Your first name isn’t yours alone: how Forever’s two-part names work

Blizzard’s naming guide, published on 21 September, explained the rule a month before most players needed it. With early reservation opening on 27 October, as the reservation article of 20 October sets out, the rule now decides whether you get the name you want.

Update, 28 October (UTC)

Blizzard has confirmed one naming error. In matching posts on the US and EU forums, published at 01:28 UTC on 28 October (the US headline is dated 27 October), Kaivax explained that the game keeps a restricted name list for non-profane names Blizzard wants to block, such as major Warcraft lore characters or names blocked for technical reasons. A bug made that check overly restrictive with some names; for example, it had been wrongly restricting names containing “c-o-n”. The fix is planned for the next realm restarts in each region. After that, anyone who was told “That name is restricted” for a name they think should have been allowed can try again. The posts give no restart time, and a retry does not promise the name.

Players had reported other rejections on 27 October. Ashley said a name used throughout the beta, and on retail and Classic, was restricted at reservation, and Negai replied that the same had happened to them. Negai had also reported that “Southern” was restricted for their beta shaman, Southern Trendkill, while “Northern Trendkill” was accepted. Blizzard has not said whether the same bug is behind these reports, and “Southern” does not contain c-o-n.

A separate report concerns names that are taken, not restricted. Squiggle found that a name used on one ruleset was shown as taken on another, and suggested one account could reasonably hold the same name across rulesets. The naming guide says the full name must be distinct within your region, and it mentions no exception for rulesets or accounts. Nothing in Kaivax’s posts changes that.

The rule

Every character in Forever has two names, and the complete combination must be unique within your region. A first name on its own belongs to nobody. If another player already uses the first name you love, you can still take it with a different second name.

Blizzard’s example is a family: Asha Brightvale, Thalen Brightvale and Mira Brightvale share a second name and differ in the first. A guild or a group of friends could do the same, provided every complete combination is still free in the region.

Planning for reservation

Because uniqueness belongs to the pair, the clash to plan for is the exact pair. Have a fallback for each character, either another first name with the same second name or the reverse. The in-game random name generator is there if both fail.

Two rules still apply. Names must follow the code of conduct for names, and the system can judge both parts together, so splitting a restricted word across the two names will not necessarily get it accepted. And, as ever, no name is guaranteed.

Hiding the second name

If you prefer a single name above your head, open the Game Menu with Escape, go to Options, then Nameplates, and use the “My Secondary Name” checkbox. Your second name stops displaying in the game world.

It still appears in chat. Hiding it changes how you look to people nearby; it does not change who you are. Your full two-part name remains the unique identity other players can find, message and remember.