Dice Roll in Getting Preferred Last Name

(I know I've seen this answered somewhere in R.A., but I did search and can't find it again.)

I'm attempting to create an alt. I'd heard that the method of choosing last names now is a LOT different since when I began.

I chose my first name, then was presented with a short list of last names. One I kind of liked but wanted to see a few more so I tried a again. After a number of tries with approximately the same name showing up, I chose it and proceeded with registration to the point of "you will receive an email, click on it to complete the registration." I did so. A SL page VERY briefly popped up that said "completing registration" then went blank.

I thought that was odd, but tried to log into SL with my new alt anyway. Not recognized.

Ok, maybe I did something wrong. I started over and THIS time saw a last name I REALLY liked. Repeated all of the above and *again* got the message from SL about "completing registration" before that page went blank.

That name was also not recognized upon attempted log in.

I head to Live Chat Support. The customer service person said he did not see either name in the database so to try again with a different browser (I was using Firefox) and if I still had trouble to submit a ticket.

Ok. Started over with Internet Explorer. NOW I can't get either of the last names I liked to appear. Grrrrr....

Does anyone know how to untangle this morass of last name choosing?

Thanks in advance.

Gremlins don't like greedy name grubbers!

So says the owner of Dawson Brianna, Erotic Brianna, and Pierced Brianna.

Maybe the last name is actually "Blank"

Try one of the other registration APIs listed at slnamewatch.com.

The one at Modular Systems gives you almost all of the active last names, so that's where I'd go if I had one in mind.

http://modularsystems.sl/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=19

Click the "boost" link to get the big list of names.

Wait...you don't pick a last name anymore??????

The main site limits the names available on the list and only after you've typed a first name. (^_^)y

It's actually a small subset of the available last names. About 1/3 of them I think. If you just click the button to let you edit your first name and put the same first name in, it will refresh the list randomly again.

I suggest slnamewatch.com also. Most of those APIs have a flat list of last names instead of the cooky LL randomizer.

Did she say cooky? Yes, folks, she did.

Thank you everyone and especially a certain someone who clued me in right away - I got it!!!!!

The API location worked like a charm!!! Amazing how much nicer the newer avatars look too!

Indeed. I had good luck with using a portal run by a national group, which I found through that site. And this was true even though I don't speak more than a few words of that language; it was easy to figure out what was being asked and the process of getting the last name I wanted took only a couple of minutes.

and if you have the misfortune to want a name that only appears on a foreign reg api, just copy the page to translate.google.com, or babelfish.yahoo.com to figure out what you need to put where... also note that some of the api's will require an email that isn't current'y being used in the SL database (even though LL alows it)

Czari- I think we can also assume the first two u did and weren't able to activate are proly still 'out there' - thing is somehow kinked to the email- i did one not long ago - one of the Afterthought last names- and was never able to activate it- I used my regular email and it failed.
Might be able to fix with LL themselves never tried.

They say they've fixed the broken email page, you might want to try again acking your emails.

i wish Id known names were limited when I joined sl...Id have set up a wicked brother alt..... would have been particularly effective with the surname Janus.

I was thinking that, so before I posted the original OP, I went into SL and tried to search the two names to see if they were actually *there* but I just couldn't access them due to email problems.

The Live Help Support Rep. already told me the names weren't showing up in the system, but his advice to "try another browser" sounded a bit lame, which is why I wanted to see if they existed for myself.

When I used the specific API method to which I was pointed, I was able to secure one of the two original names I had tried to register, so at least the one I got wasn't really registered prior!