There are several different stories behind my name and they're all... true. I wrote most of a novel in high school and the protagonist was called Raven. This was because a) I really like it as a name b ) a reference to Mystique from X-men who was a shapeshifter, as was my character and c) I like ravens a lot. My IRL name also begins with an R, so I started using raven as a name online. I eventually just shortened it to Rae cos... I like the sound of it. But also, irl I always use my full name. No short versions or nicknames or anything. Rae... would be a bit of a stretch as a shortening for my name, but then Bill is short for William so meh.