User:Nike Missile

My nickname has been Nike since 1980, when someone called me "Nike" because he did not know my name and I was wearing a Nike T-shirt. I used this handle online for many years afterwards, but this has become increasingly difficult; I was NIKE on the old GE BBS (GEnie) but had to take Nike2 on AOL, and since then the nickname has become even more popular, so I have taken a second name here.

Nike is the Greek word for victory, and the name of the Greek goddess of victory, who was sometimes depicted with wings, and called Victoria by the Romans. It is sometimes used as a girl's name, although I'm not a girl. The cities of Nice and Nicaea were named for Nike, and I think that the word was used in the Christian gospel. It is, of course, the name of a sports shoe and apparel company, and also of a class of surface-to-air missiles built by the U.S. during the Cold War.

It is the latter that I chose since it seemed more masculine than a goddess (even though being the winged deity of victory sounds cool). Also, I don't wish to be accused of endorsing a shoe company or misusing their trademark, and calling myself "Nike Shoes" just did not seem suitable, anyway.Nike Missile 05:47, 2004 Dec 17 (UTC)