The Importance of Naming

Mine come from all over the place - My Narae is named after the doll-group friend who finally got me to stop dithering and buy one. I have a doll named after my mother (because of the resemblance) and other's named after friends and friends children (resemblance in both cases). Frankie is a hybrid from parts of several different BJD's so she's my "Frankenstein" doll.

Elfie got her name by circumstance - I couldn't decide on her name so referred to her as "My elfie girl" for so long that it stuck and became her name.

Sera (short for Serendipitous) again is due to circumstances. I bid the minimum bid on a Friday night because it was a good price for and Elfdoll Soah, but was certain I'd be outbid beofre I got back to my computer on Monday morning... and nobody else bid so I suddenly had to find the money to pay for an unexpected doll purchase. I decided serendipity played a hand in my winning the bidding on her - It must have been meant - and haven't regretted it for an instant.

Other names just suggest themselves once I have the doll. Some keep their sculpt names because they suit them (Raphael, Arin, Flora, Nettle, Ikarus), and some just come to me out of the blue (Rhododendron - the poor boy, mostly known as "Rhoddie", Wickstubbe, Willowbark, Jean-Claude) .

Some names come easy (Claudia) and some take a while (Isambard. He needed something Victorian or Edwardian and went through - and rejected - all the boys in the E. Nesbit books hoping for a name that would work) .

Teddy

 

My first doll will be named Opéra, so I think it would be a great idea to name all of my dolls after musical things - song titles, singers, musical genres... So the next doll to come will probably be called Velvet Goldmine, like Bowie's song (from the Ziggy Stardust ​album).

 

I'm really bad at names. I'm currently waiting on 3 girls I ordered, and I have no slightest clue on how to name them.
I guess I will just wait until they arrive, dress them, put a wig and some eyes, and kind of get a feeling from there of what would be a good fit.

 

I only have one doll so far, because meeting my character Louis was something I'd wanted for the longest time. Which kind of gave me a headache while I was looking for the right sculpt that would fit him.
So, for me, it was actually the other way around: me first knowing his personality and name, and only then choosing the resin body itself.

 

Hah! And I thought I was being so original. I am naming my dolls with floral and nature names, mostly. [I have a good number of them to name.] I am Daughter of Eden -- that garden we all have an inner longing for even though we've never seen it...

I see the dolls as having a connection to the perfection Eden represents -- that was broken for us, though never forgotten. So there is the overall background for all my dolls, and from here will develop personalities, relationships and adventures. Future tense because I am fairly new to the hobby.

At first I felt I had to have unique names, at least not repeat a name from one of the sculpt-company names. After a while I saw that there are very few names that aren't being used somewhere, if there are any at all that could be unique. So I won't mind using a sculpt name,,, though probably never for the actual doll that comes from the company with that name. That's just me.

You say a "child would resent being named after a doll" ~ I might tell my child that I let the doll borrow or use the name until he/she could "get here"...or some such thing. As it turns out I will never have any children [my own back story] so at last I get to use every name I ever wanted for my children, who will now never be able to get here.

Perhaps that is why I love the dolls so very much. Anyway. I also would not have a problem using a family name, but none of my family except maybe one aunt will likely ever know my dolls names. It would be my family, not me, that would possibly give me pause about using family names. This one aunt gave me $100 that went for the second doll I bought, which getting #2 at the time seemed like such a luxury. My aunt is "Linda Lou" [really, like the song...give me two steps more...]

I named that doll "LAUREL LEIGH" and gave her the nick name "El" = the sound of the letter L...
and my Aunt Linda's little girl called me LaLa when she was a baby...trying to say my name Melanie.

Anybody following all that?

Laurel Leigh came from conservative background, but has a creative wild side which gave rise to the nickname.

I've already given watercolor paintings I've done {of period women in hats}
my grandmother's names. To me, I was naming those paintings "after" my grandmothers and it was an honor or tribute to the young women my grandmother's once were.

I have lots more thoughts, but this is probably enough for one reply.

I love giving them names and also feel it is one of the joys of having my dolls.

 

I don't actually have any dolls yet but I have my first three all planned out. None of them are based on pre-existing characters though. I have a bunch of dolls on my wishlist and the three dolls I'm planning to get over the next while all kind of asserted their personalities and then I just knew what their names should be. I hope that makes sense!

 

I Like to have a name before they arrive.
I only have one right now, but Lacey had a name before she arrived.
The next 2 are already named, DoT E-an will be Khobi, and Souldoll Shiva will be Adalita.

 

Naming, for me, is an important and fun part of adopting a new doll. My off topic dolls play the parts of characters in stories that I write, so when I'm naming them I think about the dolls itself, the characer they are playing and I've found that the name needs to fit both or it just doesn't stick.


My BJDs (when I finally start adopting them) won't inhabit the same world as the rest of my collection, but the naming process for them will be just as important and just as special.

 

I usually have my names and the character first, then go looking for a doll that matches. That was at least the case in two of my dolls, which are a couple in a role play. Then I stumbled across Fairyland's Roke, and have to have him. And I like his name so well I think I'll keep it. I found an Asian doll recently and thought he needed an Asian name. I was going to go with Chinese, but my wife said he looks more Korean, so I came up with Shin Byung-Joon. So his name and story came after I found and had to have him, and Roke's name is just kind of interesting and will probably stick. But with my first two I was building people that already existed.

 

I like to name my dolls. I think- naming a doll, you breath a new life in her (him). I choose a doll's name depending on her appearance. Choosing a name for your doll is very interesting and exciting!

 

I would decide on a name after having her for a while so I know what kind of doll she is. I wouldn't be able to stop myself from thinking of names though before she gets home.

 

I LOVE renaming all my dolls. I'm having a hard time coming up with a name for my puki Madeline though. I've been calling her Maddy, but my husband says I can't do that because My name is Mandy and the cat's name is Maggie, so it's too many names that sound the same I usually let their personality show through once I've gotten their eyes/wigs/clothes/etc, but this little lady is being difficult! I've already got a name picked out for my Weylin though, haha.

 

I plan out names for my dolls' characters before searching for a suitable doll that matches so I guess naming isn't a problem for me. I have yet to change a name once I settle upon it.

When thinking of names I tend to go with those that interest me at first glance and I'll look up what they mean before sticking to them. I love collecting names and I do have a growing list of potential names for my dolls.

 

I love the naming aspect of my dolls. Since I won't be having any real children, I use names that I have always liked and would be suitable for real children. I'm also enjoying developing the personalities for my dolls...who they are and how they interact with each other. Although, truthfully, I am finding this aspect to be quite challenging, because I want it to be perfect.

 

Naming my dolls is one of the most important things in the hobby for me. I usually have characters and names ready before I click the order now - button, and then just make sure the doll in question fits what I've had in mind for it.

When it comes to naming new potential doll characters, I draw inspiration from everywhere really. Bands I like, books I like, or sometimes simply the sound of a random word.
I probably wouldn't consider a friend's / pet's / future child's name though; it would just be too weird to make a connection like that where no connection makes sense. Especially considering how I really, really like plotting my char's background stories and I'd prefer to keep that on a fantasy only level.

 

I absolutely suck at naming, so my boyfriend tends to name them for me. For my current girl he named my MSD Stormy when she arrived, and he insisted that the name "Aziza" be in Justine's name somewhere. I think he enjoys naming my dolls, because it involves him in the process, and gives him a connection to my dolls.

Now, for the SD sized boy I'm getting I already have a name picked out!

 

Naming is one of the most fun things in the hobby for me. When they arrive it takes me a lot of time to get their characters right and then to find a suitable name for them.

 

The names of my dolls just sorta... grew. They became.
My first doll's name is Claire. It's kinda after my grandma (her name is Clary).
I don't even know how that became... it just did.

My next doll will be named Rayna. She is very happy and fresh, I thought of spring rain and flowers when I came up with her character. I wanted her to be named after Rain, but thought that Raina would be too obvious.
I thought of changing it, but the name has stuck. She will be Rayna.

 

For me naming requires bonding first, so when I get a new doll I play around with it and let it develop it's own character and style/look. Either it just clicks or not - when it does I know it's the right time to start thinking of a name and at that point I usually have formed a general idea of what I'd want or what would fit the doll. Then I either go through the names in my head while looking at the doll or call it a by a different name every day. That way I will finally come upon the name that'll just fit (feel right) and stick.


For the names I have no special inspirations. I like normal everyday names, though a little twist can be nice, too. It has to sound good to me. However, the one thing I don't like are what I perceive to be religious/mythological names, as an agnostic atheist I'm uncomfortable with them.

 

Personally I LOVE mythology names! I feel awful because my only two dolls are both nameless however I'm waiting till I do their face-ups... I'm sure once their face's are done the names will come to me. It kind of depends what greek god/creature they remind me of...