How do you name your dolls?

[Beatrix]

So, How do all of you name you dolls who don't come with a name/renamed? Names you've heard and liked? Picked for meanings, Origins or history? Or just found randomly looking in name books/websites?

For me all three. Mostly for their history though. Like with Loveday I renamed my Elizabeth that since I made her parents puritans.

[Anna]

I usually look through the internet, books and television for doll names. Sometimes it's a name from my favorite character on a television show or book. I especially love the names in Harry Potter, so if I need to find a name I like to look to the Harry Potter series. Sometimes I like to look at minor characters in the AG books and name a doll after the character. I also like names that are in different languages, so I look on Google for example, I type French girls names in the search key I will find a link to a list of girls names in french. Or if I'm making up my own historical character, I type in Google for example, Girls names from the 1950's, and I'll get a link to a list of names popular in that time-period.

~Anna

[Melissa]

It depends on the doll. I usually pick names I like and names that I think fit the doll. Some names come to me right away and others take a little bit.

[Ann N. Mous]

Sometimes when naming a doll or stuffed animal, I name them after someone in my family.

[Laura]

Like Melissa, I tend to pick names based on whether I like them and whether I think they fit the particular doll. I usually want to have a name in mind for the doll months (or sometimes years, as was the case with my #24) before I get her. I'll start browsing baby naming sites like mad (www.behindthename.com is my favorite) to make lists of potential names. Generally I like to give a name to a doll that is consistent with the culture/heritage I've put in place for her, so I'll refine the search terms to match that. #24, as I decided in 2009, was going to be Swedish, so I kept to looking at Scandinavian name lists when I wanted to name her. Eventually, I decided on Astrid, a name that was not only Swedish but the name of a favorite book character (White Oleander). Once she had a first name in place, I started looking at potential middle and last names. I always find last names the hardest to think up, for some reason! Astrid has a pretty common one: Anderson. Astrid Christine Anderson is her full name, and I haven't changed it once since getting the doll last summer. That is not always the case as sometimes I've had to "try on" different last names for particular dolls.

So, I usually pick names based on a doll's heritage, but I also sometimes name dolls after characters, people I know, or actresses I admire.