A derby name, roller derby name or skater name is a

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

used by a skater while playing or officiating

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States. Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (j ...

. Derby names can be seen as an opportunity to adopt an alternative on-track persona. Many derby names are puns, and in some cases this may extend to the skater's number. Other names may be chosen to reflect a skater's playing style or ability.Katjusar Cisar,
FRITO-LAY SUING ROLLER DERBY SKATER OVER USE OF 'CRACKERJACK'
, ''

The Capital Times ''The Capital Times'' (or ''Cap Times'') is a digital-first newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by The Capital Times Company. The company also owns 50 percent of Capital Newspapers, which now does business as Madison Media Partners. The ot ...

'', 15 April 2009 '' Tablet Magazine'' describes the ideal derby name as showing "both aggression and humor" and "reveal ngsomething about the skater". Marjorie Ingall,
I Wish They All Could Be Jewish Derby Girls
, '' Tablet Magazine'', 28 October 2010 For example,

Hydra Hydra generally refers to: * Lernaean Hydra, a many-headed serpent in Greek mythology * ''Hydra'' (genus), a genus of simple freshwater animals belonging to the phylum Cnidaria Hydra or The Hydra may also refer to: Astronomy * Hydra (constel ...

, a former

Texas Rollergirls Texas Rollergirls is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Austin, Texas. Founded in early 2003 and widely credited as the league that started the modern roller derby movement, the Texas Rollergirls were the first flat-track league in ...

skater, chose her name in part due to her profession as a hydrologist, and in part in reference to the mythological creature.Catherine Mabe, ''Roller Derby: The History and All-Girl Revival of the Greatest Sport on Wheels'', pp.44-45 Fagundes suggests 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". He gives LA Derby Dolls skater Tara Armov as an example of an ideal-type name.David Fagundes,
Talk Derby to Me: Intellectual Property Norms Governing Roller Derby Pseudonyms
, '' Texas Law Review'', vol.90, pp.1093-1152 Although some skaters in pre-2000 banked track roller derby did have nicknames, the tradition of derby names did not emerge until the early-2000s revival in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, which was mirrored by Ivanna S. Pankin of Arizona Roller Derby, who had previously used her derby name while working as a musician. Around 40,000 skater names are registered on the International Rollergirls' Master Roster. The roster originated as a spreadsheet kept by Hydra. In November 2004, Axles of Evil proposed that a centralised record of derby names be created, and Hydra then launched the roster publicly.Alex Cohen and Jennifer Barbee, ''Down and Derby: The Insider's Guide to Roller Derby'' Hydra passed responsibility for the roster to Paige Burner, Soylent Mean and Jelly HoNut late the following year, by which point it already had more than two thousand entries. Despite its name, the roster also includes the derby names of male skaters, referees and other officials. Names on the roster are not permitted to be identical or very similar to pre-existing entries. There are some other restrictions, such as prohibitions on names starting with

possessive A possessive or ktetic form (abbreviated or ; from la, possessivus; grc, κτητικός, translit=ktētikós) is a word or grammatical construction used to indicate a relationship of possession in a broad sense. This can include strict owne ...

s, ending with

gerund In linguistics, a gerund ( abbreviated ) is any of various nonfinite verb forms in various languages; most often, but not exclusively, one that functions as a noun. In English, it has the properties of both verb and noun, such as being modifi ...

s, or very general, such as "Skater". Many leagues will only submit derby names to the roster once a skater has shown significant commitment to the sport. For example, it took more than four months of practice before Nicole Williams adopted her derby name, " Bonnie Thunders". A few skaters choose to trademark their roller derby names, and this practice may occasionally lead to conflict. For example, when

Mad Rollin' Dolls Madison Roller Derby (MRD), founded as "Mad Rollin' Dolls", is a women's flat-track roller derby league based in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 2004, Madison is a founding member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), and was the fou ...

skater Crackerjack attempted to trademark her name, in order to license it for use in a video game, she was sued by the manufacturers of the

Cracker Jack Cracker Jack is an American brand of snack food that consists of molasses-flavored, caramel-coated popcorn, and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of trivial value inside. The Cracker Jack name and slogan, "The More You Eat The ...

snack food. Skaters are not required to use derby names, and a few do skate 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.Georgia Krokus and Katherine Wright,
Ultraviolent Femmes: it's fast. It's furious. It's all the rage in England
, ''

Curve In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line, but that does not have to be straight. Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point. This is the definition that ...

'', 1 April 2011 Other skaters counter that derby names are an important part of the culture of the sport, and reflect the use of nicknames in many other sports.

References

Nicknames in sports Roller derby

See also

References