What's in a name? + History of "Dax"
I don't have a problem with my given name-it's easily shortened, relatively memorable, and I'm used to it. I'm talking a "furry nickname" or "character name" or "fursona", if you will.
Summer 2003 - I took the name "Aaron Graywolf" on FurryMUCK and later Wolfhome. This was way back when I was first looking into the fandom, 5 1/2 years ago now, when I was 15.
Later - I was unhappy with that, so I tried "Xalen".
November 2004 - As I start to actually make friends and contacts through "furry", I claim wolfwithdances on DA, LJ, and several instant messengers. It's a little longer than some names, but it's completely unique, it's somewhat humorous ("Dances with Wolves"?), and it's relatively benign to use with non-furries. That's still my main AIM account today.
January 2005 - On GMail, I register wolfwithdances, back before it was open registration. The welcome message is sent to the name Xalen DeLykos.
October 2005 - Having just moved to Berkeley and turned 18, I finally de-lurk on the Bay Area Furries list. At the last minute, I pick a new name for myself, Dax Wildsong. I pick it mostly because I google "Dax" in conjunction with furries and fursuits, and nothing turns up, so I figure it's unique. At this point, I haven't ever talked to any furries in person, nor have I created any kind of character description for him. In unrelated news, Ichi [Ari, or ichiblack] and I start dating, after a couple years of high school together, and several months of friendly talk online.
Saturday, January 26, 2006 - I cajole Ichi to come with me to Further Confusion 2006; she hesitates, calling herself an "anthro artist" and wanting very little to do with "furry". She wears a tail to the con anyway, and uses the name and character "Ichi" she created for Wolfhome. While there, she draws up a quick character reference for Dax, which I then use for my first piece of furry art ever*-from Starfinder-that I got at the con. I later colored it; that's it on the LJ userpic for this post.
* My actual first piece of furry art ever-and the first time I was drawn as a wolf, other than my own doodles-was an unsolicited piece from a high school friend who had a crush on me. We dated briefly in 2004, we broke up, we're still good friends.
Sunday, January 27, 2006 - Ichi cajoles me to go to Mendel's and buy fur for a fursuit. Wait, you say, wasn't I just cajoling HER into the fandom? Yes, it was that fast.
Halloween 2006 - We wander around Berkeley as Dax and Ichi, that we completed in the apartment we got together. Yeah, we did. She later moved out, but we're still together and I'm still here.
January 2007 - Further Confusion 2007, which we attend at the hotel as Dax and Ichi.
January 2008 - Under The Same Sky premieres, marking the first time that my name is actually posted somewhere people can see it.
December 11, 2008 - To my extreme surprise, my name has been given a proper article on Wikifur. I just found out about it, while typing this entry. (You'd think I wrote this post because of this Wikifur article. Actually, I only found out about the Wikifur article because I typed "Dax" into Wikifur to get the link.)
===
So, that's great. Problem is, I've hit a few name collisions:
First, and most prominently, "Dax" sounds like the popular fursuiter (and nice guy) Dex. My name has been confused for his more times than I can count, but I only found out about it after attending FC07.
It wasn't until the Wikifur entry in 2006 that I found out that Dax is a character of Kadath's. He's a wolf, apparently, and a stripper. Yay. Until last week, "Dax" redirected straight to that page; now it goes to a disambiguation page that also links to my newly-created article.
Also, it wasn't too long before I saw "Koda Dax". The first mention I can find of his is this NSFW art from 2005. The names don't strike me as particularly similar though. Oh yeah, and he's a monkey. His character is still active.
More recently, I have discovered another wolf named Dax, on this one is blue and yellow and green and full of air. He's also in Virginia. It's not that I mind that he's an inflationist, it's just weird to see someone else of the same 'species' with your name, especially someone who comes on the scene after I did. Oh well, I don't fault him for it, and there's no reason I should.
===
What does your fan name mean to you, if you have one? Are you the only one by that name? If not, how do you feel about that?
What about your real name? A programmer in Alaska owns JeffBowman.com, and I'm evidently also a pastor and a former fire chief. How about you?
Summer 2003 - I took the name "Aaron Graywolf" on FurryMUCK and later Wolfhome. This was way back when I was first looking into the fandom, 5 1/2 years ago now, when I was 15.
Later - I was unhappy with that, so I tried "Xalen".
November 2004 - As I start to actually make friends and contacts through "furry", I claim wolfwithdances on DA, LJ, and several instant messengers. It's a little longer than some names, but it's completely unique, it's somewhat humorous ("Dances with Wolves"?), and it's relatively benign to use with non-furries. That's still my main AIM account today.
January 2005 - On GMail, I register wolfwithdances, back before it was open registration. The welcome message is sent to the name Xalen DeLykos.
October 2005 - Having just moved to Berkeley and turned 18, I finally de-lurk on the Bay Area Furries list. At the last minute, I pick a new name for myself, Dax Wildsong. I pick it mostly because I google "Dax" in conjunction with furries and fursuits, and nothing turns up, so I figure it's unique. At this point, I haven't ever talked to any furries in person, nor have I created any kind of character description for him. In unrelated news, Ichi [Ari, or ichiblack] and I start dating, after a couple years of high school together, and several months of friendly talk online.
Saturday, January 26, 2006 - I cajole Ichi to come with me to Further Confusion 2006; she hesitates, calling herself an "anthro artist" and wanting very little to do with "furry". She wears a tail to the con anyway, and uses the name and character "Ichi" she created for Wolfhome. While there, she draws up a quick character reference for Dax, which I then use for my first piece of furry art ever*-from Starfinder-that I got at the con. I later colored it; that's it on the LJ userpic for this post.
* My actual first piece of furry art ever-and the first time I was drawn as a wolf, other than my own doodles-was an unsolicited piece from a high school friend who had a crush on me. We dated briefly in 2004, we broke up, we're still good friends.
Sunday, January 27, 2006 - Ichi cajoles me to go to Mendel's and buy fur for a fursuit. Wait, you say, wasn't I just cajoling HER into the fandom? Yes, it was that fast.
Halloween 2006 - We wander around Berkeley as Dax and Ichi, that we completed in the apartment we got together. Yeah, we did. She later moved out, but we're still together and I'm still here.
January 2007 - Further Confusion 2007, which we attend at the hotel as Dax and Ichi.
January 2008 - Under The Same Sky premieres, marking the first time that my name is actually posted somewhere people can see it.
December 11, 2008 - To my extreme surprise, my name has been given a proper article on Wikifur. I just found out about it, while typing this entry. (You'd think I wrote this post because of this Wikifur article. Actually, I only found out about the Wikifur article because I typed "Dax" into Wikifur to get the link.)
===
So, that's great. Problem is, I've hit a few name collisions:
First, and most prominently, "Dax" sounds like the popular fursuiter (and nice guy) Dex. My name has been confused for his more times than I can count, but I only found out about it after attending FC07.
It wasn't until the Wikifur entry in 2006 that I found out that Dax is a character of Kadath's. He's a wolf, apparently, and a stripper. Yay. Until last week, "Dax" redirected straight to that page; now it goes to a disambiguation page that also links to my newly-created article.
Also, it wasn't too long before I saw "Koda Dax". The first mention I can find of his is this NSFW art from 2005. The names don't strike me as particularly similar though. Oh yeah, and he's a monkey. His character is still active.
More recently, I have discovered another wolf named Dax, on this one is blue and yellow and green and full of air. He's also in Virginia. It's not that I mind that he's an inflationist, it's just weird to see someone else of the same 'species' with your name, especially someone who comes on the scene after I did. Oh well, I don't fault him for it, and there's no reason I should.
===
What does your fan name mean to you, if you have one? Are you the only one by that name? If not, how do you feel about that?
What about your real name? A programmer in Alaska owns JeffBowman.com, and I'm evidently also a pastor and a former fire chief. How about you?