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RFLS
2012-10-15, 04:29 PM
Does anyone have a good list of dragon names? I've got a (major) dragon showing up in today's session and am drawing a blank on a name for him.

Amnestic
2012-10-15, 04:39 PM
Does anyone have a good list of dragon names? I've got a (major) dragon showing up in today's session and am drawing a blank on a name for him.

Something with lots of Y's, X's and Z's.

Or you could just pick a Draconic word and call it that. "Haurach", "Ixen", "Kepesk", "Sveargith", "Vorel"...

omegalith
2012-10-15, 04:43 PM
Long, with at least one harsh syllable. Whether you want it to flow evenly or be almost all harsh syllables and thus tricky to pronounce depends on how it fits the Dragon's personality.

That said, not all long fancy made up on the spot names sound Draconic: Xythantiops sounds more like a member of a race of insectile creatures, for example.

Pokonic
2012-10-15, 05:46 PM
Well, it depends.

Some dragons have names like Pyreflame or Cindermaw: general discripters that sound sutibly threating. Think typical verbnouning, but usualy add in something related to either scalecolor, number of kills, ect. I once had a elder wrym simply called the Orphaner of Kings. :smallbiggrin:

Alternitivly, you can get funky names like Foeshi'zel simply by adding apostrophies and a few X's or Z's into a otherwise normal name. Like, for example, Ale'lxtader.

omegalith
2012-10-15, 05:57 PM
Well, it depends.

Some dragons have names like Pyreflame or Cindermaw: general discripters that sound sutibly threating. Think typical verbnouning, but usualy add in something related to either scalecolor, number of kills, ect. I once had a elder wrym simply called the Orphaner of Kings. :smallbiggrin:

I find these 90% of the time end up sounding more like cutesy nicknames than they were intended to.


Alternitivly, you can get funky names like Foeshi'zel simply by adding apostrophies and a few X's or Z's into a otherwise normal name. Like, for example, Ale'lxtader.

I'd advise against random apostrophes: They don't generally actually mean anything and look odd.

...Unless the name is a contraction. Sharlan'tril could be a diminutive form of Sharlantharoctialmelionaranderazultharkelandaratri l, for example. Because even Dragons can only be bothered saying that on formal occasions.

jackattack
2012-10-15, 06:51 PM
What kind of dragon?

Three of the greatest dragon names ever are Maleficent, Smaug, and Vermithrax (Pejorative).

Smaug is a corruption of "smog".

Maleficent is probably the words "malefactor" and "magnificent" run together.
Likewise, Vermithrax is "vermin" and "anthrax" run together.

Find two words that are descriptive and threatening, and see how they sound when combined as above.

For extra fun, add a follow-on title based on the dragon's deeds or abilities, like "destroyer of the coastlands" or "bringer of pestilence".

Shalist
2012-10-15, 07:38 PM
I'd advise against random apostrophes: They don't generally actually mean anything and look odd.http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww30/123456laughs/dragonname.jpg (http://planescapecomic.com/110.html)

PaperMustache
2012-10-15, 07:41 PM
Step one: Find a draconic translator on google.
Step two: Start putting in random words that relate tangentially to the character in question until something bad ass comes up.

I named a character and her entire family that way in like five minutes.

navar100
2012-10-15, 07:46 PM
Puff

Norbert

Craft (Cheese)
2012-10-15, 08:21 PM
I went through all the trouble of making a dragon-conlang explicitly for this purpose. Samples:

Shuxh'itseekayeel
Kantayas'eenak
Sha'atanayan

(The apostrophes represent ejectivization or the glottal stop: They're not there just to be kewl.)

Sutremaine
2012-10-16, 04:45 PM
Steven. Because dragons are classier than aboleths and prefer to avoid diminuitives whenever possible.

Spamotron
2012-10-16, 05:12 PM
The Dragon only gives out his name to individuals who have earned his trust and respect. Until then the party is free to use any nickname they wish. But must bear in mind that he is a Dragon and they are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. So they may want to restrain their senses of humor. Or not, he's a bit peckish at the moment.

JustPlayItLoud
2012-10-16, 05:42 PM
Skyrim's dragon language (http://uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dragon_Language) has a pretty decent variety of words. Dragon names are made up of three words, like Odahviing or Paarthurnax.

JohnnyCancer
2012-10-16, 09:22 PM
I like the names of ancient Middle Eastern and North African kings myself, there's some long ones and they end up sounding exotic, at least to my ears.

Duboris
2012-10-16, 09:32 PM
Agurmasateex

Beowulf DW
2012-10-16, 09:44 PM
Pretty much anything that ends with "-orix."

Seriously, try it:

Cabbage->Cabbagorix
Duck->Duckorix
Slam->Slamorix

nedz
2012-10-17, 02:15 PM
Bob

..............

MichaelGoldclaw
2012-10-17, 02:45 PM
Garnoth
Falgor
Graganor
Baladith

Falconer
2012-10-17, 04:30 PM
I tend to go for the names of Classical kings, gods, heroes, etc.--though avoiding the well-known ones (Minos, Xerxes, etc.) You end up with some rather exotic-sounding, impressive names: Rhadamanthus, Cyaxares, and Azander, for example.

invinible
2012-10-17, 04:47 PM
How about Spike?

Illithilich
2012-10-17, 04:58 PM
I've used all of these:
Blight (Black Dragon)
Althrass (Brass Dragon)
Melusine (White Dragon)
Gorthanor (Red Dragon)
Ahara (Blue Dragon).

nedz
2012-10-17, 05:39 PM
I once used Kytenoster Silverlode for a silver dragon.

Jay R
2012-10-18, 08:03 AM
Maleficent is probably the words "malefactor" and "magnificent" run together.

I doubt it, but it has the same Latin roots.

"Magni" means great. "ficent" means doing or being. "Mal" means bad or evil. "Factor" means one who is or does. (It's a noun form of the same verb that "ficent" is from.)

Magnificent is an adjective meaning doing or being great.
Malefacter is an evil-doer.
Maleficent means doing or being evil.

Kornaki
2012-10-18, 09:20 AM
I once used Kytenoster Silverlode for a silver dragon.

Silverlode? Obviously your group is more mature than the people I typically game with if this worked

Arcanist
2012-10-18, 10:05 AM
Shocked that nobodies posted this yet. (http://draconic.twilightrealm.com/)

Deathkeeper
2012-10-18, 04:19 PM
I have a tendency to just name them things that sound cool but no one would recognize. For a MAJOR dragon, yeah, you might want something that actually has meaning in draconic. But hey, no one noticed that my Pseudodragon was named after the planet in Metroid for two months.

Pokonic
2012-10-19, 11:21 PM
I have a tendency to just name them things that sound cool but no one would recognize. For a MAJOR dragon, yeah, you might want something that actually has meaning in draconic. But hey, no one noticed that my Pseudodragon was named after the planet in Metroid for two months.

On that note, I actualy had a green dragon apponent of the PC's named Kraid.


Even today, I do not regret it.

tbok1992
2012-10-19, 11:59 PM
Perhaps something that sounds like a prison nickname with a dubious yet ominous meaning, like "Big Horse" or "Lizard Lick"...

Well, that's one way to put the fear of god into your players. :smalltongue:

Jay R
2012-10-20, 09:47 AM
on the off chance that anybody actually cares, here's some actual research:

List of dragons in literature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dragons_in_literature)

List of dragons in mythology and folklore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dragons_in_mythology_and_folklore)

Dr.Epic
2012-10-20, 10:38 PM
If you friends don't watch a lot of anime, name it Shenron.:smallwink:

tbok1992
2012-10-20, 11:43 PM
Also, as another suggestion, howabout "Bubba"? It's a name of such plain, simple, rude meanness, that ain't nobody gonna wanna $%&# with a dragon named "Bubba"

Of course, this is coming from a guy whose first real RPG campaign was 7e Gamma World as a Telekinetic Yeti hippie named King Lovesplosion, and whose DM was the now-disgraced Kynn Bartlett (no, really) who was a heckuva DM even if he was a hyppocrite (amongst other things) in his personal life. So take that as you will.

Pokonic
2012-10-22, 04:18 PM
Also, as another suggestion, howabout "Bubba"? It's a name of such plain, simple, rude meanness, that ain't nobody gonna wanna $%&# with a dragon named "Bubba"

Of course, this is coming from a guy whose first real RPG campaign was 7e Gamma World as a Telekinetic Yeti hippie named King Lovesplosion, and whose DM was the now-disgraced Kynn Bartlett (no, really) who was a heckuva DM even if he was a hyppocrite (amongst other things) in his personal life. So take that as you will.

Even better, "Bubba" usualy takes the form of a large, scary human, but few know he's a actual dragon. So when the party gets chalanged to a fight against this apparent melee fighter, "Bubba" puts on a few thousand pounds and starts spraying the party with acid.

Swooper
2012-10-23, 07:30 AM
Just remember this: Dragons are reptiles, they don't have functional lips. As a result, their language and names won't contain any sounds you need lips to make. To an English-speaker, that means at least b, f, m, p and v - and some vowel-sounds (like oo) might be hard to pronounce too. Instead, they might have some appropriately harsh growling/roaring sounds that are impossible to reproduce with our pathetic human throats. :smalltongue:

Noedig
2012-10-24, 11:37 AM
Whenever I need a dragon that is going to be a recurring feature of a game, I pull out Maraxis if it needs to be evil, Callix if it is neutral and Ishmerdarvar if it is good.

Andreaz
2012-10-25, 07:00 AM
Kallyadranoch, Beluhga, Skharshantallas, Benthos, Zadbblein, Hydora, Mzzileyn, Tarso

Deathkeeper
2012-10-25, 10:48 AM
Just remember this: Dragons are reptiles, they don't have functional lips. As a result, their language and names won't contain any sounds you need lips to make. To an English-speaker, that means at least b, f, m, p and v - and some vowel-sounds (like oo) might be hard to pronounce too. Instead, they might have some appropriately harsh growling/roaring sounds that are impossible to reproduce with our pathetic human throats. :smalltongue:

I always wondered about this. This makes perfect sense, so why exactly do several of the Draconic words published in the Draconomicon, etc, contain these letters? "Pothoc" is the first one to come to mind.