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I'm wondering if many other camps use camp names. My camp used camp names ONLY for many years, and recently changed. The first year of change we could not use the camp names, the second year we could use the camp names, but if a camper asked our real name, we had to disclose. Do you have camp names and what are your policies about them?

I had never even heard of camp names until I got to this board. Obviously, nick-names are common at my camp. But keeping one's name a secret and going by something entirely new seems ridiculous to me.

we use camp names all the time. from the first day of staff training until the last day with campers. however, if a parent asks my real name i tell them. it may make them feel better knowing their pride and joy is being cared for by Lacie instead of Brassy. LOL.

Girl Scout camps use camp names, and have been using them for a long time.

We never tell campers our real names... ever. The campers do find out on their own sometimes, they are sneaky. Now, if a parent asks me what my real name is, I sometimes tell them, it just depends. But most of the time people can figure out my real name if they just think real hard about my camp name... Teenster.

I like camp names, it really helps when you are communicating with camp friends. The camp names can help you identify between friends at home and friends at camp. I have a home friend and a camp friend whose name is Audrey... it's just easier to call the camp friend Twizzler.

- Teenster

Well, from what I understand, camp names originally came about as a respect issue. Way back when camps first started, it was considered rude for kids to address adults by their first name, even if those adults happened to be camp counselors. I guess the counselors thought that was kind of a silly rule, but rather than go against society's mores, they camp up with the camp names issue rather than being addressed as "Mr Smith" or "Ms Jones" by their campers. From that standpoint, it makes sense really. I'm pretty sure it was a GS on this board who posted that first, so if that person is still around please pardon me for stealing your explanation.

Obviously in today's soceity we have less cultural taboos about that sort of thing, so even though camp names are still used there's really not much of a reason for them anymore. I understand that they could add to the "mystique" of camp, but in the grand scheme of things I think they are pretty silly. Really, I just think camp is one place where everybody can really be themselves. What kind of message are we sending campers if we won't even tell them our names? It just seems hypocritical to me if we tell campers to be themselves and then use false names with them.

We don't use camp names at my camp. Some staff will come with nick names or we'll have them come up with one if we have a handful of people with the same first name. Once we had 8 Jennifers who in their college life they all went by Jen. So we had Jen, Jenny, Nifer, and then it went on and on.

Boomis, I think it was me who explained it earlier... not sure though. That's cool, you repeated it

I think the reason that GS camps still use camp names is because it is a tradition. It is something that we have been doing for years, and changing it would just be weird. Every camp has it's own traditions, and camp names happens to be a camp tradition for GS camps.

- Teenster

We don't tell the campers until the last day of camp - and even then, only if they actually remember to ask. The ones that return to camp and know your real name think it is so cool that they know so they generally don't tell.

I did have an older sister send the younger one a list of camp names and real names one summer - would have been amusing if the girl hadn't insisted on telling the whole camp!

I find it hard to switch out of camp name mode when you leave camp. Some of my friends I've been friends with so long that it's not so bad - but those that you meet at camp - that's a hard thing. Shopping is much more fun when you are yelling "Crash!" across the store... Or you don't know the real name of that staff member. That happens too!

I have worked at 7 camps and they all use cmap names. they were all Girl Scout camps. However I have heard of some Girl Scouts camps switching to no camp names. I like having cmap names. It seems to get the staff to loosen up and be silly. I also like the idea of creating a name yourself and starting at camp with a unique idenity that was created by the counselor instead of given to them.

The expanaton that Boomis gave is the same one I was given at a huge staff reunion some years ago by some older women (80yrs old) who explained where the camp names thing came from.

I love my camp name, I am my camp name.

we definitely don't have camp names. it would never work for us in the first place b/c many of the counselors' younger siblings/cousins/family friends are at camp and it would never be kept a secret!!! we have nicknames for everyone, but mostly we do a lot of calling people by their last names or a shortened version of someone's last name, or if someone is a younger/older brother or sister they are "big last name" and "little last name"

our camp uses camp names, like many girl scout camps. we come with names or get named during staffed training. an outside of camp the camp names stick, about 99% of the folks at camp i am friends with i call by their camp names. campers love guessing what our real names are!

we use camp names, at the end of each session the kids get to guess what our real names are.

the GS camp I work at uses camp names also like many girl scout camps. We come with names or get named during staffed training. Outside of camp the camp names sticks the camp directors are know by there camp names year round, most counselors, camp aids I don't even know there real name and when I see some of them at council programs that I am volunteering at or working they call me by my camp name Rainbow.

My first summer at camp I didn't even go to training and since I had never gone to GS camp in the summer as a girl. I didn't know you needed a camp name till the first morning I was there. So since I was wearing a hello kitty hat with a rainbow on it. A junor GS thought that should be my name and the rest is history. Wow that was almost 4 years ago! I have also been given two other names Rambo becuase I am all over camp doing work all over as the assistant program specilaist and Paparazi becuase one of the many parts of my job is that I am the camp photographer and I am always clicking the camera away.

I'm from a GS camp, and we definitely use camp names...I've actually gone through about 6 camp names since I was a Brownie...though I've had Jabberwocky since I became a CIT. Boomis-that was the explanation I was given too. We tell girls our names on the last day of camp, though few remember from one year to the next, although when my little sister was at camp, she kept starting to say my name...VIrginia...so I had a group of kids that for the past 2 years still believes my name is "Vermont." Also amusing when my kids decided to sing "West Virginia, Mountain Mama" for campfire. BUt yes, it makes differentiation between campers and staff much easier-since there aren't two or three PLuto's or Jabberwocky's, though there's about 7 Sarahs, etc. We did have a camper named Roxie, and a staffer too, which was funny when we caught girls wandering around without a staff. We asked where their counselor was, and they said "They said to go with Roxie!" Staff meant the counselor, the 7-year-olds thought the girl!

We use camp names at my Girl Scout camp. I've been Indigo ever since I was a WIT, and I respond to it far more than my real name. The kids love to try to guess our real names, and we're not supposed to tell them, but some people do. I sometimes tell a few at the end of the session. Other than that, when the girls pester me, I just tell them, "My name's really Indigo. It's what I call myself, how much more real can you get?"

The reason we were told was that there had been security issues, with campers' parents contacting the staff directly to harass them. That must have been ages ago, though.

THe first camp I worked at used camp names and I miss them. It was fun for campers to have a easy doen time game of trying to guess your real name and I agree with the person who said you begin to become your camp name and identify with it so much. It is a chance to create yourself new. and that is kinda what camp is all about.

We use camp names. We don't have to disclose them unless we are going on an out of camp trip and that is for safety reasons.

I let the campers try and guess my name and sometimes they get it. I also wasn't very sneaky with it the first week or two, wearing hoodies with my name on it etc.

we've always used camp names at our camp. We work hard all week to not mess up and use our real names, and we tell the kids our real names the day they go home. It's fun and it keeps the campers guessing the whole time they are there.

we've always used camp names at our camp. We work hard all week to not mess up and use our real names, and we tell the kids our real names the day they go home. It's fun and it keeps the campers guessing the whole time they are there.

I think this topic came up before, and I think I made my opinion quite clear, nevertheless I will do so again.

I think the use of camp names is downright wrong. It is irresponsible and does not have the best interests of the campers in mind.

We are trying to entrust these kids to us, but by doing so we are dishnoest about the most important thing, our names. If a kid is having trouble and would like to talk about it, wouldn't it be right for them to know who you really are; not sugar plum fairy or Ursula?

Dale Carnegie, one of the foremost experts on human behaviour, wrote a whole chapter of his book on how one's name is that most important word to them. It is crucial for us to use names when we are dealing with people. However, it seems like camps ignore this in favour of tradition?

I don't buy it.

How fabulous to see you back stirring the pot again Canuck! Although for what it's worth, I know where you are coming from on this one. I don't like the idea of camp names either although I don't feel quite as strongly about it as you. In my opinion, campers should know their counselor's real name. Now if that counselor happens to have a nickname they get called frequently at camp or whatever, fine and well, but I'm just not in favor of a camper never knowing their counselor's real name, or not knowing until they are right about to leave.

Not to be blunt, but I think that this whole camp name thing is pretty messed up. I know that this may offend some people here but if you really examine the situation, you may see the negative impact potential. Your name is part of your identity, who you are. What are camps saying by giving people new names and not allowing people to share their names? I think that it sends mixed messages, really. Camp is about honesty and being comfortable with who you are. But wait, your name isn't good enough, we're going to give you a new name. And while I'd like to have this friendship with you, I'm not going to tell you what my name is.

At it's very basic level, I think that this concept discourages people from being who they are. I think that it may even encourage people to change their persona and change who they are which flies of the face of learning more about ones self. I think that it is an obstacle to honest, real relationships.

*checks to see if hell has frozen over or the Cubs have won the World Series*

Canuck and Northwoods just agreed on something!

*wonders how long it will take for them to start arguing again*

Anyway I think a large part of camp names is rooted in tradition at GS camps especially, and because of that, it'll probably never change. Don't get me wrong, as I said I'm all for camp nicknames and such, but I think keeping your real name from the campers isn't setting a very good "be yourself" example.

It has been mentioned by a couple of posters on this thread that camp names help you create a new identity of sorts, but isn't that a negative thing? Camp is about you being yourself with you REAL identity, not making one up that fits in at camp. Also, I think the question as to why campers want to know your real names that several of you have asked should be pretty self-explanatory when you think about it, no? Your name is who you are, and campers want to get to know you as a person, not necessarily just as an extension of camp.

I worked at a GS camp and I had no problem using a camp name. I wouldn't have cared either way, but camp names are fine by me.

99% of people who don't speak Icelandic are unable to pronounce my real name anyway, and I don't have a nickname, so having a camp name was a good thing for me!

I do think that your real name and camp name persona should be the same, though.

We always told kids our names at the end of camp, sometimes earlier, and none of them really cared what my real name was, anyway. I am Dixie to them, just as I am Dixie to all of their parents and all of my co-workers. I call my camp friends by their camp names whenever I talk to them, because that is how I know them. I do know their real names, but if someone mentioned my friend Sarah to me, I would have no idea who they were talking about.

I don't think not using our "real" names made the kids trust us any less. And I say "real", because by now, I consider my real name to be Dixie, just as much as my actual real name is my name. In Icelandic, my name is Au?ur - in English, it is Dixie.

I like my camp-name. in part, it's because i hate my "real" name. I don't really know if it's "who i am" or if my real name is, since my take is; you are who you are and you can't actually be anyone other than yourself. I am who I am, and I can't be otherwise, so what matter what people call me? yes, I'm a rather different person at camp, but that really doesn't have to do with having a different name to "hide behind" the name-change might be part of it, but there is so much more.

Also, I have non-camp friends whom i only know by a nickname, much the same way that i know my camp friends, but does it change who they are if i don't know their real name? does Sarah hide behind Gelf? if there are so many Matts we can't keep them straight without nicknames, does that mean i don't actually know who they are? and i know you think it's different because i can learn their names if i want, whereas people generally don't tell their campers, but i don't think of it as hiding who i am from them. Camp names aren't that different from nicknames, and no one complains about people being called those, the only real difference is that one is derived from their real name, but the other...doesn't have to be.