Naming your dolls

I usually refer to my dolls by their sculpt name until they arrive and think of possible names while I wait, and then wait until they arrive to see whether they fit.

My first doll was very resistant to accepting any of the names I had thought up, and it took a long time to settle on one (or rather, two: Millicka Jade).

Virga and Sumire both took to their preordained names right away, so those stuck.

June's name just came to me when she arrived (in June, even though she was due months earlier), and I don't remember whether I decided on "Rebecca" before or after I received her but in any case it stuck right away.

The only doll to keep her sculpt name so far is Shanhu. I usually prefer to individualize my dolls more, but her name just suited her so well and added etymological variety.

...And I keep forgetting that i have this new impulse-buy floating head, so it doesn't have its own name yet.

 

I've only got one doll so far and I really had trouble naming him. Eventually he got a name that had been such in my head for a really long time that I thought fit him very well. So it took a bit of time before he got that name.

Now for the second doll that's currently in order for me it's going to be a character that I already came up with for a roleplaying campaign and I've even already made a drawing of him and a sort of background story and personality. So he already got a name and I searched for a sculpt that would really fit the character.

I don't have that many dolls yet. If I love the sculpt name I might keep it but I haven't done that yet.

When I look for names and I want to search for meanings or origins I go to www.behindthename.com which I think is the nicest name website on the web.

 

My souldoll clodia is shelling an original character. So her name was Guenwyvhar even before I purchased her haha. It will be the same when I finish my layaway on my Batchix High Elf as Aidan.

I probably would rename a different doll that wouldn't shell a character. Although, I'd probably figure it out after their personality developed.

 

It depends on which character of mine they are, 100%. Once I decide who they are they get a name. Or a silly pun based on their name in part to differentiate them from their... nondoll self or another sculpt I have for the same character.

For example, I have a pukifee I call pupifee because his character's long standing nickname he goes by all the time is pup (long story - he's just an absolutely adorable sassy dude and it stuck like, ten years ago when his boyfriend started calling him that). His adult SD size doll has been called by his sculpt name or big pup until I see him in real life because another adorable nickname might come to me. Or I might call him Atticus, which is pup's real name. We'll see in a month.

 

I usually have a character (and a name) already in mind when I order a doll. In fact, the characters often exist long before the doll does. There have been a couple of exceptions where I fell in love with a sculpt without knowing who they were, but even they're developed as characters before they get home.

I have an advantage, I think, by being an author. I have plenty of characters/names to choose from. Of course, it comes with the disadvantage of having so many characters it would be impractical to shell them all.

 

I made the mistake of naming my girl before she arrived. I thought I had her personality, style and coloring all picked out.

Her name was based off a certain color, so when I changed her coloring about 1 year in, her name no longer fit. I renamed her and I finally feel her name fits her her coloring AND personality.

I'm expecting a new girl soon and this time I have a list of names. I'll settle on one after I get to know her.

 

I am a complete mess with names. Aren’s name was Darth Boy for many many months before it hit me out of the blue! And Cassian was Sassypants for a couple of months...I guess in a way I wait until the right name just happens. I almost never have a character in mind for a doll prior to getting them, so it’s a bit of a process getting to know them enough to where I can comfortably name them!
It’s the ones that I name hastily that usually end up leaving my collection fast, so I’ll know if a doll’s a keeper if they sit around and marinate with an embarrassing nickname for a while.

 

Sometimes, I have the name ready to go as soon as I see the doll - Like first and last name ready. The dolls I have named in that fashion have remained with the name I gave them.

Other times, I only have a name, but I struggle to give them a last name that suits them.

And finally, I have the times that I see the doll, I fall for the doll, I buy the doll, and have absolutely no name for them. On those occasions, I struggle with their names for months and even years.

 

I kept the sculpt name of my first doll, then I started naming the next ones I got based on my favourite game characters. ^u^

 

Up to now I've always picked the name before the doll arrives, usually before I order them. The exception was my latest doll where I had 3 names I liked and I waited for him to arrive before settling on one. I actually have a list of names I like already, so whenever I find a new doll i want to order I have a look through that to see if there is anything that suits them but I don't always get the name from there. Sometimes names just come to me when I look at the dolls photos.
The doll I ordered a couple of months back I'm waiting to arrive I have no idea what I'll call him though, so I guess I'll let him name himself when he arrives.
But I've never kept a sculpt name for a doll and don't think I ever Will, not for a bjd anyway.

 

The dolls that are my OCs retain their fictional names, or a variant of. Annix's "real" name is Aneirin, for example. Dolls I bought for their aesthetic pleasure usually suggest a name to me, after I've settled on their look and personality.
Being a writer, I'm pretty good at coming up with names and characters.

 

If the doll has been planned for a long time, then I already have a whole character for it! However, if it was an impulse buy or something of that sort, it takes me days to weeks of playing with the doll before naming it.

 

For my first two girl dolls, I picked a name from a favorite anime character and then one from a favorite TV show. One of my other girls, I knew I wanted her to have an Irish name and so went with a long time favorite. The Peakswood I have on layaway I'm going to stick with the sculpt name of Cass as it suits him for the character I want him to be. I don't really have set characters in mind when I choose the dolls, I just look at dolls and any that inspire a background story get added to the growing list lol.

 

I am terrible at names. Even my story characters tend to get names long after their personalities and character arcs have been planned out. I usually slap them with a temp name that often turns into a real name. Or I work backwards from a nickname I like, or choose one based on the nicknames the character could then have. And for some I just write up a list of names that fit and see which one I start calling them the most in my mind. If I have a starting point (for example, a certain culture I want the name to be from), I can just go down a list to see what fits. And rarely, the perfect name hits me out of the blue. My dolls' names have been a mix of all of these methods. And I recently realized that by complete coincidence, all my dolls names have i's in them, which helped narrow things down for my latest name pick, Ingrid.

 

It varies for me. My first doll Blaze was named before I got her. One of my Real Puki's, Kali, was named before I ordered her, and the other is Hermes, a name I had in mind before he was released. I also think behindthename.com is a great resource, since you can find names based on meaning or ethnicity. Only one of my dolls has ever used their sculpt name, and his was changed after a few months.

 

I usually create characters first before ever buying the doll. Sometimes I have an existing character and look for a doll to match, sometimes I find a doll I love and build a character around it, but the character is usually set before the doll arrives to me. Character (and name) are very important to me, but sometimes if I get an unexpected trade offer or a free event head or something, I might not have a name/character until the doll is in hand. And though rare, sometimes I plan out a character for a doll, and after the doll arrives, I realize it really doesn't work at all, but I use the doll for a different character!

I have only kept the sculpt name once in ten years, and it was pure coincidence. I had a character name, and it just turned out that the sculpt that ended up working for her had the same name as the character already had!

 

I wait for the doll to be completed (faceup, eyes, wig) then I decide on a name. I don't keep their original names because I think it doesn't make them special, to me at least? I usually look for Japanese names because I think they suit bjds well xD

 

I am very inconsistent with names, some of my dolls have 2 names and my incoming girl that's a French character has a Japanese name. Two of my dolls are Yo-SD versions of their respective SD sculpts and I refer to them as little "insert sculpt name" instead of their actual names.

 

Names are tough for me, I usually change them a lot until I find one that sticks.
I often use names of people I met in real life who impressed me in some way.
Also whenever I find a name that I like just because it sounds nice, I write it on a post-it-note and stick it on my desk so I won't forget it. I might use those later.

 

Oh the angst of naming! In my defense, I have 33 of the little darlings to contend with and some have been periodically changing names for months or even years as I tried to settle on the perfect one. Finally, I actually forced myself to take a period of 24 hours of doing nothing else until I finally settled my naming woes once and for all! I spent an entire day doing research and coming up with names for the small handful of dolls that were still in need of the perfect one...and it worked. I now love all their names!

 

I try to come up with a list of names while I'm waiting for the doll to arrive, but sometimes I just need to see it in person before I can make a decision. I've changed names before if the character grew into something a little different that what I had first imagined.

 

I have the name for my first doll picked out already, and she hasn’t been ordered. The idea for her name and nickname (it’s a very old-fashioned puritanical-style virtue name paired with a super modern nickname) just gradually floated to me as I was shopping around, and her personality is based off of that same old fashioned/modern pairing.

I was already looking at a lot of sculpts that fit that sort of general innocent and virtuous but with a modern quirkiness feel, and narrowed the focus once the character emerged out of that trend.

 

I am really bad with names in general (like a lizard names Mr.lizard) so idk how I'm gonna name my doll I have 2-3 months before it arrives but I do like old names such as Magnus and Claude maybe something along those lines

 

I make lists using name generators and kind of experiment with each one. It's not a very efficient method, but it hasn't gone wrong so far!

 

All my dolls have Japanese names so I make a list of potential names for a character and spend a lot of time reading through it and looking at the doll I also use potential names in sentences when talking about the doll to see how it feels

 

The doll I've just ordered, my first doll, is going to shell one of my characters named Wren from a story I'm writing. Whilst I was creating his character, I didn't even know it was a girl's name (or a name at all, to be honest, I was just naming him after the bird) but I felt like he was perfect for the name so I didn't change it after I learned it was feminine. As for surnames, though, I sometimes just steal it from a location? (One of my OC's surnames is Carolina, which I just took from North and South Carolina), but other times I find something relevant to their role in the story.

 

Naming things is my absolute favorite haha. I usually establish a character and from there go through popular names in different cultures, list the ones I like and slowly narrow it down. I also collect names that I really Love in a big list so I have them available!

 

For me, it's one of the most important aspects of collecting. Honestly, I'm a complete naming freak. I've probably spent days of my life researching, rifling through baby naming books, and, most importantly, contemplating.

That being said, I don't like to over-research. A name should feel organic, not forced. So when the hunt starts to feel like a burden, I back off and take a break until a new wave of inspiration hits me. Luckily, most of the time I'm able to settle on a name relatively quickly. Rarely, I change my mind. This usually only occurs when I'm waiting for a doll to arrive, or while he/she is being painted.

There are nine primary ways I settle on names:

Ethnicity
Some sculpts have a definitive ethnic look. Others are ambiguous and could lean in multiple directions depending on how you'd like to portray them. Even though my dablyop and ceryop by ApoDoll are a dinosaur/alien composite, their facial features seem very African to me. Growing up, I had many Ghanaian friends. So I decided to base their names on ethnicity, and I also incorporated alliteration. Examples:

Afi Atta
Ekua Elbani
Ena Elbani
Queen Mother Uma Uffeysa Udabi

I've decided to follow the same principle with my mini bactro. I chose one Chinese name, and decided to do the same for the remaining bactro. It will be months before they arrive and are ready to be displayed, so there's a small possibility that their names may change. However, I'm quite pleased with them at the moment:

Jade
Mei Li
Rou


Exploration
Occasionally, I have no idea where to start with a name. In those cases, I open up my trusty baby naming book or one of various reliable online sources and get to work. Sometimes I get lucky and find a name that's perfect, but more often than not, the exploration method sparks an idea that leads to another naming method. Below are a few names I came across purely by exploration:

Icmus (transparent Xiro by Akhmel)
Orseline (grey henna/corpse by Varvyanskaya)
Imperator Phyllon Terribulus III (Happy Aloha by Pipos)


Instinct
Some of my collection was named spontaneously, or by instinct. This happens most frequently when I'm choosing a name late in the game, i.e. the doll is in my possession, painted, wigged, and dressed. There's no time like the present, right? Examples:

Anjou (dark tan Fatima by Nidum Dolls)
Greta/Gretchen (Varvyanskaya)
Malvina (white moth by Argonautica)
Zaire (ebony Aki by Akhmel)


Meaning
I've found that meaning becomes more important the more developed a character becomes. I'm not one to develop extensive backstories for my dolls. However, I sometimes research meanings when relevant (see Theme).


Namesake
We all have things that are special to us. Occasionally, if we're lucky, some of those names might be usable for our dolls. Perhaps the doll in question reminds you of a person/place/thing that's special to you. Or maybe you're just looking for an opportunity to use a really cool name. Examples:

Lux (white moth by Argonautica, named after one of the sisters from The Virgin Suicides)
Mitski (white Pollen by CreaturesDolls, named after the Japanese-American singer/songwriter)
Tasmia (Varvyanskaya, named after the LOSH character Tasmia Mallor)


Referral
I don't usually reach out for naming help unless I'm completely frustrated, which is rare. However, I have found some keepers that way.

Ula (blue sea creature by ArgoDoll)
Umiko (blue sea creature by ArgoDoll)


Retention
Sometimes a doll's sculpt name or (in the case of art dolls) given name is too iconic to bother changing. While this is rarely the case for me, I have made two exceptions:

Constantine (Lillycat)
Neonilla (horned fawn by Varvyanskaya)


Theme
I struggled for several months when it came to naming my Popovy. Nothing seemed cohesive enough. Ah, that was the word. Cohesive. I realized that with their emaciated bodies and unusual features (grey skin, claws, rat teeth, etc), Popovy reminded me of the monster dolls that got me collecting in the first place. So I started thinking of how I could portray Popovy as fashionable monsters, and with that, a theme emerged. (The below list contains future members of my collection as well):

9 - witch (named after the Nine Olde Witches)
Amani - jinn (translation: wishes in Arabic)
Eve - zombie (translation: to breathe in Hebrew)
Io - shapeshifter (named after Jupiter's densest moon)
Lulu - shapeshifter (translation: pearl in Arabic [like a moon])
Mimi - vampire (named after Mimi Tachikawa [see Namesake])
Nym - rat (inspired by The Secret of NIMH [see Namesake])
Orchid - ghost (like a ghostly white Orchidaceae)
Rajni - moth (translation: night in Hindi)
Venus - succubus (named after the goddess of desire)
Ylla - mummy (of Incan origin)


Uniformity
Like many collectors, I tend to buy the same sculpt in various skin tones. I have a total of nine Little Kio and Little Pri by Argonautica, and they were all (more or less) named uniformly. Why? I wanted to create a unique feel for an entire alien culture, so making sure the names complemented one another was integral. There are exceptions, of course. Several of the first names below are clearly human, but almost all cultures borrow from others, so it seemed reasonable to me that some alien names might be pronounced similarly to earth names, whether by exposure or coincidence. That's when I decided to also create last names to further a sense of unity. To me, uniformity requires a bit of je ne sais quoi. You don't know exactly what it is that makes the names sound good together; they just do. Examples:

Antopus Min
Eyl Ether
Ishai Isamu
Leilani Yn Yn
Micah Nu
Penelope Quago
Rajeera Baswanni
Ylla Ipson
Zeke Fetton


So, those are my methods. Sometimes they overlap, and there are a few methods I prefer over others. But I've found that no matter how long it takes me to name a doll, or how frustrated I might get during the process, it always seems worth it in the end.

How about you?

 

Some times it just comes to me and that is what it is. other times i come up with names and stare at the doll saying the name multiple times to see if it clicks

 

My crew is far smaller than yours, but so far all my names follow your convention of instinct/uniformity. Spore came first, then Pollen, Seed and Polyp. Spore and Polyp are thematically appropriate when looking at the sculpts, and Pollen joins the trio. Seed hasn't arrived just yet, but thinking about my names for this thread brought it to mind and it's perfect for my Aileendoll Camellia Cyclops/DC hybrid. I've got a couple unnamed still - I'm searching for names that reflect their small stature, with a biological background.

 

I don't have any tips of my own yet, just wanted to say that this thread is very useful! Naming is hard.

 

I just compile a giant list of names that I happen to like, whether in passing or looking around online, and then picking from those for my MSDs. My SDs are my shelled characters, they usually get their name from their abilities or the like. O:

 

You're thought process on naming is quite deep! Looking over my own dolls, I'd say that meaning is what I strive for, but before they get their permanent names they will get whatever I think of off the top of my head. After that I'll research names and meanings after that to figure out what fits best.

Pandora (DC Lilly) - First named Morticia, I named her Pandora once she became shelled as a BJD. She has a dark sense of humor, but at her heart she is rather upbeat for a tall skeletal styled creature. Pandora as a name seemed like a great way to encapsulate that.

Papillon (DC Katherine hybrid) - She was named Noodle initially, simply because of the fact that she may have great posing capability but ended up moving more like a wet noodle. She became Papillon due to her themed around butterflies (butterfly tattoo and flowers are part of her engravings.) Not exactly deep in meaning there, I favor simple names.

Aria (Dearmine/Resinsoul hybrid) - I figured that Aria was the best was the feminize Aries, the constellation she was named after. She's supposed to be a being who travels through space, as a piece that originates from an even larger more abstract creature. I'm thinking I'll reinvent her as a character, however, which will also mean a new name.

I'm realizing now I don't have a clue what I'm going to call my sphinx who is on the way, or my unicorn centaur project on order. Better start looking around!

 

Honestly, I mostly just go with what I like or what feels right to the doll. Sometimes I do look up baby names websites to help me choose, sometimes I do base it on ethnicity, if that's even important in their character at all, or sometimes if I base the OC on an existing character, person or idea, I might look for names similar to theirs.

 

Since most of my dolls are Asian in ethnicity, I usually start with a kanji with a meaning that suits their character and use a dictionary to find names that use that character. I've found some really unique and beautiful names that way!

I'll also name them for characters (either OC or existing from anime, movies, etc).

 

I use meaningful names related to the doll and my life, like what i was going through when it arrived or why i bought it and things like that.

 

I have a terrrrible time settling on names. x____x I will look at baby name websites for hours trying to find interesting sounding things.

A lot my characters have gone through a few different iterations actually; like, I'll settle on a name that I like for a while. And then, it slowly looses its appeal. It actually happened a few times. One of my characters was David, and now he's Declan; and another was Gideon, but now he's Asher instead. :3 And some of them have gone through codename iterations too - I have a girl who was originally going to go by Belladonna or Nightshade, but she's currently Narcissus, and I'm rethinking that too. :P

But the big problematic one now is, I was planning my IOS Sezz's character before I bought him. His dad's name is Theodore Mathis, so I wanted an equally old-fasioned sounding first name, and it had to fit with the last name Mathis. It started with the name Julian - which I had in mind back when the character was originally meant to be a Dollstown sculpt. After I got the Sezz, I progressively liked the name Julian less and less - it worked great for Dollstown's promo pics, but not for the Sezz when I saw him in person. Other variants that I considered at the same time were Lucian, Caspian, Tristan, Julius, Lucius, Lucas, and Thomas/Tommy. But I didn't like any of them enough to stick with any one of them. So I moved on and picked some more moderns names too;
Archer, Fisher, Parker, Sawyer, Spencer, Tucker... None of them felt right either, so I kept looking--
Fenway, Jonah, Noah, Hunter, Dmitri, Misha, Sasha, Alex...

Last time I re-addressed the situation, I was sticking with Hunter, though it's not my 100% favorite - it was just the best of the bunch so far. I also really like Misha, but Misha Mathis is too many M's (and i's and h's and s's).

My latest thoughts are, I now like Thaddeus/Tad and Tobias/Toby as they start with T like his dad, but I also like Daniel/Danny.... It's so hard, because I honestly never know when I will change my mind, or for what reason.

@krill I really like your naming conventions It feels really cohesive and like they are meant to be together.

 

I find this one probably the hardest aspect in the hobby haha. Actually, I use to ask for help to my bf. He has named all of my dolls.

The process is:

- He starts spelling lots of funny names.
- I say: THAT ONE!
- And he stops.

So voilá! My doll has its own name! haha.

 

I used a name generator - and although I didn't choose any of the names that popped up, it did give me a feel for the "sound" that I wanted. I started thinking of names that started with E, and came up with Elenor

 

I have only one doll named Rhein. Like the river in Germany. Why? I don't know why.

 

Thus far, I've drawn from sculpt names for inspiration, since I think they already suit the sculpts so well (eg Luts Senior delf Clary = Claire, Resinsoul Mi = Millicent/Millie). But then again, I also have random names that just came to me (eg Ava for my Comi babydoll Peridot / Leeke world art body hybrid). I also have a couple of names that are old characters I've had since the beginning of time :'D

 

Excuse me ahead of time for geeking out, but I love this sort of thing! For made up names, I think about linguistics. Different blends of vowels and consonants have different associations, so I think about the character I want for the doll and then what phonemes (sounds) would work well.

For instance:

• Back-mouth vowels like 'ah' and 'oh' are usually associated with strength, if not masculinity, and this can be compounded when paired with firmer, voiced consonants like G, D, B, J. Think about: Bard. Goro. Grador. Agadon. These are very firm names.
• Front-mouth vowels like 'ih' 'ee' 'eh' 'uu' are on the other side: usually associated more with softer things, or femininity. And, just as above, this can be compounded when paired with unvoiced consonants like K, T, M, and Ch. Kilia, Temeni, Ukime. These tend to feel more poetic and delicate on the tongue.
• Sonorant consonants like N, M, L, and R tend to flow smoothly and make a character more approachable or even beautiful; it also seems to have connotation with wealth or status (that's a personal thing though, possibly). A masculine prince might be Amenir or Loden, while a feminine queen could be Emmenia or Leteni (all I did between the two pairs was unvoice the consonants and change the vowels from back to front).
• Fricatives like Th (both versions: Thin and Then) or Ch (as in Bach, not Cheese) are very airy and can give the character a lofty or pleasant feel. Tolkein loved using these for his elves, and Anne McCaffrey used them for her dragon names. Thranduil. Thenenoch. Etc.

And that's just raw phonetics! Then you get things like different combinations of sounds:

• Onomatopoeia is when a word sounds like something in real life (think "plink" for a coin landing in a pond). I find these kind of 'impact' sounding combinations work well for childish or lower-class characters. Puck. Clop. Tack. Blot. They're almost always single-syllable, which contributes to that feeling of simplicity.
  
• Sibilance is when there are a lot of 's' and 'sh' noises, and that can make a character seem shifty or suspicious. Sylven, Selth -- even Slytherin, for instance. Often associated with snakes, hissing, and lisping characters.
• Assonance is when there are a lot of vowels. I find this creates a sense of power - though not necessarily masculine as mentioned above - and reverence. Arion, Orado, Aialia, (if you've read Ancillary Justice: Anaander Mianaai).
  
• Consonant Clusters is when there are a lot of consonants without vowels between them. This tends to come off as more bestial and raw (think about the Klingon language, if you're familiar). Chekthit, Draktri, Prejthek.

Look at a name like Thanos: we get loftiness (th), shadiness (s), masculinity (ah, oh) and approachability (n) -- a perfect descriptor of Thanos' character (at least in the Marvel movies )

Then, it can go way beyond sounds entirely. Different cultures have different sets of phonemes to work with, but they also have different masculine and feminine markers (for instance, i, ia, ina, elle are all feminine suffixes in English). Different languages have completely different feels, and it's fun to play around with their unique sounds and just see what pops up.

(And when all else fails, I like combining names with sounds I like, eg: Taylor and Justin to create Taylin)

 

I don't shell characters or have any in mind when getting dolls, so I tend name them after characters I like from various media. One I named after a character from a book I had recently read, another from a character in a video game.

Nothing would "stick" for my last girl 'till a friend suggested a name.

Sometimes it's easy, other times they go through a few names. I just keep trying 'till one clicks.

 

I love naming characters! I'll typically scour through baby name sites, or I'll try to keep an ear out while I'm out in public in case I hear any names I particularly like. Sometimes I get hit with a theme or a meaning I want for a name, and then have to search out the name itself-- my current doll, for example, is kind of a hippie, so I really wanted to have a flower name for him. I probably looked at dozens of different kinds of flowers, and eventually landed on Edelweiss/Edel.

 

And I loved your post! Phonemes is something I guess I do consider, but I never realized it until now.

Glad to hear it (though looks like my thread got merged with one from several yrs ago

Oh hey, I recognize that avatar! I have a Pollen of my own for sale, but in sculpt name alone, ha. You do have an interesting small stature collection. The uniformity suits them.

 

I tend to reuse names a lot. I recycle names I like for my pokemon in various pokemon games, my characters in rpg video games, and some of my ocs. So I give my dolls reused names as well.

And most of the names are inspired by songs/bands I like.

 

I am actually in the naming process right now, I just got my first doll a couple of weeks ago but its been far too rainy to prep her for a faceup, so I've been staring at her face and trying to come up with a name

 

I usually base the names from the style of clothing they would wear to fit their image and persona. Or if they have multiple personas they have different names because I change their hair and eyes and they’re a different personnwitj a different story and background.

 

To be honest... I have a book of names where I collect every name I like or create... I use it for characters in video-games, characters in stories I write... and also for my dolls! Some of my doll's characters are inspired by certain characters from movies/mangas/stories/games and therefore share the names with them

 

I have the hardest time naming dolls! I tend to want to fall back on the sculpt name or existing characters of mine’s names. I now avoid using my ocs’ names because the doll is supposed to be their own character. But presently my MSD girl is named after an oc (Delphi) and my puki is still just using her default sculpt name (Luna). I need to do better with my names!!

 

I'm so bad at naming my dolls (and video game characters.. and animals LOL) so I, as a lot of people, actually stuck with the dolls' sculpt name. A friend kept harassing encouraging me to name my dolls! I ended up just trying to find a name from the same region the doll was made. For my Dust of Dolls Appi Khol who is made by a French company, she has a French name (from my research at least!)

I am a bit worried about my Korean dolls though! I want to give them beautiful Korean names but need to do research before deciding anything!

 

I am so bad at naming things! So I just go with their official name until I can figure out a perfect name

 

i have a hard time naming anything, never mind dolls ^^' my fav is sirius, and his name came very readily, surprisingly, but only once he was in hand and dressed. my pukifee never got a name (i sort of acquired her by convenience so not terribly invested in her) but she will soon bc i plan to pass her on to a friend who's much more excited about her. logan is my only other doll, and he has that name from his previous owner.

i have a new doll set in my sights to save for, but i have no idea what i'll call him .... i guess it'll come to me once he's in front of me, like it did with sirius?

 

I look for the meaning of a name and at the second turn how it sounds to me. But most of my dolls have a last name so it is way more easy.

 

I'm just going through the names one by one until I come across one that sticks. And, oddly enough, it is not often the names that I like or I find beautiful and exquisite. But if the name's stuck, what am I supposed to do but accept the inevitable? This applies to names. And the surnames usually occur later, all by themselves.

 

Most of the time I write down names that I like or ones that I hear and think they're neat. Other times I will just look at my doll and be like....hmmmm yes this will be your name. I usually prefer to have the name+character planned before, though

 

I name them within the day of their arrival.
I put eyes in, choose the wig that suits them best, spend a few hours handling them, often go through a list of names I like.
And if this is not enough, I start surfing the web for baby names or lists of nouns that fit their sculpts. I tend to check the original meaning of the name as well.
The only time I had real difficulties naming one of my BJD was when I refused the first name that popped into my head. Obviously, it was to no avail, and she still ended up with that particular name. I don't fight it anymore.

 

So I really love skeleton keys, I like to collect them, and when I got my boy and I was thinking of a name I wanted something unique and in the end I named him 'Key' xD I love that my brother remembers his name but is so scared of him!
but for my next doll I think I have a few names that I like and I'll prob practice calling her the names and seeing which one fits best!

 

My dolls shell OCs with at least a human alter ego, so during the character development process I decide what nationality to make them, then head over to behindthename.com to check out what names they have for that nationality. I look for a meaning that matches the vibe of the character, as well as whether I can get a natural-sounding nickname from it. From there it's just a matter of browsing until I find one that clicks.

 

I have a long list of names that I like in my bjd note book. When the doll is done, face up, wig, etc then I choose from that list the one that I guess match better with him