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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: What's in a name?
by Robin Torres 
Jan 13th 2009 at 8:00AM
Then one day I Googled it. It's the name of a village that some people consider to have been ethnically cleansed [Edited to be more neutral--I had such a kneejerk reaction that I didn't even research it]. I immediately paid to change the name without even spending the time to come up with a good substitute. Robiness is a fun name for an It came from the Blog character, but do I really want it for my new main?
If I had slept on it, rather than changing my name instantly, I may not have changed it. After all, it wasn't my intention to commemorate anything like that. And you can't change it again for 30 days. So now what? Do I keep the name Robiness or do I change it again in a week or so when I am able? Have any of you gone through something similar?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 6 of 11)
bongato Jan 13th 2009 9:40AM
I am extremely careful of the names I pick for my characters- they have to be racially appropriate, and where preferable class appropriate. Except my trial char and one other, I've been extremely happy with all the names I chose first time out. I've lived with the trial chars name (Hammerdwarf...) it's not perfect but it was accidentally almost racially appropriate.
I'll admit to paying to change the name of a L9 bank toon- that's capitalism for you eh? She'd been named after my main with 'bee' tacked on the end (bee = b = bank, I did say I put alot of effort into my names right?). But she was in a friend's guild, and they like me and we chat- but they always call me Bee. I had been pondering playing her, even had made her a class I didn't have in case I wanted to; so when the paid name changes came out I figured: I have over 2 days played on this bank toon. I will probably play her, she should have her own identity. The Bee part obviously had to stay, so I changed it to Buzzybee- not very racially appropriate, but perhaps class appropriate (my bank is a rogue).
As far as the OP goes, it's her char, if she does not like the connotations of the name she unwittingly chose, she should change it if she wants- it obviously doesn't matter to her if anyone else knows what it means.
I had a Diablo II char, a barbarian that I named Gulag thinking it sounded barbarianish. My husband saw it and exclaimed "omg, do you know what that means?" and laughed. I was pretty horrified to find out, and deleted him instantly.
Ice Jan 13th 2009 9:40AM
I just did like this to all chars: Pick random object to hand while eyes closed. Pick word. Take other object. Take part of name. Mix it up the way you want. And tadah. But then I dont like how people say my name(s) short...because it has meaning basically
But first char that I named after something was my DK.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valtiel
No one hasnt said anything like "You play that too?" ... maybe someday.
Tenchan Jan 13th 2009 1:10PM
So your pick up lines would be "Want me to turn your crank?" ;)?
Regalex Jan 13th 2009 9:46AM
I love creating new characters and dreaming up names. When I started I was dead set on playing a shaman, a Draenei one too, so I felt there had to be a name that would fit. It took me a good 20 minutes of just clicking randomize and then thinking of good letter combinations until I finally landed upon Regalex. It took me until level 3 until I realized it had Regal in it, but I insisted it should be called Ray- -gul - x. I have stuck with the name and I think it is a pretty awesome one.
I also enjoyed creating alts of every class once I hit 70, creating new and original names. I wanted ones that weren't popular, as I was the only Regalex on WoW. I am have a odd sense of pride in the names I gave to many of my toons. My hunter is a female Draenei names Lelis, a Mage named Andross, my DK another Draenei female called Atenia, a paladin by the name of Talsius, Vareal the warlock, and Alvus a warrior. Many of these are still below level 35, but the names are all individual and have very few others, with the exception of Andross (Star Fox - am i rite?)
Ed (Sindarin, Hydraxis US) Jan 13th 2009 9:47AM
For my paladin, Sindarin, I actually made up the name by taking "Sind" from "Sin'dorei", and appending a common suffix.
Little did I know that is actually one of the main languages of the elves from LotR, which I was really pleased to find out as I love the books - I'm not sure if it's a really freaky coincidence or if the word stuck in my mind, but I'm happy with it either way.
BJ Jan 13th 2009 9:47AM
I did something similar. I made my DK (which is now my main) with a name with one of those alt-characters in it just to test out. It turns out that the testing went all the way to 80, and then I was left with a character to whom no one could send mail, invite, or add to their friends list. I impulsively changed it to something that all my friends think is silly, and now I get crap for that decision. I should have put a lot more time into picking a name that I actually liked and that wasn't so spur of the moment because eventually, I'll have to change his name to something more in-line with my other characters.
Cinate Jan 13th 2009 9:47AM
i got my name off the back of a nyquil bottle =D
Trilynne Jan 13th 2009 9:48AM
One of my alts is named Phrandea. I think it's a lovely name, but guess what the obvious nickname of it is? Phran. As in, pronounced Fran. Which I hate. *sigh*
Ishtar Jan 13th 2009 9:50AM
My main is an male belf named Ishtar. Just something I picked out of the air because I liked the sound of it. I had a cat pet named Gwen that often got people asking me if she was named after Drizzt's companion and I would answer partly but mainly after Gwen Stacy. I then got asked once the origin of Ishtar and I replied that I made it up, but this got me thinking. Checking Wiki found out that Ishtar is the Babylonian goddess of fertility, love and war. However I have got so attached to the name that I couldn't change it.
My first character was a dwarf hunter named Brogan (named after my first 3rd ed dwarf character). After moving him to another server I found I had to rename him so I picked Broggan. I have found that I am now regularly asked if I am Welsh. Again, like the name so it is not changing.
cans Jan 13th 2009 9:49AM
what kind of nancy changes their char name because of a reason like that?
Helledar Jan 13th 2009 10:36AM
My main is Helledar...I wanted Halle originally (yes, after Halle Berry) but that name was taken so I've got Helle, pronounced Hell-ee and I love it. My alts tend to be all V and Z names...there's just something about that that I find fascinating--my shaman is Vivvi (after a character from a book) my sp is Zaildjaina (after a brand of percussion instruments) and my newest baby is Zoranae, something I completely made up.
I think name inspiration can come from anywhere, literally, after seeing the incredible variety of names on our server.
Kevin Jan 13th 2009 9:56AM
The fact that you didn't know where Qira was or what happened there coupled with the fact that you can actually form coherent sentences and craft paragraphs, tells me that an overwhelming majority of WoW players, especially on EN servers would have never made the connection man. I mean most people playing are either 14 years old, or if not, have the sense of history and the geographic education of a 14 year old. Unless you encountered a Palestinian (or an Israeli, perhaps), to whom you could have explained the faux-pas, I can't see popping 10 bucks to change your name.
Also, let's not forget that "ethnic cleansing" is a pretty loaded accusation for what happened at Qira.
Twowolves Jan 13th 2009 10:00AM
I am always surprised when I think of a name for a new alt that has already been taken.
What about making it Qyra or Qirra or Qiraa? Mess around with it.
I wanted to name my BE mage Scorch but it was taken, so I ended up with Skorkh (which is still the only one in the Armory).
Elrondin Jan 15th 2009 7:27AM
I like taking names from books. My main (NE druid) is named after Elrond from Lord of the Rings, and the tauren druid that I almost switched mains to for Wrath (got him to lvl 56 I think) is named Murtakk, after a character from the Inheritance trilogy-- oh wait, now series. I did sort of name one alt after the school I used to go to, their sports teams are called the Argonauts, adapted the name to Argonai.
As for names of corpses I found on the ground, nothing so far beats the two toons that were lying facedown dead on the Lower Rise in Thunder Bluff on Frostmourne for almost a week not too long before Wrath came out, I'm assuming they were lvl 1 Tauren druids...
Noflightform and Tofattofly
Cyrus Jan 13th 2009 10:04AM
My main is a druid named Furryous. I just picked it because I knew from the start that he would be feral, and bears and cats are furry, and "furious" seems like a good description for someone who turns into an animal for melee combat, especially one with a rage bar part of the time, so "furry" plus "furious" gave me "Furryous." (Ironically, he's balance now.)
I've never really thought about changing it, but maybe I should. Partly because of people assuming I'm into furryism. I'm not, but I've had a few /tells about it from complete strangers just because of the name. Asshole much? Like it's their business...
And it's also annoying because variations on it seem very common. There's a warrior in my guild named Furrious, and people get us confused a fair amount. For a while there was a shaman named Furiously. And in PuGs I've encountered something similar but with accents over some of the vowels.
Emma Jan 14th 2009 2:00PM
My characters name was changed to Tiatae (By me, By choice - it means Fiery horse or felsteed as a warlock) which everyone endlessly points out sounds like something rude -_-
Jess Q. Jan 13th 2009 10:07AM
I actually just changed the name of an alt the other day (an alt who is quickly becoming a main). It was a knee-jerk reaction and kind of a shame because I liked the name, but I'll never look fondly on it again. It was Eleqad, named after a teacher I had, Miss Elaqad.
What happened is I mentioned it on my blog, and some stranger who knows the teacher I guess decided to google her name. I mentioned in my entry that the teacher was from Iraq because I was told that she was and I said I liked her accent, etc.
Well the stranger cussed me up and down for being "close-minded" because the teacher is apparently Palestinian (small world, eh, with Qira being a place in Palestine) and this person told me I needed to expand my horizons because I was a jackass or something.
It really pissed me off because 1) I said I liked the teacher and was sort of naming this character in her honor, 2) I was honestly told she was from Iraq, I didn't pull that country out of my ass because I would never venture a guess because I don't know shit about the Middle East), 3) I didn't mean any goddamn offense, and they could have just told me I was mistaken, you know? It was extremely rude how they handled themselves.
I got really annoyed so I immediately logged into my account and changed my character's name to Ethera because I don't want to be reminded of how douchey strangers can be every time I log into her. I might change it again sometime, I like how the name looks but I can't decide how I want to pronounce it so it kind of bugs me.
Anyway, she's a shadow priest, so this name works better, technically. It's just a little bland for my tastes. I like really unique names, and Eleqad was the only Eleqad on all the servers on WoW. There are a lot of Ethera's.
Amun Jan 13th 2009 10:21AM
I would agree that the name makes the character. Or at least it helps to have a unique name that's easy to remember, abbreviate, spell and pronounce.
Artanis Jan 13th 2009 10:12AM
I use a lot of Tolkien characters for names, especially for elvish toons. I picked Artanis because it's one of the early names used by Galadriel in the Silmarillion. I did not know it was also the name of a (male) character in Starcraft. (I was a Diablo player.) So I occasionally get whispers telling me that I should be playing a male character with that name, and I get to reply that my geekery goes back well before the Starcraft years.
Emrys Jan 13th 2009 10:15AM
The only debate I have with my characters name, is that I am female, I play a female char, but the name is male. Emrys was Merlin's Christain name. I thought it was a fitting name though, since I play a priest and Merlin often traveled in disguise as a healer.