What the heck kind of name is Telvy Phil? How’d a goober like you pass Selection?
A common question I’ve received at random rare intervals when interacting with people on the internet, or just people I have known for a long time online, is the question regarding what my name even means. Truth be told, not even I fully understand the truest origins of the name, let alone what it means. Considering my personal headcanon is muddied in teenage high-school era day dreamings, musings, and ponderings, not even I understand what it fully means.
I will clarify at least that the name “Telvy Phil” is in fact a compound name (or double name/double-barreled name) and each respective title of either “Telvy” or “Phil” do work, although I prefer most people online would refer to me as the former. I would also attest to the very least that the compound naming convention may or may not have been the subconscious result of me coming from a Spanish/Latin background and so the fact that name came to be that way is comically coincidental to me now that I realize it.
How people online refer to me truly is a fascinating case of culture, considering more average online users accustomed to online life purely call me just “Telvy”, while many persons, specifically in America who come from the more rural American and/or Deep South cultures just call me “Phil”. Overall I’m just known as Telvy online, and the full title of “Telvy Phil” is only fully stated in more formal settings on the internet (if that is even a thing).
The Telvy and the Phil
To really understand the name Telvy Phil, we have to dissect the two words “Telvy” and “Phil” respectively.
Ironically the name I get called the most online (and the one I subconsciously consider my true first name), Telvy, is shrouded in mystery while Phil is clear to me as day. From my understanding and grasping of my ancient old teenage thoughts, the word Telvy came from a rather vague character concept that floated around super briefly in my head on bus rides home from school.
Contrary to popular assumption the name is not jewish as people assume it is simply because it has an uncanny resemblance to Tel Aviv, the name of the capital of Israel. Not judaic in the slightest, and really it has no ethno-cultural ties whatsoever. The name Telvy is a purely fictitious and online name, and was in reference to a character that existed in my imagination aptly called “Television Man”. Telvy was simply a cute nickname to such a non-existent character.
Television Man, or Telvy, conceptually was a shapeshifting figure that could take the form of any human being, of any race, sex or age, and was predominantly represented as a morgue technician with an old 90s Television set for a head as his natural default. The character soon dissipated into obscurity yet the name stuck much later, far beyond high-school.
The surname Phil is much more grounded, far less esoteric and imaginative, yet the origin story is cheeky and extremely straightforward to say the least. A long time ago I recall befriending a youngster on Steam by the name of PONYJOHN, real name Nate, from Minnesota. PONYJOHN was a real eccentric figure and was by far one of the youngest Team Fortress 2 players I played with years ago. The highlighted memory of him was how he was perhaps the first person to gift me a free game on Steam, that being specifically Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition (which I have yet to finish to this day, sorry Nate). Bare with you this was just a child who somehow had more money than teenage me and I may or may not have asked for it without realizing where or how he received the funds to give me what was at the time a game around 10 to 20 dollars.
On a normal day, PONYJOHN casually said to me “hey you sound like a Phillis!” to which I then replied “I sound like a what?”, to which he then elaborated “you sound like someone who’s name is Phillis!” Very random interaction that moment was, but I just took it as a weird statement of respect from him. Since then that interaction stuck and so did the name Phillis, yet I condensed the name down to Phil since it sounded a lot less odd and effeminate.
I have gone by a few aliases on the internet in the past, going prior around the turn of 2015 with the title Nutritious Bag Circles (long story on that one as well). After then I needed a new alias that was easier to pronounce, and much more sensible and less absurd in description. In the end I took these two names with hazy past origins, the “Telvy” and the “Phil”, and merged them together into a singular compound name. “Telvy Phil” became the name that stuck the most to me to this day.
Hello my name is Telvy Phil
There is no doubt in my mind that Telvy Phil is the name with the most weight and history behind me at this point in time on the internet. Considering it’s the alias I’ve accidentally tied to my real life identity, used in the past and present for my online creative portfolio, and the one my current grounded internet reputation is built on, there really is no going back to any prior or new name.
I know it’s common for people to go through multiple account names and profile pictures (and while a pet peeve of mine for people to do so in sites such as Discord) it’s understandable as to why some people do it. I don’t really see myself changing my alias to something else since there is so much historical context and weight to the name’s meaning and origin that changing it would remove something vital from me as a person on the internet. I do think “Telvy Phil” is a corny name that sounds stupid. Then again people name themselves stupid aliases all the time.
I will at least admit it does sort of stand out, and the fact a lot of people ask me what it means, wanting to know the origins of this very foreign sounding name, and ultimately do like how it rings off the lips, at least attests to the weight of its value and legacy.