Virtual realms: characters with the same name?

[MarilynMaelstrom]

Hello, everyone!!
I noticed that there is a character in another realm with the same name as my main character. What's going to happen when our realms be "merged" with the new virtual realms feature?
Will i be forced to change my character name?
There are some guilds with the same name too. What's going to happen to them?

Thank you!!

[Sicarius87]

Theyve already stated that people will retain their own names. It's just like now with Cross Realm Zones with people of the same name or in LFR/LFD. Those people will have an * next to their name. For Cross server, its going to be a #. Everything is staying the same. No name changes are required.

[Feral Camel]

I believe your name will be presented in the same way it does for battlegrounds.

[Vindicer]

You may wish to read this article that appeared on the front page a few days back.

Now the quote in the article I linked is different to what appeared on the front page, so he's the other version:

Q. How can I tell if someone is on my Connected Realm, but from a different realm?
A. Similar to how we use the (*) symbol next to a player’s name to denote if they’re from another realm in Raid Finder, Dungeons, Scenarios, or a cross-realm zone, we’ll be using a (#) symbol to indicate that someone is part of your Connected Realm, but not your home realm.

Hope this helps.
-Vin-