Doll Names : Orginality vs Characters

All of your dolls are at this point originals - because we continually change them for whatever we have envisioned in our heads at the time. That may mean that sometimes they are dressed up to be a character, but it is just a "part in the play" so to speak. We don't keep any of our dolls looking the same way for too long.

We usually think long and hard over the names we give our dolls and they usually all have very specified meanings. I tend to try to stay away from a too well known anime/Manga name just because it's too known by me - for example Devoss is named that because he is fox like - and it's dutch meaning "resembling a fox" of course the first fox like name that popped into my head was Kitsune which is japanese for fox - but the name makes me think of the Love Hina character too much so I opted to find another name that had the fox meaning.

There is one instance though were I will get a vampire boy at some time and name him Duzell after Duzell in the manga Vampire Game - because I just fell for that character - however Duzie can take on different appearances in the manga so it won't limit my ability to be creative with him

 

My favourite original character in the whole world is called katie >_< She was a character i drew first of all, but shes evolved. I cant really care that other dolls have her name (undoubtedly they will) because its so inevitable and its a common name. Ill just have to deal with it lol, its just a fact of life

 

I'm currently waiting for my first doll, and I've decided his name is Callisto (he's named after a moon of Jupiter). I chose his name because it has personal meaning for me, and i think that if you have a doll that has an original character and name that you've made up or chosen yourself (even if it is a common name), it kind of makes the doll even more uniquely yours then if you gave it a character and name from somewhere else.

Not that I have anything against fans who give their dolls characters from anime or manga. It just seems to me that doing so would make the doll a little less...yours.

 

I have a love/hate relationship with the doll naming process. My husband, who's been playing D&D for about as long as I've been alive, has no problem with coming up with original sounding names on the fly.....the jerk. From the day I bought my first demon to a week after he arrived (5 weeks) I struggled with a name that would fit him. Now, with a second on the way I'm stuck in the same friggin' situation. For the time being, I'm using a name my husband came up with but I'm having trouble accepting it.

 

I really dont know how to call my dolls but i think.... i will use a generate's name program like for the sims 2 's game .

 

Hmmmm.

Alice was inspired by "Alice through the Looking Glass" and "Alice in Wonderland".
But she is not a direct character reproduction of Alice. I've always loved the name "Alice" and I have a love for imagery of Victorian themes, childhood and dolls. So Alice is themed to be a young, imaginative and spoiled young early era child. Such as you might see in early black and white images.

I had intended to dress her in Lolita, but now that I have her, I do NOT like the idea of her in Lolita. And have opted for seeking out vintage doll dresses. I finally found an adorable vintage handmade doll dress that is blue with white lace.

I am, however, collecting various Alice through the looking glass / in wonderland themed or related items to display her with.

As for the other planned names of dolls I have in my head, they are names I've always loved that have a certain aesthetic and ambience all their own. I'd like to get dolls that I feel can reflect that.

 

I'm making a 2D doll. I know it's been done before, and I'm not taking credit for it but I'm not about to ask how the owner did it. I wanna make him all myself.
I've found what I think is the right face shape but I get the feeling that when I get him, he will already have a different personality.

As to the reason for making him... I think it's kinda like expressing my love for the gorillaz band and for BJD's at the same time.

 

Originally my first doll ,Lucien, started out as a original character from one of my stories I've been working on. But this Lucien is the opposite of my shy mannered character, so I call him the character's alter ego, his name still is Lucien though, just like when I get his cocky counter part it will be much easier though appearance wise will be different.

Lucien and Grabriel (Lucien's counterpart) seem rather common, alot of names but its the personality of the doll that makes it ^^ just like with Lucien and his alter ego.

 

I would have my dolls cosplay, but I wouldn't invest in a character doll; I'd want to change their appearance and clothing too often. Besides, I already have a ton of action figures, so I don't need to go the BJD route.

Original dolls come more naturally to me because I'm a writer/artist and have been creating characters all my life. All the dolls I have been looking at are based off of the characters from a fantasy story I'm writing, and I'm having a Minimee made of one of them.

 

Ahaha, Yugami! Now I can stalk you on DoA AND LJ! XD lmao

My doll is based on a character I created. Like Yugami, original characters come naturally to me because I've spent so long doing writing. I'm also currently writing a story (or really a series of short stories), and the dolls I'm planning/buying are based off of characters from that story.

 

I like original dolls because they are simply that, original. They show the owners creativity and even a bit of the owner themselves. Character dolls, no offense, do not take much thought into personality, name, etc. They are just copy, copy, copy in my mind.

 

I don't have aginst character dolls. I mean I've seeing some pretty cool character doll. But I don't see myself own one, because I feel that a character doll you have to stick to the character itself all the time and that I'm a little pickie so I want the doll to be prefect just like that character.

That why all of my dolls are Orginaity, because they can cosplay as characters doll from different anime/ manga. And I choose they profile and name and everything.

 

Im definately an original character doll person... But I tend not to presuppose characters onto molds. I see sculpts I like, fall hopelessly in lurve, and the character just.... organically manifests. A little like a fog seeping under a door over years, turning the room all licheny. ^_^;;; I.E. when I have my Abadon in hand... I have been thinking, inactively, about him for so very long, that he'll just come out of the box with a fully formed personality. His name is an extension of what I already understand about him, all understanding having been subconcious.

Being a synaesthete I very firmly attach certain letters and sounds with character traits, colours and facial expressions.... If I have a signature comprised of all those elements, the name is either self-evident, or I know exactly what to look for when I search for a name.

Then again, I just like or identify with or feel something important from certain names and wish I had something to do with them... so maybe some of my own sculpts are devised out of those names or those signatures of elements that are resting comfortably in some fold of my brains, annoying the hell outta my conciousness. Names haunt me a little bit, as do certain colours and tones of sound.

I cant see myself making any fan dolls... well, maybe, if I had unlimited funds and about twelve of my own character dolls already in hand. *LOL*

Oh, that makes me wonder.... how many people here who have fan dolls STARTED with fan dolls? Or did you get a mess of unique character dolls and then decide you had room in your collection for a Shinku or a Sailor Moon or something?

And does anybody else here have the obsession with angel names for dolls that you wish you could get rid of cause its so common? *LOL* I just LOVE THOSE NAMES DAMMIT.....

 

PS: for some reason it never once occurred to me to make a doll out of one of my own manga/novel characters. *L* How odd.... I wonder why???

/end random

 

None of my dolls have original names. I was actually sneered at on fantasy writer's forum for having "outta this world" names. They asked why couldn't I just use "normal" names and what's with all the weird syllables and apostrophes everwhere?

But they're real names from my own culture. That's how they're spelled when translated into the English language. It's not my doing. But instead of writing out a protest I just posted a list of different websites that not only traced the origin of the names I chose but how they were influenced by other languages and culture, English being one of them.

It was funny. I could almost feel their emberrassment through the computer.

All of my fandolls are based off of very obscure characters in Buddhist fables who everyone knows by sight but doesn't necessarily know the story behind them. Either they're so minor that they don't have one or they're just not popular and never was re-made for the t.v. generation. My characters are rarely based on the re-makes in Chinese television series or manga.

For example I have a character who was inspired by Son Wukong (aka Goku) of Journey to the West fame. He's been copied over and over and over to the point where several different countries in various parts of Asia considers him their own national treasure. When I recall my childhood those legends figured prominantly, and I had a wonderful, magical childhood. I don't want to forget that.

 

I'm write a lot of stories (original, not fanfiction), and it's easier for me to come up with characters than plots, so I tend to have a plethora of characters floating around in my head. (And they all like to talk at once, while I'm busy, the brats)

So when I first saw a picture of Kid Delf Bory (who I'm currently trying to save up for), one of these aforementioned characters took me by the shoulders and shook me hard, shouting "That's me!"

So Teo is now anxiously awaiting his body and I'm wondering how this character for whom I didn't even have a story idea for managed to develop such a distinct and forceful personality.

 

I'm definitely more of an original character type. I think it started off with roleplaying online, which led to writing fanfiction and that finally led to writing original stories.

I usually have no trouble at all coming up with original names, although I am somewhat finicky when it comes to picking them. I look up databases of names for their meanings and give my character first, middle and last names

Anyhows, I ordered my first doll the other week so it'll be a while before I get him. Surprisingly I've been having trouble trying to think up a name for him (in case anyone is curious, I ordered a Homme Kirill from DoD). No names came to me while I was doing research on him, and none of my original characters really fit his appearance either. So, eventually I gave up trying to decide and wrote all my OC names down on pieces of paper and randomly selected one name out of a box XD

My doll, whenever he arrives, will be called Dieter Etzel Volker. I'm kind of glad I randomly choose that name, it's the name of my second OC and one of my longest lastest OCs too.

Oooh... but you know, I wouldn't mind having my doll cosplay as characters from animes/mangas/video games. But I doubt I would ever buy a character doll (as in one that's based on a pre-existing character).

 

I have been roleplaying Cristiano and Gabriel for three years now. They are based off real people. However, my best friend and I have made them into their own people with different traits then how they are in real life.

Their son Felipe and his husband, William are completely our concept as well as Adrian and Leto. I want to have the dolls of them because one day when we both have very busy lives it will be hard to roleplay them. I want to be able to have them with me.

All of their names are fairly common (Maybe not Leto so much), but I wouldn't have any problem with people having the same names. I don't own them lol.

Now, I also will have dolls that are just based off things inside my head. These names are way different then my roleplaying characters. I enjoy different names and love seeing them create a character. One of my personal favorite is Kvothe which is pronounced Quothe as in the Poe poem the Raven. I think it is a brilliant name and haven't seen it anywhere else but if anyone else used it, I would have to squeal with them. I am just in love with the name.

Names to me tell a lot about the person who named them as well as the doll itself. I think if you want to name yours after somone else's then that is your right. Now if you personally make the doll exactly like that other person's, that's too far.

 

Rylan was an original doll, who began to mold and shape her own character.

I like having my dolls be original characters rather than basing them off a favourite character from a book, cartoon, etc. However, I presently am trying to figure names of my future dolls and am having some difficulties. I don't like stepping on other people's toes, so I try to name my dolls names that have not been taken.

Still, I would like to name my future BF Olive Coraline, but not only do I feel I am stepping on Neil Gaiman's toes, but also another doll owner on here, who has a U-Noss Seina by the name of Coraline, too. Bah! The frustration! I might go back to the drawing board and try again, however because it does bother me quite a bit. :/

 

Honestly, how many millions of dolls do you think there are in the world? There are probably dozens, if not 10s of dozens of dolls with the same name out there, especially considering that people tend to use real names (japanese, chineese, and korean names especially) when naming their dolls, rather than making something up sheerly randomly. So there are probably like 300 dolls named the same thing, it's just something you have to accept. No one can copyright a name, especially in cases of as I said the *majority* of people using actual baby book type names.

My dolls have names, but oddly, I don't really think about them and often refer to them by their mold names. I put alot of thought into my dolls' names and the reasons why I chose each name. But I understand that they are fairly common names, and that doesnt bother me. I have a rare name in real life, but my nickname (and part of my name) is Jen. My best friend of 20+ years is named Jennifer. I've also known at least 10 other Jens throughout my life. It's just like in real life. People (and dolls) will often have the same names. It's nothing to freak out over that's for sure. When I was growing up we had a black lab named Meisha. (pronounced Mee-sha) and my father had named her and I thought it was such a unique rare name (and I had assumed he had completely and totally made it up. But working retail the last 5 or 6 years, I've heard the name (not sure of the spelling but same pronounciation) many times. sometimes people just think alike so even "fictional" 100% original names end up being copied. It happens in online games alot too, sometimes you'll want to name your character after a 100% original character you created, only to find when you try that the name is taken already. When we were about 12 years old my best friend made up a character named Tisaria. When she joined warcraft last year there were already over 30 Tisaria on various servers. But I know at the time, she had thought it was 100% original. So you just never know. In the end it is not a big deal, people have the same name all the time irl. This isn't directed towards anyone, I have not even read the replies or anything in this thread but just feel like saying my thoughts .

As for my own personal names of my dolls:
I call Demi, Hitomi, because of her large eyes. It means "Beautiful Eye" in Japanese. And Mowen I call Takehiko, it means "Soldier Prince" and seemed to fit his cold/serious/sad nature. I spent alot of time, weeks, or more, deciding on a name, and my 3rd doll doesnt have a name yet. Yes names are important but just like irl, I accept that there will be other children (resin or otherwise) who have the same or similar names as the ones I choose for my dolls and/or future children.

On the subject of character versus original, I prefer original, because I like to change my dolls' looks often and having a character would limit the range of looks I could do.

As for "retired" names. no such thing in my opinion. end of story. It's impossible to know who has which dolls and what their names are. I can't think of any dolls that I hear a name and instantly know the user and the doll, and I'm a senior member of these forums. Meh. That's just me though