Just curious about trail names. I think it’s cool that people have them however, are they given to you by someone else or can you make up your own trail name?
Xman
Trail Names - Appalachian Trail
system
#2
I’d like to know if anyone has put together a directory of trail names so that someone choosing a trail name can see whether someone else has already chosen that name.
canyonjane
system
#3
Xman -
Normally thru-hikers are given trail names by their fellow hikers - often after some funny incident. For example, ‘Singe’ might get his trailname from putting too much fuel in his stove & lighting his hair on fire. 
Sometimes hikers refuse to accept their names, so they pick their own or wait for another one.
Also, if hikers grow tired of their names, they sometimes change them when they go on another thru-hike. (My trailname used to be “Breaking Wind”…)
The first trail name was “Crazy One” given to Earl Shaffer, the very first thru-hiker. He was called this by the fire lookouts who manned the fire towers back in '48. (they thought that an AT thru-hike was absolutely crazy back then) Although he didn’t use this name very much, the concept was born & the rest is history so to speak.
As far as i know , there is no official directory, but Trailplace;.com has a fairly comprehensive listing of thru-hikers & their trailnames.
freebird
system
#4
While I think Freebird has pretty much summed up the answer, it is a question that has been fluttering through my musings all day. How do we get our names? Do we give them to ourselves, or wait to be christened by a fellow hiker? Sitting around the shelter swapping stories, the bemused and confused expressions from strangers when they hear these names.
The names we are given at birth contain stories, stories that connect us to our past, our families. When we tell these stories we tell the stories of our families. My parents chose my first name because there were distant relatives on both sides with the name- they could appease both sides without having to choose sides. Something of my family dynamic is contained within this story.
As we turn to the trail we are disconnecting from the ties of family and friends, connecting with ourselves as individuals. When I wash away my environment, who am I? Our trail names begin to the tell the story of who we are once set adrift in the world. And yes, sometimes those names change.
I admire those who name themselves, they seem to have a clear idea of who they are - or who they’d like to become. When I set foot on the trail, I had little idea of who I was or who I was going to find. I waited for the name to come to me. It came on an early morning hillside, a response to tales of my own naivetee - “Married to an Ex-Con”. A name connected to my interactions with others on the trail. Later my name changed to reflect my own approach to the trail.
Our names are windows into our stories, to our dreams.
tumblina
system
#5
The Appalachian Long Distance Hiker Association (ALDHA) puts out it’s annual membership directory, which includes trailnames. While this is not every hiker, in 2000 they also put out a yearbook of every person (and their trailname) to hike the AT up to that point. If you join, you will get a copy of the membership directory.
Unfortunately, to prevent mass-marketers from getting the list it is not published online.
30-30
system
#6
Thanks freebird,tumblina and 30-30. I didn’t know the history behind the trail names and it is nice to know. I bet there are lots of funny stories on how people got thier trail names. Thanks again . :cheers
Xman
system
#7
I had no idea that hikers sometimes give other hikers their trail names. I was thinking of it as an opportunity for an individual to define himself or herself with a name that represented a quality or a goal or a self-defined role in the environment of the trail. Thanks for these interesting thoughts that you have all shared on this topic!
canyonjane