Contentious doll names - gods and so on.

I wouldn't use a Japanese name for my doll. It is so overplayed that it hurts, I really get tired of seeing it.

 

I don't think one should walk around with a "Jesus" dollfie, and misrepresent him and get mad when someone else who happens to witness the doll and get offended. Kind of like how people got outraged at the thought a portrait of the Virgin Mary made of manure was blasphemy. Same thing with making a dollfie with the name Jesus and having him be a tutu wearing DZ fox. People will get offended.

I would assume that people would at least try to keep it in good taste or at least keep it to themselves.

 

Jesus is a normal name in a couple of countries in the world o__o

I think it's something different when you just give your doll the name or he's supposed to BE this person. A Jesus doll, looking like the average picture of Jesus people have in their mind, would be way to much, that's right. Especially when he's used to "hurt" people, doing nifty things, making fun about christian religion e.t.c.

 

slightly OT, but i know someone whose dog is named "skatoula" (i'm not sure the correct spelling" and that is the origin of her dog's name as well she usually goes by "toula" though.

 

Well, (famous) names always are connected with suggestion depending on the person. That's why I like special old cultures where a child gets a name after bith and a second one when getting grown-up. This one often matches the character or expresses special abilities. Well, but that wouldn't work in our civilisation. There we often hear similar names and special ones we remember and connect to stories, events and characteristics.
(I for myself have to grin meeting a "Bruce", to smile when I hear the name "John", to laugh when hearing the name "Sheldon" and the in fact very nice name "Andrea" gives me the creeps...)
One should always think about that fact when giving a name. And religious names... well, that's been talked about.
So you'll never be sure which name to give a doll (so it's for me)...

OT: For my pets I decided to give a name matching the character (rock, terebi, butler grey, cerb, custo,...) but you can't really do this to a doll in that way ^^; /OT

Laoky (very happy with the name "Mayou" for her first)

 

I am super Catholic and go to church very often. At Christmas time, I set my Nativity Set with a bunch of my BJD dolls, they have their outfits and it is really pretty. My guests pick them up and play with little Jesus, brush Mary's hair and check out her shoes (one guest once wanted to take Mary's clothes off, and I did not allow it), pose the three kings and comment on them. My priest came over once and thought it was all very beautiful and commented on how respectful I had been about the whole thing. When they have their religious outfits on, they behave as the character they represent. ~Gus

 

This sounds lovely, I'd really like to see pictures of this!

 

People name pets and children after gods and angels so I don't see why it would be inappropriate for a doll (although it is a bit strange to meet a dog named Zeus and a girl named Aphrodite).

 

As much as she looks like it to me, I wouldn't ever name my incoming doll Amy.
I love the name Amy. But it's my grandmother's name, and I had staggering emotional issues with her passing.
I guess I wouldn't name her after anyone either. I actually plan on naming her Celeste. :3

 

Hmm, on the other hand, I love that Souldoll has a beautiful doll called Irene, that's my grandmother's name. I think I would be happier to name a doll after someone that a child because a doll just exists while a child would have to live up to the name.

I have no idea what to name SDC Kurt. I've called him 'Kurt' so long that it's starting to stick, but I really don't want that name, I'm thinking of all the different words for 'frog' I know instead.

 

Gus - that's such a cool idea

Jescissa - doesn't "Mowgli" mean Frog?

I was surprised when I entered the BJD community to see how many people have named/modded their dolls after demons. The horn mods are really cool, though (I'm thinking of doing some myself) and I'm not offended by someone calling their doll "Satan" or "Lucifer," because I know they don't actually *mean* the personification of all evil, but are influenced by the symbol and character of Lucifer as he's been portrayed in art, which is often very sympathetic. Personally I can't think of any name that would really offend me, other than slurs which I doubt anyone would actually use as names.

 

Call him Grenouille! Ahh, my Perfume fangirl roots are showing... perhaps it's not such a good name for a sweet dolly! ^^;

On topic, I'm not sure I'd ever be offended by a name. That seems a bit odd to me. I can't see many people going out of their way to offend anyone with the name and personality of their doll anyway.

 

I would most definitely avoid American-based names, and probably some British names as well. I find them very cliche, as well as the fact that I would rather live in any country but the US. It's not all it's cracked up to be.

Aside from that, I find other cultures very interesting and insightful. German, Chinese, and Japanese names are the ones I would most likely pick from! XD

 

Back in DOA's Yahoo Group days there was a doll named Enola Gay (Enola Gay was the B-29 that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima). I think that was the only ABJD name that has ever offended me.

 

I think, compared to some names I've read for Dolls, my Nikolai Valentine is rather normal!

I might name a doll with some sort of god/goddess name (I like Aphrodite, Osiris, Isis, et cetera) but I would never try to make it truly represent the god.

... I second that a "Jesus" doll could get the snot beaten out of you.

 

I would never name a doll 'Mohammed' as it is disrespectful to the Muslim religion as they do have a rule against naming inanimate objects 'Mohammed'. I wouldn't name a doll Jesus either, although there are no rules in Christianity against naming a person or an object 'Jesus' (can't call yourself or something else 'God' but I haven't seen anything against the actual name 'Jesus') and it is a common enough name in some parts of the world, I would hate to have any religious weird feelings attached to my doll like that, as I've lived in parts of the world where 'Jesus' is a very uncommon name, and the first thing I think of when I think of the name is of the Christian religion. Plus I don't want to be mistaken for wanting to take the piss out of a big group of people.

If I named a doll after Greek or Roman or Norse gods, the actual character would be modelled after them in some way, I think.

 

I honestly think that people get too worked up by dolls named "Jesus". In Spanish speaking countries it is not an uncommon name. It is also pronounced HAY-ZEUS instead of GEE-ZIS. If someone introduced their doll to you, in person, as HAY-ZEUS you would NOT get offended. Unfortunately it is spelled the same so you can't see the pronunciation on the internet - but I for one always assume the Spanish name unless someone says otherwise.

Honestly, as long as someone is not purposefully using a doll to disrespect whatever the source of the name is - I do not have any problems with it. I also have no issues who name their dolls after demons, angels, etc. as long as it is in character.

Although, naming your doll "Mohammed" could be REALLY dangerous depending what country you are in. You would not want to get arrested!

 

Seriously. If you get offended by the name "Jesus" do not ever go into any Spanish-speaking country ever. Considering the fact that most of those countries are hugely Catholic and also have a large amount of boys named Jesus... Have fun there.

If you're going to say "OMG NO JESUS!!1!1" you might just wanna mention that you would be offended with the western (or 'gringo' if you prefer....) pronunciation of the name.

Honestly, I would find it very odd if someone named their doll or even child 'Aphrodite'-a goddess known for wearing no clothing and being an adulteress. But, hey, nothing to get offended over.

Certain slurs I would become offended over, like if someone named their doll a certain word starting with 'n.' Otherwise? Eh. I would never personally name my dolls a name from a language that I don't know unless I had a native speaker tell me, for certain, how to write and pronounce it. WAY too much possibility for saying something very wrong by accident-anyone remember the joke about the kanji tattoo really reading "chicken with fried rice"?

 

Eeek. Alright, that's no so cool O_o;;

How very Christian. I hope you're not speaking from experience of any sort!

Would also like to mention that the Viking religion with its Norse gods it still practised by some people, and therefore not a mythology to said people. However, I doubt that calling your dolly "Zeus" is going to get you locked up. Thankfully.

 

Thanks Pomegranate and Kateb 'Mowgli' is sadly a made up name, it doesn't mean anything...and I just showed 'Grenouille' to my boyfriend and he said he will call him Granville instead if I call the poor boy 'Grenouille' Oops.

I agree with Suuchan that I probably wouldn't name a doll from a language I was completely unfamiliar with, unless I had confirmation from a reliable speaker of that language that the name was polite and inoffensive.