What is in a name? [Archive] - Wizards Community

What is in a name? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
DwarvinJedi
09-05-04, 05:04 PM So, I am terrible at coming up with good names that reflect my character, so this forum is for people to share their tips on creating good and memorable names
CHEESE GOD
09-05-04, 11:19 PM Think back to when the character was given their name, was it at birth? By a teacher or mentor? Or did they themself come up with their name?

If you just want a random name i'm sure there are tons of generators out there. Or you could just start with a couple letters, like G and H.

Go from there, Gh..arick. Gharick, Gharick of Dragons.

Ta da! Piece of cake. Maybe their name reflects their abilities. Kanedale the strong, Tyut the wise, Derux silvertongue, or Gahd strongarm.

Maybe it reflects an accomplishment. Po vanquisher of kobolds, Yan defeater of trolls, or Gahjan champion of the mountain.

Or maybe it's just a name given to them by their parents, like Kyle Swanson.
Mawtaw
09-06-04, 10:20 AM What I always use is I roll a d20 to get a consenant at the beginning of the name and then use a d6 for a,e,i,o,u,y and then just start rolling where it seems necessary for either a consenant or a vowel until I get something that sounds like a name. It usually works pretty well.
krichaiushii
09-06-04, 10:37 AM Depending on the culture, there could be LOTS in a name.

Let us pull some real-world references from here (http://genealogy.about.com/od/naming_patterns/), here (http://www.gaminggeeks.org/Resources/KateMonk/index.htm), and Link (http://www.behindthename.com/).

The first link runs to naming practices for all sorts of cultures. Patrilineal, matrilineal, etc. The second link is a wonderful tool - figure out what culture you are trying to mimic (say all your world's Dwarves have Germanic names) and seek out the appropriate list. Male and female names are provided, as are surnames and naming history (for some cultures). The third link is similar to number two, but different format.

I once had some links to pages that provided the meaning of names, but have lost them. Google up some name-pages and see what that gets you.

Some writers (and parents) use names of characters to represent ideas - such as a fictional character described as being very pure being named Chastity. No doubt, they have access to the naming links I have lost.
DwarvinJedi
09-06-04, 10:54 AM Thanks for the links
TheMightyMcClaw
09-07-04, 12:41 PM For D&D, I am very fond of Chinese-style "Professional Names" regardless of what psuedo-culture the character belongs too. "Ogre Knife" Wei, "Dragon King who Roils the Sea" Lao, "Unstoppable Thundering Braggart" Lu, etc.
Trydan
09-07-04, 04:01 PM As a DM, I need a lot of names for all my NPCs. So I keep an eye on the boards, and if I see something that takes my fancy, I jot it down. The same goes for computer games, e-zines, books, and so on. Of course, I will sometimes change the spelling of them, to match my language and that of my campaign world. Or sometimes just to make something slightly different from what would otherwise be recognised.

But, make sure you keep them in a standard place. For me, it is on the computer. An alias, names, will bring up an editor with my list. To date, there are aout 440 entries.

And, of course, as I use them, I annotate each entry with the race, class, and a brief description. As an example, one line in the file reads as follows:

Turstin [Hu,Com,Nid] Miller and grain merchant (horse-drawn mill)
The name is Thurstin, he is a human, commoner (NPC class) from Nidorf ("Nid" is the three-letter code for that village). He is a miller and grain merchant, and owns a horse-drawn mill.

Thus, if I want to find all the NPCs in a given town, I can search (I use grep) for "Nid]" or whatever. For a class, I search on ",Com,". Easy.

I hope that helps...
thinkhard
09-07-04, 07:59 PM The trick to making fantasy names....
if you're going for random creation....

Balance all consonant and vowel sounds, usually repeat a vowel sound or if the name is enough syllables, repeat a consonant.

Here's an example of name missapropriation:

Lenara

Sounds so/so....now lets add in an extra "n"....

Lenarna

ANNOYING AS CRAP, MAN!

Avoid putting similar consonant sounds too close together, or it just sounds stupid. And also, don't look to fantasy books. If you ever said those names aloud, you might realize how dumb most of them sound.
Also, possibly give your names a framing feel. Same sound at beginning and end, if you like it.

Tendrist
Kerrik
Rogahnor

Those are just some minor pointers that can be used in conjunction with other methods.
Persephone Imytholin
09-08-04, 10:19 AM It depends on the character, to a large extent. Especially as a DMing resource, get a good idea of naming conventions for a given culture. If you're playing a campaign in Rome, for example, then 'Bob the Fighter' would look very odd next to 'Tiberius Gaius Gracchus'.
GMGen, a bundled add-on for PCGen, has a name generator with these kinds of things programmed in.

For a few general rules:
Say the name aloud a few times - it'll get used a lot in-game.
Make sure you know how to pronounce the name properly.
If your name has a meaning, try sharing it with your DM.
Avoid overly long names, unless there's a convenient nickname that you're happy to use.
Avoid overly complex names, since they're hard to remember and use.

Lastly, as a follow-up to Trydan's suggestion, Access (or an OpenOffice.org Spreadsheet with MySQL support) will work if you don't use 'nix (or MacOS, which is really BSD). Or, you can get PC ports of common unix utils for working on plain text. As an example, my PC has grep, ls, less, gzip, cat and a couple of others.
PSchirf
09-11-04, 09:07 AM Names of lesser known men from Arthurian Legends (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=235868)
annalivvie
09-15-04, 06:43 PM This is what I generally do...
First, think about where the character comes from, especially if they are a race other than human. Sometimes you will have a family name. If you are using a family name, look in the players handbook, and see how the elven, dwarven, example names sound. There is always a similarity in the use of consonants and rhythms, go from there. You can also try to model them after things that are revered by certain races, or even use your background and choose a name that would reflect things that are revered in your character's society, or by their ideals.
If you are choosing a new name, not a family name, think hard about who your character is at this point in his or her life. You can take the sound of the racial names if applicable and then put your personal spin on it like I mentioned before, but choose something, perhaps more succint and definite. At this point in your life, you have chosen your own name, and it mostly reflects who it is that you have become.
Also there are handy links online that may help you. Choose a group whose name that you may think will fit. I often use Celtic or Greek for high fantasy, the names are strong and you can switch things around, and make them your own.
Also you may try to search for names by meaning. For instance, I have a female paladin whose name is Ilithya. She's a half-celestial, and I wanted her name to sound lovely and strong. So I chose a lenghty-ish name that was attractive, but meant, "goddess of women in labor". I have an elf who started with the name Llwynedd. I liked the sound and I created my own meaning. Since she was young she still had her family name, Llwynedd Elleth Aranel Estanesse of Ara. I used some different sites about elven language to establish the remainder of her family name, which in the end, meant Beloved Elven, Firstborn of Dawn. You have famial order there with firstborn, you have a family rank, and a family name, Dawn. Later her name became Alolan. She renamed herself, her name now meaning guardian of the grove... The grove is the place that she watches and protects as a druid and her name literally means, Grove. So you can easily tweak naming and make it work for you.
If all else fails, and youre tired of thinking, try www.babynames.com.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DwarvinJedi 09-05-04, 05:04 PM	So, I am terrible at coming up with good names that reflect my character, so this forum is for people to share their tips on creating good and memorable names
CHEESE GOD 09-05-04, 11:19 PM	Think back to when the character was given their name, was it at birth? By a teacher or mentor? Or did they themself come up with their name? If you just want a random name i'm sure there are tons of generators out there. Or you could just start with a couple letters, like G and H. Go from there, Gh..arick. Gharick, Gharick of Dragons. Ta da! Piece of cake. Maybe their name reflects their abilities. Kanedale the strong, Tyut the wise, Derux silvertongue, or Gahd strongarm. Maybe it reflects an accomplishment. Po vanquisher of kobolds, Yan defeater of trolls, or Gahjan champion of the mountain. Or maybe it's just a name given to them by their parents, like Kyle Swanson.
Mawtaw 09-06-04, 10:20 AM	What I always use is I roll a d20 to get a consenant at the beginning of the name and then use a d6 for a,e,i,o,u,y and then just start rolling where it seems necessary for either a consenant or a vowel until I get something that sounds like a name. It usually works pretty well.
krichaiushii 09-06-04, 10:37 AM	Depending on the culture, there could be LOTS in a name. Let us pull some real-world references from here (http://genealogy.about.com/od/naming_patterns/), here (http://www.gaminggeeks.org/Resources/KateMonk/index.htm), and Link (http://www.behindthename.com/). The first link runs to naming practices for all sorts of cultures. Patrilineal, matrilineal, etc. The second link is a wonderful tool - figure out what culture you are trying to mimic (say all your world's Dwarves have Germanic names) and seek out the appropriate list. Male and female names are provided, as are surnames and naming history (for some cultures). The third link is similar to number two, but different format. I once had some links to pages that provided the meaning of names, but have lost them. Google up some name-pages and see what that gets you. Some writers (and parents) use names of characters to represent ideas - such as a fictional character described as being very pure being named Chastity. No doubt, they have access to the naming links I have lost.
DwarvinJedi 09-06-04, 10:54 AM	Thanks for the links
TheMightyMcClaw 09-07-04, 12:41 PM	For D&D, I am very fond of Chinese-style "Professional Names" regardless of what psuedo-culture the character belongs too. "Ogre Knife" Wei, "Dragon King who Roils the Sea" Lao, "Unstoppable Thundering Braggart" Lu, etc.
Trydan 09-07-04, 04:01 PM	As a DM, I need a lot of names for all my NPCs. So I keep an eye on the boards, and if I see something that takes my fancy, I jot it down. The same goes for computer games, e-zines, books, and so on. Of course, I will sometimes change the spelling of them, to match my language and that of my campaign world. Or sometimes just to make something slightly different from what would otherwise be recognised. But, make sure you keep them in a standard place. For me, it is on the computer. An alias, names, will bring up an editor with my list. To date, there are aout 440 entries. And, of course, as I use them, I annotate each entry with the race, class, and a brief description. As an example, one line in the file reads as follows: Turstin [Hu,Com,Nid] Miller and grain merchant (horse-drawn mill) The name is Thurstin, he is a human, commoner (NPC class) from Nidorf ("Nid" is the three-letter code for that village). He is a miller and grain merchant, and owns a horse-drawn mill. Thus, if I want to find all the NPCs in a given town, I can search (I use grep) for "Nid]" or whatever. For a class, I search on ",Com,". Easy. I hope that helps...
thinkhard 09-07-04, 07:59 PM	The trick to making fantasy names.... if you're going for random creation.... Balance all consonant and vowel sounds, usually repeat a vowel sound or if the name is enough syllables, repeat a consonant. Here's an example of name missapropriation: Lenara Sounds so/so....now lets add in an extra "n".... Lenarna ANNOYING AS CRAP, MAN! Avoid putting similar consonant sounds too close together, or it just sounds stupid. And also, don't look to fantasy books. If you ever said those names aloud, you might realize how dumb most of them sound. Also, possibly give your names a framing feel. Same sound at beginning and end, if you like it. Tendrist Kerrik Rogahnor Those are just some minor pointers that can be used in conjunction with other methods.
Persephone Imytholin 09-08-04, 10:19 AM	It depends on the character, to a large extent. Especially as a DMing resource, get a good idea of naming conventions for a given culture. If you're playing a campaign in Rome, for example, then 'Bob the Fighter' would look very odd next to 'Tiberius Gaius Gracchus'. GMGen, a bundled add-on for PCGen, has a name generator with these kinds of things programmed in. For a few general rules: Say the name aloud a few times - it'll get used a lot in-game. Make sure you know how to pronounce the name properly. If your name has a meaning, try sharing it with your DM. Avoid overly long names, unless there's a convenient nickname that you're happy to use. Avoid overly complex names, since they're hard to remember and use. Lastly, as a follow-up to Trydan's suggestion, Access (or an OpenOffice.org Spreadsheet with MySQL support) will work if you don't use 'nix (or MacOS, which is really BSD). Or, you can get PC ports of common unix utils for working on plain text. As an example, my PC has grep, ls, less, gzip, cat and a couple of others.
PSchirf 09-11-04, 09:07 AM	Names of lesser known men from Arthurian Legends (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=235868)
annalivvie 09-15-04, 06:43 PM	This is what I generally do... First, think about where the character comes from, especially if they are a race other than human. Sometimes you will have a family name. If you are using a family name, look in the players handbook, and see how the elven, dwarven, example names sound. There is always a similarity in the use of consonants and rhythms, go from there. You can also try to model them after things that are revered by certain races, or even use your background and choose a name that would reflect things that are revered in your character's society, or by their ideals. If you are choosing a new name, not a family name, think hard about who your character is at this point in his or her life. You can take the sound of the racial names if applicable and then put your personal spin on it like I mentioned before, but choose something, perhaps more succint and definite. At this point in your life, you have chosen your own name, and it mostly reflects who it is that you have become. Also there are handy links online that may help you. Choose a group whose name that you may think will fit. I often use Celtic or Greek for high fantasy, the names are strong and you can switch things around, and make them your own. Also you may try to search for names by meaning. For instance, I have a female paladin whose name is Ilithya. She's a half-celestial, and I wanted her name to sound lovely and strong. So I chose a lenghty-ish name that was attractive, but meant, "goddess of women in labor". I have an elf who started with the name Llwynedd. I liked the sound and I created my own meaning. Since she was young she still had her family name, Llwynedd Elleth Aranel Estanesse of Ara. I used some different sites about elven language to establish the remainder of her family name, which in the end, meant Beloved Elven, Firstborn of Dawn. You have famial order there with firstborn, you have a family rank, and a family name, Dawn. Later her name became Alolan. She renamed herself, her name now meaning guardian of the grove... The grove is the place that she watches and protects as a druid and her name literally means, Grove. So you can easily tweak naming and make it work for you. If all else fails, and youre tired of thinking, try www.babynames.com.