've been using my usual username since 1995... this one was new but I'm not changing it cuz you guys know who I am by this name.

[scooby]

Originally Posted by Nazo

I just always use the same one. Except for here.
Makes things easy.

I warn you, that's not usually a good idea.

I recently had some religious stalker whacko Google my old username. Since I used it across a bunch of websites, he easily found statements I had made about my personal life and has been using it to threaten me/harass me for months now. I never even considered the consequences until it was too late.

[Nazo]

Originally Posted by scooby

I warn you, that's not usually a good idea.

I recently had some religious stalker whacko Google my old username. Since I used it across a bunch of websites, he easily found statements I had made about my personal life and has been using it to threaten me/harass me for months now. I never even considered the consequences until it was too late.

I thought of that. I made it in 7th grade based on a card when I was super into Yu-Gi-Oh! so all the search results for it on Google turn up Yu-Gi-Oh stuff. :P

[scooby]

You sir, are very slick. I would doff my hat to you, if I had a hat to doff.

[WeirdnessMagnet]

Originally Posted by Nazo

I thought of that. I made it in 7th grade based on a card when I was super into Yu-Gi-Oh! so all the search results for it on Google turn up Yu-Gi-Oh stuff. :P

Hmm... I thought the name I usually use on other forums isn't very googleable either, as it is a slight variation of a common technical term. But when I entered "<my usual username>" forums it did display no less than three of my accounts on the very first page, including one where I spend probably 80% of my time online. Yes, there were tons of false positives of the kind I would expect, but it was still three solid hits on the very first page. Yes, I own that game, yes I'm a fan of this genre, and yes, my political and other opinions are Googleable.

My second-most used name is... OMG... It's 30% my forum accounts, some of them under different names linked through my Photobucket, and 60% people that have nothing in common with me, I'm not Spanish, for one...

Need to think up a couple more I would like to keep, for future use.

[FleetFish]

Originally Posted by Nazo

I thought of that. I made it in 7th grade based on a card when I was super into Yu-Gi-Oh! so all the search results for it on Google turn up Yu-Gi-Oh stuff. :P

However, if they know a few other details about things you might post online (name of a pet, state/city you live in, favorite sports team, hobbies/interests) they can add that to the search query, and filter out the card game stuff.

Is this making me look like a stalker?

[Pinstripe]

I like that my username is short and a common word. I've used it on a few other forums, but I usually only find myself active on one forum at a time, so I don't really see it as a problem. But yeah, the reason I don't change it up more often is pretty much laziness.

[Lexington]

I always pick an obscure cartoon character from the past that I've liked. It makes the selection of an avatar easy, and it offers a good open for conversation.

Lex

[Tiny Catastrophe]

Originally Posted by Nazo

I just always use the same one. Except for here.
Makes things easy.

Same lol