a rose, by any other name, would be ooXxxROSExxXoo

[arabeth]

so, in GW2 character names are world wide:

http://www.arena.net/blog/reserving-your-character-name-for-guild-wars-2

that's really only a problem for dummies like me who like extremely common names.  but at least we can do last names and have 19 characters to fill, right? 

another nice thing is that if you DO get a name, you can delete your character and the name is still "yours" for 24 hours before being released into the general public to get snatched away by someone else.  so other than the first mad grab, we commoners should be fine!

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/45994-character-name-question/