What’s in a Name ? Suggestions ?

What’s in a name ?

Rather a lot, actually.  In an environment where you’re unlikely to see or meet the people you interact with, the name is your brand, your USP.

What do you do when the brand is no longer right ?  Changing the brand name of something has its problems.  Just ask those of us who still think of a Snickers bar as a Marathon, or refuse to think of Opal Fruits as Starburst.

I was given the name melody some 15 years ago.  I’d used various names before in forums I frequented.  One that stuck for a long time in the 1990’s was Chloe until I was dismayed to find out a new character in Eastenders was called that name.

Having been given the name melody by my owner the name rapidly morphed to the full blown “sissy maid melody” and that has stuck for a very long time, now.  It’s how people know and interact with me online and it’s becoming something of a personal millstone.

Over the last couple of years I have evolved enormously and understand so much more about myself and my past.  The main point of relevance here is that I no longer identify in any way with the “sissy” or “maid” parts.  The basic “melody”, I’ll always be that.

Being able to speak to the former mistress, the one who gave me that name has been a great blessing.  She admits that she knew all that time ago that the “sissy” part was wrong, that it didn’t describe who I was, it was just the space we happened to play in at the time.

I’ve spent maybe five years growing increasingly uncomfortable with that “sissy” but not enough to do anything about it.  It also has to be said that the audience that knows me now is vastly different to what it used to be when I first used it.

If I’m going to make a change, it rather has to be a one off and with melody at the root of the name since the complication is that it has to be available on Twitter.

I’m soliciting for suggestions and would love any views or comments from the community that knows me.