Reprint of the Nomicon @ this blog. Pt One: What is a Craft Name?

You can read the whole website on the wayback machine at: http://web.archive.org/web/20060621115703/http://home.att.net/~ladykaat/nomicon/index.html


What is a craft name?
A craft name, or Eke name, also called a Witch name, Wiccan name, spirit name and NAME, is the name you go by as part of a Wiccan (or Pagan, or Magickal) circle, tradition or group. For some people, it is nothing more than a fancy sounding pseudonym that they use to make themselves sound more unique or scary but for other people it is a genuine and heartfelt religious decision.
While it is true that many solitary practitioners (also called "solitaries" sing:"solitary") choose a craft name, they were historically used as part of community identification. Indeed, unless your craft name is known only to the gods and yourself (and some of us do have such names!) you are using the name as part of a community, even if that community is difficult to define.
In general, craft names come in three varieties. While not a definitive list, I identify these three types of names as:

• Names of Choice
• Names of Practice
• Names of Initiation

Names of Choice are names that a person invents or takes as a result of a desire to use a new name. These are similar to screen names, and may reflect the personal likes of the user. A bobcat loving woman, who loves copper and sheep as well, might call herself "Lady Copper Bobcatsheep." As you may expect, these names can get very silly. In my experience, the Lady Copper Bobcatsheep of the world generally are called things like Sarah and Stephanie, and the Lady Bobcat nonsense is used only when writing indignant letters to the press or making websites.
Names of Practice on the other hand are names chosen to reflect a spiritual practice. This may be a dedication name, such as when you say "I am Steve, and from this day forward I shall be known as Dragon fire of the Wicca." These names are similar to the above names in that people usually pick them themselves, but they have an important distinction in that they represent a new name given to recognise a new practice in one's life. In many cultures, people assume a new name at adulthood, and this name of practice is similar to that name... it is a name of "Wiccahood," if you will, a name used to describe the new you who is not the same as the old non-Wiccan you.
Lastly, Names of Initiation are names given on the entry into a coven or tradition. They may be chosen, usually with guidance, or they may be given. An initiation is a formalized entry ritual into a group or tradition, and names of initiation are a group decision. They may be private, or you may have a private and public name.
The choice of such a name is tradition based and often oathbound, but a similar example, from fiction, might make it clear:
Stilgar nodded, tugging at his beard. "I see strength in you... like the strength beneath a pillar." Again he paused, then: "You shall be known among us as Usul, the base of the pillar. This is your secret name, your troop name. We of Sietch Tabr may use it, but none other may so presume... Usul."-Frank Herbert, Dune