Names Taken off of TV Shows

[Suno_Regin]

I've noticed an increase in names from anime, or some kind of TV show. For example, Winnry, from Fullmetal Alchemist, and Hasseo from .hack//roots. Are they allowed to keep these names by simply adding an extra n or s in the name so it's spelled differently?

[Phinehas]

Hmm... I've had a run-in with Winnry. Evidently she used to think that alchemy in PS worked like in Fullmetal Alchemist, until she was disillusioned. For the record, I have no idea what disillusioned means.

I agree though, there should be some limitation. It's not that hard to make up names. But where's the line? I mean, Tybalt is Tybalt, that's not original, but it still works...

[Robinmagus]

disillusion
dis·il·lu·sion  (ds-lzhn)

1. The act of disenchanting.
2. The condition or fact of being disenchanted.

Thesaurus:
disillusioned - freed from illusion

Edit: and yes, I agree in some kind of line. I mean, hardly any names are original. Phinehas, I think it's from the jewish bible thing, and Robinmagus is from some childhood cartoon of mine. But let's not go with "George Bush" and "Britney Spears."

[Karyuu]

If you see a name you don't think should be there, send a petition. However, I must ask people to avoid immediately reporting any name that they may recognize from somewhere else. Ask yourself if the name is ridiculously well-known and very obviously interferes with roleplay (e.g. Bart Simpson). If it doesn't and your only reason for petitioning it is "I've seen this name before," not "This is a name from an incredible popular [something]," you're asking for what I feel is unnecessary GM interference with the world.

[tssthorn]

  No problem here .. I don't mind changing my name if it bothers anyone ... It used to be the origenal spelling from the anime Winry and i had a GM cahnge it to Winnry so it was not exactly the same . .also took away the last name. But if it still does bother anyone .. ya sure i will change it if you really wish.   

[Hadfael]

First of all, you must remember that GMs are not perfect.
As it was said, in many "how to become a GM" thread, we have played PS for ages, so we did not have much time to read all the books (I am nonetheless able to read with some efforts), nor to watch movies, comics and such (my red eyes hurts too much when leaving PS to do that).
As a consequence, we have to rely on players to judge what is popular culture IRL.
- What do I do when I see a petition about a name of a movie I did not see? I websearch for it to see how "popular" it is.
So it happens that a reported name does not seem so RP-disruptive nor famous. In such cases, you might see your petition closed and the name unchanged. The guy with the bad name is suffering from a patronymic handicap in his interactions with you. And if he is aware of it, he can always ask himself for a new name. Many did that and are now enjoying better integration in Yliakum's society.
- It happens sometimes that I have to close a petition because the player uses this name for a long time and managed to integrate. [roleplaying and interacting with many people for hundreds of hours], to take a "late action" we would need a greater number of players to petition against it. Many managed to learn to know the char aside a possible homonymy, so there are little needs to affect the immersion of all of them.
If your petition was closed without immediate effect, no need to make a new one.
- About highly similar names using a specific spelling to "look the same-spell different", there are two possible causes: accidental, intended. It happens often that an unfitting name was banned and no longer allowed by the server. Some are adding letters to workaround this. On the other hand, even random can match an unfitting name. Petition those specifying the correct spelling so the websearch will confirm how popular they are. The sooner it's done, the more likely this char will be renamed. Usualy when renaming, I mix the letters so the name sounds different even with a close spelling. So the name can "look the same-sound and spells different". I hope this way it's less disruptive.

I think I just paraphrased Karyuu. She just added "spare GMs some time, don't petition unless it's really disruptive and affects   your gameplay".

Too many petitions are "why not him?" ones, made by people who were renamed for a valid reason they did not agree to admit, trying to make GMs look unfair and power abusing. We don't earn anything by renaming. I hope this posts answers every "Why not him?" questions, may they be sincere or bitter. Another possible answer to "Why not him?" can simply be "I did not see him yet."

[LARAGORN]

Over time many names have been changed by a letter here or there, some by spelling errors others intentionaly. Some of the issues with names have been, IMO very silly, while others have been justified. In real life I get coments all the time 'oh you were named after so and so' Ummm... no, I have never heard of them. Just because a name is known by some does not mean it is associated the same way by others. Take for example 'Saddam', to many people this name is linked to an evil dictator, while others hold the name in high regard and name their child Saddam, with no association what so ever to Iran. If someone in game were to name their character 'Saddam Hussein', That would not be acceptable because of the direct referance with first and last name. There are thousands of 'Saddam's and thousands of 'Hussein's, so each by itself shouldnt be an issue.

I think as the game grows there is going to be a big problem. When there are thousands of players, and each name has to be unique, you are going to see some very strange giberish names. I tried to creat a brother to one of my charaters but wasnt allowed to use the same last name. I have heard the argument 'just tell everybody you are family' I think that is very silly. Surnames have been around for a heck of a long time, I dont see PS being any different.

By doing a quick search for 'Medieval Names' you will see how common a lot of names were, even in the 1200's. Bellow is a short list of some common names and there frequency. There are many lists available to get an idea of the types of names used. I do understand the desire to have creative and unique names and I do agree, however since PS is global there are always going to be different interpritations of each names meanings.

Misplaced Medieval surnames


Masculine Given Names Found in the 1296 Lay Subsidy Rolls for Rutland
(sorted by Frequency)

by Karen Larsdatter (Karen Harris)

Name   Frequency       Name   Frequency       Name   Frequency   
William   248              Peter               40       Jordan   8   
Robert   171              Geoffrey        39       Michael   8   
John          164                 Nicholas        34       Daui           7   
Henry   154              Reginald        25       Ranulph   7   
Richard   147              Gilbert        20       Benedict   6   
Thomas   99              Adam         16       Bartholomew   5   
Hugh          74                  Alan               14       Clement   5   
Simon   72              Alexander       12       Philip      5   
Roger   60              Andrew       10       James   4   
Ralph           52                  Elias               10       German   3   
Walter   49              Stephen       10       Laurence   3   

These names appear twice:
Alwin
Auered   Auncelm
Hamund   Martin
Sampson   

These names appear once:
Achard
Adhuc
Aubrey
Baldwin
Bernard
Breton
Christian
Eustace
Everard
Fulk
George   Gervase
Godewyn
Grimbald
Guy
Hanecocus
Herbert
Ingald
Ivo
Lambert
Leodegar
Letemay   Nigel
Osbert
Paul
Prodemay
Remund
Reyner
Wariner
Wolewin
Wybern'
Wynemer

Feminine Given Names Found in the 1296 Lay Subsidy Rolls for Rutland
(sorted by Frequency)

by Karen Larsdatter (Karen Harris)

Name   Frequency   
Alice          40   
Matilda   34   
Agnes   29   
Margery   16   
Margery    14   
Marg'        2   
Isabel   12   
Emma   11   
Juliana   10   
Avice           8   
Cecily   7   
Beatrice   5   
Hawise   4   
Mabilia   4   
Eda          3   

These names appear twice:

Agatha   Lettice   Milicent   

These names appear once:

Aldesa
Amabilia
Anabel
Annora
Asselina
Bricia
Douce
Eve   Felicia
Helen
Inga
Ingred
Ivetta
Joan
Lucy   Mazir
Petronilla
Rose
Sarah
Susan
Wymark
Ysoda

[Hadfael]

I don't see the point.
PS is not any medieval reality. Glyphs and enkidukais are not refered in the history books.
Many firstnames IRL are from famous figures, saints, ... that changed over time differently in different cultures. PS firstnames should refers to PS historical figures, not the RL ones.
And for lastnames most of the european countries did not use any but surnames until civil status was enforced. the civil status records in PS are following PS rules.
If you want your lastname to be made similar to the one of other chars in your ingame family, ask GMs.