AIM Is Gone So The Internet Shares Embarrassing Screen Names
Andrew Adams
Updated on March 16, 2026
Before there was Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram messaging, or iChat, there was AIM, AOL’s instant messenger service and it was the best way for ’90s and ’00s teens to chat with friends, find like-minded Sonic the Hedgehog or Rancid fans, flirt with strangers, generally get awkward, and make all kinds of AIMemories. Since times—and technology— have changed, the service signed off for the last time on December 15, 20 years after it launched, and the internet is throwing a nostalgia-fueled wake.
Those who knew and loved the service are raiding their teenage diaries and sharing their AIM screen names and they are a delightful time capsule of wannabe cool, laugh-out-loud awkward, hindsight-is-embarrassing ’90s gems. Check out this list of classic screen names as a final away message to the service that started it all.
KawaiiSaturnSMS from my sailor moon phase in middle school (which never actually ended shhh lol)
— beak (@itsmebeakx) December 15, 2017
Good gracious just remembered my AIM screen name was BobMarley007
Wtf
— Todd Kraines (@G_lewnit) December 15, 2017
My 1st ever screen name was SpiceG6162. I had many throughout the years though. Some others I remember: Millenniumbabe21, XCharmedOneX, imxnotxsexy, dolceharajuku, and most recently elle oh vee e. Kinda sad even tho I dont really use it anymore. #aim #AOL #endofanera 💛
— sansarya (@sansarya_) December 15, 2017
