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Revision as of 14:25, 17 June 2007 editGDonato (talk | contribs)10,863 edits →Paul Tracy: cmt← Previous edit Latest revision as of 06:31, 10 January 2025 edit undoRed-tailed hawk (talk | contribs)Edit filter managers, Administrators32,731 edits →TheGEICOgecko: allow 
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==Reports== ==Reports==
Please remember that this is ''not a vote'', rather, it is a place where editors can come when they are unsure what to do with a username, and to get outside opinions (hence it's named "requests for comment"). There are no set time limits to the period of discussion.
<!-- Add all new requests below this line, leaving a one line space between each one, all new requests go at the bottom of the page -->
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===Anwar saadat===
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:''The following discussion is an archived debate of the username below. <span style="color:red">'''Please do not modify it.'''</span> Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as ]). No further edits should be made to this section. ''
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{{#if:'''Allow'''. The username policy at the time of account creation discouraged but did not prohibit user names of famous people, the subject is not recently deceased, and there has been no evidence of impersonation, or evidence of inflammatory POV editing. <font face="monospace">]<sup>]</sup><sub>]</sub></font> 17:01, 15 June 2007 (UTC)|The result was: '''Allow'''. The username policy at the time of account creation discouraged but did not prohibit user names of famous people, the subject is not recently deceased, and there has been no evidence of impersonation, or evidence of inflammatory POV editing. <font face="monospace">]<sup>]</sup><sub>]</sub></font> 17:01, 15 June 2007 (UTC)}}

⚫ {{user|Anwar saadat}}
:The likelihood that this person is the famous ] is small. Identity should be confirmed or the user should be requested to change their name. The famous person is quite a controversial person, and using such a name is likely to provoke contoversy. The username policy forbids names of famous people anyway. This user is still rather new, so the issue should be dealt with ASAP. ] | ] 20:20, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
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*Impossible not small, could be the user's real name? ] (''']''') 20:22, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
:It could, but the username policy specifically requires authentication for famous names. It sucks to have the same name as a celebrity, but that's the way it goes. It falls under misleading usernames, "Usernames that match the name of a well-known living or recently deceased person, unless you verifiably are that person." ] | ] 20:26, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
::], the famous one I imagine you're referring to, was assassinated in 1981. The policy states that usernames similar to living or recently deceased famous persons are disallowed, I think 27 years is beyond recent. ] ]/] 20:30, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

* This user is not new, he's been contributing quite regularly since 2005. I'm inclined to allow long-standing editors to retain their usernames, as they've presumably built up a reputation under them, but encourage them to change if significant concerns are raised. -] (]) 20:46, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
:*Yes, I was confused by that too. He seems to be a prolific image contributor, for over a year. ] ]></sup></font>]]/] 20:47, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
Ok, what about "Usernames that promote a controversial or potentially inflammatory point of view."? My concern, as evidenced from the note on his talkpage, is that this person is here to promote a specific controversial view, and the name inflames that. ] | ] 20:36, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
:The username policy only requires the authentication of names where the user '''is''' the famous one, not when they share a name. ] (''']''') 20:40, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
::(ec) Is he editing Egyptian/Islamic articles with a POV slant? If not, I don't think that angle is one we need to worry about, and if he is then his conduct could be addressed. The verificatoin issue is mostly moot considering Sadat's death and the time since then. Also, what is the controversial view you say he's promoting? I don't see it from looking at his talk page. ] ]/] 20:43, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
::::Not really, Anwar Sadat the Egyptian was not known for religious politics anyway. Anwar has had a few religious clashes with some Hindu users mostly. The Egyptian was mostly having peace negotiations with Israel not on a very relgious tone. ''']''' (]) 00:50, 15 June 2007 (UTC)
:::He has had a colourful history anyway ] (''']''') 20:52, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

:::Umm, famous Sadat dead since 1981, spelled different, someone close this before my head explodes. ] 21:38, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
::::By the way, I ] the third president of Egypt, he confirmed that ] was indeed him. ] 21:43, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
:::::We were aware of that; the issue of the name being inflammatory has not been properly addressed to close this, imo. ] (''']''') 21:48, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

::::::Has the user been contributing since 2005? Has anyone else ever made any comments about the username? I'd be tempted to let it go if the user has been editing for a long time without incident. ] 21:54, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

(undent)Any name could be construed as inflammatory. A few people are bound to be offended by almost anything. ] 22:19, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
:I do agree that this name should be allowed but there is not sufficient discussion to close this, imo. ] (''']''') 22:22, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
*You need more discussion to close this? Ok, how about this. Since the real Anwar Sadat has been dead for over twenty years, there is no chance he could be confused with him. Secondly, this user name is also spelled differently. I would guess that this user admires the real Anwar Sadat and wants to use a name similar. Unless this user is going to act in inappropriate ways, which is against our policy whatever name you have, I don't see any reason not to allow it. As for whatever rule might say something about names, such rules are guidelines, not laws written in stone. Perhaps someone could link an alleged rule that might say this isn't allowed so we could look at it.

What note on his talk page is the one that you mean, pschemp? Unless someone can point out some really good reasons, I don't see we need to bother with objecting to his name. Rules for the sake of rules is a bad thing. Either there is a valid reason (which I've not seen mentioned yet) to deny him this name or not. ] 23:41, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

*Well I have come into contact with this user and his username was mentioned a last year, on ANI. It was pointed out that Anwar is a very common Muslim name, and so is Saadat apparently...and that there are 200 million Indian Muslims (although Anwar doesn't live in India). But anyway, if you look at Muslims, there are some given names that are used over and over again. And for Asians generally, you tend to get some surnames taking up large percentages.....Nguyen in Vietnam, etc, etc... People of Vietnamese descent in Australia are only 1% of the population and yet Nguyen is in the 10 most common surnames. ''']''' (]) 00:48, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

:*If the famous person died in 1981, then this does not seem against policy. ]<!-- Was HighInBC --> 01:27, 15 June 2007 (UTC)
::The username isn't a problem. The real Sadat died in 1981, so unless someone is haxoring from the grave, no impersonation issues are present. ] <small><sup>]</sup></small> 06:27, 15 June 2007 (UTC)
:''The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. <span style="color:Red">'''Please do not modify it.'''</span> Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the entries talk page). No further edits should be made to this page. <!--Template:RFCN bottom--></div>

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===0564401===
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:''The following discussion is an archived debate of the username below. <span style="color:red">'''Please do not modify it.'''</span> Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as ]). No further edits should be made to this section. ''
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{{#if:{{{1|}}}|The result was: {{{1}}}}}
Allow. ]] 10:41, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

{{user|0564401}}
:Moving from ]. User thought name was too random. See . No personal opinion. '''<span style="font-size:97%"><font color="#33ff00">''~''</font>&nbsp;]]</span>''' 01:04, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
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::6 characters is not too random. ] 01:08, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
:::Good counting Ryan! Is that you final answer? --<small>(])</small> ] <sup>]</sup><small>]<sub>]</sub> (Let's Go Yankees!)</small> 01:18, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
::::Sorry, ] put it as 6 at UAA! Still, I don't think it's too random. ] 01:21, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
:::::Actually, I misread you R - you said 7, time for bed me thinks.... ] 01:22, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
::It's no longer than a local phone number. It's unconventional, but not inappropriate I don't think. ] ]/] 01:22, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
:The first few Google hits are from various wikis and forums, so it seems that this user has established an identity using the name. Using the same string on different forums means, to me, that it isn't random. ] 08:51, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
:''The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. <span style="color:Red">'''Please do not modify it.'''</span> Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the entries talk page). No further edits should be made to this page. <!--Template:RFCN bottom--></div>

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===Bthsmathteam===
{{user|Bthsmathteam}}
:I'm concerned this username might be a problem since it's a clear association with the group and the editor's only edits have been to the page about the Math team. I'd suggest changing it, but the editor may be too inexperienced with Misplaced Pages to understand the problem and I'm not at all confident in my ability to explain it. ] 04:06, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
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===Paul Tracy===
{{user|Paul Tracy}}
:After I spotted the account ] I decided to read the policy and found that my own username may be invalid as there is a racing driver who shares my name. Do I need to change it? ]<sub>|<font style="background: ffffcc">\]</font></sub> 10:05, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
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:''Place your report below this line. Please put new reports on the top of the list.''
::Policy says <blockquote>
----<!-- Below this one -->
# Misleading usernames that imply relevant, misleading things about the user, including but not limited to:
=== TheGEICOgecko ===
⚫ {{user|TheGEICOgecko}}
:I have been informed that my username is inappropriate (to non-American users unfamiliar with the username, it is a reference to "The GEICO gecko", the mascot of the car insurance company, GEICO). When I first made my account, I believe I was clearly following username policy, as I steered clear from anything that might even remotely be seen as promotional by not editing any car insurance related articles, and I am not affiliated with the company in any way. However, reading the username policy again, at least it's fairly different from what I recall, more explicitly saying that any mention of a company is not allowed.


:I just want to confirm here whether my username truly breaks username policy. The username is something I would really like to keep and is something I use a lot, and I would like to put extra effort to ensure the username change is necessary. In particular, according to ], a stage name, pen name, or other nickname that uniquely identifies someone can be considered appropriate, even if it might otherwise be a promotional name. I use variations of "the geico gecko" (e.g., TheGEICOgecko, thegeicogecko, The GEICO gecko, etc) as my online name pretty much everywhere that I've been allowed to, including social media sites, and more official settings like medical, financial, and educational institution websites, among others. It is effectively the name I go by as far as my online prescence is concerned, and hope that I can keep my name for that reason. If needed, I can give proof of this usage. To my knowledge (though of course I could be mistaken about this), I am the only person on the Internet that widely uses this name, as I have found success claiming the username on a number of websites with a large base of users. Therefore, I would argue it falls under the requiremenet that the name "The GEICO gecko" is a nickname uniquely identifiable to one person, me. Therefore, the username "TheGEICOgecko" would be allowed.
::* Usernames that match the name of a well-known living or recently deceased person, unless you verifiably are that person, in which case please note this on your user page. Wikipedians with articles is a list of such users.
</blockquote>
Maybe have something on your user page "I'm not the racing driver". Paul is a common given name and Tracy is a common family name, so there are bound to be many Paul Tracys who are not racing drivers. In my opinion unless you're editing anything connected to racing sports / cars / etc you should be ok. Maybe the policy should be changed? ] 12:09, 17 June 2007 (UTC)


:Additionally, I will paste here what I have on my profile page, which is what I would continue to ensure to adhere by, in order to avoid any slightest possibility that my account is used for promotional purposes in favor of the company:
:Given the commonness of both names, and that it is your name, I think a simple notice on your page saying you are not him will be fine. ]<!-- Was HighInBC --> 13:14, 17 June 2007 (UTC)


:"I do not work for GEICO, am not associated with GEICO, and am in no way sponsored by GEICO. My username refers to a car insurance company in the same way one would make a username referring to any other object or concept, and I have decided to make a username referring to GEICO. To avoid any controversy concerning my username, I will abstain from editing, adding, or otherwise directly interacting with any articles relating to car insurance." ] (]) 05:37, 10 January 2025 (UTC)
::I agree with H. It's not a rare name, so it would be completely reasonable for you to be able to keep your username. I also agree that a statement on your page stating that you are not him would be helpful. <span style="border: 2px solid #828282; padding: 0px;">]]</span> 14:15, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
* '''Allow''' This seems fine to me. ] ] 05:49, 10 January 2025 (UTC)
:::I agree with both above, a statement would be helpful on your page, but even that is not compulsory. Allow. ] (''']''') 14:25, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
*'''Allow'''. It's fine to me, provided that you don't edit articles that relate to (non-health) insurance and/or ]. If you do start to go down that road, it might be a bit confusing for editors, and I would advise either a ] be used or a username change occur. — ]&nbsp;<sub>]</sub> 06:31, 10 January 2025 (UTC)

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Please remember that this is not a vote, rather, it is a place where editors can come when they are unsure what to do with a username, and to get outside opinions (hence it's named "requests for comment"). There are no set time limits to the period of discussion.

Place your report below this line. Please put new reports on the top of the list.

TheGEICOgecko

TheGEICOgecko (talk · contribs)

I have been informed that my username is inappropriate (to non-American users unfamiliar with the username, it is a reference to "The GEICO gecko", the mascot of the car insurance company, GEICO). When I first made my account, I believe I was clearly following username policy, as I steered clear from anything that might even remotely be seen as promotional by not editing any car insurance related articles, and I am not affiliated with the company in any way. However, reading the username policy again, at least it's fairly different from what I recall, more explicitly saying that any mention of a company is not allowed.
I just want to confirm here whether my username truly breaks username policy. The username is something I would really like to keep and is something I use a lot, and I would like to put extra effort to ensure the username change is necessary. In particular, according to WP:USERSTAGENAME, a stage name, pen name, or other nickname that uniquely identifies someone can be considered appropriate, even if it might otherwise be a promotional name. I use variations of "the geico gecko" (e.g., TheGEICOgecko, thegeicogecko, The GEICO gecko, etc) as my online name pretty much everywhere that I've been allowed to, including social media sites, and more official settings like medical, financial, and educational institution websites, among others. It is effectively the name I go by as far as my online prescence is concerned, and hope that I can keep my name for that reason. If needed, I can give proof of this usage. To my knowledge (though of course I could be mistaken about this), I am the only person on the Internet that widely uses this name, as I have found success claiming the username on a number of websites with a large base of users. Therefore, I would argue it falls under the requiremenet that the name "The GEICO gecko" is a nickname uniquely identifiable to one person, me. Therefore, the username "TheGEICOgecko" would be allowed.
Additionally, I will paste here what I have on my profile page, which is what I would continue to ensure to adhere by, in order to avoid any slightest possibility that my account is used for promotional purposes in favor of the company:
"I do not work for GEICO, am not associated with GEICO, and am in no way sponsored by GEICO. My username refers to a car insurance company in the same way one would make a username referring to any other object or concept, and I have decided to make a username referring to GEICO. To avoid any controversy concerning my username, I will abstain from editing, adding, or otherwise directly interacting with any articles relating to car insurance." TheGEICOgecko (talk) 05:37, 10 January 2025 (UTC)
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