No, I am not referring to the awesome spy show with Jennifer Garner when I say alias confession. I mean the names we use when blogging or commenting.
On Monday, Racquel at the Book Barbies and Gaby at Queen Ella Bee Reads started an extremely fascinating discussion on Twitter about name alias and whether bloggers use one. It got me thinking about whether you, my dear readers and friends, know that Cee isn’t my real name?
The not-so secret is out! ;D
Why did you decide to use an alias?
- I’m a spy.
- So the Justice League and the Avengers don’t find me.
- To stand out. I haven’t found a lot of Cee in the blogosphere and I want to be ultra-special! ;D Also, I don’t find my actual name all that exciting.
- I don’t want people I know IRL (like school classmates) to find me. I admit that I creep on people I know when I find their blog or Instagram, and I wouldn’t want somebody doing that to me. My blog is my safe space. I don’t want old classmates invading that. (Yes, very hypocritical of me. :P)
- It gives me the freedom to act like myself. Fangirl and all that awesomeness ’til my heart’s content. There’s no baggage and history with my real name.
- Privacy reasons. Gotta protect myself. Also, I feel vulnerable using my real name. It’s like I’m revealing too much about myself that even my friends don’t know. (I mean secrets in general. My friends obviously know my name.)
Is Cee related to your name in any way?
Nah. You can’t really make a good nickname with my real name.
What made you decide on the name Cee?
I actually don’t exactly know the reason behind my decision. I think Atonement influenced it (because it’s one of my favorite films) and my love for the names Cecelia and Seymour. To me, it made sense to adopt Cee as my own.
Also, I can make puns with Cee because they are awesome! Sea = Cee. :DDD (Though you can make a pun with my real name, but I’ll most likely punch you in the face since it reminds me of when kids made fun of me because of it.)
What were the names that didn’t make the cut?
- Vivian (this was a name my mom would’ve named me)
- Elle (I was really in loooooovveee with this name, but I knew somebody who went by that name, so I had to pick another name to make it not confusing.)
Why don’t you want to reveal your real name?
- I’m a spy. A supervillain. I need to keep a level of intrigue and mystery. Plus, if superheroes figure out who I am, they’ll be knocking on my door (if they can find it). We can’t have that. ;D
- I’ve been Cee for so long online that I feel awkward to drop this whole ‘nother name on you. I feel like it’ll throw people off and confuse them. I don’t want that! Plus, I’m no different if my name is Cee or Serena or Barbara or whatever. I am just me. With a different name.
- Cee is, essentially, my real name. It’s just not my birth name. If you call me by Cee, I’ll most likely respond to it.
- Again, privacy reasons. I put so much of myself on the Internet that I want to keep something secret.
Do you separate your alias name from real life? (Like does your family call you by your real name and such?)
Yes. If I could, I would want my family and my friends to start calling me Cee. I haven’t told them (and I probably never will) because they will most likely find it weird. Sure, they’ll indulge me, but it’ll be hard for them to call me by Cee when they have called me a different name for so long. I think I would find it weird if they start calling me Cee because of that exact reason. (With people who already call me Cee, not weird at all.)
Isn’t it hard to maintain this alias?
Even after seven years, it is a bit hard! I get uncomfortable sometimes because I feel like I’m pretending or not being truthful to you and my family. I don’t publicize to friends and former classmates that I run a blog because 1. it’s my safe space and 2. those people will most likely question why I use one. I feel like they’ll laugh at me for not wanting my real name out there when they are able to put their own name out there.
Why isn’t Cee your real name instead of your real name?
I ask myself this question every day.
Will you tell me your real name?
See, I feared people will ask this question. Cee may not be the name my family or friends outside my blog/Internet call me by, but it is very real.
Cee is me, I am Cee. That’s all that matters.
It’s totally cool if you have an alias. A name shouldn’t define who you are, nor should it change how people perceive you. A name is just a name. (Well, most of the time. ;D) And if you are comfortable using a different name, do that.
Do you use an alias? If you do, is it a nickname from your real name? Or is it totally unrelated? Why did you decide to go by this alias? If you go by your real name, did you ever think of using an alias? What name would you have gone by?
This is really interesting! I remember back when I first started going online when Neopets was still around my parents were paranoid about me talking to ‘strangers’ so I used an alias and became known by ‘Megan/Megz’ which I admit I kind of liked because in a way I could sort of become someone new, it seemed really exciting. But I still sort of do use an alias because Charlotte isn’t my official name, I’ve been known by it for 7 years in real life because I only unfortunately have my Chinese name as my official name but I do hope to get Charlotte added officially. Really for me it was difficult having a Chinese name only because people who didn’t know Chinese couldn’t pronounce it and made me the butt of jokes and it frustrated me so much. Sometimes people ask me why Charlotte? Honestly i don’t know too haha, it just seemed right when I first came across it.
Awww Cee, thank you for telling us this! I know how hard it can be to talk about/reveal all this! <3
And ughh, parents. Why can't they actually name us names we'll actually like? I'll LOVE to not be named Kelly; SO many people are named Kelly and Kelly rhymes with SO many things – I wish I went by an alias like you did. ;D
But then again, I know someone with the name I would use for my alias, so…AWKWARD.
I'm glad you didn't choose Vivian. Vivian is so not you. Elle would be a good name though, but Cee/See/Sea is definitely THE BEST. (Yes, I so went there with the puns.)
On a side note, OMG I KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG ABOUT YOU. WHY AM I FRIENDS WITH A VILLAIN -CRIES-. NOW THE AVENGERS + THE JUSTICE LEAGUE WILL TORTURE ME TO GET YOUR WHEREABOUTS. HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO MEEE? D: D:
Have we talked about this before? I sort of feel anonymous when I use my real name because there are sooooo many Katie’s out there! :D So that works really well for me!
Cool post! I don’t really mind revealing my real name. Maybe it just comes with the territory of having an online business like I do (web design). But back when I was playing Neopets I definitely had an alias or two! It was more for fun than for trying to protect my identity. I was young and thought it was fun to reinvent myself whenever I wanted! So I definitely see the appeal. :)
I guess it is reasonable why some bloggers has alias. Jules isn’t really an alias for me though. My closest friends call me Jules. My parents and relatives call me by my other given name. Jules is just a nickname though. I wish I could make up a cool alias. I’ve always wanted the name Alex :3
I totally used to tell my mom to call me Ariel when I was younger. I wouldn’t talk to her if she didn’t. I would wear a red wig and tie my feet together and everything. That’s the closest I’ve ever been to wanting to change my name. As I got older, I appreciated the uniqueness of my name :D So I guess when I became active on the interwebs, it never occurred to me to make up a name. But this is intriguing! Now I’m gonna go around questioning if people are who they say the are…;D I get it, though. You’re still you no matter what people call you!
This is such a fascinating topic! When I first started hanging out on the internet as a young teenager, I went by my middle name–Dawn, but I haven’t really made an account with that since late high school. I’m just bad at trying to keep two names straight! Plus, in college I did a lot of online writing and had to make professional portfolios & websites for classes, so I got use to putting my real first name out there. Half the people I “meet” online think my name is an alias anyway, so it works for me! But my given first & middle name really is Stormy Dawn, which is why I go by stormydawnc pretty much everywhere.
This is such an interesting topic. I’m kind of a mix of both. I go by Kat on my blog and all blog related sites, but NO ONE has ever called me Kat before. My real name is Katherine, but I figure Kat is shorter and therefore more ‘internet friendly”. And while I do try to only put things on my blog that I’d be comfortable with anyone from work/family seeing I like that Kat makes it harder to just Google me.
My name isn’t necessarily an alias as more of just a nickname. I grew up with the name Stacie my whole life so everyone knows it. As for my real name, it’s too long and I never really felt like it fit me. As I’ve gotten older I appreciate it now because my parents named me that, but I still prefer Stacie. Oh and my last name Cruz is my married name hehe (which I still haven’t changed after being married for almost 9 years…oops!) Interesting post Cee! I like that name for you. It seems fitting of your personality! =D
I saw your conversation on Twitter and was surprised to know that there are actually bloggers who use an alias name. I just assumed it’s their real name; yours too, Cee, I just thought it’s a short nickname from your actual name. I definitely had experience of using another name too, for Twitter and such, though it was more like a username instead of an alias. But yeah, in the end what matters isn’t whether you use a real name/alias, but the persona you choose to reveal when you use that name.
Interesting post, Cee! :)
I kinda figured! :p
I used to go by Geo to aaaall of my friends, and I got so used to it that it was my name. Geo was just who I was! It sounded totally weird to refer to myself as Jessi, or to hear any of my friends call me that. At some point it faded away. I don’t really know why, but I miss it :(
I think it had to do with getting a job. I can’t exactly go by ‘Geo’ at work! I also became a different person. I’ve calmed down a lot since I was going by Geo, so I kind of see her as my crazy, outgoing socialite self (which is probably why she doesn’t really exist anymore, ha), and Jessi is my down-to-earth, introvert, hermit self. Which is me now! I’d much rather stay home on a Friday night reading than go out and party.
The only people left who call me that are my biffle and her family! I also refer to myself as Geo when I’m reprimanding myself – “C’mon, Geo, you know better than that.” Haha!
*coughs* Anyway, sorry about that tangent there… O_O
Ooooh, this is interesting! Honestly, I had no clue Cee wasn’t your real name. And even now that I know, you’re still Cee to me either way. I can totally understand why you’d feel more comfortable using an alias. There are certain times when I wish I was anonymous, but too much of my life is wrapped up into the blogging world. In terms of privacy, I feel like I have a lot of control in regards to what people know about me, but everyone’s level of comfort is different. Plus, a lot of my close friends are bloggers, so it would be difficult to go by an alias, even though I know a few close friends who do. I think it’s awesome that you’re doing what you need to to feel comfortable because that’s what matters most.
Hi Cee! I’m Cayce, which is also an alias. And I just LOVE my alias. We should create an Alias Club. First rule of the Alias Club, you do not talk about the Alias Club. Etc. Etc. Lol.
I actually love my “real” name too, but there are other bloggers with that name, while I don’t think there is another book blogger called Cayce out there :) And I have a few other reasons for going by an alias…
Btw, Laura just posted a similar post a few days back where she talks about how she decided to use her full name from now on. http://lauraplusbooks.com/2014/02/discussion-using-full-name.html Have you seen it? It’s interesting the see the opinions of someone on the “other side” ;)
This is actually so cool! I had no clue Cee wasn’t your real name. It won’t matter to me whether you reveal your actual name or not because you’ll be Cee forever in my mind! Now that you bring up aliases though, I kinda wish that I had thought of one. I like Annie but there are so many other names that I really like that I wish I had like Grace or Meredith. I do have something similar to an alias with my twitter username because Mabel isn’t actually part of my name at all. At first, I had my last name but then I thought that would be too revealing so I decided to change it to Mabel and have that stand in as my middle name (since I don’t actually have one).
When I first started getting in to online thingys, my name was always taken. So I often went by kpet (my first initial and the first three of my maidan name).
But when it came time to blog, I didn’t mind using my real name. I’ve got enough of my personal information out there, thanks to social media, that I didn’t think one more thing could hurt! Haha
I had no idea Cee wasn’t your “real” name, but I think it’s really neat that you took the time to come up with an online persona! Sometimes I think I’d like the freedom that came with anonymity.
When I created my blog, I didn’t even think of going by an alias. On my first ever Tumblr, I never told people my name; but that’s not really going by an alias, rather just being anonymous. And I guess blogging would require a name.
I think I am kind of lucky with my name, though. I have only ever met one other Chiara in my entire life, and she was a salesperson at a store – so I’m not even sure that it counts. As of yet, I don’t think there are any other ‘Chiara’s in the blogosphere. There is Ciara, who is lovely and actually received an email ‘To Chiara’, which I thought was funny.
To be honest, I always thought that Cee was short for some name starting with ‘c’, like Catherine, or Charlotte, or something. I’ve always thought it was a nifty name, and I congratulate you on coming up with such a unique alias! :D
I did not have access to the internet at a young age .so an alias was not needed . I choose roro as my blogger alias because that is what I like friends and family call me . It is the first 2 letters of my name repeated . Interesting discussion
Ps. It is always nice to find new to me blogs ^^
Ah, I adore this so much! I would have gone with an alias and in theory it would have been better for me, but I had just left a multi-member blog (that I helped create) and I wanted to use my reviews, etc that I had no choice but go with my real name. I try to keep my last name, etc not known. I do make references on occasion to working non-profit and that job helping Veterans, but other than that I try to keep things unknown. I love bloggers that are open and don’t hide who they are, but I like to keep things on the down low. I’ve been asked a few times at work about my blog (because my boss & the program director heard about during the interview), but I like to keep things separate.
If I had to do it all over again, I would have gone with an alias. Maybe it’s not too late? ;)
I don’t use an alias, but I have in the past. I just got to a point where I don’t really care if people know my real name or not. And since I’m sort of in the English/writing/books field, I want my blog to be connected to me professionally in case I want to put it on a resume or something. Running a blog is a hobby that I’m proud of…I don’t want to hide! But I think that if I’d started my blog while in high school or something, I probably would’ve used an alias. Or if I had a job like a teacher, where you don’t necessarily want people like your students finding out that you have a personal blog. I love the name Cee, by the way! Good alias choice :)
I use an alias – it’s an online name I’ve used for years. I used it because of the alliteration with Reads (totally unoriginal =P), and I like it. Several bloggers know my real name, as I used it when I contacted authors for an event I did in November and CC’d other bloggers into the emails – but I really don’t mind people knowing my real name (it’s Izzy ;) ). I just prefer to stick to the alias to avoid confusion!
Shocking I know, but my name isn’t actually Nemo. Nemo means ‘nameless one’ or ‘no one’ in Latin, and since I’m a fan of a Finnish metal band called Nightwish who wrote a hit song called Nemo, so when I created my alias I took my name from the line ‘Nemo my name for ever more.” Nemo Evermore. Clever, yeah?
It’s completely unrelated to my real name. I have very specific, security-conscious reason for keeping my identity a secret. It’s really important, but it’s also kind of cool, so I wish I could tell people why. But I can’t. I’m not a rock star or a spy, but I do need to be anonymous. Not just for security reasons, but also because I’ve been stalked online in the past (now THAT’S a story I can tell! and one day I might) so now I don’t link any of my online accounts together and I use aliases everywhere.
Some reviewers I met online and consider real-life friends know my real identity and the reason it’s secret, but not many.
This is so interesting to me. I’ve been a blogger for several years, though I only recently (within the last year and a half or so) started book blogging with my friends. I still have my personal blog, but I’ve kind of lost interest in it.
My family (and a few friends) know about my personal blog, but I mostly try to keep it secret, despite the fact that I use my real name. Now, I sometimes have things I’d like to blog about (mostly rant-like things), but I don’t really want people I know to see them. I’ve thought about scrapping the personal blog and starting afresh with a new blog and alias. Your post is making me want to even more. ;)
I think it’s great you’re honest about your name. I love the name Cee it’s rather cute and similar to what my friends call me.. “G”. I understand all your points about why you like to keep it a secret, for me I like to keep my facebook private so no one can look for me or know it’s me and I always use “WhatGeorgieDid” for a username on most sites.
I think with my work (photography & Design) I tend to keep it quite personal, I’ve been tempted to go and do a subtle change to “Georgia Robson” which is just a few letters missing or to my dad’s birthname “Georgina Nunn” but in the end I’ve established a business under my real name and because now I offer services such as blogger design and link to my main blog everyone will know my real name anyway.
It’s definitely interesting to see who does have an alias. Great post, can’t believe I missed it!