Alternate Kin Names?

[Witchkat]

So, I've been seeing a lot of folx on here use alternate kin names... is this something that is common in the community to denote your kintype more or is it simply something that you use as a pseudonym for posting online? Or a mix of both? Just curious!

 

[Dinocanid]

I don't have a kin name if you mean the name of your kintype/s (besides "pupper", but that's a nickname used in my system if anything). If you mean username, I do use Dinocanid for everything; even websites not related to otherkin. It alludes to two of my kintypes: the wolf and dromaeosaurus.

 

[Witchkat]

Yeah you nailed it on the head there, I've just seen people use different names from their own "given" name. I'm assuming this is to relate more to their kintype as a part of them. I was just curious if this is normal or a regular part of therian/otherkin culture or if its just those select individuals.

 

[Velvet]

Generally it's the name you go by within the otherkin community. I use Velvet or Velvet Wings which is just a name I came up with to represent myself.
Depending on the kintype though some people may remember their 'types name. Fictionkin who feel they are a specific character for example, or anyone with a kintype which used a language. I'm sure my argonian type did have a name, although I don't personally remember it and I don't find it too important. Some people like to try and figure these things out though.

 

[Red-in-Tooth]

My names all tend to be descriptors rather than my supposed name. I know that I had something I had been called, animals have "names" of their own variety to communicate by, although these are not just limited to those audible and obviously not written. Likewise, the "name" is less descriptive or meaningful than how humans interpret names as rather than an individual identity it is something that they are uniquely identified by; if we could translate say, the specific growl a lion greets another with while socializing and bonding, it would not automatically be a meaningful name as we perceive it. This is similar to how each wolf has their own howl or a whale their own song and while they may share similar ones due to their family and social groups, each one is unique.

This led me in part to why I use a descriptive name. There are no words to really represent these things, just abstracts. So what would one call a sabertooth cat? An apt description would be that it is something that is "red in tooth" because that is what it does, a predator with long teeth that bloodies them in order to take prey. The name itself is also an allusion to The Way of the Soul, rather In Memoriam, a poem by Lord Tennyson. Moreover, it is less a name too in the sense it is a title and represents what my role is at its core and the embodiment of that and the cost of that.

In this way and others, a cat has many names, which is also entertaining in its own right as it too is described in The Naming of Cats by T.S. Elliot, which in part is based off the mythos surrounding cats having many names. Having not known this until after finding myself, I can certainly say there is something substantiative to this that fits in with the rest of feline mythos; I have many things I am called but only one name I "know" which I do not share.

 

[Shezep]

The name I use here is just my online name. I don't use my legal name, or even my nick name on sites like these because I don't want random people in RL knowing that I'm otherkin. That could have caused a problem in the job I used to have.

My name is the ancient Egyptian word for dawn. Someone else gave me that name, in this life, but it does fit for various reasons. It actually serves to differentiate present me from past me. Shezep is my current name, and not the name of some past version of me that I can barely remember.

 

[Lopori]

Lopori is my online alias and irl nickname among certain friends but it does essentially do the job of a "kin name". It's the name I use when I want my nonhuman side acknowledged on some level.

 

[Kieran]

I've used the name Kara/Karashoo for a long time online, so much so that I've gotten very attached to it and sometimes won't even recognize my irl name when someone calls me by it LOL. I don't like my irl name for personal reasons anyways, so I plan to someday legally change my name to Kara. I've thought about it being some type of kin name from a past life before and now I believe that if I really had a past life as an elf, it was totally my elf name. I can't see myself going by any other name and it feels otherwise very random that I had decided to give myself this name as a child, so I think it makes sense.

I went by Kieran for a while when I thought I was nonbinary and though I like the name, Kara is a lot more "me". Now I have the nickname "Spook" because my username most places is Spookdog so all my gaming friends call me that and I think it's just a cute nickname based off of my hellhound kintype.

 

[Addy-River]

I don't have a kin name. Addy is just short for Adenostar, which was the name of an RP goddess character I had a really long time ago. I started using Addy in soulbonding places cause I have a headmate who shares my normal online name. So I wanted people to be able to tell us apart.

 

[Eersian]

My name on my system is Felix. I use Eersian almost everywhere else. My dwarf's name was Shirak and I believe my wolf's name was Sheila (I was domesticated then released into a nature reserve

 

[kandifroot]

my “kin name” is usually my shift at the moment but sometimes I’ll use the name of my highest kin since that’s what i most closely identify with. I also use it just because I don’t like using my actual name online anymore lol xD

 

[Naia]

My legal name and my kin name are one and the same. I’ve had the luxury of getting a legal name change, and I wanted my name to be something that defines a major part of myself; something I wouldn’t mind being called for the rest of my life. Naia Ōkami is my chosen identity. I do not believe my wolf or fox theriotypes to have their own unique names - they’re portions of a whole Naia.

 

[Anomaly]

[ Mimi, Aquatic Dragon ]

We usually just use our system name to refer to ourselves collectively and then our individual names. I don't think any of the kin-identified folks in our system use alternate names for their kintype except for the occasionally nickname. Although I'm pretty sure my dragconic name is different than the name I go by, I usually just prefer to call myself "Mimi" at this point.

It's not exactly a secret what our offline name is, it's Remy, but I don't think we're ever in a situation where we need to give it. I think Remy was just chosen because that was what who we thought was our host was going by, and at this point we don't want to change it.

 

[Xomrys]

If I could do it all over again, I would be known everywhere online by this name. Unfortunately I'm too well known on some other non-kin sites by a different name and changing my name would be really disruptive, like changing my phone number.

Unfortunately I don't really associate any name with my kintype. I used a 'Wyvern name generator' and went through like 500 names before I found one that fit.

 

[F1shCake]

I use different names during shifts because everything vibes differently during a shift. I get dissonance/dysphoria if i use my normal name during shifts

 

[Lepus alleni]

I don't know if I'd call it a "kin" "name" since I tell most people online in general to call me hare/bunny because I can get away with that easier. Less questions. The name I more often give IRL I refer to as my "Normal Human Name" since at this point it feels more like a psuedonym than when I'm addressed by my un-proper-noun names I prefer to go by. This is even regardless of the fact I chose and don't nessesarily even dislike my NHN (I mean I did choose it after all).

 

[Hemlock]

I just really like names, so i tend to create some that feel right for different facets of me, and wait to see which fits. It's strictly for fun to me. For exemple, I associate Hemlock with my therianthropy, and Sunahbii with my draconity, so those are the names I use on websites themed after alterhumanity.

 

[Dromaeus]

Although I'm still trying to find that *one* name that finally clicks, I currently go by Kirishima (due to a kintype of mine being Eijiro Kirishima from BNHA) in most of the therian & fictionkin community. I'd go by that here too but last I remember I can only change my username once and I've already used that up I believe (correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't been active here in a looong time). In the witchcraft community I go by Dromaeus, which used to be my "kin name" before Kirishima. I've flipped through so many names it's unreal. Nira, Star Vaporeon, Delta, Amani, Maxxid, Bizhiki, Dromeus, Dromaeus, Dondi, now Kirishima.

 

[Marc]

I just go by my name. Boring right? I don't think I am creative enough to choose an alter name for myself.

I do get called pet-names like..Birdie. Ew.