Contentious doll names - gods and so on.

I tend to avoid names of people I know and names that invoke powerful feelings. For example, I will not use the name of a god, angel, or demon from a popular modern religion, but I will use names from ancient religions and mythologies. I also tend to avoid names of very famous people, particularly if they're famous for some horrible act.

 

There's really no off limit names to me. No I'd never name a doll Jesus and I'd probably not name my dolls after any sort of gods regardless, not because I find it offensive but because they don't fit in with my style. I'm not religious in any way either so it wouldn't offend if someone else did it with their dolls.

I think the only sort of names I'd avoid are ones that seem too 'plain'.

My dolls are named after alcoholic drinks so my limits are kind of skewed anyway~

 

I feel as though any kind of "religious" name could spark controversy. I don't think anyone should really take it personally though because I'm sure no one means any harm by naming their dolls those names. I am not religious at all so it this whole thing may mean a lot less to me.

 

Names to me are to be give to reflect the spirit because they have meanings. I love researching names and their meanings, and have a ton of characters I've come up with for table top RPG. But as far as names I wouldnt use .......I cant stand common names I dont like ones that have lost all meaning and identity, like Alice.......no instead my dolls name is going to be Adalise the old germanic origanal form of the name. Also I can not for the life of my ever name a doll Joey.........to many joeys in my husband's family. But has far as sacralige I could not name a doll or child for that matter after a mythological figure with out knowing if it was exceptiable in that culture. I love names and cultures.

 

I might have no problems with religious names or God names, but I would really hate it to see a doll named after Hitler or people like him. I have no problems with names of good people like Jesus or Mohammed, neither with fictional demons like Satan and kind of him - but real demons like Hitler would be quite offending to me.

 

I find it humorous that some people feel it's fine to name a doll Loki but not Lucifer of Jesus or Mohammed with the reasoning being so it won't offend the masses. Either it's okay or it's not okay to do it--it shouldn't matter the group or number of people being offended!

In my opinion, if the name of MY doll offends someone, that's on them, NOT me. I'm not a member of their religion, I don't go by the same rules, I'm certainly not doing it to get a negative reaction--there shoud be no issue. Some people get so worked up over these things, and I find it increasingly silly.

 

I did have a bit of a name-issue with one of my dolls. Not because of her name, because of the sub-title I gave her... When I presented her as "Ala, daughter of Da Vinci" a bunch of people got pissed, saying that Da Vinci didn't have a daughter and such... They wouldn't listen even when I explained that it was just a fictive character I made, you know, like "IF Da Vinci would have had a daughter, what would she be like?"... So yeah she isn't historically correct but who cares? Apparently some people did, which I never had expected...
At least it learned me that there will always be people who get offended, no matter what you do. Either the name is unethical or too weird or too common...

I draw the line at "fictional" characters that are more open to interpretation, and not real historical characters (I hope I don't start a discussion about whether Jesus is fictional or historical here hence the "fictional" instead of plain Fictional).
For instance I wouldn't name a doll Stalin or Hitler, or Fidel Castro as far as I care, and wouldn't appreciate it when someone did. But I don't have any problem with Jesus or Lucifer, and certainly not with Mohammed, as lots of Muslim boys are also called that way. Might be a different case when you would actually dress the doll to look like Jesus or Mohammed and then making them do nasty or stupid things, like getting drunk or having sex or something. Then I would think those people were just trying to provoke. Still I would just ignore them rather than attack them... Probably wouldn't have any effect anyway, or even be exactly what they wanted.

 

Well, I am a Christian, so naming my doll Jesus is a no-no and I can't stand it if anyone name their doll Jesus. I mean it is so rude and inconsiderate!!! It is just like saying "Oh, my god!" to me. I usually snapped back, "God in heaven, bless him." Sorry it got off-topic...
And I am not fond of using gods' names either. A pastor once said a spirit materialized before him. So he demanded why the spirit got there and it said the lady he as praying with had the same middle name as its. So she belonged to it. Translation: having the same name as a 'god' (more of evil spirit actually) meant you automatically belonged to it. Believe it or not, I certainly don't want evil spirits in my dolls after having a series of nightmares regarding demons when I was about 10. I'll play safe.
Dude, I love the name Victoria but it is the name of the Roman goddess of victory....arhhh!

 

May I add that Satan enticed people like Hitler to slide deeper and deeper? If he is the mastermind, isn't he the most evil one.

 

Obviously I have no qualms with the religions aspect. My Delphine is named "Lucifer", but I call her "Lucy" a lot to try to avoid confrontation (though I've never hidden her name on the forums; I don't feel the need to). She also represents a Seven Deadly Sin (Pride). Her brother is named "Satan", but I changed his name to "Abaddon" because I really didn't feel like explaining why that was his name to people. But I more than often call him "Wrath" because that's his sin, and it stuck to his character- he hasn't been dolled yet, so his name isn't an issue.

I'm not a religious person, and I equate a lot of religious texts with mythology, so it's perfectly fine for me to think of the names as belonging to characters, not actual existing beings. And yes, that's my opinion, I understand that other people are religious and feel strongly about it, but they're my dolls.

But to each their own. I have no problem with censoring my doll names if they make people feel uncomfortable, but I won't change them just to make them happy. I might like to point out that I don't feel I have the room to speak against people who have dolls in nazi attire or inspired names even if they make me uncomfortable. I'm not an evil, evil person just because I have a doll with the name Lucifer, so I don't believe other people are evil, evil people for how they name or dress their dolls.

So. Yeah. I don't want to be hypocritical, so if I don't like a doll's name, I'm just going to ignore it. It'd be a pointless argument in the end- and no one would win.

 

I have no problem naming my dolls off religious figures. I'm a huge fan of mythology and to me that's all religions are. It gives a doll the back story or in some cases just a character they are connected to. Like trickster character would be named Loki.
I plan on getting Souldolls Shiva, but renaming her Kali as I think that fits the character I have and her personality. I'm not going for a direct reflection of the Devi but as an echo of the myths surrounding her.
As is though I DO kinda want to make a Jesus dolls from Lady Gaga's Judas video. That would be a Really cool doll to have to me. Renegade Biker Gang Jesus, coolest concept for a video Ever. Lady Gaga's Mary nooooot so cool. The rest, very cool.

 

Heh. Currently on my To-Doll list, I have:

Phanes - the creator of the universe. (Protogonos; he is also Eros, Rah, Anu, and all other creator gods) Michael the Archangel (self-explanatory), Lilith (she is also Lilitu), Adam (but not the wimpy buttface "first man" kind, though there is uh... a reason why he's named Adam) Vincent Vine, son of Vine, Kind of Hell and Bastet (She is also Sekhmet, she is also possibly Kali, I haven't decided yet). I already have a doll of one of the Oneiroi, the dream gods/daemons.

They're all characters in my big story that basically attempts to reconcile all world religions (seriously, there are a lot of overlaps) and modern science (also, a surprisingly huge amount of overlaps with this too). I think of it as what the Greeks did, and artists during renaissance: they painted and sculpted gods, angels, demons, and other biblical characters. It's not somehow degrading or trivializing, but instead it's a big show of appreciation for those gods/angels/demons(?)/characters and the religions they represent. You're throwing money and devoting time to create an image of a religious figure you probably admire. As long as no offense was meant and the personages are represented in an honourable, serious way I don't see how it can possibly be insulting. And whoever does get offended, well, that's on them, and they should probably chill out.

Seriously, I don't think there are any names I consider off-limits. I mean, I don't see the appeal in naming someone after a REAL recent historical figure with a really unsavory reputation (mostly because, like I said, to me dolls, like other art, are a display of appreciation), but I wouldn't say it's off-limits. The one thing I can think of off the top of my head is possibly Mohammed the Prophet, mostly because, well, according to the religion of Islam you're not supposed to depict him in any way, and while I'm not a follower of that religion, I'll respect that rule. They have their reasons for it, and no one's gonna die because they can't have their own personal Mohammed doll.

 

Barring a few exceptions, people can name their dolls as they please.

Yes the names may be in poor taste, boring, contentious, overused or offensive to some religions but...at the end of the day, that is their choice and that is their doll.
If there are consequences surrounding that then I'm sure they are willing to deal with them otherwise they would not have chosen the name.

However there is also the issue of if the offense taken is well respected; for example calling a doll Adolf in Austria would be grounds for genuine controversy as would the example previously mentioned of naming a doll after the bomber plane that destroyed Hiroshima.

I myself have a doll currently named (it's a tentative name) Gabriel who is half angel and half incubus. I also want a doll called Loki. Neither of these dolls will 'be' their name-sakes and no disrespect is meant, I mostly just like the name or the suggestion of the name.

 

kinda random:
Jesus is a pretty common name (in certain country which I forgot). but the way they pronounce it it sound more like Rehsus.

I wouldn't name my doll after a god or a very important prophet that is still worshipped.
but names from religion that are pretty much...dead would be OK. as far as I know the egyptian gods like Anubis and Ra aren't worshipped anymore.
there are names in religion that are (more or less) common today and if a human can have it, a doll can too (ex: angel's name. and jesus)

 

Well I'm about to order my first Tiny doll and given that he looks like a little demon I'm probably going to steal my ex pet's name and call him Caligula.

Small, mischievous, and wears little boots so it fits to a T. He can go around as Cal for short. If someone is offended then ***** em'. They either have no knowledge of the actual historical origins of the name or they just plain can't take a damn joke. Life is a million times better when you learn to just stop caring about what everyone else on the planet does, especially when it doesn't even effect you or your beliefs.

Learn to laugh, or whine far far away from me.

 

I try to stay away from middle-aged lady names, since I don't really like them alot.

I don't really care what people call a doll, but if they do call it a swearword or something like that, I'd possibly think "What an immature person".

 

Not to drag this thread further off topic but: I do not think religious diatribe like this is appropriate for a doll forum- especially since you are effectively calling the gods of other religions demons with your posts which is extremely offensive. I understand that this is your religious belief, and I respect that (even though I don't agree and you're calling my gods demons here), but I personally find this quite inappropriate for a doll forum. This is a thread about offensive names, not religion.

I agree that offense is on the person being offended. It would be silly of me to get offended every time the name of one of my gods was used...Odin, for example. I've discovered that it's easier for me to simply not get offended over name choice. But then, I'm an anthropologist so I've learned to be non-judgmental and try to understand why people choose to do the things they do, rather than get my panties in a bunch over it.

Mods, feel free to delete my post if I've overstepped my bounds here.

 

Carmarilla, I swear I searched your post for the "like" button. ^_^

 

Facebook has us spoiled. And thank you.

 

It may sound a little new agey, but I'm a firm believer in letting names come to me, as in listening for "their" name, whether I'm naming, dolls, pets, or characters in my story, ect. The names don't stick, unless it feels "right". (I'm aware how vague that sounds, but I'm sure some of you can relate?) As far as names I would never use, I really don't know if there are any, I suppose perhaps names that are evil, or demonic, I would avoid, and that would be just because I wouldn't want to invite their influences into my life. (Yep, this does sound a bit out there doesn't it?)