When someone says, “Your Miwa is so beautiful!” or “Your Diana is so beautiful!” I unequivocally prefer the second compliment.

Please don’t misunderstand; it’s not about harboring ill thoughts with the first comment. I simply find much more joy when a friend addresses my BJDs by the names I’ve bestowed upon them (or the names they’ve shared with me).

In my favorite TV show, Penny Dreadful (M+ rating), there’s a line that resonates deeply with me.

In Netflix’s Onmyoji anime, Abe no Seimei told Muramasa: “The shortest curse in this world is a name.” By giving an object a name, you anthropomorphize it, attributing human characteristics to it. You will be bound by its characteristics subconsciously.

Let’s experiment. Do you have a wooden pencil or chopstick with you? I want you to break it. Do you feel remorse? 

Now, take another wooden pencil or chopstick! I am telling you, this pencil/chopstick is called Maria. Now, break it! Let’s be honest, do you feel hesitant this time? 

The pencil/chopstick is no longer a regular, soulless object. It has a name, and with a name comes a soul. By telling you its name, I am telling you it can feel emotions. You break it, you hurt it! 

That is the POWER OF THE NAME!

Calling someone by their name three times in a conversation helps form a better connection than simply using pronouns. The same applies to our beloved dolls; calling them by the names you give them fortifies the bond you have with them and helps you feel their characteristics more strongly. To me, my BJDs aren’t mere toys; they are my resin babies, each with unique styles and sets of personalities. 

That’s why I am not a fan of calling a doll by its product name. It gives me the feeling it is a soulless object rather than a character, that my girls are just another Miwa or Chloe among a hundred of her kind. That’s why you always see me calling my girls Diana or Valar and not Miwa and Chloe. They are my girls with their uniqueness and stories to tell.

I will continue to call your dolls by the names you give them, as I believe they have their unique stories too.