Derby name
A derby name, roller derby name or skater name is a nickname used by a skater while playing or officiating roller derby.
Derby names can be seen as an opportunity to adopt an alternative on-track persona.
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, which was mirrored by Ivanna S. Pankin of Arizona Roller Derby, who had previously used her derby name while working as a musician.[6]
Around 40,000 skater names are registered on the International Rollergirls' Master Roster.[7] 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.[8] 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.[6]
Despite its name, the roster also includes the derby names of male skaters, referees and other officials.[9] Names on the roster are not permitted to be identical or very similar to pre-existing entries.[5] There are some other restrictions, such as prohibitions on names starting with possessives, ending with gerunds, or very general, such as "Skater".[8]
Many leagues will only submit derby names to the roster once a skater has shown significant commitment to the sport.[8] For example, it took more than four months of practice before Nicole Williams adopted her derby name, "Bonnie Thunders".[10]
A few skaters choose to trademark their roller derby names,
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,
See also
References
- ^ Anthony Breznican, "Having a roller-derby name is 'kind of like being a superhero", USA Today, 8 July 2009
- Santa Fe New Mexican, 30 March 2008
- ^ a b Katjusar Cisar, "FRITO-LAY SUING ROLLER DERBY SKATER OVER USE OF 'CRACKERJACK'", The Capital Times, 15 April 2009
- Tablet Magazine, 28 October 2010
- ^ a b c Catherine Mabe, Roller Derby: The History and All-Girl Revival of the Greatest Sport on Wheels, pp.44-45
- ^ a b c David Fagundes, "Talk Derby to Me: Intellectual Property Norms Governing Roller Derby Pseudonyms[permanent dead link]", Texas Law Review, vol.90, pp.1093-1152
- ^ "International Rollergirls' Master Roster[permanent dead link]", accessed 12 November 2012
- ^ a b c d Alex Cohen and Jennifer Barbee, Down and Derby: The Insider's Guide to Roller Derby
- ^ "Master Roster Rules", International Rollergirls' Master Roster
- ^ Adam Nichols, "Black & Blue & Girl All Over", New York Daily News, 5 March 2006
- ^ Nicole Cox, "The Big Derby Name Debate: Deciding to Skate as Me Archived 2012-11-25 at the Wayback Machine", Derby Life, 18 September 2012
- ^ Georgia Krokus and Katherine Wright, "Ultraviolent Femmes: it's fast. It's furious. It's all the rage in England", Curve, 1 April 2011