The name will not ever be freed up. Instead of deleting you char buy a name change off the ah. Then your name will be freed up.
When I came back about 4 months ago I deleted all my toons including my 55's and that same session was able to create my new toons with the same names. Maybe something has changed since then?
It is a relatively new problem. I am not sure but I believe it was introduced with the December patch that has caused so many other issues.
Yeah I just confirmed it. I recreated a toon with a name that I had deleted 4 months ago. I was able to use the name. Then I deleted him and tried to use the name again, and it was a no go. I read in another thread on this topic that the person having issues opened a support ticket and was informed via email when his name was freed up.
Yes, a CR is able to do what Druthlen is suggesting, rename the deleted toon and free up the name. His suggestion will work for those who can’t wait for the petition process. However, I would rather not give them money for a bug.
This seems to be part of the memory leaks issues - as in it is a new concern that has reared its head. A GM directly helped someone in game two nights ago (the GM noticed a player comment about their name not being available for them and told the player to send a /tell and the name would be freed up).