I definitely recognize some of the mods, and some of the key players in the communities that I follow. There's good people here, and I believe it's going to keep getting better.
I wasn't paying attention to usernames as much when I first started. For whatever reason, I've started to pay attention to the names, as well as the instances. I like seeing where people are commenting from, and it even gives some insight into places or things I might be interested in as well.
Sometimes I'll check out a person's profile to see what things they're commenting on. This feels kind of creepy a little bit. I don't think anyone really cares though, so long as you're not being abusive or something.