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I want to start a new online identity and use a single common identifier on as many sites as possible. What web apps or other methods are available for me to check if my proposed nickname is already in use? I definitely want to avoid any service that might start cybersquatting on the name, if any are suspected of doing that.

Edit: agreed, this does make my online presence very searchable, and I'll give that some more thought.

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6 Answers

up vote 25 down vote accepted

namechk.com will check 149 sites (although some don't seem to work). The check is done on the client-side using JavaScript, so name squatting is not easily possible.

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Nice one, neo. Thanks for that. – William Jul 9 '10 at 12:06
up vote 9 down vote

Similar to namechk.com mentioned by @neo, knowem.com will search 150-300 sites for free, and will register them for you if you pay for their premium service.

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Thanks, this is a great choice too. I like the way they divide sites into topics. – William Jul 9 '10 at 12:05
up vote 6 down vote

Long time ago I started to use couple of random letters (Fczbkk) as my nickname. So far it was everywhere I tried to register. Even my domain (http://fczbkk.com) was free. Choosing "Fczbkk" was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

So if you just need an unique identifier for your on-line identity, I'd recommend using any random generator. Or you can smash your forehead against the keyboard or something like that.

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This is an interesting idea. I was hoping to use something less random but this method is growing on me. I am going to try bashing my head on the keys shortly :D – William Jul 9 '10 at 12:07
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IIRC, this was how xkcd was born too. – Benjol Jul 9 '10 at 12:45
Good idea, and you can choose random letters and then try to give it any meaning. Could result in something quite fun ! – Julien N Jul 9 '10 at 15:53
On reddit.com it's pretty common to create usernames after CAPTCHAs new users get on registration – Andrew Андрей Листочкин Jul 11 '10 at 2:13
@Benjol Here's the reference youtube.com/watch?v=zJOS0sV2a24 @ 44:30 – Evan Plaice Jul 14 '10 at 6:08
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up vote 2 down vote

I like plain old Google. Google your proposed name, and the fewer hits the better. Then trademark it, and SUE SUE SUE! (Heh).

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up vote 0 down vote

I made anagrams out of my favourite things until I found one that wasn't taken!

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9  
Zoloft, Fresca, and Xtacy? – BarrettJ Jul 9 '10 at 13:49
FZeroX. But close! – ZoFreX Jul 10 '10 at 23:21
up vote 0 down vote

Also, another option is namechecklist.com which will tell you domain availability and search engine rankings as well.

Its not as comprehensive on the social media part, but it is quite elegant.

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