[samizdis]

There is nothing wrong, if chosen well, in the adoption of a recognisable and unique handle/nickname. But your thoughts and ideas as expressed in material searched online will distinguish you, not your name.

People search for names when they know the name already. Until your name is well known in your field, and your ideas are sufficiently differentiated from those of your namesakes, they will search for the areas in which you operate. If you distinguish yourself, you will be uniquely identifiable by your original thoughts and work.

If you are happy with your name, don't change it for fear of being mistaken. If your insights and achievements stand up on their own merit, you won't suffer on account of a shared name.

[TheAsprngHacker]

Thank you for the advice.

> People search for names when they know the name already. Until your name is well known in your field, and your ideas are sufficiently differentiated from those of your namesakes, they will search for the areas in which you operate. If you distinguish yourself, you will be uniquely identifiable by your original thoughts and work.

If I go by my real name, what would be the logistics of citing work? I'm worried about the situation where a reader may see my name cited and assume that the work was done by the other person, or see work done by the other person cited and assume that it was done by me. The issue may be exacerbated by tools such as Google Scholar.

[samizdis]

I'd hate my words to have been taken as advice. I can see the pitfalls that you have pointed out; I've never had to consider even as a remote possibllity that my scribblings might be cited anywhere.

My reply was pretty much to say don't overthink things and to be confident in your uniqueness, your viewpoints and your contributions to your field. However, I see your pragmatism.

(I cannot resist a flippant aside, though: Google Scholar will probably go the way of all Google products that were useful but showed insufficient profit. Don't make decisions that assume its continued existence.)

If you have a nickname that you like, there's no reason not to use it. If you have friends who might suggest one, then canvass their opinions. If you are into your birthright geography, append a place name as helping to define you. (Pyrrho of Elis, the founder of sceptic thought, is known now by name with place.) But beware of sounding pretentious.

Nowadays, some exalted people have resolved similar problems via the expedient of handles such as "realDonaldTrump". So be careful about your choices.

Whatever you decide to do, linger over any decision. Also, this being HN, you should get many better and more useful responses than this. But please don't fret. Maybe move this concern to a lower peg for now.

Edit to add: I've only now read properly the last bit of your original post: "In addition, should I worry about discrimination for having a foreign last name?"

Worry will do no good, and disguising the name or westernising/anglicising it will not prevent the prejudices inflicted by the sort of people who harbour them. Such people are looking for victims; and they do exist. But fuck them. They grow rarer and more endangered as the clock ticks.

Use a negative reaction to your name as a positive indicator that such people are not fit employers or associates or anything; they are to be ignored, and resisted/fought if they get in your face.

I really hope that some proper HN people weigh in on this.