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Do names affect your tulpa's personality?


TheGreenQueen

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I put this on my profile, but thought I'd share it, too.

 

Nameless: in the spirit that names are arbitrary, also acknowledging the possibility that names affect personality http://theweek.com/articles/477557/how-names-influence-destinies I have decided to let this one name himself, when he wishes. In some cultures, choosing or changing a name is commonplace, and tulpas provide a unique chance to forgo them entirely. He is the youngest and least developed tulpa I have, and as such has not formed a concrete sense of self yet. Also the only intentionally made tulpa. All others started as soulbonds. He is a griffin of a black raven/white lion back half. Has some shapeshifting ability. (black)

 

This guy also has a contentious relationships with names, so he says call him Rain for now. Like an online pseudonym. Here is his short story. He is . . . um, mostly human. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nC3GqOGFEOs8pkyUptidlSQSnbcw4peWzexAaWKHb_Q/edit?usp=sharing He is based somewhat on an irl friend's struggles, somewhat on a few characters I like. [color#040880] (dark blue)

Woodwindwhistler on www.asexuality.org

 

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. -Eric Hoffer

 

"We can never achieve perfection, but maybe we can approach it asymptotically. Never give up on plugging in those numbers!" ~Me

 

You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note. –Doug Floyd

 

My poetry: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5qMnL2tDkJYOGNhLW4tRHFHa0E&usp=sharing

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I absolutely think that names affect a person's (or a tulpa's) personality.

 

Pelham, Mirenberg and Jones (2002) found that the names Jerry, Dennis and Walter were the 39th, 40th, and 41st most frequent male names in the 1990 census (moreover the absolute frequency of (Jerry+Walter)/2 was almost identical to that of Dennis). But in a nationwide search they found 482 dentists named Dennis but just 257 named Walter, and 270 named Jerry, a highly statistical significant difference.

 

Now granted, that's not a very big difference. Although people named Dennis are almost twice as likely to become dentists as people with other names, people named Dennis (or Denise) still account for a fraction of a percent of all dentists, so it's not as big a link as people suggest, but it is still a link.

"Some things have to be believed to be seen." - Ralph Hodgson

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  • 4 weeks later...

Another interesting article about the psychological effect of phonology of names: http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/07/girls-and-boys-names-literally-sound-different.html

 

I wonder, if you have a particularly vivid auditory in your mind, will this effect be stronger?

Woodwindwhistler on www.asexuality.org

 

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. -Eric Hoffer

 

"We can never achieve perfection, but maybe we can approach it asymptotically. Never give up on plugging in those numbers!" ~Me

 

You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note. –Doug Floyd

 

My poetry: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5qMnL2tDkJYOGNhLW4tRHFHa0E&usp=sharing

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I think naming your tulpa has a similar effect on it as the general expectations you have for their personality. For a lot of people, they give their tulpas names which they feel suit them, or the personality that they envision them with. And I do think this has an impact on how they develop. However, perhaps not more than the general personality expectancy, itself. There's a good chance they'd turn out the same with or without the name.

If you don't have a personality in mind, it's possible that your general feelings about the name you give them could shape their development in some way.

"If this can be avoided, it should. If it can't, then it would be better if it could be. If it happened and you're thinking back to it, try and think back further. Try not to avoid it with your mind. If any of this is possible, it may be helpful. If not, it won't be."

 

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Guest Anonymous

What if my new tulpa was not named Yoda but Sigmund P. Lovebottoms instead? *gasp* What if my name was Gus?

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To the topic question: No. The personality affects the relationship to the name. I borrow my Wonderland cosmology from fairy lore, so Lusmore's aesthetic may be pirate (accidental tulpa, I am more into ninjas personally) but what he "is" is a fairy. So he gets named after a flower, because I wanted a referent that keeps with some pop fairy lore theme. He humored me that far, but wouldn't just give me a name in the first place. My first thought was Kelp; he said emphatically no to that.

 

I doubt it would have changed his personality had I insisted, but it would definitely have changed our relationship had I insisted upon what he obviously disliked.

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No, there aren't any connections between the names and the personalities here, but these weren't even decided by the host.

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There are names that sound "good" or "bad" (or "mean" or "annoying") to every individual based on their experience(s) with people who have those names. But what sounds like a negative name to one person, as is their unfairly strict employer, can sound like a beautiful name to another person, as is their significant other. So the effect a name has on a tulpa, in relation to unconsciously associating them on the host's part, depends on the host's experience. Giving your tulpa a neutral sounding "average" name versus one from a fictitious character may have some effects on their personality over time just as the host perceives them. But, the tulpa tends to claim the name over time, as does a child or new friend with a name you previously stereotyped.

 

We're obviously "named after" Touhou characters, so maybe that had some effect. Lucilyn treats Suwako like another person (who she likes to take after), while we treat our namesakes like fictitious versions of ourselves. But to be fair, that is exactly what they are. We did originally show up as basically the characters as far as Lumi's preferred interpretation of their personalities went. Seeing our names written somewhere at random will bring us to mind first, then the character, while seeing Suwako brings mainly the character to mind. Hard to tell if that's really affected us when we're just as closely related in appearance as name, though.

Hi, I'm Tewi, one of Luminesce's tulpas. I often switch to take care of things for the others.

All I want is a simple, peaceful life. With my family.

Our Ask thread: https://community.tulpa.info/thread-ask-lumi-s-tulpas

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There are names that sound "good" or "bad" (or "mean" or "annoying") to every individual based on their experience(s) with people who have those names. But what sounds like a negative name to one person, as is their unfairly strict employer, can sound like a beautiful name to another person, as is their significant other. So the effect a name has on a tulpa, in relation to unconsciously associating them on the host's part, depends on the host's experience.

 

Ah, yes, I could see that.

 

Seeing our names written somewhere at random will bring us to mind first

 

That's interesting. My two Gasters are so far divorced from the source material that even seeing pictures of him don't bring them to mind. However, Toriel and Asgore are similar enough that they intwine.

Woodwindwhistler on www.asexuality.org

 

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. -Eric Hoffer

 

"We can never achieve perfection, but maybe we can approach it asymptotically. Never give up on plugging in those numbers!" ~Me

 

You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note. –Doug Floyd

 

My poetry: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5qMnL2tDkJYOGNhLW4tRHFHa0E&usp=sharing

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