Don't name the baby Thrall
WoW is a phenomenon that extends beyond the virtual world and into our everyday lives. An excellent example of this is Bunnypasta's recent forum post. She asked players for suggestions of WoW-related names for her as-yet unborn bundle of joy.
This isn't the first time I have heard of something like this. In fact, one of my former guildies recently had a child, and gave the little girl the middle name of his best-friend's character. Now I'm not sure that carrying around the name of a rogue will influence her personality, come to think of it.
I know the Warcraft universe is filled with many lovely names. If I were to suggest a subtle name for a WoW-player-to-be, I would probably lean more towards the lilting names of some of the lore's female heroines, Tyrande, Shandris, Azshara, Garona. But then again, selecting names of famous Warcraft characters might not count as "subtle." What about places within Azeroth? There are dozens of amazing names for locations that might work as baby names: Brill, Feralas, Auberdine, to name a few. It's not that easy to come up with names that don't immediately scream "I got this from my favorite video game."
One of the CMs made an interesting point in the thread, saying that he wouldn't suggest naming a child after WoW, since it's a fairly permanent decision that you could come to regret later. I'm not so sure. I am of the opinion that if you feel passionate about something, be it online gaming, gardening or English Literature, then even if that passion fades you will still have a fondness for it. Granted it takes a certain kind of person to commit to naming their child after virtual characters. But I know plenty of people that have named their children after songs, movies, and even in a few cases, products. How is naming your child after WoW any different?