PDA

View Full Version : The Name Thread



kardar233
2015-01-04, 07:34 AM
I've noticed that some people (like myself) have a lot of trouble coming up with good names for things, and I was thinking that perhaps we could crowdsource names for things from the inhabitants of this forum, like the Real-World Weapons and Armor threads or the character art threads.

The idea is pretty simple: just give a short description of the character and what style of name you'd like them to have, and hopefully someone will come up with something you like the sound of.

I'll start: right now, I'm trying to figure out an Elvish name for the dryad of a green apple tree, and trying to add a bit of French styling into the name as well due to the influence of her 'mother'. She's young and a bit impish, but also quite caring and devoted to her family. Any ideas?

JetThomasBoat
2015-01-04, 07:52 AM
Well, do you know the French words for apple or green? Cause I'm gonna butcher the spelling, so you may just want to look it up.

Plus, it's an elf name, so you could just mash the words together and throw in a lot of apostrophes. Like for surname: Vert'pomme or Pommev'ert or something? I dunno.

JBPuffin
2015-01-04, 12:03 PM
Well, do you know the French words for apple or green? Cause I'm gonna butcher the spelling, so you may just want to look it up.

Plus, it's an elf name, so you could just mash the words together and throw in a lot of apostrophes. Like for surname: Vert'pomme or Pommev'ert or something? I dunno.

Agreed, although apostrophes are more of an orc thing. Pommvera, perhaps?

Red Fel
2015-01-04, 12:21 PM
Agreed, although apostrophes are more of an orc thing. Pommvera, perhaps?

Whenever I think the Elvish language, I think of soft sounds, like v's and s's, not harder sounds like p's. I think of flowing and rhythmic syllables. I also think of egregious and unnecessary l's, just because.

Pommvera is a good start, but the P sounds too hard to me, and the cadence of the name feels odd (POMM-*-VE-ra, you have to stop in the middle, or POMM-ve-RA, which is just kind of stilted).

I would keep the "vera" part, because it's pretty, and extend it into Veraniel. Because we're doing the French thing, feminize the ending into Veranielle. Add a second n (Verannielle) if you like; I know longer is better when it comes to pretentious Elven words. The consonant sounds are soft, and the cadence is a gentle back-and-forth (ve-RA-ni-EL).

Deaxsa
2015-01-04, 12:48 PM
This is not totally related, but whenever i want a name, i just go to a text file i got from an expanded name mod for xcom:enemy unknown. and then i just pick whatever i feel like. Of course, this only really works on people who use similar naming conventions to those used IRL by those countries represented in the text file, and even then it's got its fair share of mistakes, but for coming up with a name on the spot, it's amazing. Link. (http://www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/505/?tab=1&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Fxcom%2Faja x%2Fmoddescription%2F%3Fid%3D505%26preview%3D&pUp=1)

Pinnacle
2015-01-04, 08:43 PM
I do BabyNames.com (http://www.babynames.com/), search different keywords related to the character until I find something I like to use as a base, and then maybe tweak letters and such.

Hmm.
I get nothing for French girl or unisex names meaning "apple", but "tree" gives me Ambre and Lafayette.
If I chose not to just use one of those, I might go with...
Lafay?
Fayette?
Fyet?
Ambara?
Ambrette?
Ambreyette?

"Plant" gives Jacqueline or Jacquelle... which actually mean "supplanter", so maybe not quite the right meaning. But I use this for inspiration, so who cares if the meaning isn't actually right?
Tried a few other keywords, didn't see much else I liked. Caprice?

Tarlek Flamehai
2015-01-04, 09:22 PM
Tolkien elvish for fruit, feminized: Yávien
French for of tree (I think): de Arbre
Yávien de Arbre

or for a saucier version
L'enculeur d'arbre

Hazrond
2015-01-04, 09:49 PM
Im currently making an orc character and if you have any interesting names for that it would be appreciated, the character is a warpriest with a focus on fire, healing, forging, and combat. so far i took some generic orcish inspiration and got Arkus Gorthug, but if anybody has a better name i would lovve to hear it! :)

Pinnacle
2015-01-04, 10:16 PM
Ildri, Scandinavian name meaning "fire and peace" (actually a girls' name, though, and I'm guessing "Arkus" is meant to sound masculine)
Nuri, Hebrew name meaning "my fire"
Vanhi, Sanskrit name meaning "fire"
Hotaru, Japanese name meaning "firefly"
Uri, Hebrew name meaning "my light, flame, fire"
Plamen, Bulgarian name meaning "fiery one"

kardar233
2015-01-05, 04:25 AM
Whenever I think the Elvish language, I think of soft sounds, like v's and s's, not harder sounds like p's. I think of flowing and rhythmic syllables. I also think of egregious and unnecessary l's, just because.

Pommvera is a good start, but the P sounds too hard to me, and the cadence of the name feels odd (POMM-*-VE-ra, you have to stop in the middle, or POMM-ve-RA, which is just kind of stilted).

I would keep the "vera" part, because it's pretty, and extend it into Veraniel. Because we're doing the French thing, feminize the ending into Veranielle. Add a second n (Verannielle) if you like; I know longer is better when it comes to pretentious Elven words. The consonant sounds are soft, and the cadence is a gentle back-and-forth (ve-RA-ni-EL).

Veranielle is quite nice, I'll put that on my short list. I hadn't thought about cadence, and you're right that a nice flowing cadence is really important to an Elvish name.


I do BabyNames.com (http://www.babynames.com/), search different keywords related to the character until I find something I like to use as a base, and then maybe tweak letters and such.

Hmm.
I get nothing for French girl or unisex names meaning "apple", but "tree" gives me Ambre and Lafayette.
If I chose not to just use one of those, I might go with...
Lafay?
Fayette?
Fyet?
Ambara?
Ambrette?
Ambreyette?

"Plant" gives Jacqueline or Jacquelle... which actually mean "supplanter", so maybe not quite the right meaning. But I use this for inspiration, so who cares if the meaning isn't actually right?
Tried a few other keywords, didn't see much else I liked. Caprice?

Ambara is pretty good. Curiously enough (and completely unintentionally) this dryad's mother is a French-ish life mage by the name of Jacqueline.

ILM
2015-01-05, 05:50 AM
L'enculeur d'arbre
Are you entirely aware of what this word means exactly?

Jermz
2015-01-05, 01:56 PM
Are you entirely aware of what this word means exactly?

Google Translate seems to be quite forthcoming with the definition.

veti
2015-01-05, 03:21 PM
Im currently making an orc character and if you have any interesting names for that it would be appreciated, the character is a warpriest with a focus on fire, healing, forging, and combat. so far i took some generic orcish inspiration and got Arkus Gorthug, but if anybody has a better name i would lovve to hear it! :)

Instant Cautery. Inflammable Prosthetic. Sterilised Cleaver. "Fire, healing, forging and combat"? - the names practically write themselves...

Spojaz
2015-01-06, 02:31 PM
Since my PC's demand more information on everyone in the world, I have started making NPC's last names be their job, to make it easier to come up with on the fly and for everyone to remember. Last week in a modern setting RPG, the group hitched a ride with Mark Pilot on his cropduster, bought (and stole) supplies from Martha Shopkeep (of the new Brunswick Shopkeeps), and brought important information to the attention of Paul Scientist. It keeps the story moving, without too much immersion breaking.

BWR
2015-01-06, 03:05 PM
Ildri, Scandinavian name meaning "fire and peace" (actually a girls' name, though, and I'm guessing "Arkus" is meant to sound masculine)

"beautiful as fire", not "fire peace". A derivative of "eld+frid" Not to be confused with the German "fried" which does mean peace. It wouldn't surprise me if they have roots in the same word, however, but I haven't looked into that.

Pinnacle
2015-01-06, 03:15 PM
Babynames.com is an excellent place to start for character names, but I wouldn't use it for scholarly research or anything.

Red Fel
2015-01-06, 03:42 PM
Im currently making an orc character and if you have any interesting names for that it would be appreciated, the character is a warpriest with a focus on fire, healing, forging, and combat. so far i took some generic orcish inspiration and got Arkus Gorthug, but if anybody has a better name i would lovve to hear it! :)

I see Orcish as the opposite of Elvish, linguistically. Where I see Elvish as soft, flowing sounds and rhythmic cadences, I see Orcish as harsh, guttural noises, glottal stops, and sharp staccato beats, more like a drum than a violin. I hear extensive use of the letter K, the combination Th, the "Mor" sound (if he's Evil), and apostrophes to indicate glottal stops. I also hear violent surnames, either a family legacy, a clan name, or a personal achievement.

Let me first ask a few questions: Is he evil? Violent? A little crazy? Is he the sort of person people tend to run away from, or towards? Is he close to his family? Or clan/tribe? What's that background?
I ask the first question because that will help determine a fitting given name. Arkus is nice, but let's see if we can find one more fitting his personality.

I ask the second question because that will help determine a fitting surname. For example, an Orc from a clan of stonemasons might be Rockhewer, even if that doesn't fit the person he is now. An Orc from a family of warlocks might be Soulbender, even if he's really a nice guy who loves petting kittens and pressing flowers - and it creates an interesting divide between what he's called and who he is. Alternatively, you could just name him for his chosen profession, in which case Flamesmith or Forgebender would be interesting - and would raise a few Dwarven eyebrows.

You could also pick a surname, then find an Orcish dictionary (I'm sure they exist) and translate it across. To make it authentic, and all. If that's your thing.

(Un)Inspired
2015-01-06, 11:49 PM
I've noticed that some people (like myself) have a lot of trouble coming up with good names for things, and I was thinking that perhaps we could crowdsource names for things from the inhabitants of this forum, like the Real-World Weapons and Armor threads or the character art threads.

The idea is pretty simple: just give a short description of the character and what style of name you'd like them to have, and hopefully someone will come up with something you like the sound of.

I'll start: right now, I'm trying to figure out an Elvish name for the dryad of a green apple tree, and trying to add a bit of French styling into the name as well due to the influence of her 'mother'. She's young and a bit impish, but also quite caring and devoted to her family. Any ideas?

When I name characters that a spirits of the natural world I tend to go for direct descriptors. Almost like title.

So perhaps whenever elves have conversed with the dryad she was busy gathering the apples at the bottom of the tree.

From this she got her traditional eleven name, Applebottom.



Im currently making an orc character and if you have any interesting names for that it would be appreciated, the character is a warpriest with a focus on fire, healing, forging, and combat. so far i took some generic orcish inspiration and got Arkus Gorthug, but if anybody has a better name i would lovve to hear it! :)

Slammo von Gottmann

Truckulese

Father Tusk

Gottloeb Frega

Scyrner
2015-01-07, 02:52 AM
Im currently making an orc character and if you have any interesting names for that it would be appreciated, the character is a warpriest with a focus on fire, healing, forging, and combat. so far i took some generic orcish inspiration and got Arkus Gorthug, but if anybody has a better name i would lovve to hear it! :)


I'd keep "Arkus", as I think that it's a pretty cool sounding name and I'd make the fire reference in the last name, perhaps Agnak. It's got a nice assonance between the first and second name, and the fire reference is an allusion to the Hindu deity Agni, god of fire, rather than a direct use of a translation of the word within the name. Although the allusion isn't particularly subtle, it's a less likely to be caught one, rather than using a word that English derives a word for fire from, like ignis or flamma, the latin words. To keep it sounding Orcish, I'd probably do the stress as AR-kus AG-nAk, rather thank giving it a more flowing sound, which you would get if you emphasize the "na" without the "ag".

Ravens_cry
2015-01-07, 11:10 AM
Yawka-Tan
A garbled phonetic spelling of Welsh for 'Fire Healing'.
Welsh with guttural voice is my goto language for Orcish in worlds where they aren't automatic baddies.

Jay R
2015-01-07, 11:40 AM
In The Lord of the Rings, "Ghâsh" is the orcish word for "fire". (You find it in the chapter, "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm".)

Ravens_cry
2015-01-07, 12:25 PM
In The Lord of the Rings, "Ghâsh" is the orcish word for "fire". (You find it in the chapter, "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm".)

How is the 'â' pronounced?

Red Fel
2015-01-07, 12:34 PM
How is the 'â' pronounced?

Like most things in Orcish. As though you're coughing up a lead hairball.

Ravens_cry
2015-01-07, 12:45 PM
Like most things in Orcish. As though you're coughing up a lead hairball.
Well, yes, but I was literally asking, so sarcasm, however humorous, was not desired.

Scyrner
2015-01-07, 01:59 PM
How is the 'â' pronounced?


Would be like the a in father. That line is a macron, lengthening the vowel.

Ravens_cry
2015-01-07, 02:06 PM
Would be like the a in father. That line is a macron, lengthening the vowel.
Thank you!:smile:

Scyrner
2015-01-07, 02:20 PM
Thank you!:smile:

You're very welcome.

BWR
2015-01-07, 04:00 PM
Actually, that's not a macron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macron), it's a circumflex (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumflex).

Scyrner
2015-01-07, 08:19 PM
Actually, that's not a macron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macron), it's a circumflex (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumflex).

Ah, I'm blind, font too small on computer screen. Thank you for the hyperlinks, I am well aware of the difference. I hold that it would still be pronounced as a long a. Depending on the language of choice a circumflex has different functions, and would change the pronunciation differently. In Attic Greek, for example, a circumflex represents and up-down tonal shift in the spoken word, but does not change the pronunciation at all, whereas in French (I believe) the circumflex does change the pronunciation of the vowel.

Long vs Short A would make the difference between an "a" like in "gash" and an "a" like in "father". I think the long a sounds better, in part because using the short word would make the Black Speech word be pronounced irritatingly similarly to the english "gash" making it a homonym and probably unsuitable for a good name.

Jay R
2015-01-07, 10:16 PM
Tribal societies often have widely varying accents. I assume that each orc tribe, being semi-isolated, has its own accent. So pronounce is as you like.

If anybody complains, tell them you're using a Mordor accent, not a Moria one.

goto124
2015-01-07, 10:35 PM
Tribal societies often have widely varying accents. I assume that each orc tribe, being semi-isolated, has its own accent. So pronounce is as you like.

If anybody complains, tell them you're using a Mordor accent, not a Moria one.

:miko: What is this Japan you speak of? I've never heard of it.

Jay R
2015-01-08, 05:42 PM
:miko: What is this Japan you speak of? I've never heard of it.

Oh. In that case, tell them you're speaking with a Candy-Land accent. Anything to downplay the pronunciation issue.

ILM
2015-01-13, 07:42 AM
I'm finishing up a world map for my campaign and I need names for my cities - like, 30 of them. Does anyone know a good city name generator, preferably offering a variety of styles?

Jay R
2015-01-13, 10:39 AM
I'm finishing up a world map for my campaign and I need names for my cities - like, 30 of them. Does anyone know a good city name generator, preferably offering a variety of styles?

City names come from the underlying culture. American city names are a meld of English, Latin, and various Amerind languages.

Cambridge was the site of a bridge over the river Cam. Oxford was named for a place Oxen could ford a river. York came from Old Danish Yorvik, from Latin Eboracum.

Give some cities plain names, some cities simple derivation names (Eastburg, X-bridge, Greenvale, etc.) and invent one or two with forboding hints (Gnollwall, Killdrake) that might (or might not) refer to some nearby or underground adventure, or a battle that may lead to a vengeful attack later (Trollsend).

Hazrond
2015-01-13, 09:58 PM
Sorry for taking so long to respond, the thread fell below my radar for a while and i only today rediscovered it
I see Orcish as the opposite of Elvish, linguistically. Where I see Elvish as soft, flowing sounds and rhythmic cadences, I see Orcish as harsh, guttural noises, glottal stops, and sharp staccato beats, more like a drum than a violin. I hear extensive use of the letter K, the combination Th, the "Mor" sound (if he's Evil), and apostrophes to indicate glottal stops. I also hear violent surnames, either a family legacy, a clan name, or a personal achievement. i share a similar sentiment, orc names are supposed to sound harsh. nothing like the flowing loquaciousness of Elven names.


Let me first ask a few questions: Is he evil? Violent? A little crazy? Is he the sort of person people tend to run away from, or towards? Evil: No Violent: Yes, in that "I wont start a fight but i will sure as heck enjoy it if someone else does" kind of way A little crazy: yes, again in that relishes combat kind of way Run Towards or Away: Depends on who they are, Enemies run away, allies run to.
Is he close to his family? Or clan/tribe? What's that background? Family Bonds: none, tried to overthrow chief, got beat, and during his "execution" (they were going to hunt him through the wilderness) he got away Clan/Tribe: ^ Background: he was given to the tribe's shaman as an apprentice at a young age, he grew up learning to follow the orc gods and their rites, when he beat the shaman and took his place he got cocky and tried to fight the chief, eventually he made his way to society and adopted a more calm personality so as to survive, he then realized that the god he worshiped was a corrupted form of Sarenrae, one worldshaking revelation later and he now follows the true form of Sarenrae (hes True Neutral)

I ask the first question because that will help determine a fitting given name. Arkus is nice, but let's see if we can find one more fitting his personality.

I ask the second question because that will help determine a fitting surname. For example, an Orc from a clan of stonemasons might be Rockhewer, even if that doesn't fit the person he is now. An Orc from a family of warlocks might be Soulbender, even if he's really a nice guy who loves petting kittens and pressing flowers - and it creates an interesting divide between what he's called and who he is. Alternatively, you could just name him for his chosen profession, in which case Flamesmith or Forgebender would be interesting - and would raise a few Dwarven eyebrows. I like Flamesmith alot...

Ravens_cry
2015-01-13, 10:13 PM
City names come from the underlying culture. American city names are a meld of English, Latin, and various Amerind languages.
.
And Spanish, and German, and Dutch and French . . .
Still, yes, the basic point stands, yes. It can hint at the history when a place has a name at odds with the local culture but does belong with another either nearby or far away, hinting that it once belonged to members or ancestors of said culture. Many, especially those not proper nouns,as you mentioned. tend to be descriptive in whatever language they derive from, though even those can be if named for a natural feature that is itself named after a proper noun.

Hazrond
2015-01-15, 07:13 PM
Bumpity Bump

nedz
2015-01-17, 07:45 AM
Google Translate seems to be quite forthcoming with the definition.
Babelfish is more reserved about this one however.


Successful Translation
Please find your translated text below:
Q ()
A Sorry we are unable to translate your request. ()

Iamyourking
2015-01-18, 01:23 AM
I'm looking for a name for an Ancient Egyptian god-queen, ideally extraordinarily long and referring to cats or Bast (As she's a demigod daughter of Bast). I want her to be introduced with this incredibly long name and insist that the players call her by the entire thing every time they want to refer to her.

Super Evil User
2015-01-18, 01:37 AM
Looking for the name of a female Dragonfire Adept who was born into a clan of Dragonfire Adepts. Ideally we want something intimidating.

Hazrond
2015-01-28, 11:41 AM
I hope this thread isnt TOO old... Hey i am looking for a name for my new Witch character, a half-elf with strong gnomish heritage, anybody know anything good? i would prefer Elven first name with Gnomish last name but any ideas are wonderful

Ravens_cry
2015-01-28, 01:10 PM
Looking for the name of a female Dragonfire Adept who was born into a clan of Dragonfire Adepts. Ideally we want something intimidating.
Blaze. Short, nothing too elaborate, and easy to remember.
Short can be very good for intimidating. You don't need elaborate titles to prove your worth; you are outside such pleasantries.
You are just . . . Blaze.
Think Slade verses Slade Wilson, Deathstroke the Terminator.

Red Fel
2015-01-28, 01:54 PM
This is still a thing? This is still a thing!


Looking for the name of a female Dragonfire Adept who was born into a clan of Dragonfire Adepts. Ideally we want something intimidating.

Hmm... Going to need more. What's her race? Is she Good or Evil? Does she have a particular specialization or category of invocations she favors?


I hope this thread isnt TOO old... Hey i am looking for a name for my new Witch character, a half-elf with strong gnomish heritage, anybody know anything good? i would prefer Elven first name with Gnomish last name but any ideas are wonderful

Interesting. Well, Elven and Gnomish sample names often pop up in their setting's PHB. It would probably help if you gave me a gender (unless you mean Witch-as-female-sorceress, as opposed to Witch-as-genderless-class-name).

Hazrond
2015-01-28, 02:15 PM
This is still a thing? This is still a thing!



Hmm... Going to need more. What's her race? Is she Good or Evil? Does she have a particular specialization or category of invocations she favors?



Interesting. Well, Elven and Gnomish sample names often pop up in their setting's PHB. It would probably help if you gave me a gender (unless you mean Witch-as-female-sorceress, as opposed to Witch-as-genderless-class-name).

ah yes, sorry, the witch is a Male, as for some details his familiar is an Agathion that is leading him to use his magic for good, and his patron is an Agathion Empyreal Lord, he uses the new synergist archetype from familiar folio that lets him merge and gain powers from his familiar

Red Fel
2015-01-28, 02:24 PM
ah yes, sorry, the witch is a Male, as for some details his familiar is an Agathion that is leading him to use his magic for good, and his patron is an Agathion Empyreal Lord, he uses the new synergist archetype from familiar folio that lets him merge and gain powers from his familiar

Okay. So, Pathfinder, Half-Elf with Gnomish background, Male, Good-aligned.

Well, PFSRD gives a brief list of Elven sample names, and they tend to follow my rule observed earlier - soft, rhythmic sounds. So let's go with that. How about Ruielas? (Just picked some random letters, think it sounds nice.) That's a nice Elven-sounding first name.

Now, Gnomish names, I hear a lot of staccato. Look at some of the sample names: Abroshtor, Zarzuket, Fijit. Bop-bop-bop. Hoppy names. I like it. But that's first names, not family names. Gnomish family names, in my mind, are a hodgepodge, like a lot of what gnomes do. Keep the staccato, but use words. And let's tie that name into what your character does - meld with familiars. Beasts. Hmm... Beasterblot?

How do you like that one? Ruielas Beasterblot?

Hazrond
2015-01-28, 02:39 PM
Okay. So, Pathfinder, Half-Elf with Gnomish background, Male, Good-aligned.

Well, PFSRD gives a brief list of Elven sample names, and they tend to follow my rule observed earlier - soft, rhythmic sounds. So let's go with that. How about Ruielas? (Just picked some random letters, think it sounds nice.) That's a nice Elven-sounding first name.

Now, Gnomish names, I hear a lot of staccato. Look at some of the sample names: Abroshtor, Zarzuket, Fijit. Bop-bop-bop. Hoppy names. I like it. But that's first names, not family names. Gnomish family names, in my mind, are a hodgepodge, like a lot of what gnomes do. Keep the staccato, but use words. And let's tie that name into what your character does - meld with familiars. Beasts. Hmm... Beasterblot?

How do you like that one? Ruielas Beasterblot?

the first name is very nice, though i am not sure how to pronounce it, as for the last name, dilemma, pathfinder actually posted a small list of common gnomish last names in their Inner Sea World Guide, if you like i can post a few here (also sorry, but im not too much a fan of Beasterblot, apologies)

Edit: the examples given were Frothelthimble, Garishgnawing, Palepartlinger, and Thicketbotter

Hazrond
2015-01-28, 05:14 PM
bump for interest

Hazrond
2015-01-29, 02:49 AM
does anybody have any more ideas?

Storm_Of_Snow
2015-01-29, 06:57 AM
Great resource for names: http://tekeli.li/onomastikon/

The male half-elf - well, which parent named him? :smallsmile:

Let's say his elven parent chose his name (or he chose an elven name) - I tend to like celtic-style names for elves, and minimise hard-consonant sounds (IMO, elvish language should just flow), so, looking at Celtic-Brittany from that site, what about Laouenan for given name?

For the surname, let's go with the Gnomish side, and for no reason other than I've not looked in there before, go with Byzantium for Gnomish - Phoebammon.

How does Laouenan Phoebammon grab you, if not for his name, then at least as a starting point?

Hazrond
2015-01-29, 12:16 PM
Great resource for names: http://tekeli.li/onomastikon/

The male half-elf - well, which parent named him? :smallsmile:

Let's say his elven parent chose his name (or he chose an elven name) - I tend to like celtic-style names for elves, and minimise hard-consonant sounds (IMO, elvish language should just flow), so, looking at Celtic-Brittany from that site, what about Laouenan for given name?

For the surname, let's go with the Gnomish side, and for no reason other than I've not looked in there before, go with Byzantium for Gnomish - Phoebammon.

How does Laouenan Phoebammon grab you, if not for his name, then at least as a starting point?

The first name is pretty good as a starting point though runs into the problem of me not knowing how to pronounce that, as for the bast name i think gnomish last gnames have a pretty specific formula, from what i can tell its a mix of normal words following a 4 syllable rule Thick-et-bott-er, pale-part-ling-er, froth-el-thim-ble, and so on.

Mongobear
2015-01-29, 02:39 PM
Ravenloft 3.5 Campaign

My character is a male Caliban Ranger, but the DM let me reverse engineer the Pathfinder Ranger into 3.5 and use some of the newer stuff that fits my intentions better. I'm playing him sort of like a watered down Van Hellsing type of guy. I have been going by the name "Lumpy" for the first few sessions now, because he was constantly tormented by children and townsfolk where he was born, so he adopted it as his real name, but also as an ironic nick-name to show the cruelty and prejudice Caliban must face in every day life.

The character originally is from Lamordia, which is the science-y Domain with the Dr. Frankenstein Dark Lord and the Frankensteins' Monster thing set against one another, and random failed or horrifying scientific creations roaming the land, not sure what the real world culture Lamordia is supposed to reflect or emulate, but that may be a good basis for a name.

Other detail, "Lumpy" is built like a brick ****house, and I went with the 2-Handed Combat style, weilding a cruelly serrated Cold-Iron Greatsword made from a shard of metal found from a great explosion at a Manor House/Evil Scientist Lab that he beat into shape himself. He found an odd attachment to the blade because he thought it sort of reflected how he felt about himself, and uses it as an analogue to lash out at those who are cruel to others just because they're different.

Storm_Of_Snow
2015-01-30, 05:05 AM
The first name is pretty good as a starting point though runs into the problem of me not knowing how to pronounce that, as for the bast name i think gnomish last gnames have a pretty specific formula, from what i can tell its a mix of normal words following a 4 syllable rule Thick-et-bott-er, pale-part-ling-er, froth-el-thim-ble, and so on.

Laouenan - I'd pronounce it Lau (to rhyme with the noise you make when you stub your toe :smallsmile: ) - ee - nan. Or, for the one Red Fel suggested, I'd go with something like Ray-las.

Surname. Does it have to follow that formula? It's like every Dwarf being Glod Gloddsson or Balin StoneHammer or something similar.

And unless his abilities run through the family line where he gets his surname from, I'd steer well clear of nominative determinism. Makes them sound like some bronze age comics character who was designed to be a rip-off of a similar character from a different company that still had more effort put into thinking about their powers than their name.

Hazrond
2015-01-30, 10:10 AM
Okay. So, Pathfinder, Half-Elf with Gnomish background, Male, Good-aligned.

Well, PFSRD gives a brief list of Elven sample names, and they tend to follow my rule observed earlier - soft, rhythmic sounds. So let's go with that. How about Ruielas? (Just picked some random letters, think it sounds nice.) That's a nice Elven-sounding first name.

Now, Gnomish names, I hear a lot of staccato. Look at some of the sample names: Abroshtor, Zarzuket, Fijit. Bop-bop-bop. Hoppy names. I like it. But that's first names, not family names. Gnomish family names, in my mind, are a hodgepodge, like a lot of what gnomes do. Keep the staccato, but use words. And let's tie that name into what your character does - meld with familiars. Beasts. Hmm... Beasterblot?

How do you like that one? Ruielas Beasterblot?
I very much like Ruielas :smallsmile:

Laouenan - I'd pronounce it Lau (to rhyme with the noise you make when you stub your toe :smallsmile: ) - ee - nan. Or, for the one Red Fel suggested, I'd go with something like Ray-las.

Surname. Does it have to follow that formula? It's like every Dwarf being Glod Gloddsson or Balin StoneHammer or something similar.

And unless his abilities run through the family line where he gets his surname from, I'd steer well clear of nominative determinism. Makes them sound like some bronze age comics character who was designed to be a rip-off of a similar character from a different company that still had more effort put into thinking about their powers than their name.
i think i may just steal one of the examples and go with Ruielas Thicketbotter (thanks for pronunciation btw)

TheEmerged
2015-01-30, 11:33 AM
Now see, I often do the lazy man's way. I set up an Excel spreadsheet with a bunch of rollbetween & choose formulas to randomize some consonant & vowel possibilities and keep hitting F9 until I see something I like :smallredface:

Gracht Grabmaw
2015-01-30, 11:54 AM
For elven or any other kind of fae characters, I usually take three or four Celtic/Gaelic names, string them together and then chop out a few syllables.
I find that names for places and/or brands of whisky then to work the best.

Malimar
2015-03-03, 12:42 PM
In my setting, I have an antitheist organization dedicated to overthrowing the gods and allowing mortals to decide their own fates for once. I'm looking for a better name for this group than "Athar" (as I'm trying to avoid using names from established settings). I don't have a whole lot of details fleshed out for the group, other than they're currently led by a vampire wizard but has existed for much longer than he's been in charge.