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Kris Strife
2009-03-10, 09:56 PM
I'm making a new char for a campaign and I've run into a familiar snag: Naming the character. I was wondering if any playgrounders would like to share their name creationtips, tricks and tools, or if I'm going to have to one day name a character "Bob Bobbington of Bobtown, located on senic planet Bob."

Dublock
2009-03-10, 09:58 PM
This is the thing I use http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/

Very nice for me :)

Oracle_Hunter
2009-03-10, 10:00 PM
Baby name generators. Just pick a language base and google "X baby names" and you'll find a whole bunch.

If you want to be really traditional, you can search "[race] name generator" for most D&D races. At some point, a Dragon Magazine was published with an article for each of 'em.

Skip last names too - those are usually more trouble than they're worth. If you must have one, you can google "[ethnicity] surnames" and find some nice pages too. Personally, I like adding titles to by character as he earns them through adventuring:

"I am Kairyn the Fierce, scourge of goblins, slayer of giants, and hero of Arrowfell!" :smallbiggrin:

arguskos
2009-03-10, 10:00 PM
I use name gens:

Here are the three I use:
Seventh Sanctum (http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index-name.php). A good name gen. for lots of things.

Fantasy Name Generator (http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/). A great fantasy name gen.

Behind the Name (http://www.behindthename.com/random/). Best one for realistic names.

Sstoopidtallkid
2009-03-10, 10:01 PM
I like taking a language that sounds like the concept(Russian or German for Tanks, romance languages for some Casters, Latin for Clerics), and then bablefishing a few words that further describe the character. I do this about halfway through the build, usually, so that even if someone backtraces all that I did, it still isn't completely accurate. My latest character to be built this way is called Aimer Cadav, which, while still not perfect IMHO, is considerably better than what I would have come up with otherwise.

Assassin89
2009-03-10, 10:02 PM
Anagrams of the names of people can help. I think there is also a random name generation somewhere on the internet. Sometimes the class of the character can help too for inspiring names.

Kris Strife
2009-03-10, 10:07 PM
Current char is a human paladin//favored soul of a home brew ascended half dragon paladin diety.

And a cookie for any one who gets the movie reference in the first post.

Anything for town/kingdom names? My players once met King Bob of the Kingdom of Fred when I got stumped for names.

Assassin89
2009-03-10, 10:13 PM
For towns or kingdoms, Video games can be inspiration. You could also combine certain words to create a themed name.

Rhiannon87
2009-03-10, 10:18 PM
Seventh Sanctum (someone linked it above) also has town/place name generators. Geographical locations can sometimes help with naming a place: people aren't always that creative, and hence you can get something like "Three Rivers" or "Bluesand Village". Or, if you have even the faintest idea of a history of the place, you can name it after a historical even that happened there. "Truce" can be the site of a great peace agreement, "Pyremount" could be built on the location where witches or sacrifices were burned...

As for general character names, if you can get your hands on any of the "Races Of..." books, they have name generators in them, which can be good if you're trying to come up with non-human names. And I cannot support the mentions of baby name websites enough. They are wonderfully useful for this sort of thing.

Graymayre
2009-03-10, 10:21 PM
Just remember, replacing vowels with apostrophes is cruise control for cool!

Random NPC
2009-03-10, 10:35 PM
Just remember, replacing vowels with apostrophes is cruise control for cool!

Even with cruise control for cool, you need to steer



G'r'sd'fh'jh'n'f'g'v'l

monty
2009-03-10, 10:42 PM
I'm terrible with names (it doesn't help that I usually play unusual races). Most cases, I make something up the day the game starts. Usually some sort of obscure reference to something that pops into my head at the last minute.

Teron
2009-03-10, 10:44 PM
My favourite trick is to slightly modify a real name. It's an easy way to produce exotic-sounding names that still sound like names and not gibberish. Even Bob can be massaged into a decent form: Bor, or, uh... well, it's easier if the original name is slightly more complex. To give a better example, Eric could become Oric, Eril, Leric, Eruc... a longer name like Raphael can produce Kaphael, Rajael or Raphan. Just don't take the lazy way out and replace i's with y's or add random apostrophes.

tyckspoon
2009-03-10, 10:56 PM
Just don't take the lazy way out and replace i's with y's or add random apostrophes.

Unless you're naming a member of an Underdark race, especially a Drow or one of the ones with tentacles. Then it's required. D&D Law.

Yukitsu
2009-03-10, 10:58 PM
I have a bunch of different ways to make names.

If it's a D20 modern campaign where insane science and genetics are involved, I name the character Jo Pistachio.

If it's a character based around a single talent, I take the talent to dead languages, scramble the words, and see if I can get a good name. If I can't, I try another language. An example of this is Fyhrtu, or Fai, who is named after the old English word for fear, and whom is based on the child version of Alma Wade.

If the character concept is desined with a personality trait that happens to stick out, I find a name that matches that historically. I only use this one when the names are fairly mundane. An example of this was William Shepherd, who was the party's moral compass.

Sometimes I draw from other sources that have a matching trait. For instance, Lorne was named after Lorne V from warhammer, seeing as how she was a cold hearted individual.

Sometimes, I recycle names that come up in campaign. For instance, Lorne spent some time uncercover as Lauren E. Klienwald, which was taken from her own name, and from Excel E. Excel (who went by the pseudonym Excel E. Klienwald) when Lorne was pretending to be a hyperactive moron to throw off the cops. My new modern character is named Lauren E. Klienwald, and has a personality somewhat related to how Lorne acted when incognito.

My pseudonym on this site is a mishmash of my favourite words, being derived from moon (tsuki), snow (Yuki) and fox (kitsune). This is how I make Japanese names. People usually shorten it to Yuki though, which is fine.

The last way is to take a fantasy language, take a word from it, and swap a few letters. This is how I got my elve's name of Lathian.

I switch around my methods depending on what I feel like doing.

infinitypanda
2009-03-10, 10:59 PM
Lack of these online tools is why my group currently is adventuring on the planet Costco in the Kirkland star system. Right now they're in the town of Winco, which is just south of Walmart.

But yeah, seconded for those random name generators.

Nightson
2009-03-10, 11:06 PM
If you want it easy, just don't use the nicknames. Robert and Michael are both fine for example, even if bob and mike don't quite get you there.

Colmarr
2009-03-11, 01:07 AM
My favourite trick is to slightly modify a real name. It's an easy way to produce exotic-sounding names that still sound like names and not gibberish. Even Bob can be massaged into a decent form: Bor, or, uh... well, it's easier if the original name is slightly more complex. To give a better example, Eric could become Oric, Eril, Leric, Eruc... a longer name like Raphael can produce Kaphael, Rajael or Raphan. Just don't take the lazy way out and replace i's with y's or add random apostrophes.

Seconded.


If you want it easy, just don't use the nicknames. Robert and Michael are both fine for example, even if bob and mike don't quite get you there.

Also seconded. It also helps if you alter the spelling slightly. My current D&D cleric is named Pieter.

As for semi-original idea:

Anagramming can sometimes work. Gygax's famous mage Tenser is just an anagram of Ernest. However, it can go wrong, as evidenced by my red box fighter named Evarb (the best anagram of brave I could come up with as a 13 year old...)

I also like the idea of adapting adjectives into surnames. My cleric's full name is Pieter Grimm.

Otherwise, I quite like the tradition used by George R.R. Martin in the Song of Ice and Fire where illegitimate children don't take their father's name but all have a common name depending on the region they come from (eg. John Snow or Harrys Rivers).

BlueWizard
2009-03-11, 01:53 AM
I believe everyone should find their inner name for their PC.

Just no Aragorn or Legolas or some other well-known fantasy person.

Be original. Sometimes I'll try to fit the PC with my concept, like Fiteril Greenbush, the elven ranger.

Gamiress
2009-03-11, 01:55 AM
Unless you're naming a member of an Underdark race, especially a Drow or one of the ones with tentacles. Then it's required. D&D Law.

I dunno, I have a drow with a name easily pronounced by the mouth breathing surface apes, nary a y or apostrophe in sight. His name's Neertel, although the irritating apes following him around are still constantly looking for a way to shorten it to something feminine sounding.

I've found that the character's name really doesn't matter, usually the party nickname each other anyway. Neertel becomes En, Jahir becomes Jack, Andala becomes Andy. With that in mind, I tend to stick to names that are easy to shorten.

Baron Malkar
2009-03-11, 02:24 AM
I have been known to make puns work as names, for example naming the evil Jin prince Jean Eric of the house Vilhoon is both subtle and a double pun.:smallcool:

Baltor
2009-03-11, 04:11 AM
The " Races " series has nameing tips for alot of races. Also What I havebeen doing lately is basicaly filling out a family tree. All of my characters are from the same family so hey have the same surname and the first name is determined by answering the question "what would X Baltor name his child?".

Onmi
2009-03-11, 04:47 AM
Well I generally use Onmi Khaos
(Onmi being an Anagram of the Latin word Omni meaning All, Khaos being a corruption of Chaos, so it can be all chaos or no chaos, depending on the interpretation)

Shiroken for asian characters
Lord Francis Saulder of the Weissritter
Locke Flint
Shin Gates

Maxwell Winter
Zero Celion
Ezra Midge
Joseph Kantz

Charity
2009-03-11, 04:56 AM
I almost exclusively choose terrible puns.

Drow paladin - Mennet Ourk (he comes from a land down under)
Dragonborn fighter - Shakar Khan
etc...

Narmoth
2009-03-11, 06:40 AM
For elven names I used the language made by J.R.R. Tolkien.
For human names I use real life names from my native language or from English.
I'm a fan of names that describe the person, like Ian Blacksoul, who's not surprisingly is a blackguard

Swooper
2009-03-11, 01:10 PM
And a cookie for any one who gets the movie reference in the first post.
Titan AE. "You can't call a planet BOB!?" :smallbiggrin: Cookie for me?

Myou
2009-03-11, 04:32 PM
I think of a few syllables that sound appropriate for the race, then tweak them until they make a nice name.

Waspinator
2009-03-11, 04:33 PM
Wizards has a decent one:
http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20010208b

Just leave everything on random and mash generate again until you get one you like.

Olo Demonsbane
2009-03-11, 04:56 PM
Wizards has a decent one:
http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20010208b

This is what I use, but, as the names are always really long and hard to say, I shorten them into something reasonable.

Waspinator
2009-03-11, 05:13 PM
Well, it's not like you HAVE to use the results of any generator as-is. You should always feel free to tweak them and/or combine multiple results to find something you like.

Also, it's not that uncommon in real life for someone's full name to be long and for them to have a much shorter nickname.

Ikkin El
2009-03-11, 06:19 PM
Ikkin El was my first D&D character's name (a female halfling rogue from 3.5, like in the picture). I was stumped, so I thought of a real-life person to model my character off of, and I adapted her name too.

Try reading the first name backwards and then the last name backwards. I wouldn't tell y'all this, but I think it's a pretty common name, right?

Anyway, she had a take-no-bull**** attitude I admired, so I took my character down that path, to the extreme; she actually came close to ripping off another party member's toenail for lying to her.

Hat-Trick
2009-03-11, 06:31 PM
I'm probably not going to add much for beginning a character name, but someone mentioned titles instead of last names. In history, last names were some how related to the person. Smith was a last name for smiths, Brown was a last name for people with brown hair or eyes. In the Inheritance series (Eragon), their "surnames" were changing with their station and accomplishments. Garrowson, Stronghammer, Shadeslayer, all titles turned surname.

Kris Strife
2009-03-11, 11:55 PM
Titan AE. "You can't call a planet BOB!?" :smallbiggrin: Cookie for me?

Its my planet, I can call it whatever I want! *gives a cookie*