Keep an adopted doll's name or change it?

[Keilee]

I just bought a used doll on ebay (squee! so excited!). I'm new to dolls, and this will be my first/second doll - I ordered a Dollfie Plus last week but it's not here yet, so whichever gets here first will be the first.

Since it's a used doll, I'm assuming she already has a name, so I asked the seller what her name was and am waiting to hear back.

I was just wondering, for those of you that have adopted used dolls, do you usually give them a new name/identity, or do you keep the one they had with their previous home? Why or why not?

[rishimsin]

Mmm, I think it's really up to you. I've only "adopted" a few dolls(neither of which I have anymore) but I gave them all new names and personalities. However one of the dolls that I have sold I know has been kept with his original name and personality(to an extent). I think it's easier to bond with a doll if you give it a whole new character, but maybe the old one could inspire you as well.

[Keilee]

Hm, well I just found out that the doll I bought doesn't already have a name. So now to come up with one.

[AmyAngel]

I rarely sell dolls, but I personally would be upset if someone kept the name and character of a doll I sold - those are my creations! And there's a pretty good chance that even if the doll is gone, the character may not be and may be being replaced by a new sculpt. I'd be appreciative of the fact that they liked my character, but to be brutally honest I'd think they were being uncreative by keeping it. I would not be upset if the buyer asked first, though. I'd almost certainly politely say "No." but I'd appreciate them asking.

Some sellers may not care at all, of course! And of course some dolls don't have characters - mine have backstories and names that were carefully chosen to reflect those, etc.

I've bought a doll before that had a character I loved (and a very distinctive faceup, which is why I bought him), but I didn't keep his name or character - I knew that his original owner was re-shelling the character and would likely be angry if I'd kept it. Plus, his character had a whole WORLD he lived in with relatives and others... I couldn't recreate that, or know how he would react to things the way he would as her character. He got a new name (starting with the same letter, though, as a sort of nod to his former existence) and a very different character here. For a long time I refused to dress him in black, because he wore black a lot with his previous owner, though I've given in on that one because he wears it so well. Another I bought had been a girl, and I changed it into a boy! So of course that one was different, too.

Most of mine I have no idea who they were before, even though I usually look to see how they were previously, and check their previous names if I can find them to make sure I'm not naming them the same thing or anything too close to it!

I'm a little paranoid about being accused of "copying", apparently...

[MissTink]

3 out of my 4 dolls are "adopted". 2 of them i didn't know their previous names, but the latest one i did.
i bought him for one of my own characters and even thinking about "paying homage" to his old name in a middle name or something of my doll never really crossed my mind for too long. ive had this character for about 6 years now, so im not about ready to change his name. though i guess its kind of interesting to know his "past life" a little bit. x3

[Keilee]

Thanks for the different perspectives! I never thought of it that way, AmyAngel, but I can totally understand how keeping the name/identity could be considered very rude and like copying/stealing. I didn't think of them as being characters like that. Definitely good to know.

I guess it's best maybe to just ask the previous owner? I was thinking about it from a perspective like that the previous owner might be offended if I just up and changed everything about the doll, but now I see that maybe the majority would be offended if the identity *was* kept. Interesting.

[richila]

A good friend bought a doll from me and kept the name because she wanted her to still be related to my dolls. But, my friend gave the doll a middle name to make it her own.

[russellbaby]

When I get a new doll with no face up, or change the face up, she gets a new name. If I keep the old face up she usually keeps her name too. The only exception is if I really don't like her name. Then it has to go.

[AmyAngel]

I think it's always a good idea to ask! For example my cousin bought one of my dolls, and because I was not keeping the character I let her keep the name and look, no problem. If I'd been keeping the character I'd have probably wiped the (distinctive) faceup and sold her without clothes and hair and such.

[Nikittin]

I was just wondering, for those of you that have adopted used dolls, do you usually give them a new name/identity, or do you keep the one they had with their previous home? Why or why not?

Congrats on your new doll. May s/he bring you lots of enjoyment. :)

I own several not-new dolls and I've always given them new names/personality traits. I feel this makes the doll more "mine." I've yet to buy a doll that kept its former name, but you never know. If that unlikely scenario happened, I'd of course first ask for permission from the old owner if it'd be ok to keep the old name since people like to "re-shell" dolls and feel an emotional attachment to names/stories for their dolls.

[quiltyblythelover]

For me, it depends on how visible the doll was in my flickr friends. If she was very visible and I have loved her pics and her name is part of that, then I keep it...if not and it is a name I am not feeling then I change it. I think most people expect the dolls name to change to suit their new owner.

[Myriai]

To be truthful, and it may seem a bit callous, I figure once I put the money down to purchase the doll from its former owner, it is my right (and duty) to change everything about them and make them mine ^^;

The closest I've come to keeping a character of a doll from someone else's ownership, is when I got an SDC Miko after my former roommate pulled all her dolls into her own story (we were working together on one), technically -my- SDC Miko has her SDC Miko's body (she'd already sold the head), but the character is named the same and has a very similar personality--but I don't feel too bad about it because I kinda helped her come up w/ the character to start (and he was -my- doll's boyfriend before she yanked him *laughs*)

[Jiji]

I think i would rather not know the previous name. I have to create my own characters and names to feel attachment.

[Ruki]

I'd immediately give him a new name, if not, then definitely another character! That's all what makes them yours, what makes you bond with them. I'd feel alienated towards a doll I bought 2nd hand and kept their former name, character, face-up etc. I want the doll to be mine, not some stranger.

[TinyKakeruSama]

If I have adopted doll, I will change name because it now belongs to me and want to keep the doll special to me!

[MollyKerr]

It would depend on the name for me. I don't really like Asian names (I'm not racist, Its just not my thing)I name my dolls based on their looks. like, my dolls name is Jem, because the wig I made her made her look like a character from an old 80's cartoon by the same name) A doll has to click with their name, it can't be forced.

[Keilee]

Thanks everyone for all the input. My doll arrived last week and I named her Madeline. :)

[Taco]

I don't ask for their names, and wouldn't keep the name if I knew. When I buy a doll, I'm buying a body for one of my characters who would already have a name. Once the doll is in my hands it's getting a fresh start so to speak.

[Myriai]

When it comes to buying second hand dolls, while I will gleefully change the name, I am not as picky when it comes down to face-ups for the dolls like I've noted a few others mentioning. Unless the face-up was very, very distinctive as a specific doll character that many people seemed to know, I won't necessarily change it simply because different hair, eyes, & characterization (if you do stories and such) can change everything regardless of the face-up ^_^

[angeliue]

As for me I would give him/her my own special name/meaning ^^

[yukifrein]

both my doll are second hand, but my second was unnamed..but I changed my first doll's name, since I do want to name my own doll.

[saraquill]

The original name of one of my second hand dolls was a variant on the name of the mold. I bring this up because to some, the mold name may count as the doll's original name, and the personality blurb to be the doll's persona, but those get changed when they are purchased.

[V chan]

You know, a seller hasn't even told me the dolls previous name. I think most people figure you're just going to change it anyway.

Counter question!: What if the person that owned the doll was well known? Thus the doll is well known by that particular name/faceup/clothing combo would you still change it then?

[april]

I was just wondering, for those of you that have adopted used dolls, do you usually give them a new name/identity, or do you keep the one they had with their previous home? Why or why not?

I've given them a new name and identity.

I thought about the previous name. I noted it down in my doll database. But it really didn't fit what I was thinking of (not even as a middle or last name).

Also, I figured that the previous owner may wish to keep that character and name and re-shell it in another doll, and might not want their name used.

And I didn't want to bother the old owner about the doll's character and all that. Some people would be OK with it, others might be upset about having to sell a doll--so I thought I'd just be discrete and go with me own name and character.

(The owner didn't give me the name they used... I saw it in a doll database...)

[Teruchan]

I've only known the names of two of my secondhand dolls, and personally I just don't want to know the rest. I like to name my dolls myself, just like I like to paint them myself. It's really hard for me to bond with a doll that I haven't named or customized, it just feels like it's not really mine. There's only one doll that I currently own that still has a default face-up- reason being, I loved her exactly as she was (very rare for me) and decided that she could keep the face-up since it was limited and there weren't too many others floating around.

[Teleri]

I'm getting a second hand Volks doll (the sculpt was on my wish list - I am so psyched) & am not even asking about the name etc - I already know who he is in my little dolly world :D

[Kihaku]

Change. :) I might buy a doll from someone, but I'll always make something new about him/her. The old name is the old owners character, so my dolls will be my characters with new personalities and names.

[ZiMaze]

I've recently bought a boy from a previous owner, I've looked into the original name and character but I allready had a name and personality waiting for him at home and looked for the perfect sculpt.
If I ever sell a doll, I would politely say no if the buyer asks if they can keep the doll's personality and name. I've created a certain character for them, only one was in the situation 'first the doll then the character', but she's still the same, it would be like copying the charater.
There are owners who would like if the doll stayed like they created him/her, but the only time I would let that happen if a local friend would buy it and keep in touch and I'm not planning to re-shell the character.

[JessiFlakes]

I've adopted all (five) of my dolls, and all of them have had their names changes. And their personalities, from what I know. They just don't feel like mine if I don't change them. New owner, new life. And besides that, I like naming them and giving them characters of my own creation.

[AlmySidaKay]

I've given a few dolls to close friends of mine who kept the name because they knew and understood the characters, but there has yet to be a doll that I've gotten that I kept the name of. I usually buy dolls I already have a name and character thought up which would make keeping another name pointless.

[500Heavens]

I might give him or her a special nickname to keep a bond, but isn't it like the poke`mon principal? I couldn't rip him/her away from the roots so coldly.

[cian]

My 2nd and 3rd dolls are both previously owned by others (more than 1 person, in fact), and I never intend to keep their names from their previous owners (never even asked) because I bought them to be my own characters, whose names, background and storylines I already have in mind. I never did think about the copying thing though, and I would say that if I was the seller, I won't want my buyer keeping my character's name. Even for my SDF Bliss, which I bought for his unique faceup, I got him to be MY character, so I suppose it's okay to keep distinctive faceups? At least, if the seller didn't mind. Most sellers who don't want others to have their sold dolls with the character faceups would remove it before selling, I believe, so faceup wise, I'll say keep it if you want! But character is a no-no for me.

[lunarbreeze]

I change my doll's names. I like to make them mine. I might keep the eyes or the wig if I like how it looks on them, but I will give them my own name. It helps me bond :)

[Elendae_Nersil]

Usually... Yeah. I'll change a doll's name, because while I have bought a doll that someone else has owned, I've bought this doll to become a character of mine that belongs to me. However, I recently purchased an F09 boy from a member off of another board, and tried to name him everything under the sun and he just wasn't cooperating at all.

Eventually, I found his entry on the forum's database and realized that what I was trying to do with him matched what his pervious owner had done with him and his name simply fit, so I asked her if it was okay if I kept it.

I always think you should ask if it's okay to keep the name from the previous owner, because then you won't be stepping on anyone's toes.