How Long Before You Named Them / The Importance of Naming

So far, my dolls either have names before they arrive, or I've named them on the day I first met them in the resin. I know it's illogical, but I'd feel mean to have a doll sitting about without a name!

 

I don't buy the doll unless it has a name. Sometimes, the name changes, but they always have a name before I even put them in the shopping cart.

 

I named mine months before getting him

 

I completely understand! I actually ordered a DOT Shall myself, and it was a long time before I named her--I just wasn't sure. Plus, I have a tendancy for "A" names, and didn't want her to have one as well, so any name I would've normally chosen I tried to stay away from. x3

For several months, I just called her Shall, but finally once night it really started bothering me, so I sat down and began going through names with her. Eventually I was able to put several sounds together into a name I liked (XD That sounds a bit odd, but often I'll find a name that's not QUITE right, so I play with the pronunciation and whatnot until I get it how I like aloud, then figure out how I want to spell it)

x3 The name I finally settled on was "Elodae"--a variation of Elodea, an underwater plant. ^///^

I'm sure you'll get a name for your girl soon enough-and even if it takes a it, it's OKAY~ There's really no rush, even though sometimes people can make you feel that way. >///<

 

Alva Evanna, she got the name Evanna a few weeks after I got her, because that was the name that came to my mind every time I saw her. Still I have had some trouble with figuring out who she really is, and then I got the idea of her being an Huldra, so I gave her the name Alva aswell. ^^

Drake got his name before he came, because he was supposed to be one of my characters. I wasn't sure if it fit him, so I waited till I had him in my arms, and then I was sure.

 

I find I like to have a name all picked out before I get the doll... however, oddly enough, my last two dolls weren't like that xD

Well, sort of :U My first doll had a name, but no character - and the second didn't have a name for months oAo And even then I didn't call him by his name until he had a body x3

However now I find that if they have a name and a character, it makes everything SO much easier OTL;; (seeing as of now my first boy has gone through four wigs, meanwhile my second boy has only gone through two)

 

well, i am a lunatic, so as i am saving for my doll, i know which one i want, and i have made a list of ten names, and i am having my friends/family put then in order from they really like it and not, with a picture of the doll.

 

As soon as I saw both of my dolls I knew their names

 

LOL: I have my dolls named before the purchase is complete Seriously, it's like I see a doll I fall in love with and their name pops into my head, along with a back story. My brain thinks in story form, so its just the way of things for me.

 

Definately naming before the purchase. I've not bought my first yet, but I know who he's going to be.

 

All my dolls are nameless until they,re with me for some day,s ore even weeks, the longest time a doll had no name was a year! sometimes i have a name in mind but when he ore she arrives it doesn,t seem to fit the doll...

 

I don't like to name my dolls before they arrive. I like to wait a bit and see if having the doll serves as inspiration~ The longest so far has been one week after opening, which isn't a long time at all.

I didn't mind that she was unnamed, but it was really driving my husband crazy! He was constantly asking if I'd come up with a name yet, and tossing in suggestions when I said that I hadn't. The he started threatening to name her himself--suggestions like "Frank" or "Consuela."

 

Naming wasn't terribly important to me, but it did matter. I love my doll, so even though it was frustrating to not know her name, I waited for the right one to present itself. It never really did. However, I have finally decided on a character, and that gave her a name. Of course, with one character came many more. I know what I'm going to call my next dollie...

 

I don't buy BJDs for the doll, I buy the doll for the character. I have several characters in need of "bodies" so I go looking for a doll and saying to myself, "Could this be (name)? Does that mold look like it could be (name)?"

"Nika" was an existing character that I decided to shell on a bjd. After that I went searching for a doll that looked like he could be Nika, and lo and behold I saw Bory and fell in love.

Then Luts decided to throw a free Senior Delf head at me. o.0 I suddenly had a blank head that wasn't meant for anything. I had him as "Bob" for a while just sitting on a shelf that I used to practice face-ups. Then I saw "Alice in Wonderland" around the same time I decided to sell the head here on DoA. As I was putting him up for sale I changed his name from generic "Bob" to "Tarrant". I also found a last name to match, "Lackette".

Suddenly, with that one name, I couldn't sell the head anymore. I had to keep him, and it's been months since I got the head. it was around this time that I bought a type 2 Luts body meant for my character Alistair (who still needs a head) that I put Tarrant's head on for fun (even though they don't match very well at all). And now, Tarrant Lackette is my second doll, and the only character and doll I never meant to have. XD

 

This is a very interesting thread, hahaha!

As you can tell, I don't have my doll yet... but I think it's important to have a good name before you get it. I, personally, asked my online dolly friend for name suggestions. I would think that not having a good name would hurt the bonding process with your doll, as it would probably prefer a name other then "it" or it's mold name.

 

Usually they have a name before they've arrived. However, one doll took me three months to name because she didn't fit the character I thought she would!

 

I actually found a doll I liked first, and am saving up to buy her right now (my first XD). She already has a name, but I went through the process of finding one for her after I saw what she would look like. I wanted her to have a certain meaning to her name, so I spent quite some time looking at name meanings before picking the one I liked best. lol and actually, I also took into consideration what names for a boy I'd like to go with it too for if/when I get her a friend. ^^;

 

My Shiwoo turned into Hissop about two days after I got him--I just fitted him out with a wig and suddenly he was Hissop. B&G Sapphira took me a little longer. Again it was the wig that made me decide on the name--that and fitting in one brown and one blue eye His B&G sister and my lovely boy from DemonGarden...they still don't have names. I'm thinking about Astaroth for the girl, but I'm not entirely sure that's her. And Basil is about as bad a name as they get, so I really can't curse the DG boy with that. I've had him for about 6 months now, and I'm still in doubt.

 

I had a character in mind with a backstory before I saw him. So it took me a few months to think of a name. I did some research of names from his heritage and things like that. I think his last name was the hardest to think of, personally. After that it kinda fit altogther and I cant guarantee if it will be an exact fit but I'm sure he will mold into the character bit by bit.

 

My friend never posts in these discussions, but I thought I would share his favored naming convention with everyone: he likes puns. When he gets a doll, if he doesn't have an elegant character name picked out already, he just consults his handy ever-growing list of terrible pun names. His doll collection is incredible, and it's absolutely enormous... and a good many of those amazing dolls have absolutely groaner names, names that make you cringe and slap your forehead. But, the man loves puns, and he loves dolls, so this is his way of combining what he loves. It amuses hell out of me.

For example, just the ones I can remember off the top of my head.... Hari Chin, Anna Chovy, Edith Upp, Howie Yuu, Lucky Yuu, Wyatt Yuu, Erik Shaun (to get the joke, go stare at a Bishonenhouse guy & pronounce the name out loud), Cassie Rolle, Earl Gray, Maddie Horne, Constance Cravings, Noah Way... >_< Oww!


(By contrast, I'm boring - my own dolls sorta just reveal their names to me at some point. I generally give them a name that's in keeping with their point of origin; it just has to be a name I like to hear and say, & a name that looks like it belongs on that doll. I myself do not indulge in puns, because you go straight to Hell for that kind of thing.)