Holly Dash is an original character of series animator Holly Giesbrecht—who signed a contract—and is called by that name by Giesbrecht herself, who specified on April 18, 2011 that "Some co-workers dubbed me 'Holly Dash' because I had colorful hair, so my pony is named that", and Sabrina Alberghetti, both earlier than merchandise's use of the name for the character; Giesbrecht has also depicted the character's eye color as blue earlier than merchandise and (subsequently) the comics each have.