Meet Computer Man. Yes, That’s His Real Name.

Meet Computer Man. Yes, that’s his real name.

Born Computer Man Diolola Lim in Albay province, Philippines, the 22-year-old told VICE that he has grown used to explaining the origins of his name. 

“It’s always like that when people find out what my name is,” Lim said. “When I went to get my college entrance test results, the administrators first sat me down to ask about my name. They thought I was messing around.”

Names like Lim’s often go viral on Philippine social media. Earlier this year, a baby made headlines after he was named Glhynnyl Hylhyr Yzzyghyl, or Consonant, for short—a reference to the lack of vowels in his name. There’s also Drink Water Rivera, and siblings named Macaroni 85, Spaghetti 88, and Sincerely Yours 98. 

According to local reports, Spaghetti 88 has kept the unique names running in the family, naming her children Cheese Pimiento and Parmesan Cheese, while Macaroni 85 named his child Hypertext Markup Language or HTML.

In fact, Lim recently went viral after commenting on a Facebook post about HTML. “Welcome to the club! Computer Man is my real name,” Lim wrote. 

He said he rarely comments on anything, so it’s funny that he went viral after one of the few times he did.

“Now, many people are asking for a birth certificate reveal,” he said.

Most of the time, Lim just goes by his nickname Cman, but he gets a similar reaction in the real world when he reveals his full name. He often needs to explain that it is indeed his actual name. 

While he was never bullied in school, his name has caused some pretty unusual challenges. Lim said he has never been able to use his real name to make a personal account on Facebook.

“They won’t accept it. They tell me to sign up as a company or organization,” Lim explained. “I’ve been trying for years.”

Lim recently graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering and thinks he, or at least his name, is a perfect fit for his career.

He said that it was his father who named him Computer Man, as a response to the Y2K Bug, which some believed would have disastrous implications to technology, banking, power plants, transportation, and other industries, when the year 2000 hit. Lim’s dad, however, understood this to mean that come the new millennium, all computers would disappear. 

“I was named Computer so that, just in case that came true, there would still be a computer left,” Lim said, recalling stories his mom, aunts, and uncles told him. His father passed away when he was 3 years old, so he never got to talk to him about the creative name choice. 

Lim said he has grown to like his name. It is, after all, the only one he has. 

“It also serves as a remembrance for [my] papa. Every time I read my name, I remember him… that’s why I’m happy, even if it’s unusual,” he said. “At least people can remember it quickly.” 

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