What's in a name?

In the world of online dating, your username along with your photo will be an important part of the first impression. Like managing your online presence on facebook or twitter, your username can create either a good or bad first impression. If the person you're contacting has several people they're hearing from and they all have neutral names, and your username is kirksexgod, then unless she's looking for a trekkie sex god, she's probably going to pass you by.

So what kind of image are you trying to portray? Do you want to let your nerdiness hang out? Do you want them to know that you're a sports fan? It's a tough choice and not necessarily one that I can make for you, b/c you need to pick what kind of image and what kind of person you want to attract but I'll give you examples of real usernames and what impression I get from their usernames.

Sexyindian (high opinion of yourself much? If you're so sexy, why are you messaging me? also, which kind of indian, dot or feather?)
imaslowbro (slow as in dumb?)
Owlbott (I kinda think of owlbears but like mechanized...which actually is kinda cool...but I'm a nerd.)
OCgamer (very straightforward. Gamer who lives in the OC, pretty neutral to me.)
Idiotsavant (I actually thought it was pretty clever, esp when paired with a good first message, but if you say you're an idiot savant and you turn out just to be an idiot, that's not great.)
Vparrotface (wtf does v parrot face mean?!?!?!? I'm so confused.)
Wkndwarrior (I kinda think Mad Max but just for drinking. That's not a great image.)
Tenderotter (do you eat otters? poor otters!)

Not everything is going to have the same impression that I will, I mean, thinking about owlbears is a pretty random thing, but hey, that brings me to my next point about usernames, try to think of the different ways it can be interpreted. Avoid things that could be misconstrued in very inappropriate ways. If you're into photography maybe you'd choose a name like Tripod...but not everyone is going to think photography, they make think bad things. Or like if you do SCA don't put, Iloveswords but that's just wrong and wrong. So if you're serious about managing your profile you may want to as your friends about possible usernames and especially ask the ones with filthy minds b/c they're going to be like, no, that just sounds super phallic.

Some ideas for usernames, non-offensive hobbies, nicknames, stuff from movies or tvshows as long as it's not like ichithekiller. I don't recommend your real name unless it's required like on eharmony b/c you might want not want everyone to know your name right away. I think numbers are fine as long as you avoid things like 69 or again anything that can be construed as overtly sexual. I mean if you're looking for hookups, sure, do it, but if you're looking for serious meaningful relationships, most people are going to get the wrong impression from someone called username69.

This article at Geeksdreamgirl has some advice too on usernames. And here's her article on picking names...I'm not sure if I like the adjective+noun way of naming but hey, if you're desperate, it can't hurt. But definitely, brainstorm possible ideas but do get your friends to make sure that it's not AWFUL.

So if you're not getting the responses you think you should be or your attracting the wrong kind of attention online, go and think about your username and see if maybe it's giving out the wrong impression.