Nicknames
So you have bought your kit, you're skating like a pro and you are ready to hit the ground running. Now it is time to choose a fierce nickname to strike terror into your opponents. This is what the crowd will be chanting when you’re flying round the track, so make it memorable.
Skaters try to make their nickname a play on words, or take a famous name and change it by adding an aggressive word.
The use of having a nickname can allow skaters to have a secondary persona, for example Bruce Wayne becomes Batman when he’s saving Gotham City. Derby players can go into their own alter ego when they are bashing people on the track. Some skaters can simply have a nickname just for a bit of fun.
David Fagundes suggests in his book “Talk Derby to Me: Intellectual Property Norms Governing Roller Derby Pseudonyms” that the ideal derby name "sounds something like a real name", in that it has a plausible first- and last-name, "connects to derby", and contributes to an "overall persona".
Players are not required to use nicknames, and there are a few skaters who do jam under their legal names. This may be due to dissatisfaction with the name which they used in the past or, like leading London Rollergirls skater Stephanie Mainey, in an effort to legitimise the sport. Other skaters counter that and say Derby names are an important part of the culture of the sport, and reflect the use of nicknames in many other sports.
Skaters try to make their nickname a play on words, or take a famous name and change it by adding an aggressive word.
The use of having a nickname can allow skaters to have a secondary persona, for example Bruce Wayne becomes Batman when he’s saving Gotham City. Derby players can go into their own alter ego when they are bashing people on the track. Some skaters can simply have a nickname just for a bit of fun.
David Fagundes suggests in his book “Talk Derby to Me: Intellectual Property Norms Governing Roller Derby Pseudonyms” that the ideal derby name "sounds something like a real name", in that it has a plausible first- and last-name, "connects to derby", and contributes to an "overall persona".
Players are not required to use nicknames, and there are a few skaters who do jam under their legal names. This may be due to dissatisfaction with the name which they used in the past or, like leading London Rollergirls skater Stephanie Mainey, in an effort to legitimise the sport. Other skaters counter that and say Derby names are an important part of the culture of the sport, and reflect the use of nicknames in many other sports.
Hayley Lambert got her name from Jazz singer Peggy Lee, she has simply just added ‘thal’on the end of ‘Lee’ to make her sound aggressive on the track. Hayley also pointed out that there is an 'International Roster of Names' and you’re only allowed one of each name in the world.
If you have your perfect name, double-check to make sure it doesn’t already exist here. I would advise using the search bar at the top of the link below because there are a few hundred thousand names on the list already! Be sure to always have a back-up name just in case your name is already in use. http://www.twoevils.org/rollergirls/ |
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