How Long Before You Named Them / The Importance of Naming

I've been planning on what to name my Apollo doll for a while now. ^^; I entertained some of my personal favorite names like Vincent, Alexander, Adrian, Gabriel, Cain, Abel, and some Japanese and Latin names.. Then I got to thinking about the Greek Apollo, and since I love Norse mythology I considered naming him Balder, the more or less Norse equivalent of Apollo. But then, I also remembered Loki, who KILLED Balder, hehe. Loki was my favorite character in Norse mythology, so I hope Loki suits him. I'll decide which of the two when he gets here. If he seems nice and kind, he'll be Balder. If he's truly the mini me I hope to make him look like, he will definitely be Loki. x3 Agh, anyway! Sorry for ranting!

Just keep brainstorming! Maybe spend time with him and you'll get to see his "personality" more. Then it may be easier.

He sounds shy to me.

 

I feel your pain. I just got my first BJD, a DollZone Megi-2, and he's definately been a challenge. I bought him, because in the pictures, he looks so sly and cute, like he knows something or some secret, and it makes him feel all tingly inside. When he arrived, I realized HE is the secret! Which makes me love him more, and hate him more. I've only had him about a week, so I'm not quite to the point you are, but its still frustrating.

 

Congrats, first off. Megi-2 is adorable. But if he's that secretive and you like Japanese names, Himitsu (Japanese for 'secret') is a possibility.

 

ShiverBug: Congrats on your doll! He does look just like that, which is one of the reasons I love him. Good luck on finding just the right name for your boy

Blacklight: Loki or Balder will make an awesome name! I love Norse mythology & haven't seen that many people go that direction with their doll names


As for me:

Esme took...a couple of weeks I think. I found the name while searching for a name for my betta, and while it didn't suit him (the fish) at all, lol, it fit her pefectly.

Sadie had her name within the month of me getting her. 'Sadie' means princess, and as she was my first 'large size' bjd (and the only one I'd planned on getting) I thought she was definitely my princess

Sephia. Poor dear. I actually had several names in mind for her but couldn't settle on any of them. Ended up doing a poll on my friendslist...then chose the name that only got one vote, heh. After, er, about four months. The one with the most was 'Hazel' but I couldn't wrap my head around that one for her.

Syl is the only doll I've named before I've even ordered him. Though I believe 'Hazel' is going to be the BBB Ariel that I can't seem to stop looking at ^_^

 

I do things the opposite way around, I have a name and complete character for them long long before I've decided on a sculpt for them. A very good thing to, since with several dolls I've swapped sculpt ideas for them around so many times...

 

I have a suggestion for names unless it was already said...XD): look up names generators! there are many different types and many different theme. Like this one: http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index-name.php
this should help for a name! I already have a name for my boy and I wont be able to have him untill my birthday.
now it usually takes a few times, and some looking, but it might help?

 

You think so??? Thank you! I know one day if I ever get a girl doll, I want to find a way to dye her half black with the other half white for Hel. She was another favorite of mine.

Hazel is a beautiful name~

 

I know my favorite thing to do is think of all the things that whatever I'm trying to name makes me think of. Then I bring up the ever-faithful babynamesworld.com and "meaning search" away! Even though I don't always find a name I want to use, I often get inspiration for my own, made-up name! ^___^
I'm currently looking for a name for my DoT Shall... We'll see how that goes. XD

 

I use that thing all the time! XD I use it for characters and such, and I also visited it a few times and did the meaning search in pursuit of a name for my bjd.

 

Hehe, I like Hazel as a name... it's the name of my first doll. XD

It took me maybe a week or so to name her? I can't remember exactly how long. I've learned that dolls almost never suit the names I think up before they arrive, so I wait until they show up. I think the biggest risk in waiting to name them is that the longer you go by the sculpt name, the harder it is to change. I had a bit of a boost with Hazel in that I really disliked the name of her sculpt (Olive- it's not a terrible name but I didn't think it suited her at all). I thought I would use a French name at first, then I moved on to flower names. I ended up picking a couple of names that were "front-runners" (Marguerite, Daisy, and Hazel) and thinking about it for a couple of days, before I decided.

Clover was a bit harder to name, and she also took a bit longer to arrive so I spent more time thinking of her by the sculpt name. I also liked the sculpt name (Kumi) so I wasn't feeling as motivated to pick a name quickly, but I feel like when a doll has its stock name it doesn't seem to have as much individual character, you always think of it like the image of the fullset on the webshop.. Anyway, it took me a while but I decided to go with a flower theme and so it will probably be easier for me to name future dolls now, I just have to pick the right flower!

I have had dolls before (of other types) that I just couldn't give a name other than their stock name, and it always kind of bugged me a bit. In a way I imagine it would be good to have dolls that don't come named- like FCS dolls for example. That was you don't have some other name stuck in your head! And you can't really call them F-17 or whatever forever, so you'd probably come up with a name pretty quickly!

 

I always name them before they arrive. I keep a list of names, all begining with the letter "A", and choose one that "feels" like how I see them.

It's a very simplistic method, and probably not all that inspired, but it works for me.

 

@ Blacklight: Welcome to the Norse names camp

My Skjalm finally has his name. I named him that because I had an idea in mind for his char (bit of a loner) but he's quite living up to the other meaning of his name (troublemaker). He's not even here yet and he's already giving me gray hairs....

 

That would be awesome!

I think Hazel may be the next member of the family. Poor Syl he's getting ignored again, lol.

 

Voynich Aw, that's cool. He sounds adorable. Agh,now I'm getting new ideas for my Apollo. XD I could get some of those really cool blind eyes for him and name him Hoth..or Hodur. I think Hoth sounds better...Agh. Well I guess as long as I clothe him temporarily his name and smaller details like eyes can wait ^_^;

Acidquill Thanks! I have no idea how I would pull it off though. I'v never touched a doll before, let alone done something like dying it lol. And personally, I would go for Syl. DZ Yuu is beautiful. But that's just my 2 cents of OT. XD

 

Blacklight: Hmm. I have no idea *how* you'd do it, but there ought to be some way to pull Hel off. I've seen some pretty extreme mods, so I think there ought to be someone that could help with the how-to.

I thought about that too. I have both of their pics as my wallpaper, so I spend half my time going 'Oh Syl!' and the other half 'Oh Hazel' lol. But Syl really should come first, as he's been waiting long enough. & since Hazel isn't quite the ahem, expense of my boy, then she might actually be my birthday present this year ^_^

 

I'll have to look into it. ^_^ I know after my first boy I won't be able to buy another doll for quite a while. My boyfriend came up with the idea of getting a new doll at the beginning of every year at my college. And for graduation, get myself a really really nice one (if only DZ Aleister were still available. ).

That's true. XD It's always good to plead birthday gift at any given oppurtunity. I know if I didn't get my graphics tablet I would have done the same for a doll.

 

Generally, I'm a person with original characters. When I came face to face with my little boy, I didn't know what to name him at first. But then, it clicked into place.. Riley, a character of mine, fit the look of my doll so well that I couldn't think of any other name. So, it stuck. :]

 

I made a (pretty long) list of names I liked before my doll arrived and chose the name which suited him best from the list when he arrived.

 

I'm counting on getting my doll by my 16th birthday, which is still far away next year, but as some people mentioned, I want to be ready for him when he comes (such as having a wardrobe, a name, a place for him to stay, etc.).

I'm actually having much difficulty thinking of a unique name which goes along with his personality. I know I'm in no rush but I'd hate think of having him there already and looking at him, asking what his name should be.

 

I used to collect other dolls prior to getting into BJDs and I never named them. The only dolls I ever named were my repaints because they were OOAK. However, I could never go any further than just a different name. They didn't have any personalities, etc. Just a doll.

BJDs are so much more! They inspire creativity and play. I can't imagine having a bjd as "just a doll".