Do you have a hard time naming your dolls and keep having to change it?

Yup! My boy Lucian went through multiple names even before I got him. I knew exactly what sculpt his character was and I knew that his first few names did not fit. Complete place holders as far as I was concerned. And I had this character for years before he was shelled. And when I finally settled on Lucian, I wasn't so sure. Until I had the doll in my hands and I had done his faceup. Last names though, that's a whole other story. Lol. Very few of my dolls have last names because I'm not good with them.

 

Yes, I find it hard to come up with names that fit my image of the doll. Sometimes I end upp adding a middle name to make it a better fit, other times I change the name completely. I am very picky with names: they have to sound and feel right and also match the doll's style. I am trying to decide on a name for a doll that will arrive in a few days, and I keep going back and forth between a few different alternatives...

 

This always happens to me in my writing!

But usually somewhere inside me I have a sense of what I want the name to mean or what I want the sound of the name to be like, for example I'll know what letter it needs to start with, and then I can search lists of names until something clicks, or a base name stands out which I might modify.

If you don't mind: To me he looks like his name would start with a Da-
Darius
Daniel
Damien....

I often also end up naming characters Alex before I've come up with a more exotic X or Z name, because the X at the end of Alex kind of serves as a placeholder in my mind for the other two characters.

You'll find something that works!

 

I usually have a strong character already built before I even buy the doll, so usually it sticks. Sometimes, however, when I finally get the doll in, I realize it doesn’t fit the character as planned and I end up either picking a better fitting name or more often, just use the doll for a different character entirely. It’s rare, but it definitely does happen.

 

Mostly no, but I do have one doll who’s refused to settle on a name. If she’s in modern clothes then she’s happy enough to be Robin, but in her “real” elvish garb, it changes her character enough that the name doesn’t really fit. I suppose she’s just got two names. It’s not infrequent that I’ll have to adjust a doll’s intended name or styling plan after I meet them.

 

I'm currently experiencing this problem with my RS Mei. When I first got her way back in 2013(?) I named her Harper. It always felt like a misfitting name but I kept it for a while. Then I met someone professionally with that name. It was a bit too weird. So I've decided to change her name but I don't feel a lot of pressure right now for a new one because I plan on changing her face up and style in the coming months. For now, she's affectionately called Mei, and even though its the company name, it suits her for now.

 

Of course!
Maybe it's telling that both of us were leaning toward the Da- start! I'm glad I said something, and thanks for taking the suggestions so graciously

 

I give pun names to my dolls before they come home, and sadly I get so used to them that... they often becom final.
So, even if I would like to change it, it doesn't feel right. They always be, for me, that /pun name/

 

I sometime shave a hard time naming them, but once named it doesn't get changed.

I have one girl (Winnie) who has a name I don't like, but it's the only name that she'd accept. And I have another girl who was named by default, because she refused every name I tried and was referred to as, "my elfie girl," for so long that she simply became Elfie.

Generally, I go for long names that never get used as the dolls get referred to by a shortened version of the name

Alphonse/Alphie
Serendipitous/Sera
Clytemnestra/Nesta
Ephigenia/Phige
Delphinium/Phinnie
Margaret/Peggy(*)
Ruth/Nancy(*)
Rhododendron/Rhoddy (no longer with me)
Meriol/Meri
Roberto/Bobbin
Charlotte/Lottie
Charles/Charlie
Adelheid/Heidi


And I have two that retained their sculpt names (Nettle and Arin) because I liked both names enough to keep them, and Meriol/Meri is a variant of her sculpt name (Merry) bit also the name of my youngest god-daughter's mother (who she resembles not a bit).

Teddy

(*)Two of my four dolls named after pre-existing characters from books - and somebody else named the other two.

 

I go through a lot of searching before naming my dolls, usually, but the one that gave me the most trouble was my first doll. I had her for ten years before she got her name! When I got back into the hobby earlier this year, I wanted to give her a proper name, because I hadn't when I first got her. I was also set, at the time, on having a theme for my MSDs' names. That has since gone out the window, and she's a big reason why.

By the time I started searching for names for her, I'd been calling her by her sculpt name, Lola, for a couple weeks. Paris Blue (for a color theme) didn't fit. Hydrangea (Heidi for short) was pretty, but, well, you'll see. Ursa was a short-lived idea, when I was trying to use constellations. I eventually decided on Heidi, but even so, I kept calling her Lola. This shouldn't have been a big issue, but it was. I didn't want her to just have her sculpt name, and, even more importantly, I don't really like the name Lola. I tried and I tried to get Heidi to fit, but in the end I had to make a compromise. Her name wouldn't be Heidi, or Lola, but Luna. It sounded enough like Lola it would be an easy transition, and it fit her character similarly well to Heidi.

My other dolls have been a lot less fussy about names, though. I think Luna was just picky because she'd had to wait such a long time, haha

 

The way I pick names is kind of funny, but I tend to associate certain shapes and colors with sounds, so while looking at a doll I'm kind of just struck with how their name should sound, if that makes any sense!

 

Wow I'm so glad this post exists, I don't feel alone anymore lol. Yes, I have the WORST time with names and even now most of my dolls don't even have names! ;A;

 

Oof yes. Names are hard for me to choose even outside of bjd. Currently just using the default sculpt name which also happens to be my partner's name. It can be confusing.

 

I'm always struggling to find name for my dolls It never feels right at first, so most of the time I stick with the default sculpt name until something really works for the doll

 

If I can’t name them, I can’t bond, which is a challenge, cause I’m just bad at naming. Azrael was a case of the doll arrived and I had no idea who she was, but she was pretty easy for me to identify when I had her. My Lillycat girl, when she came in didn’t seem to take on an identity for me, which I knew didn’t bode well for her sticking with my collection. Sure enough, she’s found an owner who adores her, her proportions just weren’t working for me. Whether or not I name them/ give them a character is always key in how I feel about a doll.

 

My "human" (ish) doll characters are usually named before they arrive; it's the little tiny creatures that sometimes take a while for a name to stick (probably because they are less a character and more just the physical embodiment of "squee" lol).

 

Naming is frustrating. Especially for male dolls. I feel like it's so much easier for me to find cute girl names that I like versus names for boys, ugh. The best names are ones that kind of just fall into my lap and refuse to get out of my head. Almost like the doll is naming him/herself! It may take a while for the perfect name to pop into my head but it beats spending hours poring over baby name websites overanalyzing every single name lol.

 

Hi,
Usually this is not a problem
but when I purchased my grail boy things changed.
I had an incredibly difficult time finding a name for him and now I'm at the point where I think his name does not suit him. I've only had him for a few months absolutely love him, feel like we bonded the first time I saw his pic and wished he was for sale.. fast forward 8weeks and sure enough he was.
but the name thing is making me worry a bit....
Maybe I'm just rushing things, my other dolls had characters and names before they arrived and these did not change.