Character Limits for Names in WoW

By Cristel Wood

Updated September 22, 2017

"World of Warcraft" is a game that allows players to immerse themselves in a fantasy world that is rich with lore. Although there is an option to change your character name for a fee, choosing a name that you are happy with is an important step in creating a new character. Blizzard, the company who produces "World of Warcraft," has naming restrictions that ban offensive, copy written and nonsensical names. Blizzard also has a limit on how many characters, and what type of characters, can be included in the name you choose.

Character Names

Upon creating a new character in "World of Warcraft," you will be prompted to choose a name for your character. Character names are limited to 12 characters and must abide by Blizzard's name restrictions. Character names are not allowed to include racist, sexist, sexual, vulgar or defamatory references. In addition, names cannot include trademarked names, such as "Yoshi" from "Super Mario Brothers," real-life titles, gibberish, advertising or "leet speak," otherwise known as common gamer slang. Names cannot contain spaces or punctuation marks, but can contain accented characters. All names will automatically be corrected so that they begin with a capital letter followed by lowercase letters.

Guild Names

"World of Warcraft" has an option for players to create guilds, allowing groups of like-minded individuals to share a guild chat channel and a guild bank, and create guild events. Upon the creation of a guild, you will be asked to name your guild. Guild names are limited to 32 characters but must still follow Blizzards restrictions as to appropriate content. Unlike character names, guild names may include spaces and are case-sensitive. The guilds "Mighty Hunters of Azeroth" and "Mighty hunters of Azeroth" can exist on the same server because of the capitalization of "h" in the word "hunters." Guild names cannot contain punctuation marks but may contain accented characters.

Pet Names

The "hunter" character class in "World of Warcraft" allows players to customize the name of their class pets. Pet names are limited to 12 characters and must follow the naming restrictions established by Blizzard. Pet names cannot be inappropriate, vulgar, offensive or profane. Unlike character names, however, pet names may use capital letters. For example, the pet name "ThisIsAPet" would be acceptable. You cannot use a name that contains punctuation marks or spaces, but you can use accented characters.

Chat Channel Names

"World of Warcraft" allows players to create their own custom chat channels. The option is located under the social, "O," menus. Choose "Add" to create a channel and you will be prompted to create a name for your channel. Although there is no character limit for chat channels, channels names must still abide by Blizzard's restrictions for appropriate names. Also consider the ease with which people can join a channel. For example, typing "/join Mightyhunters" is much easier than typing "/join MightyhuntersofAzerothwhodefeatednumerousbossesinmanydungeons."

Surnames

Although there is currently no official way to add a surname to a character in "World of Warcraft," it is possible to add a surname to a character, or even change a character name, using one of the many available role-play add-ons. Only players using the same add-on as you will be able to see your character's surname, or new name, but there is no character limit, in most add-ons, for the name itself. Keep in mind that role-play add-ons are used by role players and that long, indecipherable names will likely be viewed unfavorably by lore-driven role players.

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