You are probably right (I forget all the technical stuff and didn't look it up before posting) but I think the bottom line remains - no one currently playing wants to lose their name if it's avoidable.
But for example, if someone's been subbed for 3 years, and still has a sub going to the end of 2013, but hasn't logged in for a 9 months, they would get priority over someone F2P or someone who just started playing six months ago that is active (if I remember right).
If I can convince the guys up top to do a name purge before the server merge, this may alleviate some of the naming issues with the merge itself. (NO promises! But I'll see what I can do.)