The Importance of Naming

I never was big on naming my dolls or stuffed animals - well, they HAD names (baby Kathy for instance, or my huge Tigger etc)
BUT
I'm getting BJDs as part of my project to take my writing & make photostories out of my short stories (as well as to cosplay. So I wrote the background for the cosplay group & characters, & now all my BJDs have names
I do enjoy creating names for characters, I admit (& for cats & other pets)

 

I don't have my first doll yet, hope to order him soon..BUT! I know for sure I'm getting him, and since I've known it was a definite.. I've had a name in mind. < : I love naming my characters and such, and I was reminded of a name I'd heard and liked in the past about the time I'd decided on which doll I wanted to be my first.. And it just seemed perfect! So I will be getting a Crobidoll Do-Hu and his name will be Taiyo. <x (Will most likely get a Crobidoll Jun next and name him Rui.) Though I've never gotten a doll before..I knew I at least wanted to have vague idea of their character/names before making such a large purchase. So I'm glad I was able to come up with one so easily. P :

 

As soon as I glanced at the sales page of the first BJD I acquired, I knew her name. I don't know how or why I selected that name, but I did, and it stuck. When she arrived to me, I held her in my hands, just to confirm that the name I selected for her accurately represented her character. It did, and I haven't regretted it.

 

At the beginning I thought I was surely going to name my first BJD after one of the many names I had already in mind for quite a while (btw, is it me or the first BJD seems so hard to get while the others that follow appear to be more easily gainable?). But now that I got him, since I bought him from his previous owner he already happens to have a name, and I'm wondering if it wouldn't be rude on my part to suddenly erase this verbal characteristic of him, which is also part of his personality in the end. Or should I re-create his personality from scratch by giving him a new birth-name? Any thought?

 

I don't think it would be very rude to rename him, especially since he is yours now ^^ He has to fit the character you want him to be, otherwise you may not be happy with him.
I always put so much effort into naming any doll I plan on buying! It's hard not to want to name each doll something special and unique only to them. I first started out with Pullips dolls and named a few after characters in Edgar Allan Poe poems (i.e. Annabel Lee, Annie, Lenore). Through customizing each doll really came into their name. I've only ever had to rename a doll once and I'm glad I did.

 

Yeah, you are probably right. I just have to wait and see his face (and feel him more "mine") and the name will pop up in my mind ^ ^ (or at least I hope!XD). I really do love the fact that you named your Pullips after Poe's characters, especially Annabel Lee which, apart from being one of my favourite characters, is also so fit for a Pullip doll.

 

I've had dolls with full peronalities, wardrobes and face-ups that waited a few months before I found a name that felt right. Some have a name before I ever buy them. Fionan actually had a completely different name that he rejected and remained nameless for a while before we picked one we both liked. Names aren't that high on the list for me, they're mostly just so I have something to call them when talking to other people. ^_^;;

 

My ResinSou Long still has no name...its really driving me up a wall.

 

I'm also a name freak! I usually give my dolls Japanese names for boy (since they are all boys). If they are twins I would give them pair names.

 

I also feel that a doll has to have a name. I am odd with names. I name a lot of things, but sometimes that name is just "Pandy". I say, "Oh, that is a Pandy, this is also a Pandy", which means that it's something that I've inflicted my own personality on. When I ordered my first doll, I debated on making her a Pandy too, but I felt it might be too awkward. So I thought about names that I enjoyed, but like others, I also felt names I would assign to a child would be off limits.
At the time I got her though, I had a love of flowering plum trees. Plum is also a name I use for myself in certain situations, but I felt it would be more appropriate for the doll, as she still has some of my personality inflicted on her, but she also was going to be a new character. Also, the color of Plum suited her developing personality in my head. Since that first name, I've expanded my list of names to initially pull from a pool of natural themed names, and then a couple names from comics and video games.

When I get a doll, either I have a planned name from the beginning, or I wait for the doll and try to find a name while developing a personality. I don't often like having a name from the beginning, and prefer to have the doll in my hands for the naming, as I feel that often the name won't suit them when they come, but by then, the name is ingrained. However, if I don't have a name and time starts to drag on, I begin to panic and second-guess my doll choice. That is the trouble I'm having with an Obitsu now. I have in mind a desire for a name that incorporates the Chinese "ma" for horse, but I've yet to find a full name with that in it. So she's unable to be named until I find something. Until she's named, she can't develop as a character, and her personality feels very vanilla and plain.

When it comes to second-hand dolls with established names, I do find it hard to overlook the fact that their owner did have a personality and a name for that doll. That's why I prefer to not hear of their original names or what personality they had originally. I feel that it is very important to re-name a doll for yourself, so that the doll is completely yours. I also try not to get carried away when I am selling a doll and let the name I've given the doll slip to the new owner, as I feel that would be interfering with their bond. A second-hand doll should be a clean slate, free of the owner's previous wishes and filled with your own.

 

I am a naming freak too! Like Stephyni, I use 20000 names, selecting names that sound nice and must be meaningful. I won't use a name if I don't really like the meaning on an important character, for example I really like Gwendolyn, but don't really see how it's meaning can be applicable to any of my main dolls'/characters' personalities. Rarely i use names without much meaning to the character's backstory like 'Xavier' because I really like it. I find it awkward to use names of people I know, unless they no longer are a part of my life (ex classmates I am no longer in contact with or something of that sort)
I keep a list of names and their meanings that I like....but it is really long, about 60 names,but it is helpful. I don't mind such a long list, since every character will only have a couple of potential names and not all 60.
I also like names that are anagrams of each other, like Alice, Lacie and Celia. If I ever get triplets, that will be their names!

 

When I name my dolls I sometimes look at the character that I imagine for them and find one of it's strongest elements, then I go and find a name with a meaning that matches. Some times I just pull a name out of no where, like my MSD's name Airi, and sometimes it's a name that I've been in love with for a long time, like my Yo-SD's name Alexander. When I'm stumped I pick a culture (usually something ancient) and look for folk lore names. The meaning usually goes with my idea f the doll's personality. That's how I figure out my dolls names.

 

Aw! Thank you I'm sure you'll find the perfect name for him! I can't wait to see pictures too ^^

 

Names is super important to me, so when I name my doll, I do a good amount of research on it. I know it sound weird but i don't just name my girl just because. I name them for the meaning of the name.
I once named a doll after a character but I won't ever do it again because it's more fun putting together awesome name, which probably lost it's meaning due to the combination

 

Names are important for me, too. I give names to my dolls, flowers, even such things that look weird to be given a name. Even if later I decide I could have given another/better name, I don't change it. Somehow, the name brings its own story and gives character to the doll, and changing the name would mean destroying what was created before.

My girl was called Listeth. I was looking for a unique name at that time. Somewhere in those days I saw a film, A Man Escaped, an old French film of an escaped World War II prisoner. The film's full title was A Man Escaped: The Wind Bloweth Where It Listeth, and I decided to use the last world for a doll's name. I also liked that it reminded the original doll's name (Dollmore Lilis Liv). It's only difficult when someone asks for her name when I say it loud, I have to repeat it again because people cannot understand it

My boy was named Tim. He got the name after my favourite actor, Tim Roth. But there's a little more - the doll reminded me one boy that I liked, Tomas, and the similarity of these names seemed very nice to me

Finally, I gave them both a surname, Heathcliff, after reading Wuthering Heights.

 

Most of the time I look at the doll and they "tell" me what to name them. "Ah! You look like an Adoni. And you, little girl are Peach, and our tiny matron here, she's the winter demon Fuyu....." Even the bodinless head has a name already, "Aelis". But, I regret to say that my newest family member has been a bit tight lipped. He's a satyr that I fell in love with at Ohayocon and so he took the yearly purchase spot from Adoni's twin sister (yes, she already has a name too even though she's not yet ordered, "Hedonia").. He's home, he has a bit of a personality developing and even has his place in the character pecking order figured out..but he has no name. Poor little guy. Hopefully he'll get one soon.

 

I got my girl's name from my favorite movie. I was going to name her my favorite name but i had already named my 1st doll that,(but imdenetly got rid of her) so id feel werid about her havin the same name.
So i named her Ferris
From Ferris Bulers Day Off...
I think its an Okay girls name

 

A good name is a good name, I think. It wouldn't be "after a doll," but after whatever or wherever you first got the name from and what you associate the name with. The doll would be named after the same whatever.

This seems to be very common. I don't really have character dolls, but I do have some dolls that have taken names from characters... so... close enough.

All of the above. I like to know the meanings behind the names, that's very important. But mostly it's having an interesting name with the meaning and other things that tie into the doll and/or the doll's character.

My Delf Elves have names from or based on Tolkien names: Elurin, Lothiriel, Laliel, Irime...
My Volks Cyndy is called Tsukiko because both Cynthia and Tsuki are "moon" names.
My tiny elves have names from Shakespeare or Nature: Snowdrop, Nightshade, Cobweb, Moth, Nettle...
My Soom Sard has the name of a fallen angel: Araqiel
My Soom Euclase is named after an Egyptian hawk god: Sokaris
My Heliot's name and Auber's name is from mythology: Arion, Taranis
I also have names from fiction and from history/literature: Justin Alastair, Kit Marley

 

I always have a hard time thinking names for my dolls. My inspiration mainly comes from anime I have watched or books I have read. I'm not very creative.

 

I don't really use themes,some of my character's names come from musicians (like Kiyoharu,Daisuke and Takanori came from Japanese rock artists/band members) Usually I give my character's Japanese names. At first I didn't know what some of their names meant so I looked it up and it actually turned out to be the perfect name for them. Like Kiyoharu's name could mean innocent (or pure) spring which suits his strange,innocent looking nature. I've thought about naming two of my dolls after my sister's kids. Some think it's strange but I don't think it is since my sister named her cat after my aunt's son. xD