Does anyone else go crazy like this, giving all the devices on their network names?
It’s just one more way to customize your stuff…
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Every MacBook I have owned has been named after an Apple Variety. Red delicious, Jonalicious, Telstar (my current one) etc.
IPhones have been mPhone 7, mPhone 7s, mPhone X etc…
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At the last two companies I worked we had standard prefixes, AS for application server, FS for file server, etc. followed by a number, AS1, AS2, etc. followed by the domain name (.whatever.ext) pretty boring. However, I’ve seen other companies / networks with device names like riker & worf, deckard & gaff. Years ago, while training at Digital Equipment Co. our servers were Mickey, Minnie, Walt, & Goofy. As long as it is acceptable in your environment have fun. The first laser printer I installed in the early 90’s was “Coffeepot” because it was sitting next to the . . .
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My MacBook Air was “Hummingbird” and my nuked and paved iMac was “Another Lifetime” (one of toil and blood…).
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My computers are all named “Lisa,” after the predecessor of the Mac. Each one is numbered in order. Currently I’m on Lisa 5.
Most other things on the network are named for The Lord of the Rings … the server is Rivendell, the printer is Sauron, the wireless network is Gandalf the Grey, etc.
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I don’t bother to name the iPhones, but the laptops all have names:
bantam, sebright, cisne, and laptitude. They are 2011 11" MBA, 2015 13" rMBP, 2013 13" rMBP, and 2008 MB (aluminum), respectively,
My son still uses the 2008 Macbook everyday. It is as old as he is.
Norse mythology: Odin - Mac mini server; Midgard - MacBook Pro; Jötunn - Apple Watch; Heimdall - iPhone X; Bifrost - iPad Pro 12.9.
At one point I carried it further with internal drives named the same as the device and external drives a derivative name like Odin’s ravens Huginn and Muninn.
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My iMac is named “tom9” because it is my ninth desktop computer. Most other computers are named for the location they are in, such as “Familly Room”. No imagination in my computer naming.
For computers, I was using call signs from Top Gun. Then I ran out over the years (since I didn’t want to reuse a name, so that I wouldn’t run the risk that an old backup or archive would get confused with a current system).
Now I am using names from particle physics (boson, lepton, etc).
Most devices are just named for what they are, like A’s iPhone 8, or B’s iPad Mini.
Certain devices get descriptive names: Sonos kitchen, Sonos den, AppleTV Basement, etc.
Some things (like my networked printer) just don’t get names at all.
I used to use stellar body’s, but I am in the process of switching over to classical historian names, so my laptop is called Kato, but I have a server called Milky Way
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I started out with some ‘fancy’ names but found it in the end pretty confusing. Now I’m using a more corporate scheme: 2 initials followed by an indication of the machine type (srv/mbp/ipd) followed by a 2 digit number.
Many years ago, I was visiting/training at DEC in Alpharetta, GA. At the time, the DEC Alpha chips were new and they had a product line of servers based on the chips. They were larger than your average server, almost a mini computer. DEC, in my opinion, made amazing hardware and they were built solid. Everyone who worked with them was surprised how heavy they were for the size.
Anyway, I worked on two production machines; the first named HEAVY and a second machine, added later, name MY_BROTHER. I still get a chuckle from that one.
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20 years ago, I had a high school Mac lab full of the colorful iMac G3’s. They were named after famous mathematicians: Euler, Gauss, Fermat, Pythagoras, Archimedes, Al Khwarizmi, Pascal, Mandelbrot, etc. Even had the hard drive icons as their pictures.
My current devices are named…
- Sojourner for iPhone (as in pilgrim or wanderer)
- Cimarron for MacBook Pro (a river in Oklahoma)
- Peregrine for iPad (after the falcon)
- Redbud for Airport (native tree to Oklahoma)
- Esperanto for wifi network (Spanish for hope)
First time (trying to) post here…
I go a little nuts. Can you guess my theme?
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…and here is what it looks like:
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I run my iMac on all three big screens most of the time, but set up for the photo showing Red Hat, iMac & Windows (yuk!-for work, or only when necessary). The left screen can be the “head” for up to 20 headless servers plus three others. It’s connected to an 8-port KVM switch that I connect 5 4-port switches to, so I’m “limited” to ONLY 23 in the present configuration.
Can I ask a basic question? How do I change the names of my devices? I used to know how to change iPhones through iTunes when I regularly plugged in, but I don’t know how anymore. Help?
I’ve always used the names of mythological creatures, gods and items for my machines. My desktop is Bacchus, my personal laptop is Mjolnir, my work laptop is Odin, my iPhone X is Sleipnir and my iPad is Thor.
That said, whenever I get a new iteration of a particular machine, it gets a new name as well. I never “replace” my machines, they are all special to me 
I named mine US Dept of Treasury. Wishful thinking but garnered a confused look and then a chuckle from my wife the first time she tried printing to it.
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I, too, use the stellar bodies for network components. Phones, iPads, Airpods, just use name’s iPhone or the like.