I got my nickname from a good friend of mine.
In early 90's Internet was still in a toddler stage in my country. I used to go by ^kate^ - English translation of my Polish name. That was when we were still experimenting with creating hosts, lots of IRC and some other stuff. Then around 97 Internet became free for all. All of the sudden netiquette was non existent anymore. Any female nickname was in danger, as masses discovered anonymity of chat and cybersex. I and other girls identifying themselves us such, were a target of some nasty individuals.
One day I was working on a project with a friend of mine from a different city. IRC was our way of communication but I was being blown off the net every couple of seconds. Then my friend sent me a brief e-mail to change my nick. He said yal would be a good nickname for me. I added that little ^ character, so the rest of my friends new it was me.