Contentious doll names - gods and so on.

I guess people sometimes name their dolls something based on that names owners character. For example if a doll is representing a god then its only natural that it have a gods name.
Or I dunno, maybe a character from a film is called "Micheal" and because you think your dolls personality is similar to that persons then you might call yours Micheal too.


For me, I chose to call my doll Lucifer.
Reason 1: I liked the sound of it and its actually a nice name to say out loud.
Reason 2: I like the story behind the name, A fallen angel who turned into the king of hell.
Reason 3: I imagine that "real" Lucifer (from the stories and stuff) to be like mine. I mean they're actually the same character.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that in a way you're trying to recreate a character.

On the other hand it could be just because you like it. Cause now I have 1 arch angel called Lucifer I have to have Micheal and Gabriel too. ^^

Sorry, that prolly made no sense whatsoever. ^^"""

 

I have to say, we in the doll world are NOT the first people to use an archetype like Lucifer (the prideful fallen angel) or the messiah archetype (not necessarily the Messiah) or Venus (self explanatory, kind of) as a tool in the toolbox of fiction. Well and truly obviously. It's how people react that we have to be careful of. Like with the-sinister's example right above me, it's being used as a character, but if someone jumps on you for it you had best be prepared to explain why you used it without having to fall back on 'because it's cool!'.

 

Name your dolls whatever you yourself is comfortable with! If someone is offended by your doll's name, especially if it's because of their beliefs, then they may be offended by less silly things and are probably not worth worrying about! The only exception to this would be if you intentionally named your doll something offensive just to piss someone off (such as giving your doll a name of some derogatory cultural slang), but I honestly don't see that happening... ever.

 

if you love Jesus, then there's no problem with naming your doll it. it would be different if you, for example, named a pin-cushion Jesus because of its obvious useage.
i don't want to offend anyone or seem crude, but i personally wouldnt want to name my doll jesus or mohammed or buddha or whatever. i would end up dressing my doll like them to match their name. the name reflects the dolls personality; it's important to me
come to think of it though, i've never seen a doll wearing a turban before. pics, anyone?

 

Well, Luken's other name is Vassago. Vassago's one of the princes of hell. I'm not the first one to use that name for a character. I first came across it when I read a Dean Koontz novel about a man who died and was brought back from the dead. After that, he had a strange mental connection to a psychopathic serial killer. Turned out that the killer, too, had been dead and brought back to life. And that both of them had brought someone with them: the killer Vassago, a prince of hell and the other guy Uriel, an arch angel.

The reasons why I chose Vassago as Luken's second name:

1. He's a powerful dark mage, so he may choose a mage's name (according to the laws of the world I've built around him).

2. He likes the name and thinks it fits with his personality (him being a dark mage and all).

3. I like the sound of the name and what it implies. Me, too, I think it's a perfect name for a dark mage who's powerful enough to summon demons and survive.

 

hmm... there are acturly some names that are illegal; A teacher in sudan was arrested for calling a teddy bear muhammad... it was to do with graven images of gods and how its an insult to islam.
i think the penalty was 40 lashes, 6 months or a fine.
So don't call your doll muhammad!!

 

She was British, jailed for 15 days, and deported.

And this is only an issue of "illegality" if you live in an Islamic country and want to name an inanimate object after The Prophet of Islam (NOT anything to do with "graven images of gods"). So please don't try to say a certain name is illegal in such general terms.

 

Now you mention it, I never have seen a doll in a turban, either. Saris & salwar kameez, yes; turbans, no. Wonder why?

Wait - I take that back. I did see a doll representing Dolly Madison, & she was wearing a turban hat. But I don't know if that qualifies.

 

Agree. It's important not to spread mis-information on things like this, so it's best to stay away from general statements like that unless you have some solid information to back it up.

You just end up scaring people unnesessarily.

 

Jesus is one name I wouldn't use for a doll, but that's just because I don't like the name. Hehe.. I don't mind people calling their doll Jesus, but I assume they're religious if they do. And I don't mind that, even though I don't believe myself. I don't mind names from gods, in any religion. Dark god or not. I don't think a dollowner is a satanist even though they've got a Lucifer-inspired doll named Lucifer or Satan. And I want to name one of my dolls Lucifer. I wouldn't mind makin him an angel either. I'm not religious, but I love religions and their stories.

But I would NEVER ever call my doll Adolf or Hitler. Neither would I call a doll Vidkun Quisling or any of the two names, since this person was "the Hitler of Norway". The names are banned anyway. Vidkun may be a cute name, but my views on racism makes me hate the name. ^^; I guess that's a cultural thing. Wouldn't name a doll after any of the well known "evil people".

 

I'm almost more amused that there are other people who used a Black Dahlia reference in naming; I feel far less weird now. One of the girls I have on order is getting named that way, with a twist -- to Dahlia Nero. It's something of a double whammy, which I rarely thought about until now.

I would be wary about using names of deities in general, though that's not to say I wouldn't do so. If I wanted to make a reference in that way, I would likely look for a derivation of the name to use instead to help make it more clear I intend the name to be a reference, not an invocation. While I'm not offended by them, I can understand how others could be. It's hard for someone to tell if it is meant in a respectful way or one that is thoughtless or somehow demeaning, and to some, it -can't- be meant in a respectful way or it would not have been done in the first place.

I would never, ever recommend using the name of a deity (or demigod or angel or demon or similar) flippantly. There are the reasons that have been mentioned before about it potentially inviting something you never expected into your life. Maybe you chalk that up as superstitious, and of course it's your right to do that -- but don't be stunned if you offend people with a flippantly-chosen name, regardless.

Mass murderers, genocidal madmen, and the likes seem like something best avoided.

 

As long as your not doing it out of disrespt it's fine with me, although I agree that defending the name to others could get tiresome, of course people who you have to defend the dolls name to, you may often have to defend your love for your doll as well.

 

Picking a name for a historical reference (such as the Black Dahlia) is different than explicitly choosing one like Hitler. Dahlia is a name and a flower as well as the other connotations it might have to a murder case, but in most people's eyes there has been and there will only be one person who comes to mind named Adolf.
My father worked for a man with that name back in the 70's- the unfortunate man had been named well before Hitler came to power and changed it, but despite no ill intent from his parents and no fault of his own was still confronted on it. It's not like naming a doll Lucifer where you can claim it's just the symbolism you like, you will be CONSTANTLY defending it.

 

I would be put off a name I had to constantly explain or defend and I probably wouldn't name a doll after Hitler or Stalin. First of all, neither of those names particularly grab me, second of all, their political ideology is so far removed from mine I doubt I'd even get along with a doll that shared their names.

As for Gods, I do think that a little bit of care in choosing names goes a long way. I don't think there is anything wrong with picking a name because you like the sound of it, but if you're going to go for a mythological or religious name take a bit of care over it and read up about the God or person or nymph you are naming your doll after. The bearer of the name may have qualities that you don't want in your doll, but a similar name from a different legend would work out better. It would also help you explain why you chose the name to other doll owners and will sound better to people who do know their legends if you know a bit about your doll's namesake.

 

to opheliab and darkrogue it was illeagal under a law (article 125 of the criminal law) that covered insults to all religions, and there are similar laws in england in America so Yes it is still ileagal whether your in an islamic country or not because it is seen as an insult against a religion.

 

No it's not illegal in the US, I don't see where using religious names for animals, dolls etc is illegal in England either.

 

My family is originally from Italy and upon meeting a Hispanic boy named "Jesus" my dad was completely shocked. In our old neighborhood in Italy, it would be seen as very disrespectful to name someone Jesus even if it was pronounced "Hay-zues". But that's all personal belief.

I think names are very personal and it's up to the owner. A name that may be fine to one person may be a disgrace to another.

Kinda OT, but I met a girl once named Bacca and I couldn't help but laugh. Her name meant "stupid" in Italian, Japanese, and probably several other languages.

 

I live in Wales and there is no such law in the UK! There are laws against inciting racial hatred and religious hate crimes, but there are no laws whatsoever governing which names a person can and cannot use in the British Isles to name their child, their pet or their door handle, if that is what they wish to name them.

There are anti-blasphemy laws in the UK, but calling your hamster Mohammed is still perfectly legal and after Gillian Gibbons (the teacher in question) was imprisoned in Sudan there was a rash of people in the UK naming a wide variety of things Mohammed in protest and to my knowledge no one was arrested or even cautioned for doing this.

Could you cite this 'article 125 of the criminal law'? It sounds extremely imprecise to be a real law. Also, I was under the impression that racial and religious hate crimes are considered civil offenses unless they become physical attacks, even blasphemy offenses are civil rather than criminal offenses, so there would be no criminal law covering a civil offense, and the offender would be tried in a civil court instead of a criminal one.

"Blair" is Welsh for "untidy", which is kind of appropriate, considering the mess Tony Blair has left us in!

 

As far as I know the UK anti-blasphemy laws in the UK apply only to protect Christianity and other religions are not protected. Not fair but there you go.

Although I believe there are some legal restrictions in the UK on names, you can't use Lord or Baron or Countess as a first name, you can't legally have just one name, you can't use numbers or symbols - so no textspeak, and I don't think you can use an obscenity as a name. But they're not applicable to dolls as far as I know.

 

Yes, that's right, but I do know of a guy who renamed himself "Fairysquiggle Foxydiddle" for a bet, so there are no laws against stupid names. In Iceland though, it's a different story, otherwise Mr Foxydiddle's poor children would be Frogsie Fairysquigglesson and Vixenibble Fairysquigglesdottir Another guy renamed himself "Sony Playstation".

As far as I've been able to find out, there aren't any restrictions on the names you can give to pets or toys.