Badge Name

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Badge name is a name (nickname, word, or phrase) other than the owner's legal name, used on convention badges.

Besides the modern concern for security through anonymity, there are several other reasons some people sometimes want something other than their legal name on their badge.

Some people routinely go by names other than their legal name; either in life in general, or specifically in fandom. Putting the name somebody is most commonly known by on their badge doesn't contribute to anonymity, but it does make the person and those who know them feel more at home. Even conventions with a "real name" policy for their badges mostly allow this sort of well-established use-name.

Some people want to go to the convention in persona, and want their badge to help define and introduce that persona.

No doubt there are other reasons as well. The bottom line is, quite a few people want quite strongly to have a name other than their legal name, their legal first name, or even any common nickname for their legal first name, on their badge, and going too far towards thwarting them will result in considerable reaction. Some conventions feel it's worth the reaction; the argument is mostly based on a claim that people behave better if they're there as "themselves" rather than as an anonymous member passing through. Other conventions feel that the purpose of the convention is to have fun, and if people want to dress up in fur suits and call themselves "Kevin the Gerbil", or put on pointy ears and call themselves "Ambassador Souvlaki of Vulcan", then that's part of the fun of the con.