I like the idea, however I would actually prefer that they be assigned to "Departed Monk" (or "Apostate Monk" or even "Deceased Monk").

I'm not sure why I prefer Departed Monk over Anonymous Monk, repressed memories of bastardized databases floating to the surface perhaps. I think of Anonymous Monk has a specific definition of sorts and previously known monks don't really fit that definition, do they? So moving these monks to Anonymous Monk would tend to muddy the definition of Anonymous Monk. Having had to deal with some databases where folks muddied column definitions by reusing existing columns for new kinds of data rather than adding new columns as they should have (try extracting meaningful information from that kind of mess), I'm skiddish of changes that would tend to muddy the existing definition of something.

I think i prefer "Apostate Monk" it has a nice ring to it and it implies they're off doing VB or something.

Also don't confuse the username with the node id when it comes to referential integrity issues. The username attached to a node could be changed (I assume) without breaking any of the threads created by that node (user).

Some 13 years down the line now this has indeed come to pass; the grand irony being that it is the OP of this very thread who has become the first to be removed at their own request. Unfortunately the name given to our departed brother is nothing so poetic, being merely (anonymized user).