Naming your dolls

I always name my dolls what I love. Artists, gods and angels of mythology, animation characters, etc.

 

Meh, it just came to me naturally when I named my doll. He had a grumpy, uptight, and strict expression to him and I took that into consideration. I also took his sculpt name into consideration (Ellis). I liked his sculpt name, but it wasn't quite what suited him. I gave him a very simple, yet elegant name since that's the way I envisioned he would carry himself. Low and behold, he arrived on my doorstep and he was very grumpy. So that's why his name is Elliot

 

I’m struggling super hard with naming my boy I just got, I appreciate reading all of yalls methods of madness when it comes to names!

 

With some of my dolls I know their names before they arrive and it’s the perfect name. Others, as soon as they are out of their box for the first time their name pops out at me. Then there are the dolls that It either takes me a very long time, or I never find a name.

I do keep lists of names, names that either just come to me out of nowhere, or a foreign name or location that sounds interesting. If one of these names sound like a possibility I write it down on a post it note, and put it near the doll while saying the name out loud, and that way I can tell if it’s right or wrong for that doll.

I have 3 dolls now, all Fairyland of various sizes that have been nameless for months, nothing is right for them even though they do have somewhat fleshed out characters. I’m hoping reading through this thread will help me find inspiration.

 

I referred to my first doll I ever bought as "Dim Sum". Her sculpt name was something I couldn't pronounce even if I tried to and she was a small (26cm) doll so I thought it fit. When I first opened her up (after a very long, stressful car ride from my parents house because I shipped her there) in my half lit apartment at 10:30 at night while a friend was yelling at me to get my butt in the car so he could go back to Akon, I found out her name was Minoru.

I typically refer to my dolls as their sculpt names until a name subconsciously comes up, 9/10 it's the perfect name.

 

I keep a Google doc of potential doll names, and I pick when the doll arrives.

 

As odd as it sounds I usually let the dolls pick their own names once they get home! I’ll be playing around with a new doll, dressing it, putting on wig and eyes, then suddenly a name just pops into my head. Like the Dollie told me their name via telekinesis!

 

I have ocs that I want to shell, so I always have names on hand, but when choosing names I always kinda figure out the aesthetic /feel I want and then search “(whatever aesthetic I want) names” I’ve spent a lot of time on baby naming websites lol.

 

I name them... and then rename them. I’m really terrible at it. If I could make real life chat bubbles with their pictures in it, that would make my life so much easier.

 

I do find this hard, harder still when I have a name picked out and it just isn't for them. Sometimes it takes a few weeks but I find their name. This morning I've just found one of my newest guys names, he's had another name for a month which fit somewhat but I just didn't feel it was 100% right so a couple of days ago I started rethinking. Funnily enough part of the change was instigated because his story fell into place, he's the younger brother of my very first girl who I'm currently waiting for. I know her name and his needed to pair with hers so it made the search slightly easier.

 

I just pick names relevant to their character, but sometimes I pick names just because I like them. In rarer occasions they have both.. My Minifee Celine named Sigrid is named after both a singer I like and an NPC from Skyrim. Sigrid is a warrior/huntress character, so thats why I chose that name. As for my Minifee Chloe named Calypso, she's a mermaid and the name is based on a greek water nymph, as well as the character in Pirates of the Caribbean, haha. I have another doll coming that I've named Hylia, just as an ode to Goddess Hylia from Zelda.

 

The names I have for my dolls just come to me. I wouldn't stress about a name right away. I mean, one of my dolls is named Mello (clearly inspired by Death Note), in which I just looked at him and thought, he looks like someone that could be named Mello. Also, I don't have last names for my dolls (yet) because I suck at trying to find a last name that goes with their heritage. One last thing, I also pick up names from books or short stories I read. I may not have a set character for that name, but I always keep it in mind.

Sorry if this was long or going "off subject" a bit! I hope you still find this info useful!

 

How I come up with names depends on the character. Usually I would buy a doll that I think it’s really attractive and I like to give my dolls gothic clothing. So I chose a very mysterious vampireish name. Something that would fit a dark character. I have a ring doll Hui and Alfanso coming on the way. Alfanso is a vampire so I’ll give him a very mysterious name. For Hui same thing...Ringdoll is coming out with a grown hui and you can see his outfit is very gothic looking so I’m thinking of a mysterious vampire name for him because of it lol (even tho he’s not a vampire). I was thinking of getting a female dollfie dream doll and those have a very cute look to them. For cute characters I would chose a fantasy name. Sort of like a name from final fantasy or something lolol. I don’t really like to chose the typical cute names you hear in America. Yeah really depends on how I look at their personalities

 

What I like doing is finding the meaning behind names that can relate to whatever aesthetic or personality I have given for a doll. I do this a lot with my OCs where I first figure out whatever aesthetic I am going for or personality and then search up name listings ASAP! I learned Japanese in uni so I go more towards Japanese names because they're so beautiful anyways. One of my Japanese themed OCs had the words "demon" (literally デーモン) on his shirt, so I decided to name him Tamashii (soul in Japanese). Soon after I figured out his story based off of his name!

 

I design and name dolls after my existing characters, mostly. Except when I buy a sculpt which I really like and try to name it... it's pain! It wasn't easy name my OCs in the first place...
I usually end up with a demon name for my villain characters, or some name of an old OC which wasn't used in my later stories.

 

I always name my dolls after foods.

 

My dolls are my characters, so the names come organically through development/exposure. I would rather not 'force' a name on them unless it sounds right because it just doesn't work that way. There has to be agreement character-wise, it's just a feeling I get. I believe that the right name will arrive at the right time. Holland got his name which I imagined as neutral-toned and yet rather special, quite like himself (at least this is how others see him, he is quite unconscious of that). His character originally did not come with a surname for a few reasons - due to his occupation, surnames are not important (and just having a first name makes it sound like he has a stage name, which is fun), and because he is an orphan - but it's becoming clear that this isn't tenable so we are both looking for a surname for him.

 

I try to come up with names for dolls but I have a hard time overriding the company’s sculpt name if they have one since. This is how I ended up with three volks Nono Sculpts who are all named Nono...

 

There are so much beautiful names, that i would like to hear more often in real life! I give them to my dolls.

 

For me, it depends on their faces and how they appear. Sometimes their 'given' name by the company suits them. I named my BJD doll Carina, Jenny. Her beautiful brown eyes and soft features looked more like the name Jenny to me. I named my Soom Dia - Lord of Jotunheim BJD doll, Legolas Greenleaf. Let's face it. With those Elf-like features, he truly does look more like the J.R.R. Tolkien mythical character in Lord Of The Rings. As for my Hujoo, Jake. I am still looking for a name for that little guy.