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.
