🖋️ Should WoW Finally Introduce Surnames?

Community General Discussion
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Hello There,

I’ve been playing World of Warcraft for a long time now—since the Vanilla era—and through all those years, I’ve carried a deep love for the stories we build within this world. Every character I create, every name I choose, holds meaning. It’s a piece of Me, a reflection of my fantasy, my imagination, my story and our shared passion, and in many cases, even our history with the game.

But one thing that has always been a quiet frustration is the way character names are handled.

How many times have you carefully crafted the perfect name, only to be met with that disappointing “That name is unavailable” message? And sometimes, it’s not even taken by an active player! These names are locked away, never used, sitting in a vault of forgotten characters that haven’t logged in for years. It feels like a missed opportunity, not just for us as players but for the world itself—a world that thrives on its heroes, its identities, and the legacies we leave behind.

Over time, Blizzard has introduced more naming options, but the issue persists. We’ve had to get creative—adding accents like É, Ë, È, or resorting to quirky spellings just to hold on to a name we resonate with. (Looking at you, Elisá with the sneaky accent!) It works, but it never quite feels the same.

And yet, the solution feels so simple: surnames.

Many other MMOs and RPGs have embraced a surname system, and it has brought so much richness to a character identity—especially in roleplaying communities. Some of us already use addons like Total RP to display last names, but it’s not quite the same as having it truly exist in the game itself.

Imagine the possibilities:

  • No more battling for first names—multiple players could finally be Elisa, but with different surnames.
  • It would add depth and personal identity to every character, even outside of RP.
  • It would let us build true legacies—names that carry weight, names that feel like they belong in the world.

Blizzard has made some efforts over the years, like freeing up names from inactive accounts. But wouldn’t a proper surname system be a better, more compassionate solution? One that allows new and returning players alike to finally claim the names that mean something to them?

:pray: This game has always been about adventure, identity, and the stories we forge along the way. Wouldn’t it be time for our names to reflect that too?

What do you think? Would you love to finally give your characters their full names? Or do you feel Blizzard has other priorities? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Thank you for reading, and may your adventures always be legendary. Shadows watch over you. :prayer_beads:

17 Likes
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Seen this proposed a few times and enjoyed it in other games.

Would be so nice. The game has been going a long time and finding ways to get a name you want becomes harder and harder over time.

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Would it be nice? Most definitely.

However…

Yes and it’s more focus on competitive nonsense sadly.

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Yes, but keep it optional.

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I think that we should just have the option to add a singular space in the name. If you want to add a surname do so, if not then just don’t. Then you get the best of both worlds. Although I have to say, if this is done at all it’ll probably ruin the amazing chat commands that wow has as using a space normally switches chats rather than requiring you to use enter and start a new message.

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I like the idea of surnames, but I wouldn’t want it to be warband wide. Because it just doesn’t make sense that a troll and a human and pandaren all share the same surname.

Of course it should also be something you can hide; like a title.

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surnames would mean marriage and family integration in game

im sure people on argent dawn EU … or any other RP’ers would love it

but it would have its downsides and upkeep
like the taboo names … we dont want half the population giving themselves names of bad people

imagine people using their surname to make their name more rude

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If optional sure. Could be neat.
From an in character point of view, many of my characters don’t have/use surnames so I wouldn’t want to be forced to have to come up with and see some placeholder name just because I have to.

If it’s just to free up name slots they could just adapt something similar to the Bnet-name system of random # added to any duplicate names. Hidden from view outside of chat/party interactions of course.
A bit more cumbersome but that’s the price one gotta pay for an unoriginal name x)

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They already can… with the Smelly and Salty titles. :sweat_smile:

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That’s definitely a valid concern, and I appreciate you bringing it up!

Surnames could absolutely enhance family integration and roleplay, but they also offer something deeper—a sense of identity and legacy for all players, not just RPers. It’s something that many MMOs have already implemented successfully without major issues.

As for people using inappropriate surnames, I think Blizzard already has systems in place to handle this. They already enforce naming policies for first names, and those could easily extend to surnames as well. Plus, with the advancements in AI moderation, filtering out bad or offensive names has become a lot more efficient. Many modern games already use AI-assisted name filtering, so I’m sure there are solutions that could help regulate this without needing constant manual moderation.

Other MMOs and RPGs have struggled with this too, yet they’ve managed to implement surname systems successfully. If other games have already found ways to fix these issues, surely Blizzard—who has decades of experience in MMO design—could do the same.

The benefits far outweigh the risks, in my opinion:

:heavy_check_mark: More freedom to name your character uniquely without weird spellings or accents.
:heavy_check_mark: A way to connect characters through family names, guilds, or even organizations.
:heavy_check_mark: A richer RP experience, but also an improved MMO experience overall.

At the end of the day, names are important to us. They help define our characters, their stories, and our own connection to the world of Azeroth. If Blizzard ever considers this, I’m sure they’d put the right safeguards in place!

Would love to hear more thoughts on how people think this could work in practice. Maybe a toggleable surname system so those who want it can use it, and those who don’t can ignore it? :blush:

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I completely agree, a simple option like to add a space in names would be like the best of both worlds. Those who want surnames can have them, and those who don’t can keep things as they are.

Maybe Blizzard could implement a workaround, like requiring quotation marks around multi-word names for commands? It wouldn’t be perfect, but it’d be a small price to pay for a feature that would massively improve RP and immersion!

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It might be a simple idea but it’d be a colossal undertaking simply because of it being a database issue, and practically every interaction and NPC reference of you by your name.

It wouldn’t be worth it.

At best, and simplest solution, would be an editable title.

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Another proposal I’ve seen over the years is that we’d be attached to our btag, similarly to the way realm names work now when there is more than one person with the same name.

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Or, maybe, link the name to the warband ?

But, i would to get a surnames for my characters

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Yeah Warband is also good suggestion.

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They dont enforce the name rule on RP realms already sadly so they would not for surname’s

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No. I don’t wanna see 100 variations of “Nightshade” or “Luna” and other extremely generic names that u see in FFXIV.

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Unless it’s purely optional, no thank you. Perhaps a free-text title which is a ‘family name’ and can be amended only at a certain periodicity per character?

Otherwise I could do without ever longer names and titles, thanks.

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I totally get the concern about an influx of overly common surnames like “Nightshade” or “Luna” (looking at you, every fantasy MMO ever). But honestly, I still think an optional surname system would add more than it takes away.

For one, it’d be a game-changer for RP. Right now, a lot of us have to work around the lack of surnames with addons or clever naming tricks, but having it built into the game would make things so much smoother. It’d also help players carve out unique identities, especially on servers where every good name is already taken.

Yeah, you’d see some repetition, but that’s already the case with first names. Blizzard could always put in light restrictions to prevent every other person from being a “Darkfang Bloodmoon” or whatever. And for those who don’t want a surname? Just don’t use it. Simple fix. you also could take a title like. The Great. for example.

At the end of the day, more customization is usually a win, and I’d love to see WoW take a step in that direction. <3

:candle: Shadows watch over you. :candle:

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Yeah, I think I prefer Luna over johnnyret and johnnydk. I want more of Luna. Same as parents lacking name creativity and naming 20% of the pop the same way. And you know what? They’re great names and that’s why they’re popular. AND I’ll take them over mariapriest or the like.

2 Likes