Doll Names : Orginality vs Characters

My dolls are all based off of my original characters. I know that "Gabriel" is a fairly common name in general for characters, but I can't see my Gabriel with any other name. It's what he's always been called. So I just accept that he'll have the same name as other dolls, and I've never been concerned with that. (He'll look fairly different, at least, but I'm still not all that concerned.)

The two that are still coming, "Maren" and "Esa," have less common names (since I just came up with syllable strings that fit the characters way back when I named them), but if I happened to see another "Maren" or "Esa" around, I wouldn't freak out about that, either. Though it would be very strange for me. Especially if they were elves.

 

Yes! absolutely. Perfect.

That's the way all but just a couple of my dolls have been named (or not-named, as I am awful at it).

My Kenshin dolls (Ken-san and Battousai)...well, I don't give a hoot whether anyone but me likes them. However, I am here to say that yes, a character doll *will* be scrutinized for non-canon. I'm my own worst critic in this regard as my poor Zelgadis has been unstrung and in-sanding for about a year now. It's his 2nd makeover, poor dear. ("But he came out too green! Zel's skin is supposed to be blueish!")

 

While I have no desire to copy anyone, I just intend to name my dolls what I want to name my dolls. Wouldn't be too fussed if someone else had the name. The bjd community will get larger and dolls arrive everyday. It's silly for anyone to think they own a name. Otherwise we will end up having to call our dolls 3982uhd2387d

 

For me, I can go either or, characters or original. It depends on how I feel when I look at the doll. When I got my first BJD, his coy look and teasing smirk made me think of a character that I adored. So it was only natural for me to name him after that character. While I feel he is a bonified 'character doll' he's got so much personality that makes him different than his name sake almost entirely. So he's not limited to just that 'persona'. And I think it's fitting because I love to cosplay! I think he'll enjoy it too.

Originals are great, but people shouldn't be so obsessed with the idea of having the 'most original' because really, we all know it, it's hard to make anything original. The most important thing is to mold the doll into what you envision them to be and enjoy them! They're all special in their own way.

I enjoy characters because it's fun to see how close people can get to imitating the actual character! I don't know why, but I suppose it's funny to see doll characters cosplaying. Btw is there any threads dedicated to that here?

 

I've just recieved my first proper(ish) BJD, Now she is a character doll named Mirai from Volks. In her clothing she is simply that. Mirai. Her character however is not dictacted by Volks other than they made her and stylized her. Her character is what I percieve her as. I have my own vision of her in my mind on who she is and how she fits in with me and my surroundings. Her personality is the one I choose to make for her to a degree.
Also I am wondering if people will have an alternate persona for their dolls? Like when you change wigs and outfits do you sometimes change their persona or even their name?
When I recieve a new outfit for Mirai I wonder if she will change in my perception and thus become a different persona. Enough of a change to warrant a new name even?

The customisation of BJD's makes for an interesting premise and tends to shed some light on our own personas.

 

Even if I give my dolls names which are "well used" I still choose that name for them because I think it suits them, not because I'm wanting to identify my doll with a certain character. I'm sure there are plenty of Edwards, Effies and Miettes around, but those names suit the tinfoil armatures that are my WIP bjds
having said that, I'm sure those names may change at some point

 

I choose most of my names by the way they 'fit' - which is a combination of their meaning and if I think it goes with the doll's personality. & I usually name them after they arrive, not before.

However, I also use names for characters I like (almost always from a book) - like Syl. I chose his name from a character and then found the doll that fit what I thought the character looked like in my head. Now of course, I actually have to buy him, heh

 

I don't plan on having any character based dolls...simply because I am so much more fond of my characters than I am of anyone else's. I've never seen a character out there that I bonded with enough emotionally that I'd want to spend hundreds of dollars to have a likeness of them. It just doesn't appeal to me.

As for "original" names... The dolls I have planned are named Muse de Melody, Aoede Rhapsody, Harlee Quinn and James Amity. None of those names are at all original, but they suit the characters they belong to very well. On the other hand, the same names might perfectly suit someone else's dolls. I'm not going to throw a hissy fit because someone happened to look on a website for names or Greek mythology and found Aoede -- I wouldn't even be surprised if, once hearing the pronunciation, they decided to nickname her Dee. However, I would be shocked if the other Aoede's personality, age, race, appearance, backstory, and love interest were all exactly the same as mine.

 

I typically research names and see which ones call out to me the most with a particular mold. If I feel that it fits the appearance of the doll and the appearance I would like them to have, then that's the one I'll go with. I'm also a dork and will most likely pick names that aren't as common because I like having names that not too many other people have used. Although I really like some very common names like William and Edward. My first girl is named Ayre. It's an English surname, but I came about it through Jane Eyre (one of my favorite novels). And my first boy will be named Rush. I generally like the names to have some sort of meaning, but in this case, they don't really, and I don't mind. I've also already picked out names for the next two dolls I want to eventually get.

My girl doesn't really have so much of a personality yet. I haven't had a whole lot of time with her since I only just got her at the end of last month. She hasn't really gotten the chance to tell me what kind of kid she is, how she would act and what not. But it's slowly getting there. I find that with each picture I take, she takes on a sort of personality that I feel fits her name as well as it fits her face!!

I think I could like character dolls, but I don't think I'll ever go about actually making a particular doll into a pre-existing character. One that I would consider though would be Nakatsu Shuichi from Hana Kimi, my absolute favorite manga (and j-drama) series!! But other than that, I feel my dolls are my own and they are the way they are because I want them to be that way. It's nice having something belong to only you, kind of the way a story belongs to only the writer. I don't think I'd mind so much if someone else used the same name as me, unless they got the same doll and named them and dressed them the way I did!!

 

I have a few of each.
Suni, shes just a resident sexy girl.
Lush, hes the resident sexy guy.
Marquis de Seprone, now hes rather more complex as hes a vampire addicted to herion. Hes also from 18th Century france.
Tabitha, soon to be resident hippy indian chikkie babe.
Asuka, from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Shes just got much attitude, shes deserves to be imortilised in doll form

 

Most of my dolls get a character after I get them. As for names, I kind of go with what I like and what the name means.

I have three Blue Fairies that all have names of trees -- I'd like to get more and continue the tree names.

But I also own Minimees. I have a Minimee of hide (ex X-Japan) and a Minimee of a character of mine that I created long ago.

Now my character Minimee's name is Baios. I'd feel horrible if someone else decided on that name simply because it's... not a common name. It's not completely made up but Baios isn't any other character either. (My best friend did get the second head of my Minimee and modded it into a girl and calls her Baiosalina but.. yeah. She's my best friend, she's allowed LOL)

I dunno though. My girl's name is Keya and where I haven't really heard of anyone else having that name for a doll, it's a pretty common Indian name. And like I said my Blue Fairies are named after trees so, Oak, Holly and Birch could be used by anyone at anytime. *shrugs* it doesn't bother me.

 

What's common in one world is uncommon in another.

Most of the dolls here are given anime, manga, or J-rock/J-pop names. Well, a lot of Japanese and Korean names in general.

My doll's name is Jacob. Yeah, he's a character from my comic, but guess what? I'm from Minnesota, and there really aren't a lot of people here named Yuki and Hikari and Hiro and Takahara.

:P

Not that I have anything against people who jump on that particular bandwagon, but the name Jacob has a lot more meaning to me. Different wagon here, running through Minnesota.

 

All of my dolls already had their names picked out when they arrived and it is based on their nationality. They're existing names so I'm not entitled to call anyone a 'copier' just because he/she uses the same one. Besides.. what are we talking about.. it's just a word. It's not like someone took your entire doll and copied it, including background-story and world they live in.

 

My doll(s) are all going to be based on characters of mine that I've had a long time. This one's Jack. My next one will be a little girl named Maddy, then a shorter than 60cm male named Banbuu... and last one a female that I plan to create as I see fit with horns/wings and a unique body shape (I'm going to learn how to mod some day I'm hopin') named Lor. Hopefully she'll be the apex of my skills.

Also, some names are common for a reason... and I should hope people don't think "well I wanna name him this but it's not crazy enough sooooo 'Ikithataruin' is what I'll name him instead!" I mean, name 'em what you wanna name 'em without thinking about what other people are naming theirs. If you want a different name, that's fine, but if you want a common name and don't because you're worried about what other people will think then that's a bit odd to me.

Totally agree... and ME TOO! YAY!!! XD Minneapolis.

 

I bought Dante second-hand and I believe the lady who owned him before me named him after a video game character. I kept his name the same just because I thought the name was cute and suited him. However, I wrote a completely new story all about him, so to me he is an original.

 

Two of my friends have bought the Dr. Who head sculpt, and they're fascinated with it. It's not my "thing", but I don't look down on it.

I chose my elf dolls because I liked their looks-- unlike anything else I had ever seen. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't model a BJD after my favorite elf comic characters.... though I could get a blond wig and name one of them Cutter and sew a stuffed wolf for him to ride around on. Still, though, I like original dolls a tad more, just because there's more I can personally do with them.

I named my two dolls Liam and Lillith, even though there are a ton of Lilliths out there, it fit her perfectly! Aiko-chan came up with it, and Orca came up with Liam. It fits!

 

I don't know most of my friends first names. They're all just Nakauchi, Kitajyou, Yamashita, Yo, we all call each other by our last names. The only one I call by their first name is because she has American last name but japanese first name.

But the thing is with Japanese names there are certain kanji that are used with the name but reading along with the character change the name. That's why the intros with another person are long and drawn out to figure out a person's name.

You're right about the common and uncommon names though. :3

 

Having "character dolls" isn't really my thing. IMHO, to spend so much money on a very expensive trademarked image is a little silly. That's just my opinion though, and to each their own. If you really want a Daniel Radcliffe look-alike to be your Harry Potter doll, all the power to ya. Now, having your doll cosplay is different. I think that's fun. Having an original doll dress up as a character you like is cute. For my eventual doll, I already plan on having him cosplay as some of my favorite characters. But I wouldn't want him molded after them, or named after them. Because then they don't seem as special and unique to me. I want a doll to make up my own stories and backgrounds for ... if I want a Sora doll, I'll just hug my existing plushie I got at a con

 

I have an original character in the since that no character you'll see in a movie, book etc. has his looks (by way of face eye color or hair) or name...but there are aspects about him that are based off a game. For example his clothing is based off the game Assassin's Creed. All though my doll's clothes and actions are based in that games world it can also be taken to a totally original concept considering a lot of the games places and groups (Like Jerusalem and the assassins) are based on real things by leaving some of the games name characters out like Altair or something like that...if that makes any sense what-so-ever lol

 

Well... for me, it's a mix of both. I have two dolls - one of them is named after a manga character, and the other one isn't - an original name. ^^;

The name of the one who was named after a manga character is Jezebel, after Cain's brother in the manga Godchild. Apparently, it's also the name of someone from the Bible - in that, the name was attached to a girl, but... Jezebel's feminine enough, so it's fine, I guess...?

For the other, his name is Ives. It's a name that means "yew" in French, apparently... I pronounce it the non-French way - as "ai-vuhs". I spent DAYS looking through websites for a suitable name - I'm glad I found this one, because it suits Ives' personality so well.

So for me, it's a mix of both. I'm not really fond of Japanese names though - I feel that they are way too overused in this society ^^; No offence to anyone, though. If Japanese names are your thing, then I say go for it.