last name question

Who thinks up the list of last names in the new account process? Can I ask for a specific name to be included? What about names which may slightly impinge on real humans ("Shatner" is a good one!)

Alas, Shatner was already used a while back, then retired as they do after "about 150 uses", though I suspect they get more uses these days, with the steady influx of throngs of new folks.

As far as who gets to pick the names, I think they just let various Lindens submit lists which are generally themed in some way.

Recently, some of the themes I have noticed were ones like aviation pioneers, train stations in Melbourne Australia, defunct airlines, famous writers, geological features, fighter aces from WWI and WWII, and defunct tech companies, just to name a few.

As far as choosing one yourself, they don't seem to allow that (except in the case of companies like Millions of Us, etc.), although, they have been hinting that in the future we may be able to choose (or change) our last names for a fee.

A very HUGE fee too.

I have heard they are trying to implement last names fairly soon (for LL that means somewhere in the 6-months-to-never time range), but that the fees they are thinking of are $1,000 USD for the name and $50 USD a year to keep it yours!!!

How great is that? Sometime in the near future they will announce this (or more likely leak it to the residents who are "friends of Lindens" first), and there will be a huge rush on names. The people without cash like myself will be treated to the spectacle their own RL names being bought out by whichever clever entrepreneur happens to be first and either rented back to you for an even more exorbitant fee, or sold to someone else.

RL names will come to Second Life, but your chances of getting your own RL name will be next to nil unless they introduce a long period of application, sorting and grading of applications etc. and judging by past performance at LL and their staffing woes, that seems to be a pipe dream.

It will be a first-come first-serve capitalist free-for-all with an extra helping of corruption and leaks on the side. Good luck to ya if you manage to actually get your RL name even then. If your last name is Smith, Lee, Jones, etc. give up now. Someone who finds out about the program the day before it is announced has already bought it.

This was announced a long while ago already on the resident feedback forum leading to a whole lot of discussion on it there, and hit the media on October 13th: http://news.com.com/2061-10797_3-6125932.html

As someone else pointed out when this was discussed recently, it would be a lot cheaper to change your rl name to match your avatar name lol.

I think this option is available now Jeremy, but it's targeted more to companies who want to purchase a bunch of accounts with surname that identifies with the company name.

I persuaded a friend of mine to join SL, and got a shock when he turned up with my RL surname! It certainly wasn't available when I had registered not all that long before, and when I looked again later it had gone.

look back a few weeks, this has been answered a few times....

Just a little question: why when a few days ago, when i looked to choose the last name, the list was long and full of cool names, and now that i've gone to register my brother the list is one tenth long and the names are all lame?
I must guess all the names i liked are forever gone, or is just a server glitch?

I want my real name too...but I am not paying no $1000.

I had a total stranger come up to me with my RL first AND last name in the middle of nowhere and ask me to borrow some Lindens to buy...naughty bits.

It still freaks me out thinking about it.

But I think they mine the RL last names of people that registered and throw some of those up from time to time as new names. I've heard several people say they saw their RL last names show up a few weeks after they registered.

It's kind of genius, really.

For instance, i've made an in-world search for "Claymore", the name he wanted, and they do not look to me like they're 500, barely maybe 150... so what?
why so many names were retired at once, and specifically the one i wanted seemingly without a just cause?

My real name was used up years ago, so I don't think anyone's going to be buying it. Looking at other names of the same vintage I'm rather amused by the company the put "me" in.

If one Owned a Name, Could one "Allow" others to use it? If i was paying a Grand plus a Monthly Feei I would want some way to recoup my Investment.

I CALL DIBS ON "SMITH!!"

Angel.

THAT would explain it! Especially since my name is unusual - well, OK, a lot of SL names are, but I was so surprised to see it. And of course my friend jumped on it when he saw it.