[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Old user-names become available again after the old accounts are deleted, inactive for a certain period.

Nerwen explains the issue well. The names, though, are still an interesting topic. I recall discovering that Frodo and Sam weren't really Frodo and Sam, and feeling quite strange about it. I wasn't too happy, if you know what I mean. I'd invested all that time in the names only to find they were mere 'versions'. Now I'm older and understand that nearly every name we have is a version of some kind.