Do you ever change your doll's names?

I never change the name of my dolls.
But I am not against it.
If I will have to change the look/style/make-up of one of my doll : I could probably do it.

 

Once in awhile I do... If, after awhile, a doll just doesn't seem to really suit the idea that I initially had in mind for them, I'll try something different. Killian, for instance, is sort of in that spot now. I like his sculpt, but it just isn't *him*. So that doll will probably end up being someone else.

When something finally *does* stick, though, it tends to be permanent with my gang. I almost never change a name or concept on a well-established member of the crew.

 

I give names to my dolls first from the promo pics and then let them tell their real names to me when they arrive.

 

Two of my dolls have never had name changes, out of at least 7 different dolls I've had. A couple of them it was simply a place holder name, like my doll chateau Katherine hybrid who was named noodle before she became papillon, as she is a cat fairy.
Other times I was having a hard time bonding with a doll so she went through a few names before becoming duchess.

 

I changed mine all the time! Out of all the current dolls that I have, only my Volks F-35 (Viola) and Volks Saki (Momo) have the names that I intended for them when I purchase them. Everyone else either didn't have names for a long time or got named changed multiple times. Heck, one of my current dolls still doesn't have name and it's been almost 2 years.

I'm not good at restricting myself with "plans" for dolls beforehand. To me, it's kind of like limiting their potential and tunneling them to only a certain direction. I like buying the sculpts I like, and then let it create its own style naturally as I go and buy new things for them. Because of this, sometimes the image that I had in mind at the beginning turned out completely different in the end, so the names change as well.

My Volks F-54 had the name Ringo when I first got her, but after getting her face-up re-done and finding her signature look, I changed her name to Alice. I think out of all my dolls, she's the one I'm the most attached to when it comes to finding the right name. Usually after this process, the name's stuck forever.

 

I have before now. Not dolls but OCs. OOOOLD ocs who's original names no longer fit becasuse they were immature and dumb or just didn't work once I fleshed out the universe they were in. So I either expanded on their name and used the original name as inspiration (Olwyn became Olin because it fit the setting and language that had been established better for instance.) or it was a "nickname" they grew out of.
Others had their names shortened or kept just the first letter or got little tweaks.

The most major one is one of my oooold vampire characters who's original name was just a random made up one with lots of extraneous letters. It stopped feeling "right" and when I revamped (lol pun) his character I also updated his name because a strange made up name didn't quite make sense for the setting he was in or his backstory. I decided it was a name he'd adopted later in life originally but even that didn't seem right. So he's just Eoin now, which works a lot better.

It's not unusual for a name to just not work though. We had this happen with cats too. When I was a kid we had a cat we wanted to name Mithril but it was a bit of a mouthful and she never got called it. Instead she was always referred to as "kitten" or "whitten" which mutated into Whitney and became her name. Not that she often got called that either, she was almost always called Snitch or Schnitzel as a nickname.
Originally Falcor was going to keep his pedigree name Killian but it kept getting shortened to Kill or Killy and my mother felt that inappropriate so he was renamed.
Jasper was going to be called Ra but it didn't work so he ended up being called Jasper.
We used to brainstorm names and try them out till one stuck.

I can't see why you can't do the same with dolls or characters. Things change, people change, either write it into their background or just retcon their original name, nobody's gonna ever know or care right? lol.

 

I never change the names unless, for whatever reason, I decide to change their character/design. I'm not completely against it though, I've just never done it before! I think I've previously changed the names of dolls if it'd been so long since I used/unpacked them that I'd forgotten their personality, if that counts xD

 

I am super indecisive about a great many things, doll names included. My Daydream Sally has gone through a few, including me just calling her by her sculpt name. I'm not one hundred percent sure her current name (Sadie) will stick either.

 

I have. The elf Lishe in my icon photo had a name change when I realized that, with a new faceup, she would be perfect for my OC, Kirah. Before that she was Lorilei. I also changed the name of my LTF Ante elf a couple of times because nothing seems to click with her. I may have to change her faceup, too - she's such a pouty, sad little waif that she nevers seems happy about anything.

 

I haven't, but I debated. Twice.

The first time wasn't really a name change, but spelling. I wanted to change Kouji to Koji. I ended up not doing it, obviously...


The second time was recently. I have a doll named Brin. I actually toyed with teh idea of naming him Flynn and calling my flynn character Griffin instead. Brins name comes from my DND character--- that I named while I was waiting for my luts Brinicle. I just kept calling him Brin for short, and I ended up liking the name enough to use for DND. I decided to name my brinicle Soren, however (As to which HE should have just been named Brin), and then wanted a Brin for a doll. I created brin based off of my DND character.. then made him and Soren a couple (Because weirdness, why not?)
As weird as it is, I ended up deciding changing the names just doesn't work for me because it doesn't feel 'true', so left them as is.

 

I do this from time to time when a character moves on from a particular doll (because I've outgrown that character or there's a better fit for the character doll-wise.) Some times I go through a roster of names while trying to find one that sticks for a doll. It's not much different to me than changing eyes and wigs to try to get that "ah-ha, there you are!!" moment.

 

I never change my doll's names, I could never do that. Once they are named it's set in stone.
Although I do see how some people can and do change their names I don't think that I could ever re-imagine my dolls as anything other than what they are now/have been for so long.

 

Only time I changed a dolls name was when I picked something really abstract and hard to remember. (Based on those fantasy names with all the apostrophes). Basically I forgot it and decided on a new name more simpler

 

Nah, I haven't changed them, the more I think about it the more the name fits them!

 

I tend to give names plenty of thought before giving them. I've still changed a couple of names. One I called Suzie, but it didn't sit right with me. She eventually became Nurit. The other is a doll I co-own, and the name, Jungiku, was a compromise. I'm not thrilled with it, and as the doll currently lives with me, she's Chisa.

 

Honestly I'm always so undecided with names. My dolls will sit awhile with no name. Then I'll come up with a makeshift name and change it a bunch. I'm really terrible at naming a doll and keeping it

 

Most of my dolls had names chosen before I got them. For one of them the planned character and name did not work as soon as I got her out of the box. She was "the new girl" for a while. My two most recent dolls have had their names changed. On of them I was calling Rick after the sculpt name for a while, and recently renamed him Zachary whih suits him much better. The other I'm still not sure about. One of my oldest dolls who I've had for 4 years now, has a name that really doesn't fit her. I've been calling her Yin, which means "silver" in Chinese. She doesn't look Chinese, and nothing about her is silver. I'm considering changing her name to Eurwen, which means "fair gold" in Welsh. It sounds similar to Yin, and may suit her better.

 

It happends. Sometimes I need to change a doll name more than once before finding one that really suits me (and the doll). The doll that gives me the more troubles was my Dollstown Soph. I name her four or fives times ! The name she has for years now was found by someone here on DOA

 

My first couple of dolls were really straightforward with their names; they told me what was up before I'd even bought them! Which was a little weird, but also reassuring that they'd be a great fit for me. I mistakenly assumed that all of my dolls would do this, but I was very wrong! lol. Somewhere along the line, they started messing with me. Some of them were extremely easy to name, some showed up with those strong personalities and told me their names point-blank, and others sat with me for months, completely elusive, with no names at all. And then some of them demanded nicknames! And then one girl in particular decided to completely overhaul her name, style, and personality, and I'm just rolling with it because I'm still so infatuated with my squad that they already know they can basically do whatever they want XD They run the show around here

 

When a doll arrives, I give myself a full day to find him/her a name. Longer, and somebody else will name her/him . So there is a lot of 'i don't want to hear it' , and a lot of web surfing if the list of names I compiled years ago doesn't provide the name that feels right.
It is pretty rare that I need to change a name. It has happened to one of my dolls that went through 2 name changes before settling into the third. The culprit was the bad fairyland face up I landed with. Nothing wrong with the quality of it but the dark and moody vibe wasn't the one I was expecting when I bought the doll.
I am considering changing the name of one of my boy at the moment. There is nothing wrong with the name itself but the sound is very similar to a Christian name , and it jars a bit as the meaning of it is warped as a consequence. People assumes it is a name with a religious meaning when in fact his name is that of a glittering stone. Really off putting to me as I am an atheist. Quite funny really .