The subject of resident names in SL is one that comes up on various Secondlife based sites and blogs from time to time. Many esteemed writers have typed up their thoughts, reports and opinions when it comes to subjects ranging from names that annoy them, to whether or not it is made clear enough that once you have chosen the name of your avatar, that you can not change it later, and much much more. It's a subject that I find personally fascinating, as the names of residents seem to tell a lot about the resident themselves, and reactions to those names can also be equally interesting. After all, as a man named Voodoo, I've been known to get a variety of positive and negative responses from people based on a first impression, which everything from having songs sung at me from a certain David Bowie film, to being told "How can you expect anyone to take you seriously? What sort of a name is Voodoo anyway?". I've even had someone be wary of me, since another resident who shares my first name, was their stalker ex boyfriend, leading to me having to defend myself over accusations of being an alt (which I don't even have any of, let alone being one!)

While it is obviously tempting to add my voice to the debate, and shower all of our readers with the benefit of my wisdom and observations on this subject; to be honest, it's something which everyone else has done, and therefore I decided to put my own ego on the sidelines, and thought that it would be much more interesting to take the time and go get some actual facts. The simplest way of doing this, was to carry out a survey, getting some information from a random selection of Secondlife residents, in order to find out the real story about how the SL populace feels about their, and other people's names. So I put together a notecard with a few simple questions, and sent it out to a random selection of contacts, a couple of groups, and of course, the subscribers to our fair magazine. I also encouraged people to spread the notecard to any friends they wanted to, and for them all to send me back their answers.

Friends said I was mad. They told me it was a pointless exercise. They stated that Second Life residents simply don't bother to do things like this for people, as they are too wound up in their own little worlds to bother to fill out something like this, and return it. However, when the dust settled, and the notecard had been passed around all across the grid, from friend to friend and group to group, I am pleased to say that I was positively flooded with responses, to the point where I was left feeling pummeled in the nicest way possible. 133 SL residents took the time to fill out their answers to the questions I posed, and drop their notecard into my inventory. It's always nice to prove the naysayers wrong, and show that apathy does not rule our virtual world.

Anyway, once the notecards died down to a trickle, I set to work, reading each and every one of them, collating them into a spreadsheet. I then analyzied the data for trends, and picked out some of the most interesting answers. I am now pleased to present my findings.

My first question was regarding simply what people's names were, although to be honest, since I didn't ask for permissions to reveal these, I won't be stating who responded, other than to say that you all know who you are, and I owe each and every one of you a big thank you.

The next question was "How did you choose your SL Name?" There was a wide variety of answers with almost everyone making certain to pick something uniquely personal to them, which of course is a nightmare for me to draw trends from. However, there were some common themes which could be picked out.

The most common answer stated that people used the same name as they used in the past for other online forums, chatrooms, and games, with 29 of those answering giving this reason. Of course, this is indicative of people seeing Secondlife as just another online meeting place, which often leads to chatroom-esque names, which are a common focus of rants on blogs. The other most common answers include using variations of the person's real name (14), a real life nickname (5), and picking their first name simply to match the last name they chose (5). 6 residents interestingly stated that they chose their first name, to go with a role they were looking to become once inwolrd, such as one resident with the first name of Lord, who was looking to become an SL landlord, and another called Spiral, who was looking to showcase his fractal art inworld.
Two other answers I found particularly interesting answers were from people who chose names that related to children they had connections to. One person stated the first name they chose "Would have been my child's name if I had a girl but I had a boy" while another stated "I chose because it was the name of a dead baby and I thought I would give her 'a life' here". These demonstrate just how personal and meaningful many residents' names can be.

The next question looked deeper into the people's mindsets when creating their names: "Did you know much about SL before creating an account?" This was a little more straightforward to draw info from, with the largest group of those who answered, a whopping 48%, saying that they knew nothing about SL when they created their account, and therefore their name. 38% of those answering claimed that they knew a little about it, but not necessarily a lot, while only 14% claimed to have a good knowledge of what they were letting themselves in for.

There were also some supplementary comments when responding, regarding how people came to SL in some of these answers. 12 people were introduced to SL by RL friends or relatives, while 5 people mentioned seeing about it on television programs or adverts, while 3 talked about reading about it in magazines or newspapers. One resident apparently accurately described themselves as: "that one avatar who bought the SL manual and read it..."

As a follow on question, I asked whther, if they did know anything about SL, this affected their choice of name?


As you can see above, a massive 69% of those who had answered that they at least had some knowledge about SL, stated that it had absolutely no bearing on what they chose to be their identity inworld. Saying that, if you refer this back to the ways which people chose their names in the first question, and how many people pick names that are so distinctly personal to them, it should perhaps come as little surprise that they would have chosen these names regardless. On the flipside, it could also be argued about actually how conscious people might be of the influence prior knowledge had on them, and whether they might have chosen something more akin to a chatroom handle, if they had not known anything about SL.

The next question was one of my favourites, and is based on a something said by a friend of mine, regarding a feeling of regret about the name that they now kind of felt stuck with inworld: "If you could turn the clock back, knowing what you know now, would you have chosen a different name?"

Again, I will express a slight surprise that the overwhelming response was a resounding No, with 72% of answers giving a negative response. Some of these No's referred to those who knew about SL before entering, and therefore had no need to change. Others stated that the ability to create alts meant that they felt there was not a need to feel precious about the name of their main account, as they could live lives under other names if they felt the need, while yet more stated that although there may have been moments of regret regarding their choice, that they have now grown into their names. As one person put it: "it was the best mistake I ever made". This is of course particularly relevant to the debates that go on regarding those people who petition that we should be allowed to change our names, as if they have their way, and this does become allowed, I wonder if will we give our names enough time for us to grow to truly love them, as many of these people have?
Of those who stated that they either might, or definitely would change their names, there were some interesting reasons why. Some people answered that they would seriously consider correcting errors that they may have made with either spelling or capitalisation of their first name. Quite a few also stated that, while they were still very happy with their first name, that they would like the chance to change their last name, since obviously when you create an account, you are only presented with a limited list of what is on offer.
There were also some individually amusing and interesting responses, which we will start off with a resident with the surname of "Dix" who answered: ""Yes, so no one would ask me if my middle name is "Sux"".
Another said: "A funnier name may of been nicer.... Perhaps, anything that didn't begin with "O" because I'm always getting messaged for those damned Lucky Chairs".
Finally one particular person answered with a heartfelt "Oh yes, I really would" after previously indicating that they had not given their choice of name enough thought, and "did not know the name could not be changed later if I did not like it".

Many people gave some indication of what sort of names they might have chosen, if they did have any interest in changing it, but perhaps they might reconsider slightly, if they had seen the response to my final question. I asked the populace "Does a resident's name affect how you see that person, and if so, how?". For me, this question really gave the most fascinating responses, so let's break it down to it's component parts. Firstly, on the subject on whether names affect perception, the survey came back with a vast majority in the affirmative camp, with 81% answering Yes, leaving only 19% claiming that they would never judge a book by it's cover in such a way.



Taking this vast number who do draw opinions on people, at the very least in their first impressions, based on what that resident has chosen to name themselves, we can then start to draw some common opinions on what particular names draw positive and negative responses.


Instead of moving through this data from the most common votes down, I think that the best place to start is on the only type of names where multiple people expressed an active attraction towards people with this kind of identity, namely the subject of "Clever/Funny Names" which commonly use one of the supplied surnames, and have a first name which the user creates to make a pun, double meaning, or the name of a celebrity or character. 9 people claim that they definitely find themselves attracted towards people with such names, although it must also be noted that 4 people clearly stated that such names make them desire nothing to do with that resident. 2 people said that they cannot stand it when people use what is term as "LEET" speak in their names, and 2 more stated that they do not like it when people put their entire real name into the first name (although again, there was someone who specifically stated respect for people with such names). 3 people said that boastful names were a real turn off ("If there are someone named "Johnthegreat" or "Imaprettyguy" for example, I don't think he is") while again the subject of bad spelling and capitalisation came up, with 4 people stating that it put them off people.
One of the most common complaints when the subject of names is raised on the blogs, namely that of people with numbers in their names, comes in at third place in our survey, with 9 people stating that they cannot stand seeing people with these names, and one resident stating that "People who have lots of numbers in their name should just be hit with a bat and put out of their misery". Which boundless aggression brings me neatly onto the runner up in our chart: those residents with violent and aggressive name, such as "Deathbringer" which make at least 12 of the people polled run away screaming.
Finally we come to our top complaint when it comes to names that make people want to have nothing to do with a resident, which is residents who have a rude, sexual or in some way obscene names. These monikers are seen as offensive by 27 of those who expressed a preference, and often are seen as an indicator that the person is either a child, a man masquerading as a woman, a bot, or simply a person who is only on SL for only one thing, and not the kind of thing that they are here for. One of the most amusing parts of these answers were the examples of exactly the sort of thing that people didn't like. So, if you are looking to create a SecondLife account, and would not like to be unfairly judged on this subject, might I suggest that you avoid the having the following either as either the whole, or as part of, your first name:
Slut, BigDaddy, Stud, Pud, 69, OrgasmAddict, SexMachine, WetNReady, BitchQueen, LuciousLips, SexySue, SmokinAss, Fuk, Mistress, JuicyLucy, LickMeOut, Studddogz, BritneySparkleTits and HotBunny.
Interestingly, one of the most common surnames in SL, and a name that has come up just as commonly on the hate list of many SL based sites and blogs, namely that of "GossipGirl", did not warrant any mention whatsoever with any of those polled.

So there you have it. The people have spoken, and while this will no doubt not put an end to the editorials over the merits of various names, or whether we should have the right to change our names if we become dissatisfied with them, but at least it gives a more rounded perspective, and also shows that not everyone shares the same opinions, or even really feels affected by how people choose to name themselves. Oh, and next time you judge someone harshly on the name floating above their head, remember that it's always possible that they may not have known any better, and they might just change it, if they were given the chance.