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Aximili
2007-05-03, 08:49 PM
I don't know about you, but one of the most challenging obstacles I confront when creating a new character, is giving him a proper name.

Usually, I resort to copying the a name from on of the various examples given in so many PrC's description. But I'm starting to run out of options right now, and so I come asking for help to my most beloved D&D forum.:smallbiggrin:

At first I just hoped to get some good names suggestions. But, who knows, this might just turn into one big Names Compendium thread.:smalltongue: (hey, a guy can dream, right?)

So, if you remember a cool name from a character you once played, read a name somewhere worth mentioning, or have thought of one that's simply burning up in your head waiting to get out, bring it here.:smallcool:

(when I say "cool name", I mean anything worth mentioning. please don't be shy)

dungeon_munky
2007-05-03, 08:56 PM
I usually just take names from characters I like in other sources, like Kankurou from Naruto or Athos from the Three Musketeers. However, when I'm making up a name, I usually pick a letter to start with, then make up something that sounds cool after...this spawned my personal favorite of my characters, Estorias.

My friend on the other hand, has normal earth names with strange spellings like Baughb (Bob) and Xofer (the x as in christmas, so his name was christofer)

Dhavaer
2007-05-03, 08:58 PM
Characters I've played:

Aerethi
Alais
Alaryas (my avatar)
Khithil
Chantal

Goff
2007-05-03, 09:05 PM
I suggest the Middle Name Generator (http://www.barrowdowns.com/middleearthname.php) at barrowdowns.com, just type in a mundane name and *bang* you've got a range of high fantasy names to use.

Fat Daddy
2007-05-03, 09:11 PM
I like normal earth names that are somewhat less common. For instance, I played a Paladin named Sebastian and a Cleric named Caleb. If you want some good old fashioned sounding names... I actually recommend the Book of Genesis in the Bible. When they are going through the geneology, there are pages of cool names. :smallamused:

Jacob Orlove
2007-05-03, 09:13 PM
I like http://rinkworks.com/namegen/ a lot. You get a phenomenal amount of control over how it randomly generates the names, and can just keep refreshing until you get something that looks good.

The_Werebear
2007-05-03, 09:18 PM
I'll list off the names of the characters currently in my Profiler

Aimedeno Wraiths Blade
Alexius
Garrel the Flayed
Grendas the Wild
Kerrul Spinesnap
Lasral Astaroth
Baltasar de la Cruz del Norte
Sjael
The Son of Umberlee
Silverblade
Targon Quicktounge
Xazar Blackflame

Catch
2007-05-03, 09:26 PM
Name generators are always a help, but maybe my dirty little secret will help:

Steal one from a book. I read a few fantasy novels here and there, and whenever I need a character name, I take the first or last name from a minor character (protagonists are a no-no) and pair it with another name from another character (maybe even from another book). Works every time.

Townopolis
2007-05-03, 09:38 PM
I like normal earth names that are somewhat less common. For instance, I played a Paladin named Sebastian and a Cleric named Caleb. If you want some good old fashioned sounding names... I actually recommend the Book of Genesis in the Bible. When they are going through the geneology, there are pages of cool names. :smallamused:

Seconded.

Also, if you have a certain culture your character is based off of (even sort of), you can google names from that culture.

Gaelic names, Scandanavian names, Chinese names... most of what turns up isn't in popular use, so it doesn't have the same effect as a character named 'Bob' does.

And they're real names too!

Samurai General
2007-05-03, 09:44 PM
Falcoon or Falcoon_X if I want fancy is my favorite charater name.

Enzario
2007-05-03, 09:52 PM
I prefer a common-sounding name that seems to fit with the character's personality and basic idea. For instance, I'm currently playing a dwarf ranger with some Russian flavor who loves to drink and get in fights. His name is Lars.

Ashdate
2007-05-03, 09:58 PM
I like using the Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com/) translator to create names. For example, perhaps I was creating a sorcerer. Translating 'Fireball' gives the following:

Vuurbol (Dutch)
Aérolithe (French)
Feuerkugel (German)
Bola de fuego (Spanish)

The German one sounds a little weird, so I'd probably throw that one out, but I could totally see changing a letter or two to create 'Verdol' the Sorcerer, or 'Arieal,' or even something like Sola de Fenego as you change the name to have a nice sound, or whatever.

My trick at least.

- Eddie

The Great Skenardo
2007-05-03, 10:03 PM
Some sample names:

Yog
Albert Wooster
Sumner Kesh
Livina Lightfoot
Jurgen Gazzu
Stigg
Bronsk Sieffson
Tony 'Catseye' Grye
Haftan the Green
Jumenja Kree

Lemur
2007-05-03, 10:08 PM
I often have trouble with names, but I've used some of the methods already mentioned before.

For example, I'll look in name indexes, such as this one (http://www.behindthename.com/) for names, usually foreign for ideas. Also, mythology (http://www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm) provides some ideas as well (Tokien took a lot of names out of Norse mythology, for example). I like to make sure that names I borrow aren't going to stick out as copycats, so names that people won't immediately recognize, or come from obscure sources are my preferences. Even if people know where "Savara" and "Ixmucane" come from, I doubt that they'd find the reference irritating or uninspired.

From there, I may "corrupt" the name somehow if I don't quite like the sound of it, or it needs some other sort of adaptation. I might turn the name 'Amrit' into something like "Amarede".

One final tactic, which I've adopted as a result of watching too much anime: take a foreign word that you like, even if it's not an actual name. This is the fun one, since names like "Kiatu" or "Gokiburi" double as personal jokes. While it wasn't my finest moment, I did name have a dwarf named Iowa once.

Another thing, I don't know about the rest of you, but long, complicated names piss me off. That doesn't mean I don't use them, but rather, if I do, I make sure that it's easily abbreviated into a simple nickname. An odd name like "Tormash" isn't actually too complicated, but you can just call him "Tor" for convenience's sake.

Diggorian
2007-05-03, 10:18 PM
I take a few words that describe the concept then mix the letters/syllables to my liking. Hobgoblin samurai concept conjures Oni (demon) and Ryu (dragon). Oniryu I dont like, so I change it to Noriyu. End it with a K for a goblin touch: Noriyuk. This is where most of my character names come from.

Examples:
dwarf Emoadan (immoveable)
human Gregarion (gregarious)
aasimar Corrain (reigning courage)
human Alastaire (alacrity)

pirate sorceror Riggalletto (RIG-ah-let-OH), just rolls off the tongue :smallbiggrin:

Quirinus_Obsidian
2007-05-03, 10:22 PM
Character names are a quandry for me too. What I tend to do is think of a few letters that look really cool together, throw a couple of syllables on them, and either a masculine or feminine inflection to it, and WHAM! Gotchaname. Otherwise, I look at history, or babelfish a name for the character based on what it does.

Some examples:
Quirinus Obsidian - Human (Sorc/Cleric) Mystic Theurge
Aezetyr - Half Fey Sorceress / Stormcaster
Maer Zhan - Water Orc Warblade
Kih Samanh - Smoke Genasi Marksman (psionic ranger type)
Kusari-Musha - Kyton Swordsage (his name translates literally from the Japanese as Chain Warrior)

Theodoxus
2007-05-03, 10:23 PM
Theodoxus
Reginaldi
Alathena
Fendarus
Melyen
Aerithandrinom

Those are names I made up when I was a kid, and have kept alive in various tabletop and computer rpgs.

I'm on a kick for at the moment for more 'normal' names - my friend and I are playing halfling twin rogues named Alex and Alton. I have another halfling concept for a ranger named Blaze Wolfrider.

Most of the time, I seek out sounds and place them together - Theodoxus, for instance came to me at church when I was about 10. Theo for god and doxus from doxology. It wasn't until much later that I found out it was also the greek form for a couple of Roman Emperors (Theodocius). Its probably most famous for being the species name of sea snails... google image it sometime (you'll probably find a pic of me in LARP garb too /sigh)

Fendarus just sprang to my head for a monsterous humanoid game one evening. He was a 2nd ed Firbolg.

Aerithandrinom is an elf, and very pretensious, for me at least. A friend borrowed the name, but he came off more down to earth, but that's ok. In my head, he's always Aerithandrinom, and never Aerith, or Nomi (shudder)

Alathena was pretty easy - added 'Al' to Athena - came off kinda middle eastern, and I was shocked to find it wasn't common at all.

Melyen was my corrupted name for a coworker - Marvin. He's Navajo, but is the splitting image of Pat Murita, so I slanged his name into how I thought a Japanese would say it (I'm so bad, I know)

Reginaldi just sounded perfect - adding an 'i' to Reginald, creating a very italian sounding name... It's fun how some words completely change by simply adding a letter to the end of them. Vowels work best, but some words can take a consonant nicely.

My friend (who plays Alton) tends to take common household items he sees while generating the character and changes them. Most often it's simply reversing the letters. He almost played a character named Ynos, but I convinced him that Sony actually worked better. Probably his most favored name is Darcian - which is such a cool name, evokes an image of a gallant Paladin or Knight at the very least - full plate and longsword at his side... I'm planning on writing a novel using Darcian and Reginaldi in a sort of Caramon - Raistlin kind of tale... Knight and Necromancer, I think.

Anyways... I think naming characters is one of my alltime favorite things to do...

Theo

Lord Iames Osari
2007-05-03, 10:25 PM
I use the Rinkworks Generator (http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/) for certain cultures in my homebrew setting that have a specific structure to their names.

Other than that, I generally cast around for a name that seems appropriate. Some names I've used, and where they came from:

Iames - an adaptation of James
Aerin - borrowed from Robin McKinley
Ariaj - adapted from backwards "Jaina" of the Star Wars EU.
Xarakh Nam - many incarnations ago, adapted from the name of a Vietnamese dish. I kid you not.
Casfal - stolen from an anime
Namuras - Saruman backwards. *shrug*
Zlalquiss - I have no idea where it came from.

Ashes
2007-05-03, 10:28 PM
I'm boring. I use regular English names. My current character is named Evan, and I've been known to use Gavin and Garret a lot as well.

Nobody remembers or uses long names with multiple apostrophes anyways, so this actually allows people to stay in character instead of just saying my (the player's) name or just "fighter" or whatever.

Talya
2007-05-03, 10:36 PM
Calishiite sorceress from Calimport:

Nara Aesera Nahid.

Yes, that sounds arabic.

Nara = Flame, Fire (Bloodline of Fire feat...she's decended from an Efreeti)
Aesera = Of Captivating Beauty
Nahid = One with full, round breasts. Also Persian name for the Greek Goddess Aphrodite. (I'm a heartwarder of Sune. Sue me.)

LoopyZebra
2007-05-03, 10:36 PM
http://www.behindthename.com/random/

http://20000-names.com/

Want a knight? Give him a lesser-known French or Arthurian name. Want a barbarian? German or a Scandinavian language will do. Want a samurai? Japanese.

Really, if you didn't think of that last one by yourself, I should slap you. :smallsmile:

Wooter
2007-05-03, 10:54 PM
I like inappropriate names. A necromancer named Jimmy, an elven wizard named Bubba, a Half-orc barbarian named Alexander Chesterfield Xavier Beauregard.

Hyrael
2007-05-03, 10:59 PM
I Often wind up stealing names from awesom fantasy books that no one else has read.

Shannan (shan) Originaly the name of a fat, absent-minded artificier, now my best RP character evar, a sorceror/rogue
Mairsil, the name of an awesom villain and master mage, now the name of a LN Summoner who loves to order around infernal minions

Or just make something up. Sometimes names come easy, sometimes they dont. Just try coming up with demon names on the spot, when you're playing a fiendbinder.
Zigfrizyglz (Ziggy), a Mezzoloth, Big, stupid, and crude
Marenal, a Erines, AKA bitchpants McCrabby, arrogant and cruel
Agryzbyifen (Arby), a Blue Abishai, Just plain creepily sociopathic little gargoyle-guy. Regenerates, so the other devils love to rip off his head every now and then. Even mairsil likes to cave in his skull.
Einen, a Harvester Devil, now banished to oblivion for 99 years, acted like an insurance/car salesman, but for souls.
Jub-Jub: Fiendish Monitor Lizard Familiar
Yep, we're all one big messed-up family.

Other character names:
Basalt(warforged Warblade), Greeg(Gruwaar Warlock), Bithoran (killoren Ranger), Adamaron (dragoloth), Lacrimosa (half-vampire monk), Hyrael (raptor Arcane Heirophant), Thared (raptor Barbarian Horizon walker)

ocato
2007-05-03, 11:15 PM
I often pick names based on a sort of mental attribution of an existing people's cultures. Like in a campaign/story I was working on, the main characters are based on different regions/peoples during medieval europe.

Drata Sudeton: Human Paladin. Drata is a Czech name and the Sudetenland is (formerly) the region of Czechoslovakia where German speaking people lived. He represents Christian Europe.

Dola Hudona: Human Bard. Dola Hudona sounds both intimidating and intelligent. Dola represents the Norse people, but not in the barbaric sense that is overly used. The people of Scandinavia were also navigators, artists, and peaceful, devout people, as well as 'vikings'.

Sannix Coppercleave: Dwarven Barbarian. Very dwarven name. Sannix represents the nonchristian europeans, mostly barbaric tribes like vandals, goths, etc. He is a direct opposition of Drata in both alignment (LG vs CN) and personality.

Magwyn Forestsong: Elven Druid. Plenty of letters for the elven feel, and allows a very accessable nickname: Mags. Magwyn represents the british isles in that she is both classy and without refinement. She is both London and Stonehenge.

Armim Sal'allas: Human Wizard. Amrin was supposed to represent the Muslim and middle eastern influences in europe, being the smartest person in the party and also the least likely to act rashly.

Celina Undercobble "Leenie Longknives": Halfling Rogue. Leenie represents the merchant class and independant governements of Italy. She is conniving, smart, and ruthless. Undercobble is a good halfling name (the phb helps sometimes) and 'Leenie' gives a good feel for a halfling.

Nebo_
2007-05-03, 11:18 PM
I like names that don't sound made up. A regular sounding name usually works.
Some of my characters:
Ulric
Theodore
Cassius
Silas
Duncan
Erik

magicwalker
2007-05-03, 11:27 PM
Use DnD sources as inspiration... MtG cards... Warlord cards... fantasy books... TV shows... I'm not a huge fan of random name generators, but you could use that just to get something that sounds good and then take it from there. It's not really a big deal to take a name straight from a source, but shoot for the less common. iotw, anything that sounds cool

Fax Celestis
2007-05-04, 12:07 AM
http://behindthename.com/random/ is your friend.

Duke Malagigi
2007-05-04, 01:32 AM
These characters use both Dicefreaks (for the infernal prestige classes) rules and necromancer variants converted (not by me) from the Second Edition Complete Book of Necromancers. So, how do you like these five names?

Maxwell Stockton, LE male human Philosopher (necromancer) 12/ Stoic of Mephistopheles 5. Professor of philosophy (joke, just a little one) and biology. Suspected of such ethics violations as using his own students as unwitting guinea pigs, but most people are to afraid to question him on these charges.

Frederick Cromwell, LE male human Anatomist (necromancer) 10/ Rogue 6/ Mogul of Dispater 12. He's a thieves guild leader and professional body snatcher.

The Blood General Armadal Canonach, LE male ogre Fighter 12/ Dark Marshal of Bael 16. Once "pacified" an enemy city by executing half of its population, then enslaving the rest for six years in hellish "reeducation camps".

Countess Angelique De lorme, LE female human Archetypal Necromancer 23/ Ex-Druid 9/ Despoiler of Lilith 11. She keeps both humanoid and awakened animal children caged and shackled in her palace. Her purpose is to weed out what she believes to be genetically weaker children "for liquidation", while keeping the others for "breeding stock". She uses torture, mental and otherwise to break these children down in more malleable psychological molds.

Doctor Jonathan Ellington, CG male human Anatomist (necromancer) 28/ Master Anatomist 15. Current president of the Redbark necromantic academy in the elven capitol city. He is his world's greatest arch-necromancer and defends it demonic, daemonic and diobolical incroachments. His main mortal enemies include Frederick Cromwell and the Countess Angelique De lorme.


Characters I need help naming.

1. He is a large awakened brown bear wearing armor made out of deer bone. At a young age he was apprenticed to his tribe's elder magician so he could learn the healing arts (curative necromancy). Unfortunately, while an older cub, his village came under attack from a human necromancer named Angelique (see above). The warriors of the clan all fought to defend their village, and many of them lost their lives in the battle. During this battle the clan's magician strode out from his thatched hovel, and using his great knowledge and cunning destroyed many scores of these undead monstrosities while providing healing and comfort through his arcane powers. Seeing this display of power as a young cub, our esteemed ursine necromancer resolved not to become an anatomist like his former mentor but to become a more focused slayer of the undead. After this invasion was repelled he went off to rescue his fellow bearfolk (I can't think of a better name yet) and to receive training as a deathslayer. During his travels he became a great and thoughtful warrior and studied tactics, philosophy, history (outside his tribe), the social graces, and religion. His studies in theology lead the ursine necromancer to veneration of the celestials known as the Defenders of Freedom. These great angels bestowed upon him great, but limited powers, making him into a marshal of liberty. He currently teaches a class on combating the undead and offensive necromancy. He's around 7'2" and weighs around 534 pounds with thick light brown fur and black beady eyes.

2. She uses her talents in the necromantic sciences to contact the dead and in her work as an obstetrician and gynecologist. The courses she teaches cover obstetrics, gynecology, and classical necromancy. This said, except for classical necromancy she prefers to teach only female students including her daughters (the oldest of whom is 16), saying, "Since only women can bare and nurse children it makes sense that only women could truly understand the inner workings of other women.". The necromancer herself is a widow and a mother of three daughters.
She's been a citizen of the country of Talamh Saoirse (roughly translated as Freeland, elf country) for 5 years after fleeing her homeland out of fear of religious persecution, after the public execution of her husband. She’s a short (5'4" tall) and shapely East Asian (Japanese to be more specific) woman aged 36 dressed in a medium-green kimono tied off with a pale blue obi or sash. Her hands are slender, having long and graceful fingers with well-trimmed nails. Her comely and well-formed face and amber-colored eyes are framed with long straight black hair.

So, what do you people think think?

CindyKay
2007-05-04, 01:49 AM
Names can be funny or quirky or descriptive.

I once played in a campaign with a pair of thieves named Chip and Dale after the Disney chipmunks.

About 30 years ago I had a mage character named Presto after a magician friend of mine named Martin Preston. And after I started playing, one of the other players pointed out that "presto" is something cheesy magicians say as a magic word. :(

I think naming characters is a very personal thing, and the way you name your characters has as much to do with one's own personality as with the character's. Of course, that's only my opinion, and I'm certain there are players out there with very specific and probably scientific methods of naming characters.

I think it will be interesting to learn how others choose character names.

SpatulaOfDoom
2007-05-04, 01:55 AM
I sometimes have difficulty choosing names for characters. I try to give them names that are easy to say and remember but somehow evocative of their personality or nature.
Some of my characters.

Suicide Sam
Full orc barbarian who sings a song called "Sam I am" that actually re-counts his adventures with a simple two line verse for each adventure. Sam seems a pretty good name for a... well basically retarded but good hearted orc, the suicide bit is a nickname I added at creation because he's an anti-AC barbarian build.

Talis
Halfling Rogue and perhaps my longest running character. Talis' supposed to be styled somewhat after the freewheeling european gypsies and one of the things that the gypsies were famous for were their fortune tellers and their talis decks. No last name because he doesn't want to be identified with a particular family or place but wants to become known simply for who he is not whom he is related to or where he was from.

Nigel Bristol
Excessively british sounding elven wizard. From a noble family he's actually not quite so stuck up as the name seems to indicate.

Julian Cormorant
Human thanemage. A member of the merchant nobility Julian is something of a dilettante/three musketeers character. Julian is a normal albeit uncommon name which works for humans.

Shamiel
Shamiel is a nomadic cleric with a strong arabic flavour. "Shamiel" is a particular type of sandstorm which occurs during the hottest months in the desert, it's a fast moving wave of very hot air followed immediately by billowing sand.

A few rules of thumb that I go by when naming.

Keep it relatively simple:
No more than one apostrophe in your name. If people have difficulty pronouncing it even after you've given them the pronunciation then it's too complicated and people WILL give you a nickname or use a shortened version. It's actually not too bad if the last name is overlong or hard to pronounce since the first name is what people will identify the character with and it's the one being used.
Simple doesn't mean ordinary
The worst offenders in this category tends to be elves, I honestly don't think I need to explain this one.

No joke names: Names like Rod Hughes or Murlyn might get a laugh but it gets old very quick and no-one will take your character seriously, intentionally or not.

Make it mesh with your character: This one's pretty straightforward. Boil your character down to a one sentence description (not mechanics but do include how they go about doing what they do) and think about which of the names you've got at this point seem jarring when put with that character, discard those names.

Zynex
2007-05-04, 12:24 PM
Names just pop in and out of my head every once in a while. I'm currently underway in writing a story hence names would be a big deal for me. I don't choose themes, just those i think best suits the character, although sometimes my aim is way off.

my favorite one is this which i have used in some campaigns.

Drake Jasil
Wandering sorcerer. Verbose, outlandish with a penchant for blasting spells. His family name is actually false, for it is the name of the first true master of the Arcane (well, in the homebrew world i crafted), the first Jasil, who is believed to have defeated death itself and still roams the known world. He uses the name just as an attention grabber, though he is not attached to it. Later, employed by a school for his "talents" and also served as a ploy to keep him in line.

That's as far as I can share, cause i think he's the best name i got so far... I think.

Swooper
2007-05-04, 03:17 PM
Some I've used:

Melanie Hamilton, a human transmuter back in 2nd Edition. She later came up with a nickname for herself, Melziria, something more awe inspiring, heh.

Duranor Hammerfist, dwarf cleric. First character I played in 3.0. I love that name.

Kaspian MacMerlin, human noble wizard. Turned out to be a king (long story..), is currently at level 27. Kaspian is from C.S. Lewis's Narnia books, only with a C (Caspian there). MacMerlin... well, you get the idea.

Sarina Kalethidin, human sorceress.

Durtrag, son of Mogror of the Red Bear Clan, half-orc barbarian. It took a long while to come up with a suitable name for him, I wrote down about two dozen of them (first names) and picked the one I liked the best. I'm quite happy with it.

Marsendo, human fighter (samurai type, before my group got CW). It's exotic without being exactly japanese. I really like that one.

Kasseryth, elf druid/catlord (the animal lord prestige class from 3.0 Masters of the Wild). I stole that from somewhere, can't remember where...

Quodus Eratus Demonstratofanes, gnome sorceror/wildmage. All the gnomes in the campaign seemed to have latin or greek sounding names, so I went with the flow :p

Abraham Taramilis, human paladin who made it to level 22 before the campaign ended. I like bible names for religious characters, although I don't play many. He actually got the last name from his wife when he married, I had never given him a last name :p

Asako Kitabatake, human male fire shugenja in a heavily modified D&D Rokugan campaign. He ended up getting tainted and turned into a villain, heh. That was fun.

Raelsar Manketh sin'Serion kai Odessyr, elf noble sorceror in a recently started campaign.

Nwellymdar Jarfoot, gnome warlock. I personally like welsh names for gnomes, sounds right.

...think that's about all I can remember.

I really don't have a method of making names, I usually just start with a letter I think fits and go from there. Usually works, although it takes time to come up with something good most of the time.

Jannex
2007-05-05, 01:08 AM
I'm boring. I use regular English names. My current character is named Evan, and I've been known to use Gavin and Garret a lot as well.

Coincidentally, in the Changeling (WoD) game I'm currently running, two of my NPCs are named Gavin and Garrett. They're brothers. One is the love interest of one of my PCs; the other one is a bad guy.



About 30 years ago I had a mage character named Presto after a magician friend of mine named Martin Preston. And after I started playing, one of the other players pointed out that "presto" is something cheesy magicians say as a magic word. :(

It's also the name of the Magician in the old D&D cartoon series (which is fun stuff).

Mostly, when I make a character, I'll either make up a name, or borrow something from mythology (which culture, of course, depends on the character).

In a science-fiction game, I once played a character named Rhiannon (stolen from Celtic mythology). Then in a World of Darkness game, I played a character named Ariana Kensington, a werecat. I realized later that both characters were drawing on the same general archetype, and both characters' names could be abbreviated to "Ree." Most characters I've played since then who draw on that archetype go by that nickname; the most recent was a D&D scout named Rhiann Fletcher.

Another fun name I came up with was Vesh (see my avatar). She's a half-elf; her full name is Veshandrina, but if anyone tries to call her that, he'll end up with three feet of steel through his gut. She has very much rejected her elven heritage. When naming her, I wanted something monosyllabic, harsh, but graceful in a deadly sort of way. Her full name came later.

For Tannen (my minotaur ranger, see sigatar below), I wanted a name that could reasonably come from a savage barbarian tribe, but didn't sound particularly barbaric itself; something that sounded practical and woodsy. In all honesty, I derived it from the natural chemical tannin, which is used for curing leather.

Another name I've used for a D&D character, Ananke, was pulled directly from Greek mythology. (I find that pantheon.org is a great resource for names from all sorts of world mythologies.) Ananke was the personification and goddess of unalterable necessity, or force of destiny. The character I gave that name was an assassin.

I once played a gypsy-like traveling performer (she danced, tumbled, juggled, etc.) rogue, named Chaya Ratri. These names were taken from Hindu mythology (also via pantheon.org); Chaya is a goddess whose name means "shadow," and Ratri is a benevolent goddess of night, invoked for protection against robbers and wolves. I liked her name.

JaronK
2007-05-05, 01:12 AM
I usually look up names in other, older languages and take one with an appropriate meaning. For example, I often play a druid named Anwar Bleidd, which is Welsh, roughly meaning Wild Wolf.

JaronK

ZeroNumerous
2007-05-05, 01:30 AM
I just take a name I know and jumble it. It's really not that hard for me.

Ravyn
2007-05-05, 01:32 AM
Most of my names are puns or references of some sort, pulled out of my namebook or a dictionary.

There's Amaya, for instance--a Japanese name meaning "Night rain". I used it for two different stealthy characters, though it made more sense with the concept on the second iteration, as did her familiar, Shizuyo (quiet) the ferret. Or Levina ("lightning bolt"), the insane Air Aspect with no sense of subtlety. Heck, there was one NPC I named out of a Japanese dictionary by translating the name of one of her prior incarnations a good year and a half ago--and nobody figured it out until today.

On this board, I have or have had Manar (Arabic, "guiding light") Ryanelle the paladin; Tala ("stalking wolf") the arctic gnome and her wolf companion; Taraneh (Persian, "melody") the wandering performer searching for the world's music--and my short-lived project Karasu (Japanese, "crow"), whose concept was basically "Let's see how far I can take the astrological sign of the Crow."

Sometimes I do it by taking an overarching theme and bringing in slightly mangled etymology--I had a character once, heavily bat-themed, who went by the name "Tehane", which was supposed to translate to "hand-wing" (seeing if I could cross-language "chiroptera"). (Of course, looking through my Japanese dictionary again, I realized I used the wrong word for wing. Oh, well.) And one of my more recent projects and my personal prize was built around snow, particularly her name. For a personal name, I used the Vietnamese Tuyet ("snow"); her family name I based on the Spanish nieve (also "snow")--end result was Niev Tuyet, one of the iciest individuals I've ever played.

And occasionally, just for fun, I create a name, then give it a meaning.

Neek
2007-05-05, 02:46 AM
I don't actually have a hard time naming characters. Well, sometimes I do. I do one of two things: Use real, Earth-names that sound good and distinct, and I also flip through dictionaries of other languages and find words out of there. (I've had a few characters named Ariste, which is beautiful by its own. It's Greek, meening "the best (girl).") A character for another campaign I'll be playing soon, her name is Anneliese Casalba. Casalba sounded pretty, despite it being Greek for "harlot." In one I'm currently in, my gnome is named Chop Chopsky. I don't know where I got that from, but Gnome Chopsky is a fun pun.


These characters use both Dicefreaks (for the infernal prestige classes) rules and necromancer variants converted (not by me) from the Second Edition Complete Book of Necromancers. So, how do you like these five names?

Maxwell Stockton, LE male human Philosopher (necromancer) 12/ Stoic of Mephistopheles 5. Professor of philosophy (joke, just a little one) and biology. Suspected of such ethics violations as using his own students as unwitting guinea pigs, but most people are to afraid to question him on these charges.

Frederick Cromwell, LE male human Anatomist (necromancer) 10/ Rogue 6/ Mogul of Dispater 12. He's a thieves guild leader and professional body snatcher.

The Blood General Armadal Canonach, LE male ogre Fighter 12/ Dark Marshal of Bael 16. Once "pacified" an enemy city by executing half of its population, then enslaving the rest for six years in hellish "reeducation camps".

Countess Angelique De lorme, LE female human Archetypal Necromancer 23/ Ex-Druid 9/ Despoiler of Lilith 11. She keeps both humanoid and awakened animal children caged and shackled in her palace. Her purpose is to weed out what she believes to be genetically weaker children "for liquidation", while keeping the others for "breeding stock". She uses torture, mental and otherwise to break these children down in more malleable psychological molds.

Doctor Jonathan Ellington, CG male human Anatomist (necromancer) 28/ Master Anatomist 15. Current president of the Redbark necromantic academy in the elven capitol city. He is his world's greatest arch-necromancer and defends it demonic, daemonic and diobolical incroachments. His main mortal enemies include Frederick Cromwell and the Countess Angelique De lorme.

Good names, good names all in all.



Characters I need help naming.

1. He is a large awakened brown bear wearing armor made out of deer bone. At a young age he was apprenticed to his tribe's elder magician so he could learn the healing arts (curative necromancy). Unfortunately, while an older cub, his village came under attack from a human necromancer named Angelique (see above). The warriors of the clan all fought to defend their village, and many of them lost their lives in the battle. During this battle the clan's magician strode out from his thatched hovel, and using his great knowledge and cunning destroyed many scores of these undead monstrosities while providing healing and comfort through his arcane powers. Seeing this display of power as a young cub, our esteemed ursine necromancer resolved not to become an anatomist like his former mentor but to become a more focused slayer of the undead. After this invasion was repelled he went off to rescue his fellow bearfolk (I can't think of a better name yet) and to receive training as a deathslayer. During his travels he became a great and thoughtful warrior and studied tactics, philosophy, history (outside his tribe), the social graces, and religion. His studies in theology lead the ursine necromancer to veneration of the celestials known as the Defenders of Freedom. These great angels bestowed upon him great, but limited powers, making him into a marshal of liberty. He currently teaches a class on combating the undead and offensive necromancy. He's around 7'2" and weighs around 534 pounds with thick light brown fur and black beady eyes.

For a fun name, Ixmatini Quauhitic (pronounced kwaw-EE-tic ish-ma-TEE-nee). It's Nahuatl (Aztec) for "He thinks in the forest." I figured a Native American name'll fit the character. If not, then try Thankrad. It's a simple quasi-Germanic name.


2. She uses her talents in the necromantic sciences to contact the dead and in her work as an obstetrician and gynecologist. The courses she teaches cover obstetrics, gynecology, and classical necromancy. This said, except for classical necromancy she prefers to teach only female students including her daughters (the oldest of whom is 16), saying, "Since only women can bare and nurse children it makes sense that only women could truly understand the inner workings of other women.". The necromancer herself is a widow and a mother of three daughters.
She's been a citizen of the country of Talamh Saoirse (roughly translated as Freeland, elf country) for 5 years after fleeing her homeland out of fear of religious persecution, after the public execution of her husband. She’s a short (5'4" tall) and shapely East Asian (Japanese to be more specific) woman aged 36 dressed in a medium-green kimono tied off with a pale blue obi or sash. Her hands are slender, having long and graceful fingers with well-trimmed nails. Her comely and well-formed face and amber-colored eyes are framed with long straight black hair.

Remei Aikaterine--it seemingly sounds Asian, yet it's a Catalan + Greek name (Remedy Katherine's what it comes out to in English). It sounds pretty enough...

Dragor
2007-05-05, 02:59 AM
Well, I nicked my first character name from LOTR (Gloin- Gimli's father- and I simply added 'Dragor' on the end to make Gloin Dragor.)

Other names I'm quite cliche with names....

Gromog gro-Balog- nicked off an NPC in Oblivion. Barbarian 7, Orc Warlord 1
Dawn Nightstrider- made up on a whim. I thought it was funny because of the oxymoron I put in there. Bard 7.
Maeia Dervane- completely made up. Wahey! Knight 1.
Tarn Uldvelden- also completely made up. Woo! Knight 4.

knightsaline
2007-05-05, 05:07 AM
Unlike most of you, I stick with one name, but there is some backstory about him or her.

Delasp. Delasp is , in fact the child of two gods, yet due to an ancient prophesy, must live 100 lives in order to ascend to stay with his mother Sedrea (goddess of love, lust and elopement) and his father Syreth (God of small villages, protection and chaotic paladins). unlike the reincarnation spell, Delasp can choose what form he wishes to take, yet he forgets his past lives and abilities. he gets to stay with his parents for the period of gestation. sometimes hes a wizard, others hes a warlock (heritage of the gods, not daemons). somehow, he/she seems to find his/her destined partner who is in fact, the child of Fyiar, (elemental god of fire). she/he seems to go by the name of Aeifyr. both of them are part of the "100 lives" prophesy which states that any child of two gods/goddesses must live 100 lives before ascending to godhood. however, Delasp uses different "titles" like the Ruby Woman (high priestess of Sedrea), Wunschmeister (when he was an archmage),Sie der azurblauen Smaragddrachen (when she was a dragoon) and Rubis Silencieux (when she was a Ninja/Cleric of Sedrea). when Delasp lives out his/her 100th life, he will be a Minor Deity along with Aeilfyr.

DomarSaul
2007-05-05, 05:23 AM
Unless one pops into my head spontaneously, I ALWAYS come back to:

Kate Monk's Onamastikon - a truly beautiful work, a compilation of real-world names by nations and cultures. It has yet to fail me. You can google it, or go to www.gaminggeeks.org and look under resources. Priceless.

Aximili
2007-05-06, 11:22 PM
Wow, that's a lot more answers than I was expecting. And plentyful enough for my next few characters.

Thanks to you all. And I hope this keeps on going. ^^

Sornas
2007-05-07, 12:46 AM
I use Rinkworks plus some adaption if nothing comes to mind, along with a list of names that I have kept alive over the years:

Sornas Orteal (The most famous incarnation of which is my avvie)
Genisi Orteal (Sornas' younger brother in any setting that has both)
Arisa Orteal/Ronga/Tamikos depending on setting/whatever I feel like
Kokuun
Komala
Namir Salrin
Aldorar Tamikos
Gen Ronga
Verdan Orteal (Sornas' father/mentor depending on setting, currently using him for Wheel of Time and Exalted)
Garis Cybek (d20 Future)

Others from my web profiler at the moment:

Aldris Toras
Devon Emerson (d20 modern)
Kanos
Kin'riso
Serald Tannon
Nomyia Tano (Surname first)
Tilum Urnon

If a generator fails me, I open up a wordpad and slam my keyboard until I get a couple nice-sounding syllables, then arrange to taste. (Hey, it's how I got Aldorar.)

Dhavaer
2007-05-07, 12:47 AM
Eggy Eddy. He's an NPC tiefling who smells strongly of sulfur or aftershave, depending on how clean he is.

Xion_Anistu-san
2007-05-07, 12:57 AM
I have to watch the names I use in my group. We have a crew of pervs and they changed mine. His name was Kichiro Connal Lindale. After weeks of having them twist Kichiro and then Connal, I just started calling him KC. And then they kept calling me "KC and the Sunshine Band" (he was a bard on top of it).

A couple of my favorites though:
- a halfling ranger/rogue named Fainter. Kind of a play on Strider, but almost as deadly.
- a half-orc rogue that was 6'4" and weighed 265lbs. named Runsch. We had a lot of fun with his name (i.e. Crunch, Lunch, Brunch, Brush,etc.). He also used a small up-rooted sapling as a weapon.

Skjaldbakka
2007-05-07, 02:37 AM
I have a few names that I tend to recycle a lot. It is kinda a theme. Every campaign I write has each of these NPCs in it, although not necessarily with the same stats, although typically with a similar personality (kinda like Clamp).

Mordreth
Megiddo
Mirado
Tal-Malvolen
Meletus
Marduke

Some new names that I am using now that haven't quite made it to that level, but probably will:

Zatara
Cassius
Akara (actually a character in NERO (http://www.nerolarp.com), that I was so impressed with I started running villains based off the character)
Carmilla
Disraeli
Vasishtha
Dal Penel

Some other names that I haven't really developed any attachment to yet:

Adahn
Simm
Velocci
Renkinna
Cyrin
Lycor
Myrrdin
Velocci
Skjaldbakka

Some Names from games I am in (not mine):
Ilrich
Couteur
Isabella
Sovin Ndore
T'keh
Wu

I also have a particularly infamous (locally speaking) set of villains that will probably not be reused.

Each villain personified a different vice. They were introduced to the party as allies, and they were honestly surprised when they were betrayed by them.

Michael Steadfast (the leader of the group, dressed in a black suit and bowler with a yellow tie and hatband. Greed)
Nathaniel Justice (the right-hand man, dressed in a black suit with a leather duster and a red tie. Wrath)
Prudence Price (the social character of the group, seduced one of the PCs. Wore a blue dress. Lust)
Dr. Archibald Hope (the scientist and physician. was prodigously fat, and wore an orange suit. Gluttony)
Charity Chase (a master thief. wore a purple dress in polite company, or a tight-fitting suit of leather armor with purple decoration when 'on the job.' Pride)
Faith Thomas (Michael's S.O., a hexblade. Wore a green dress. Envy)
Temperance G. Forsythe III (A symbologist (basically a wizard). Wore a light blue ruffled shirt. Sloth)

Toliudar
2007-05-07, 04:56 AM
I also like using old testament names, roman and greek names. Common nouns are also sometimes very helpful, because people already know how to say and spell them. I've also stolen from Inuit, Cree and most European languages.

Keep in mind that, if your name either has a silent letter in it or more than two syllables, other players will find a way to make a nickname of it anyway. Might as well offer one that you'll find inoffensive. My Ur-Priest Ezekiel would be known as Zeki to his friends, if he had any.

Skjaldbakka
2007-05-07, 06:15 AM
In my Cytir campign, one of my players played an AE giant who had a long name that started with a Z. Every one just called him Z, to the point that I don't even know what his actual name was. I don't think the Player would be able to tell me if I called him. The character picture on the yahoo group for the game is in fact entitled "the mysterious giant known only as 'Z'".

Recently, he got his revenge, as he is in the game that I play Zatara in. Also known as Z.

Moik
2007-05-07, 06:28 AM
In Junior High, they were all named Brazen Kildare and were mostly melee builds. In high school I was the DM with a rogue's guild leader named Redd who was effectively my character who I used as their main contact and a source of deus ex machina when needed. In college there was a variety of one-offs I can barely remember. The guy I most often DMed for always named his characters after hockey players (Ronnie Hextall, etc), except for one named "Riggs" after I guess it was Mel Gibson's character in Lethal Weapon...

Eventually we all just got into the habit of using our online names.

Aramil Liadon
2007-05-08, 10:17 PM
Write your name, or the name of someone you know, or just a funny word, on your hand. If your mind works like mine, you will eventually glance at it and read something completely different.
Nathan -> Zanetus
Was my latest one. Strange, n'est pas? Just fiddle around with your new letter combination until you like it. Your subconscious does all the work!

Knight_Of_Twilight
2007-05-08, 10:49 PM
Heh, my Paladin names are almost all German for some reason. Albrecht, Richter, Reinhardt.... Though I've had one named Vanal and another named Marcus.

My fighters tend to have exotic names, because I try to make them unique that way. Eiji, Medoro ( Named after the handsome Moor in the legends of Roland), Zhao Pei, ect.

I shamelssly named my Archivist Dante, and a neutral evil Bard who dressed like a clown Pagliccho.

I dunno. I thought they were cool.

Penguinsushi
2007-05-08, 11:03 PM
Here (http://rinkworks.com/namegen/) is a site I reference a lot when planning out towns and NPC's. Generally, I just cycle the pages and look for a name that kind of looks/sounds right for what I want, and then maybe tweak it a little.

~PS

Thexare Blademoon
2007-05-09, 12:48 AM
In the Eastern Kingdoms (part of a larger setting me and a friend have been making for a while now), I do quite a bit to try to make my names fit. So, you get (at least sufficiently) Japanese names in Artisu, Chinese/Korean in Ailong, and Greek and Roman in Carteria and Gerrardyn (not respectively, it's mixed). Why I put the Greek/Roman nations there is anyone's guess... and don't mind the names of Artisu, Carteria, and Gerrardyn, they were picked before I fully decided on the theme... bad choice in hindsight, but meh. In Estorian, last names like Silverwind, Blademoon, Stormhand, and the like are quite common among humans, but my other two nations don't really have much focus...

At the same time, though, I will rather frequently just think of a name that sounds like it fits, whether it means something or not, whether it's even a real name or not.

Most of the following are NPCs.

Serines Atralphos (the er like air, i short, second e long. First A long, o long.) (NG Fighter/Rogue/Weapon Master) and Lucius Atralphos (CN/CE Rogue/Swashbuckler) - two brothers from Gerrardyn whose parents were killed by Carterian soldiers during the bloody border skirmishes between the two nations. The two turned their skills initially toward the downfall of Carteria in revenge, but eventually decided that it wasn't such a good idea (both moved on, Serines realized the chaos that would ensue and harm the innocents in Carteria, and Lucius saw more money elsewhere). Serines, the older of the two, chose to focus on perfecting his use of the double scimitar, while Lucius turned his talents toward bounty hunting, gradually accepting less legal marks. In choosing Serines' name, I wanted him to sound focused on and dedicated to his training now and to the downfall of Carteria (or other nations, in other settings) earlier. Lucius... just doesn't sound like a nice person's name, to me.

Fuma Ryumi (LG, but can't figure out a D&D build... unarmored, uses a katana extremely well... also, given name first; :miko: "What is this Japan you speak of?") - a ronin from Artisu, dismissed honorably from service after his master was kidnapped (and three years later, rescued by Fuma.) As the rest of her samurai had given up at that point, and she had been gone for so long, she had no political power remaining and saw no need for Fuma to stick around, so he wanders through Artisu, helping anyone who needs his aid, refusing to take another master in case his previous one returns to power and requires his assistance. I wanted a name that sounded strong (and if I recall right, ryu means dragon... but I rarely recall right) and like a wanderer who couldn't stay still. His given name seems to fit the last category to me.

Raven Silverwind (LG Fighter, granted limited divine powers (approximate equivalent of two domains with a caster level equal to his character level, but no other spells) - A young Estorian archer who moved to Nirimar when his older brothers got into some tricky situations back home (actually, their parents were killed and Jake and Blake (the older brothers) wanted to keep Raven out of it). In Nirimar he was helped by some Clerics of Illiah (CG goddess of love, protection, and to a lesser extent magic), who gave him more appropriate clothing for the desert and a place to stay while he got situated. He later returned the favor by protecting their temple from attacks by fanatical worshippers of Temnab (TN drifting toward NE god of death, despises Illiah), after which he was visited by Illiah (not uncommon for her) and granted some limited divine magic. A similar situation played out later, except it was a temple of Minda (LN goddess of justice) he was protecting from fanatical worshippers of Madee (CE goddess of insanity and disease). As for his name... well, much of the backstory was entirely irrelevant to that, so I just wasted your time. :smallamused: His first name simply came from his hair color. His family has historically wandered the world led by their whims and wits moreso than any specific goal, only staying still long enough to raise their children, and for this reason it is said that they've been touched by the Wind Dragon Sefirum. This is where the family name came from.

holy crap that was long