It’s time to celebrate–both the holiday and finally naming the littlest doll!

It’s been months, but the newest and smallest doll finally has a name. I’ve been trying to think of a name for her since she first arrived in early September. Naming dolls is always something I struggle with. I can think up plenty of potential names, but selecting one and actually sticking with it is hard. I realize that I could experiment and continually rename, but that tends to be too confusing for me to keep up with. If a doll’s name isn’t the “right” name, I simply forget it! Then I’m constantly struggling to remember what it was, if I can remember it at all. It just doesn’t stick.

I went through many options for the Pure Neemo doll–at first I considered lunar or celestial names. Her white hair and outfit reminded me of the moon…but I couldn’t come up with anything that seemed “right.” (I also have really strong associations with Sailor Moon, as that’s my favourite series ever, so anytime I tried to pick a lunar-inspired name that was what came to mind immediately, and the doll doesn’t really remind me of any characters from the series.)

I also considered a number of floral names, as that was a theme I used for quite a while prior to this doll. My Dollfie Dream is named Lily, and my Pullips also had floral names. There were numerous white flowers out there, and the Victorian ideas of “the language of flowers” can be useful when naming. However, none of the flowers or flower-inspired names that I read were what I was looking for.

One of my current obsessions is an anime series called Girls und Panzer. The fictional Japan that Girls und Panzer takes place in features tank driving as a martial art for girls. It follows one school’s tank team as they participate in a tank tournament. I love tanks, so this is perfect for me! In a recent episode the tank team faces a Russian-themed school. As the girls from the opposing team are driving along, they start singing “Katyusha,” a Russian wartime song about a young lady named “Katyusha” (a nickname for “Ekaterina”) waiting for the soldier she loves.

I braided her hair, to try and keep it neat and tidy. It’s very long and tangles easily. Plus, I think she looks cute with braids~

I found this moment in the show to be super, super cute. I also really like the song. (I’ve been humming it for days, and I’m trying to learn the lyrics, although I’m sure my Russian pronunciation is absolutely terrible.) I just love this scene! It’s so cute!

And thus I named her Katyusha~ ♥

(I also find this name amusing because “katyusha” is a term that comes up frequently in Japanese when used as a fashion term. I encounter it in lolita fashion constantly! “Katyusha” is a term that was adopted into the language to reference a headband, particularly a decorated or embellished headband. It comes up constantly on lolita fashion websites to reference a bow, or multiple bows, mounted on a headband. Like this!)

(She did come with a hairbow as one of her accessories, after all~)

I feel relieved that she finally has a name! We never even called her “Chiika,” it was always “that doll” or “the little doll” or “the white one.” It’s hard for me to feel like a doll is actually mine if it doesn’t even have a name.

And now she can start exchanging letters with someone at the Majokko Shop~! ♥