What's the story behind naming your blog?

I always wondered why blogs are named the way they are.

I started blogging in 1999 and giving a name to my blog was as important as naming my own child. Naturally as a lover of the old jazz era, I knew it would come down to one of my all time favorite song by Nina Simone: I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl. That long blog title donned my header for awhile, but no one seems to grasp it other than those over 60 years old. I was ok with that though. Except, no one ever remembered the url.

One day in 2007 and in the midst of watching MTV's "Pimp My Ride" (hey, nothin' wrong with that show, right?) it suddenly dawned on me, why not Sugar My Bowl?! No Joke!

So now that you know my story, tell me how you named your blog. Leave it in the comment section or maybe do a blog post on it too. Please share your link so I can go visit your blog and read your story.



Comments

Miss Lori said…
Hey MJ!

Coincidentally I just did a video yesterday talking about the first name for my B.L.O.G. which was Better Living Options Guide. Now of course MissLori.TV is known as Musings from my Minivan because for all practical purposes that is where I spend most of my time working in between shows and chasing after my 3 busy children. Now if I could just figure out a way to put in a shower in my minivan life would be golden!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dglEWB_hRrE&videos=sq8tkmygfUw

SMILE On!

ML
www.MissLori.TV
Emily said…
Mine's kind of obvious since I am a mom with chronic illness, but the wording stemmed from my little boy's then command of the English language: "Mama...sick?" "Mama...sleep?" Great topic!

Emily from Mama Sick!
Deb said…
Mine is sadly - and extremely uncreatively obvious... I always went by DebMomOf3 online and in forums (at least ever since January of 2006, lol), so when I started my blog in May of 2007, I chose that as the url for my blogspot too - debmomof3.blogspot.com.

For a title, I just took off the 'Deb' part and added 'Girls' at the end since that made sense. I never really realized I was actually picking a name I'd be stuck with forever - just wanted to throw a name up at the top. By the time I chose my own url, I'd been 'Mom of 3 Girls' long enough that I stayed with it.

There was a little more creative process in the name of my review site - my husband and I sat around and brainstormed until I came up with something I liked that fit what I was trying to do and say over there. :)
MJ Tam said…
@Miss Lori - That's a good one! B.L.O.G.

@Emily - aaw...Thanks for sharing.

@Deb - as soon as I got notified that you commented on my post, I was already laughing. LOL. It still reminded me of that last blogger's trip we were both in and we had to introduce ourselves and our blog.

Hi, I'm "Deb", Mom of 3 and my site is DebMomof3. lol or something like that. LOL. I can't wait to see you at Blogher!
Marketing Mommy said…
I went the obvious route. I'm a Marketer who's also a Mommy. Hence: Marketing Mommy. I kind of regret choosing it as my name as my kids WILL grow out of the Mommy phase eventually. But I can milk it for another 4 or 5 years.
Melisa Wells said…
I put lots of thought into my blog name when I started in 2007. I was already a freelance writer, so I wanted to incorporate that into the title, and it was also important to me to let my readers know that, though I don't live within the boundaries of my favorite city in the world, I'm still connected. Suburban Scrawl, a play on "suburban sprawl", seemed quite perfect when I thought of it. :)

Melisa with one S from Suburban Scrawl
Unknown said…
i only meant my blog to take the place of a baby book so "tales from the crib" (instead of "crypt") came pretty easily to me. now, i wish that i had something closer to the top of the alphabet and something more clever and less cheesy. do you think if i changed the title (the url would be the same) people would still read my blog?
MJ Tam said…
@Alma - I think you can milk that for at least another 10 years.

@Melisa - I love your blog name!

@Melanie - before I completely changed in completely calling it SugarMyBowl.com on my header, I had it first changed with a by line saying "formerly I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl. I don't think it matters to your readers if you change your title, but they may just get a tad confused at first.
One day I was home my 9yr old wouldn't stop talking,16yr old was playing with her Basketball(in the house and my 2 yr old was on top of the table with my phone. As I was watching my 2yr old she dropped my phone off the table. I looked at my mom and said, "I wish I had a remote control."

So, when I decided to start blogging I was thinking of blog names. While driving from work it came to me. Help! Mama Remote...

Here is my youtube link to my blog intro. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J55XTrt1D4
LaShaunda said…
See ya on the net, was how I ended all my emails. When I was trying to come up with something, I thought about that tag. It was perfect for my blog.
I first named my blog "Create a Balance" because I wanted to blog about balancing ME time with all of the other demands moms have in their lives. People got too stuck on the word balance and I realized this name did not truly celebrate my mission. A few months ago I changed my blog name to The Mom Renewal Project. I love my new name and think it speaks volumes about what I blog about (the struggles and triumphs of recharging - body, mind, and spirit - so we can live our best lives as women and moms).
Unknown said…
This was fun MJ!

My blog name started as a personal goal ~

http://houseonahillorg.blogspot.com/2010/07/sugarmybowl-healthier-happier-you.html
Karen Putz said…
I didn't give much thought to the name when I set up my blog. I just thought to myself, "Hmm, I'm deaf and I'm a mom, why don't I share my world with this blog" and poof, A Deaf Mom Shares Her World was born.

www.deafmomworld.com
Anonymous said…
I went with Two Times the Fun because I wanted something positive about having twins. It is fun and there are two of them. I also figure I can keep the name through the teenage years when it might sound a bit more sarcastic than it does now in the sweet elementary school years.
Mommy Liz said…
My main blog that I opened last August of 2008 is titled "This is My life" mainly to blog about my everyday life as a wife and a mother. I guess, it fits, right?
Susan Bearman said…
My blog is called Two Kinds of People. I wanted to start a blog, but didn't want it just to be a brain dump, but rather to feature my writing. I had already written several related essays, and it seem like a good hook. Here's a link to my first post, which gives a little explanation: http://2kop.blogspot.com/2008/02/name-that-puppy.html

Sometimes it's frustrating to have limited myself, but the framework is surprisingly flexible and I think it's good for me to have some boundaries. I write about other things in other venues (like The Chicago Moms!), so it seems to work out fine.

Love your blog name (and the song).

Susan Bearman
Two Kinds of People
Anonymous said…
Well, Follow The Lines Going South was a phrase from a song that kind of summed up my feelings as I moved to the Midwest last year from the DEEEEP South. Most of what I wrote (and write, if I'm going to be honest) is in honor of my constant homesickness :D

Love reading these :D

Jamie
Elita said…
My blog is about breastfeeding and I wanted it to be an advocacy blog particularly for black women. So my blog name, Blacktating, stands for black lactating. The name came to me quite easily, and people think it's clever and it's easy to remember. The tough part for me was choosing whether or not to leave the "k" in there, but I'm glad I left it. The grammarian in me feels like it looks better and makes more sense to be there.
AlanTK said…
It's cool how personal all of these stories are.

When I had my son about 1 1/2 years ago, I was inspired to do more with my writing and wanted to give the boy a tip of the hat for his role in that.

So, Always Jacked: about fatherhood, was born not much after he was.
Andrea said…
Love this! My Blog name is actually a handle I created for a message board in 2002. I didn't start the blog until 2003 but by then it was my name online. It's Lil-Kid-Things and it is a quote from the outtakes of the Will Ferrel character Mugatu in the movie Zoolander. He shrugs and says lilkidthings while dressed up as a child and eating an enormous lollipop. It struck me as hilarious at the time hehe.

Of course now it's perfect because I am a mom! Funny how things work out :-)
Kelly said…
Love this post and the comments!

Myposhjeans.com (@myposhjeans.com) is first a fashion blog but with other fun posts about events in Chicago, fun recipes for a girls night, and with a little bit of travel. The name My Posh Jeans came from my first and favorite pair of jeans; Victoria Beckham's rock republic.
Kelly said…
Love this post and the comments!

Myposhjeans.com (@myposhjeans.com) is first a fashion blog but with other fun posts about events in Chicago, fun recipes for a girls night, and with a little bit of travel. The name My Posh Jeans came from my first and favorite pair of jeans; Victoria Beckham's rock republic.
Jen said…
When I started my blog 5+ years ago it was intended to be a way to keep far off friends and family informed about my son and my pregnancy. Thus, the painfully dorky url newbabynews.blogspot.com. Oh man, it hurts to see that typed out. As it evolved and became less of a mommy blog and more of a whatever-I-want-to-talk-about blog I gave it the title of Problem Girl. It's the title of a Rob Thomas song that I identify with.
Karyn said…
MJ - I finally posted the story behind my blog title! Thanks for the inspiration!

Karyn

http://thefabulousgiver.com/2010/08/how-did-i-decide-to-name-my-blog/