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gom jabbarwocky
2014-12-07, 08:15 PM
I'm working on a campaign I'd like to GM and the plot basically revolves around the PCs tracking down the whereabouts of an extremely enigmatic NPC and killing him. It takes place in a near-future setting, and for this NPC, I want to give him an utterly generic name. I don't want the character's name to give any hints as to their age or ethnicity, and a unisex name to throw even their gender into doubt would be great. I don't want the name to sound like a pseudonym. Essentially, the name should give away, at most, that this guy is male, probably non-white but of indeterminate ethnic background. In addition, this NPC is actually just a bookworm academic shut-in who values his privacy, not some crazy ninja murder-machine, as a side note.

Unfortunately, I realized that I set myself way too big a challenge with this, so I figured I'd ask the forums for a little help. In other threads, I've noted that some of the posters around here are pretty good with coming up with names, and I could use your help.

Blackhawk748
2014-12-07, 08:19 PM
Jo? It works for both genders, honestly not really sure how to make an ethnically neutral name though.

Jeff the Green
2014-12-07, 08:39 PM
Kim? Can be male (short for Kimball or Kiberley) or female (short for Kimberly) and Anglophone, Danish/Swedish/Norwegian/German (short for Joakim/Joachim), Dutch (borrowed from English), Vietnamese (a female given name), or Korean (the most common surname). Plus add in all the places that borrow names from America (much of Africa, China, Japan, the rest of the Anglophone world) and the Korean and Vietnamese diasporas.

Plus it can also be the persons initials.

Lord Torath
2014-12-07, 09:59 PM
Lee also works for a first name. Perhaps Smith or Jones or Baker or Tailor for a last name.

Jeff the Green
2014-12-07, 10:11 PM
Lee also works for a first name. Perhaps Smith or Jones or Baker or Tailor for a last name.

Lee becomes even better if the characters only hear it, since it's pronounced the same as the Chinese/Korean surname "Li". Definitely improved if you only use one name, as Lee is both a given name (for men and women) and a surname.

Marlowe
2014-12-07, 10:13 PM
Obviously since the most common first name in the world is Mohammed, and the most common family name in the world is Chin; the most generic possible name would be Chin Mohammed.

Or maybe I'm getting something wrong somewhere.

Michael7123
2014-12-07, 11:15 PM
"There are some who call me.... Tim."

Terraoblivion
2014-12-07, 11:37 PM
Obviously since the most common first name in the world is Mohammed, and the most common family name in the world is Chin; the most generic possible name would be Chin Mohammed.

Or maybe I'm getting something wrong somewhere.

I'm pretty sure that Wang is the most common last name in the world. And Mohammed is hardly gender neutral. Lots of variation ethnically as it can be Arab, African, Central Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian or overseas immigrant from those regions. I think a name that exists in all European languages, and as such in most of the Americas and Africas, would be a good idea. Not just that, several of them can go to different genders in different languages. As such, I'd suggest Sascha, which is male in at least Russian, or Andrea, which is male in Italian.

Coventry
2014-12-07, 11:44 PM
Robin Smith.
Leslie Jones.
Andi Farmer.
Drew Chen.
Francis Cole.
Justice Rose.
Madison Spenser.

And who could forget the Boy Named Sue.

(Un)Inspired
2014-12-08, 11:53 AM
+1 for Jo, Kim, or Lee.

Or combine them. Jo-Kim Lee. Perfect.