The Importance of Naming

I look at the doll and the name just comes to me, and after the name comes, the character comes flooding in as well. I love naming things/animals, and because I write, I spend a lot of time doing it. My first doll's name will be Gail, which I picked instinctively after rolling two or three around in my head for a few days.

 

I'm in the process of saving for my first BJD and names have been on my mind for a while now.
I really like the site http://www.behindthename.com as you can search for names by themes or meanings
So if you have charecter ideas already, or things you want your doll to be associated with this is a good place to look. ie; flowers, colours, personality attributes
I think I'd go for a name I like but is just that bit more unusual so it's less likely i'll be using it in the future : )
Good Luck with the naming! It's definatly fun

 

So far ive always decided on names before hand. However when i ordered my Migidoll Ryu i had every intentions of naming him Fabian however when he came i didnt think he suited the name at all so i Pondered for ages and finally i came up with Sasha and i thought it suited him perfectly! So really i think its all about getting the doll and naming it something that really suits them! best of luuuck!

 

Naming my doll was the easiest thing i've ever done! XD When i was doing my research and fell in love with this doll i knew straight away the kind of name he would have if i purchased him. The name i gave to him was Mica which i named after a person in a band i absolutely adored!! He looked like a Mica too and it fit his personality perfectly!

 

I did name my Nissh (pukipuki pukisha) after my Dungeons and Dragons character. When I first saw the sculpt I thought, "This is Nissh!"

She's my only On Topic doll, and I won't be buying another for a looong time, so I don't really have to worry about names. But I'm like you and have names for my future children.

Emidesu is totally spot on, that site is even better than the name book I have (which is really big).

And Marlo is a darling name!

 

At the moment, I don't have any dolls of my characters, but they are named from the writing I'm doing. But I also have dolls that I just come up with characters to, when they arrive. Those are all named after mythology, it wasn't intended from the beginning, it just ended up that way. The only exception is Yashi (SOOM Minette) who has a made up name because he's from my story.

 

I totally understand where you might think its awkward to have a doll named after someone you are related to, or a friend.

When I pick out names I like to sometimes look up meanings but lately the names have been coming to be based off the sounds of the letters and number of syllables. I like all my dolls to have a character, and I like all my characters to be different from one another. So sometimes when I feel like I have too many characters with the name starting with "S" or ending in "a" I try to change it up a bit. Sometimes I surprise myself when finding out a name that I like has a meaning perfect for the character in mind! X3

 

I'm glad somebody's called Soren. I wanted to name my little guy Søren, after Kierkegaard. But when he arrived, he turned out not to be very philosophical.
So then I called him Stephen, because he looked like a Stephen (but never a "Steve").
Then his personality came out still further, and I discovered that he was a bit of a tedious hipster, and he demanded that he be known as "Etienne".

I don't yet know the name of the tiny female friend he has now. I thought it might be "Sen", but it didn't stick. I am still waiting for her to tell me. It may take some time... and not end well. (My cat went without a name for six weeks, and ended up being called "Craig". Craig's a girl).

 

I agree, naming a doll after someone you know would be Kinda/ really awkward.

Naming isn't too much of a problem; for my boy, the name kinda smacked me in the face and refused to go away though it makes no sense. For my girl....it took a a lot of deliberation between and a friend (both of us write a lot in free time, therefore the abundance of names) to figure out her name would be Lillith. The names usually take after personality for them.

 

I wasn't actively planning to get a doll until I saw Iplehouse's Eva recently and her personality leapt out at me the moment I laid eyes on her. From the beginning she seemed to be a Charley. I toyed with a few other names and for a while I settled on Esther, but with my friend's ribbing (a crazy cat-lady name, she said >_<), good-natured though it was, combined with having a family in Sims 2 with daughters named Esther, Edith and Ethel and constantly get them mixed up, and quite likely to constantly call the doll the wrong name, I decided that I couldn't put her through that. So, Charley she is. I haven't even ordered her yet and she's already bitching at me for all the fuss XD

 

I have a picture of shoes, outfit, way the hair is going to be worn in my mind before the doll has even arrived. But for some reason I cannot name them. Will try on my first bjd though the name Lisa came to mind.

 

My first doll was a gift from my husband, so I asked him to give his name, he likes to ancient Nordic names and chose Erik, I like the sound of the names Asians, my Pullips all have Asian names. When I got Luke (DOD) gave Korean name for it. Now I hope a girl and I have five names for it, is more difficult to select


At home-Hwang Lee (Luke # 1 DOD), Erik (Don Ringdoll)
Waiting for Erin-Head (or-Doll) Cherie (Iple house)

 

I have a short-list of names that I like and tend to name my dolls from that, usually after much dithering. ;-D I try to pick names that are ordinary names, but not terribly popular.

A couple of the dolls have names that keep evolving. Oh, well, it's not like anyone is taking score...

 

I try to find names in link with the personnalities I imagine for my dolls! And of course, their names must sound good to me!
It's really hard for me to find the perfect names..Even with those great ressources like behind the name! I'm stuck on one doll, I have her nickname, but not her name lol Her nickname is Poring, a videogame monster (from Ragnarok Online). She was a gift from my brother, and we used to play a lot to this game; and he loves those monsters! So I thought Poring would be great for her, except it doesn't sound like a name, and has nothing to do with what I want her to be! (A flower seller)
Another doll naming went great. Bonnie, named after her personnality (I wanted her to be British, and pin-up like).
I also need to find a name for my next doll, who is not even ordered yet! ..I'm not done with name finding! But having objectives, themes, helps a lot!

 

I named my doll right when I saw him and it just stuck I have synesthesia (hear colors/see sounds) so right when I saw him he screamed "Gold" and "Red." To me Red is "K" and Gold is "Y" so "Kiyo" popped into my head and my beloved dolly shall forever be Kiyo

 

It varies. usually, I already have a character in mind before getting the doll. Dolls don't stickaround long if I don't pre-bond to the character or buy the doll just b/c he's cute. Most of my dolls name themselves. Names I never considered just pop in my head for them.

I do have a couple named after people. I will have no children, so I had no problem giving dolls/characters my "baby names" I picked out as a young teen. Loki's middle name is Edward after my husband and Matt is named in memory of my bff.

And I do have a doll with a name change based on plotlines. His full name was Zero Amir Angel. His father named him "Zero" because he was worthless....and Amir's ex changed his first name to Basil, as it means king. Even after the breakup, he kept the name, as now his full name, Basil Amir Angel, means "king prince angel"...much better than "nothing or worthless".

EDIT: Amir has since been married, and changed his name yet again. lol he's now Amir Angel Lindström, dropping the name from his father and ex completely.

 

I have 3 dolls on their way and I've only picked a name for one of them. I'm still thinking about and researching names for the other two. I'm hoping when they arrive it will be easier to give them a name :3.

 

All my dolls have their company names. That's how I know and fell for them. I guess if I got a blank faced doll and painted her myself, added eyes, wig and custom clothes, then I may sway away from the company name and re name her/him.

 

My first doll I had a character in mind so it was easy giving him a name, but after reading this thread title I just realized that I haven't even thought about a name for my two girls that I ordered within the past week. And.. I have no idea how I'm going to come up with names! I guess it'll just have to come to me...

 

I do character names. Maybe I'm not too original in my way of naming, but I like to think that the names I choose are original, haha!