View Full Version : Trail Name
This being my first major hike, I am looking forward to hopefully getting a trail name. I know, just like a nickname, you dont get to pick your own. What would be the fun in that anyway?
"You have to call me Dragon....You have to call me NightHawk!" Whats that from??
But what if someone knights me something I dont care for, like Mr. Pink from Reservoir Dogs...Am I tagged for life? Or just stuck like a stick in the mud til a more appropriate one is given?
I mean this in absolutely no serious btw:D But yall seem like a fun crowd!
Pick your own name based on something that reflects you. It may be some name you already have.
I got Bearpaw from the Marine Corps. It came with me on the AT.
hootyhoo
01-06-2009, 19:19
How about Buttercup? It has a ring to it. Like the song 'Boy Named Sue' -- it will make you tougher.
And he said: "Son, this world is rough
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
And I know I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
So I give ya that name and I said good-bye
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
And it's that name that helped to make you strong."
Johnny Thunder
01-06-2009, 19:27
the quote is sort of from Step Brothers.
Plodderman
01-06-2009, 19:28
Pick a name or someone else will give you one that might stick.
Jack Tarlin
01-06-2009, 19:30
Acrtually, Brett, in recent years, the vast majority of folks do indded pick their own Trail names.
And if you let the chips fall and let yourself get tagged by other folks, if you don't like it, you don't have to keep it.
Not that big a deal, sooner or latter your Trail name will find you.
How about Buttercup? It has a ring to it. Like the song 'Boy Named Sue' -- it will make you tougher.
And he said: "Son, this world is rough
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
And I know I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
So I give ya that name and I said good-bye
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
And it's that name that helped to make you strong."
haha classic song. ill pass on buttercup though. The Safety man at our refinery, a ex combat medic, calls me Ghost cause he can never find me. That sounds cooler but we'll see.
Mrs Baggins
01-06-2009, 20:21
Mine was given to me in New Zealand. I hadn't really thought about it as a "trail name" at the time it happened. But then later that year, the first time we did an overnight on the AT and someone asked me if I had trail name, it just popped out of my mouth and I knew that was it! That was 6 years ago and I cherish it every day.
I know, just like a nickname, you dont get to pick your own. What would be the fun in that anyway?See how much fun it is if you eat a blueberry and some moron says it looks like a dingleberry and a third hiker says, "I hereby give you the trailname Dingleberry Eater."
hahaha! Note taken Frosty!
How about Buttercup? It has a ring to it. Like the song 'Boy Named Sue' -- it will make you tougher.
And he said: "Son, this world is rough
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
And I know I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
So I give ya that name and I said good-bye
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
And it's that name that helped to make you strong."
SHel Siverstein: (Okay now years ago I wrote a song called A Boy Named Sue and that was okay and everything except then I started to think about it and I thought it is unfair. I am looking at the whole thing from the poor kid’s point of view and as I get more older and more fatherly I begin to look at things from an old man’s point of view. So I decided to give the old man equal time ... okay here we go)
Yeah I lef’ home when the kid was three and it sure felt good to be fancy free
Tho I knew it wasn’t quite the fatherly thing to do
But that kid kept screamin’ and throwin’ up and pissin’ in his pants til I had enough
So just for revenge I went and named him Sue
Yeah it was Gatlinberg in mid July I was gettin' drunk but gettin' by
Gettin' old and goin' from bad to worse
When thru the door with an awful scream comes the ugliest queen I've ever seen
He says my name is Sue how do you do then he hits me with his purse
Now this ain’t the way he tells the tale but he scratched my face with his fingernails
And then he bit my thumb and kicked me with his high-heeled shoe
So I hit him in the nose and he started to cry and he threw some perfume in my eye
And it sure ain’t easy fightin' with a boy named Sue
So I hit him in the head with a caned-back chair
And he screamed hey dad you mussed my hair
And he hit me in the navel and knocked out a piece of my lint
He was spittin' blood I was spittin' teeth
And we crashed through the wall and out into the street
A kickin and gougin' in the mud and the blood and the creme de menth
Then out of his garter he pulls a gun I’m about to get shot by my very own son
He’s screamin' bout Sigmond Freud and lookin' grim
So I thought fast and I told him some stuff
How I named him Sue just to make him tough
And I guess he bought it cuz now I’m livin' with him
Yeah he cooks and sews and cleans up the place he cuts my hair and shaves my face
And irons my shirts better than a daughter could do
And on the nights that I can’t score well I can’t tell you anymore
Sure is a joy to have a boy named Sue yeah a son is fun
But it’s a joy to have a boy named Sue
Blissful
01-06-2009, 20:38
Doesn't really matter whether you pick it or someone gives it to you. :)
Tennessee Viking
01-06-2009, 20:56
If you hike by yourself, then you get to pick your own.
Then when you start hanging out with other hikers, they will nickname you. Either where you are from, what you do in real life, habbits, favorite items, or something crazy/stupid while on trail.
I first went by a hack version of a Viking name, since I like celtic/viking books. Since it was hard to pronounce for lots of people, I switched it to Tennessee Viking to be more understandable.
Serial 07
01-06-2009, 21:24
in my experience, the older crowd is more apt to come to the trail with a name they've already chosen...and usually they aren't very interesting...that is just my opinon...i'm all about waiting for the trail and gettin' something more meaningful there...at first, some folks were trying to name me "pyro" because i was all about getting fires started at night...that was lame (to me)...so i resisted...only took two days before someone was accusing me (falsely) of assulting them with their (not mine, their) hiking poles...story gets around, i get called the trail "serial killer" and BAM, serial killer is my trail name...what makes it great is i'm one of the more amicable folks you'll meet...thus, serial (killer) stuck...
moral of the story, wait til the trail and something meaningful (and hopefully unique like sir boognish) will come along...good luck!
Lots of people will suggest names; you get the final say on the one you accept. Don't be rushed into picking a name before the right one comes along.
CrumbSnatcher
01-06-2009, 21:39
you won't get stuck with a trail name you don't like,unless you start answering to it
Maybe it should be "WorryWart"...... just kidding!
WILLIAM HAYES
01-06-2009, 21:55
I got my name Hillbilly which I have never really liked that much from my priest who was hiking with me on my first hike on the AT.My first name is Bill and I had a rough time on the "hills" on my first hike- it has stuck with me over the past 11 years- I would have chosen a different name but there is some charm in not pickling your own name I guess
I think it's far more fun to let your trailname come to you rather than choosing one. If you REALLY hate the one they give you, just don't answer to it and hopefully it won't stick. No guarantees, though :). I think getting a funny trailname makes for a great story, anyway.
I have another version of mine that is only used in non-polite company. Think Mel Gibson and lady cops.. ;).
Sugargrits
TrippinBTM
01-06-2009, 21:58
Acrtually, Brett, in recent years, the vast majority of folks do indded pick their own Trail names.
You think so? Seemed to me most people were named by others, though they did have a say in that it generally only stuck when the namee agreed to it?
Anyways, in my mind it's better to get named on the trail, unless you have a nickname that is really meaningful to you before the trail, as Bearpaw had from the military. The AT is a major, meaningful event in your life. Taking on a new name can be a way to signify that. Like being baptized by the trail, eh? :)
I have another version of mine that is only used in non-polite company. Think Mel Gibson and lady cops.. ;).
Sugargrits
yeah I thought the non polite version before i read the lethal weapon part LOL But im a guy and i think like that.
Im in agreement with its probably more meaningful to get it on the trail...whatever it is. This is, as im sure it is for most, more than just a hike. A spiritual journy? discovering more about myself? My ultimate plan though is to unearth my lifes true calling and not go back to my inspection job at the refinery! :D
Lone Wolf
01-06-2009, 22:55
This being my first major hike, I am looking forward to hopefully getting a trail name. I know, just like a nickname, you dont get to pick your own.
says who? i picked my own
says who? i picked my own
Well ive gotten nicknamed Kemo Sabe by some co workers and also a couple unrelated friends. I may use that as a temp until another works its way up the food chain.
Like Bearpaw, I picked up Hooch as a nickname in the Marines. It was very natural to go back to it as a trail name when I started backpacking a few years ago.
BTW, go with Mr. Pink, it sounds cool.
You need a hard to pronounce last name for a trail/real word nick name... :)
Hooch: Heh. Just noticed the sig line. :) I am not pale at least, so maybe I partially get away with it. :p
WorryWart.... growing on you...... :)
I like Ghost. If you like it, keep it!
hootyhoo
01-07-2009, 18:49
haha classic song. ill pass on buttercup though. The Safety man at our refinery, a ex combat medic, calls me Ghost cause he can never find me. That sounds cooler but we'll see.
Ghost is a cool name - you might want to keep that one - and the reason for it is also cool. I was of course busting chops with the Buttercup suggestion - we had a subcontractor a few years ago that ended up being called buttercup for about a year - it was pretty funny.
TrippinBTM
01-07-2009, 19:31
met these two guys, southbounders, pretty late in the season (I was already in Maine), and we (my group and I) stood on the trail talking to them a while. They said they didn't want trail names, since they weren't terribly likely to be in a group of other hikers, and they just weren't really into it. But we would have none of it; so we dubbed them Turbohawk and Acorn Blossom, for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Got the feeling one of them liked his name more than the other, haha. But it was all in fun, and they found it about as funny as we did.
SunnyWalker
01-07-2009, 23:05
One time I was on a 4 weekhike in the North Cascades with 8 other men. I was wearing a shirt with "OREGON" on the front. Guess what I was called throughout the hike??
SunnyWalker
01-07-2009, 23:07
Brett, how about "GhostHiker"?
Brett, how about "GhostHiker"?
lol na. Theres only one person who actually calls me that and not even that often. Another friend called me Kemo Sabe today. That ones been more popular with friends and coworkers...and more fitting considering. Unless Im tattooed with another Ill probably use that.
ednotmilkman
01-08-2009, 01:02
Crawl, thats perfect.
hey worrywart, if you don't like that one, we'll shorten it to wart !
We can it sound like royalty too....WorryWart of the Small.....WorryWart for short.... :)
if it hasn't been mentioned already
remember: its not what you are called but what you respond to (another words if someone gives you a name you really really don't like, don't respond to it)
i would just like to add to that saying that if you respond to it by saying " oh cmon guys you know i dont like that" it is still RESPONDING to it
Lots of people will suggest names; you get the final say on the one you accept. Don't be rushed into picking a name before the right one comes along.
Exactly. I met a SOBO couple (man and woman) on the trail this fall. I don't remember her name but his was Honey. Turns out his wife would call him honey regularly, and soon, so did everyone else!
Even though I am a section hiker, not a through hiker, my screen name is my trail name; it is actually a nick name my dad had for me when I was a toddler, and I adopted when I went back to backpacking because he and I packed together when I learned how as a teenager in Royal Rangers. He is my shuttle/support when I hike anywhere near where he and mom live, and his is absolutely tickled that I adopted that name.
I guess I said all that to say that sometimes there are some cool stories behind names that people choose, not just behind the ones they are given by others.
Hoop Time
01-10-2009, 21:32
My 12-year-old gave herself the trail name "Squeak" the first time she went hiking on the AT. Later that day, a hiker she befriended and bestowed most of the bag of oatmeal cookies she had baked to share with through hikers we encountered said to her ""Thanks Cookie Monster," prompting her to claim that as her trail name "because a hiker gave it to her and that is much cooler than picking your own."
I was Windex as a camp counselor and it followed me to the AT. Ask your best friend what to call yourself if you can't think of one of your own. I wouldn't leave it to the whims of other hikers.
A friend named me halfstep brcause it took two of my steps to equal one of his...
And another friend calls me "enrico pallazzo"---I think just so he could shout every time he saw me "HEY! It's Enrico Pallazzo!!"
So I guess I have two trail names depending on who I hike with...
lol na. Theres only one person who actually calls me that and not even that often. Another friend called me Kemo Sabe today. That ones been more popular with friends and coworkers...and more fitting considering. Unless Im tattooed with another Ill probably use that.
Okay Kemo Sabe... sounds much better than Just Brett :)