There is something about autumn in Second Life that always feels a little more dramatic than the changing of any other season. One minute we are standing barefoot on a Bellisseria beach wondering how summer disappeared so quickly, and the next we are knee-deep in pumpkins, fallen leaves, chunky sweaters, and landscaping inventories we had absolutely no intention of buying.
Yes, autumn has rolled around again.
And this year, Linden Lab has apparently decided that our avatars could use a little seasonal reinvention as well, because at long last, we have a new release of Second Life last names.
The latest batch brings sixteen new possibilities: Viridian, Fierce, Danger, Otter, Meow, Peach, Lark, Autumn, Oak, Willow, Cinnamon, Charm, Sunrise, Silverwood, Briar, and Butterfly.
It is an eclectic little collection, ranging from the slightly threatening — Fierce and Danger — to the wonderfully unserious Otter and Meow. Butterfly, Charm, Peach, and Lark have a softer whimsical quality, while Viridian sounds as though its owner either lives deep within an enchanted forest or has an exceptionally expensive skin.
But the timing of this release could hardly be better, because tucked among the new names are several that seem almost purpose-built for autumn.
Autumn is, obviously, the star of the seasonal show. There is something wonderfully Second Life about being able to wander through a landscape of flaming maples and golden grasses while actually being named Autumn. Then there is Cinnamon, which immediately conjures up warm kitchens, apple cider, pumpkin bread and all those things we collectively decide to become obsessed with somewhere around the middle of September.
Oak and Willow fit beautifully into the season as well, particularly for those of us already busily turning our virtual properties into woodland retreats. Briar has that slightly wild, overgrown cottage-garden quality that feels perfectly at home among stone walls, tangled hedgerows and the first fallen leaves. And Silverwood may be my favorite of the autumn-adjacent offerings: it sounds less like a surname and more like the name of an old estate hidden somewhere beyond the trees, reached by a winding lane nobody quite remembers putting on the map.
Even Sunrise seems appropriate as the days begin to feel cooler and the light takes on that softer golden quality that makes autumn in Second Life particularly photogenic.
Of course, the great Second Life naming tradition now begins: staring at the list and mentally attaching every possible first name to every possible surname until something clicks. Somewhere, someone is undoubtedly already creating an Autumn Cinnamon, while another resident is seriously considering whether Danger Meow might be the greatest avatar name ever devised.
And perhaps that is part of the fun. Autumn has always been a season of reinvention in Second Life. Regions change almost overnight, wardrobes get swapped out, houses are redecorated, trees turn red and gold, and suddenly everybody remembers they own approximately 4,700 pumpkins.
This year, some of us may be changing our names along with the leaves.
And really, if there were ever a season to become someone new, Autumn Oak, Cinnamon Briar, or something wonderfully ridiculous involving Danger and Otter, this seems like the perfect time to do it with this bumper crop of new last names.
Happy Harvest!
~ Arabella
Post Notes:
Blair Outfit by Addams at Kustom9: https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/kustom9/149/14/1003
Main photo by Aidy Fluffington and Second Life
Sponsored by:
Second Glances with Arabella 
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