Animal Crossing island names and why you can't change it
Make sure you choose wisely!
Even if you have never played it, the chances are that you will have heard all about Animal Crossing New Horizons, The game has an exciting new Mario update, and players are currently on the hunt for young spring bamboo now that spring is starting.
But if you are looking to get the game for the first time, one of the key things you will do very early on is to give your new tropical island virtual home a name - and be warned that you cannot change it once that is done.
Here is all you need to know about naming your island in Animal Crossing, and the reason you never get an option to change it.
Naming your island in Animal Crossing
Once you are up and running in Animal Crossing, you will find that most things can be changed at a later point in the game. Buildings can be moved from one place to another and your appearance can go through an overhaul, but the one thing you can never do is to change the name.
So picking one initially is important but as you will be stuck with it, it could be best to not make it a name that is too personal to you - having to spend your time on an island named after an ex, for example, sounds like zero fun at all.
And you will see the name a lot too. Characters will refer to it by name, it will show in your passport (in-game not real life, just to clarify) so there is no shaking it if you find yourself stuck with a name that you no longer what.
Some other things to know about naming your island are:
- It can only be a maximum of 10 characters long.
- Any online friends you have will be able to see the name.
Why can't you change the name of your island in Animal Crossing?
As mentioned, the name you choose is the name you will always have - short of deleting the game and starting over which is not an option for us considering how much we have done to our islands.
As for why you can't change this when everything else can be amended, well there has never been an official stance on why that is. For us, we think the main reason is to keep things simple. The name of your island is used so much and is such a big part of your online identity, that to be able to keep changing it will mess with that and could well be confusing for other players who are planning to visit you.
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We do hope that the rules on this are relaxed and that you are allowed at least one name change at some point, but we won't be holding our breath as it does not seem like it's an idea on the developer's minds right now.
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