Some bloggers are very creative, and have these blogs with fascinating names. Others seem pretty straightforward. Hence my question for this post …
Do you have a story behind the name you gave your blog?
Disclaimer:
These are my personal opinions. I do not expect anyone to agree with anything here, and in fact, I’m certain that many will disagree and/or even hate many of the things I’ve written below. Sorry about that, but you are always welcome to express your own opinions – be they contrary or comparable – in the comments section. So, with that out of the way… let the controversy begin!
What made me think about this topic?
A fellow blogger recently stopped by my VERY old post “So… who is this Chocolate Lady of whom you speak” and commented that she was glad she found the post, because she wondered why I call myself “The Chocolate Lady” – or TCL for short. Of course, you can always go to that post, to read it for yourself, but hey, why make you click again, right?
My Story…
This particular nickname was actually not self-dubbed. (Over the years, people have called me many things. I sincerely hope that most – if not all – have been long forgotten.) For those of you interested, here is a shortened version of how I obtained this auspicious handle.
It was way back in the mid-90s when I was first hooked up to the internet at home. I already knew from having it at work that it was a valuable tool. But at home, I thought maybe I could find something there that would help me become the famous, published poet I always wanted to be. (Yeah, sure… as if!)
Back then, they had what was called usnet and newsgroups. These groups were bulletin board sites where people could discuss whatever interested them. That’s where I found the group misc.writing. This was a group that totally discouraged posting of the contributors work – hurray! They were more about the “art and craft” of writing. They discussed many things like etiquette for submitting our work for publication, resources where writers can find markets, elements of writing such as character development and more. They also talked about many things that had nothing to do with writing. These could be anything from politics to pets. It was a virtual refuge for writers who wanted to get some advice as well as just take a break from writing (or whatever they were doing).
Even though I enjoyed most of the threads there, soon after getting involved, I noticed that some of the “off-topic” threads could get pretty heated (usually the political ones). These disturbed me and for some reason, I decided I would attempt to defuse the situations. I did this by veering the conversation onto a topic in which I had a great deal of love and no small amount of expertise – chocolate. It wasn’t long before I would interject chocolate into any conversation. This would often shut the thread down altogether, or make it go so far off on a tangent that it never succeeded in returning to the subject again. Success!
In addition, one of the fun features of the group was what we called “misc.writing.ville” which was a fictional, online town where the various members would take on fictional personalities to write stories of the scary village of writers trying to succeed. These were types of chain stories where one person would start with a scenario and then someone else would continue it. These were fun (and sometimes scary)! At some point, people realized I had been steering political and heated conversations towards chocolate, and someone included me in one of the ‘Ville’s stories as “The Chocolate Lady.” Flattered and pleased, I adopted this handle as my online persona, and I have kept it ever since.
But let’s make one thing crystal clear – I am a gourmet… or if you will… a connoisseur of chocolate; not an addict!
There you have it! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
So… what about you?
How did you come up for the name of your blog? Do you have an interesting story behind the name you gave your blog? If not, have you thought about giving your blog a different name, or are you happy with it just the way it is?
This post is my 20th entry in the 2020 Discussion Challenge, hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight!
The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog 
I wrote about my name on my blog, but it comes from my high school song, which started: “Minerva by our southern seas/Her sacred groves we planted./With whispering gums to woo the breeze/That floats o’er lands enchanted” and so on. It always struck me from those early days that it’s quite an unusual non-ra-ra song, so I loved it. And, I love gum trees. My only hesitation about it was that it starts with W that would always put me at the end of lists, but, hey, c’et la vie, I decided.
BTW My daughter had a blog for several years called Wayfaring Chocolate (from around 2010 to 2014 – roughly). She gave it up a few years ago, and recently we noticed that someone else had taken it up.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What an interesting story. Very cool song for a school, too. Was your daughter’s blog about chocolate or something else?
LikeLiked by 1 person
She loves different, artisan often, chocolates, so it was partly about chocolate. (She did have some sent to her for review.) She loves travel, so the wayfaring partly referred to that. She was also working on her anxiety issues so it was a combination of chocolate/travel/life. It included some recipes too. She’s a good writer, and I’m sorry it was taken down, but it was self-hosted, and of course she stopped paying for that. We have an archived copy I think but it’s not on the web anymore.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Shame… maybe one day she’ll be able to put it up. I’m a chocolate gourmet myself – only the best, so we have something in common!
LikeLiked by 1 person
How interesting! I’d always wondered where the name came from.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A very interesting discussion post! Great to find out how other bloggers got their blog names. I guess with my blog name – “Thoughts on Papyrus” I wanted to evoke something “prehistoric” and “otherworldly” or something similar (yeah, a lame attempt), and I loved the word “papyrus”. In my mind it evokes parchment and Egypt and something to do with history, which I sometimes do share with my bloggers. Thoughts on Papyrus is the name of my blog but my https address and twitter are “ideas on papyrus” because for some reason I cannot get back to “thoughts” as it strangely says “this domain is already taken”.
LikeLike
The URL isn’t important, but I also love the word papyrus!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great question. I wish I had an answer half as entertaining as yours. Mine was christened BookerTalk because when I started the blog, it was with the intention of reading and blogging about the Booker Prize winners. It’s veered off that path in the 8 years it’s been going. I’ve now finished the Booker Prize project so was thinking whether to change the name but did a quick poll among some blogging friends and they made me realise that having spent so long on building the “brand” Booker Talk I could lose a lot of followers if I abandoned it. So its here to stay
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting… and a good prize to read and write about! Yes, once we brand ourselves it kinda gets stuck to us.
LikeLike
How cool that your name dates back to the usenet/bbs days!
My blog’s original name was This Week at the Library, because when I started it (in 2006, on Myspace!!), I would literally just write about my weekly visit to the library talk about the books I’d just finished reading, and share what books I’d checked out. In the last couple of years I’ve been trying to get away from Google (I was using blogspot), and I decided to re-brand while I was at it. Reading Freely appealed to me for a few reasons, the least pretentious of which is that I read about almost everything — except romances. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah… you are quite the experienced blogger! I wonder where I would be if I had started back then. Nice story behind your blog!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was just bored and needing some writing outlet before college started! So many book blogs have gone inactive or been deleted over the years…I’m glad to have stuck it out!
LikeLiked by 1 person
As am I! That you stuck it out, that is!
LikeLike
Hi Davida! “Here, have some chocolate” – is the CORRECT answer to all and any question in life. I loved your name and that’s why I started jumping on your lap as much as possible. Although chocolate is really bad for cats you know….
I will do a proper post on my blog name on the 12th when it’s my adoption anniversary. The short version – I am a foster kitten and was dropped at school while my Mommy still had class. So I was handed from child to child and they all wanted to call me something like Snowy or Snowdrop (I’m a pure white kitten). But my Mommy actually speaks Afrikaans and “Sneeudruppel” will simply not work. She then decided on Elza. Spelled with a Z for Elsa and Frozen. Yes… I am named after Elsa from Frozen (the snow queen) and the song – let it go. Corny, but it was necessary. Will chat about it later.
So now we are just Elza Reads!
Your posts are always so nice Davida. I love leaving my ten cents worth here!
Have a wonderful week.
xxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely! I look forward to hearing more. Thanks
LikeLike
When I retired I wanted to share my love of reading. I was a teacher librarian for a few years and always promoted reading at school and with children, but his was my chance to share with other adults. I had not idea that my blog would eventually have over 1000 followers. Having said all that, I decided something simple would be best, hence, Carla Loves To Read.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Simple is good! And brava for your achievements!
LikeLiked by 1 person
When I was young and my relatives asked me what I would like for Christmas and Birthday presents I always answered books please. So that’s where my blog’s name came from – and I still like books as presents!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Simple but to the point and relevant!
LikeLike
Interesting. I set up my blog at the end of 2016 to try & reduce my TBR. I vowed not to buy any new books in 2017 & only read from my existing stash. (I lasted until August.) my blog name was an acknowledgment of the fact that I have a book buying addiction (and not a little one, despite the name of the blog!) I love blogging, but sadly it has had the very opposite effect that I intended & now my TBR is bigger than ever!
LikeLiked by 1 person
HA! I hear you! Yes, we get the sarcasm in your blog’s name…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mine is very simple, does what it says on the tin as a well known advert here proclaims! It’s a book blog and I live in Portobello. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, but there is more than one Portobello in the world. When I see your blog name, I think of Portobello Road in London!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I quite often get messages from people who have made the same mistake. Understandable of course. But the seaside photo on my blog header hopefully helps 🌊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just wanted something that sounded historical 🙂 .
LikeLiked by 1 person
And so it does! We can’t confuse your blog with one about contemporary fiction, now can we?
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post, Davida. Nice to know the story behind the name of your blog. As for me, it’s a very simple name – Debjani’s Thoughts. No story behind it, it’s unoriginal as it can be. I wanted to share my thoughts about the books and films I watch. That’s it! 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
Even so… that’s a reason behind the name!
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great topic. When I first started my blog, I wanted a really clever name. I tried puns, I asked friends for suggestions, and after weeks of not being satisfied with any of the ideas, I went with Helen’s Book Blog. SO unoriginal, so uninteresting, but I figured it said what it was. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
And yet, it is still a story.
LikeLike
I was stumbling over a name for my website because when I started it, I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to go. Books, crafts, or food? I couldn’t think of an appropriate name. What if I chose one then changed directions? Hence, I just went with my name. I go by Gina, but that was taken. I stuck my middle name in there so I could buy the domain. No one calls me Gina Rae, except a few relatives on my mother’s side of the family. Now that I have moved in the book review direction, I often think of changing the name. Then I will get an inspiration for a food or craft blog post and decide, I should stick with what’s working. That’s my long-winded story. Thanks for the prompt!
LikeLiked by 1 person
See? Even a simple self-named blog has a story!
LikeLike
Ok this is fun! My blog name sorta has a story. I originally thought of doing a take off on No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series and calling myself No 1 Ladies Reading Club …..or something like that…I can’t even remember now! My tech guy looked at me questioningly and said I should not use anything that people might misspell….is it No or number? I said “Fine! ReadingLadies.com” without much thought at all! I wish I could change to something more creative and I have something in mind but then what a hassle it would be to change across platforms. Maybe if I were younger and had decades of blogging ahead of me I might be more tempted!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting… yes, I’ve often thought of those books when I see your blog!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love your chocolate origins. My blog, Em and Yves, came about because I naively thought I would fulfill my life-long dream and write ONE book. Little did I know that one would grow to a four part series to be followed by three other books. By the time I saw where the whole thing was going, it seemed too late to change the blog name so Em and Yves it is.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cool… maybe the ONE book I’ve been working on will turn into more.
LikeLike