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8BitNinja
2017-03-30, 06:31 PM
I think that I've mentioned several times here now that I'm completely rewriting the game I made called Sidequest with my brother (known on here as Green Elf). The playtesters we got together want to name the characters the names characters of their race would have. The problem is that for a lot of races I don't have any naming conventions right now. Can you guys help me?

Here are all of the races. I will have explanations of what they are (if necessary) and will also list the naming conventions of the ones I already have. The ones I already have are also subject to change, if anyone has a better idea, please share it.

So here they are

Human: Humans are unique in their names as the first names change with subraces. The Melians (White) have traditional British names, the Talkifs (Black) have traditional Nigerian names and the Sen Zi (Asian) have Traditional Japanese names. Names are split into Name Clan name like real life humans. Clan names follow the pattern of adjective noun (Example: Farlight, Grayshield).

Elf: None yet

Half Elf: Typically, half elves are given both a human and elf name at birth. They usually identify as one or the other.

Halfling: None yet

Dwarf: Names are three syllables long. Two of them are for the individual name and one denotes the dwarf's clan. (Example: Renekta, Mazeltov)

Mingar: None yet
Mingars are basically 7 foot tall Klingons with a polar opposite culture of Klingons

Reptilian: Nine yet
For looks, think of the Argonians from The Elder Scrolls

Gnome: None yet

Atlantean: None yet
Atlanteans are fish people, kind of like a cross between the Zoras from Zelda and Lincoln from Hellboy. They have a culture that is a mix of various Asian cultures and named after their underwater temple city.

Turtleoid: None yet
Turtleoids are nomadic anthropomorphic turtles. They aren't known for being smart or fast, but they are known for their aversion to building cities and cultivating fields

Ancient: Shares the same name as humans, but instead of their name also being their clan's males share the name of their fathers and females the name of their mothers (Examples: Samuel son of Jacob, Sarah daughter of Rebekah)
Ancients are a secluded people with highly advanced technology. They have blaze orange skin and jet black hair with eyes that are completely blue. Besides the odd features, they look like humans. They have a culture based off of Hebrew culture.

EDIT: Description for humans changed due to complaints. Specified names for humans.

Xuc Xac
2017-03-31, 12:09 PM
(Which for simplicity and world building purposes are the three races of humans as recognized by anthropology). The Melians (Caucasian) have traditional European names, the Talkifs (Negroid) have traditional African names and the Sen Zi (Mongoloid) have Traditional Asian names.

Greetings, time traveler! Welcome to the 21st century! Queen Victoria is dead and many things have changed in the past 150 years. I see you've already figured out how to access the internet. Please use it to research recent developments in human history. I recommend starting with germ theory. If you don't have the time for that, at least start washing your hands more frequently even if they don't look dirty.

Anonymouswizard
2017-03-31, 01:14 PM
I highly recommend picking a specific Asian and African culture, Yuki and Xue (can't get the correct tone marker on my phone) are obviously very different names because they come from different Asian countries, but both mean snow. Having a random hodgepodge of 'Asian' names will be really weird (especially as while Americans will assume East Asian names, I immediately started thinking of Indian names).

I personally restrict my settings to mainly European or descriptive manes to avoid such problems.

Now, the thing is tone will vary considerably and affect the naming conventions you can use. While B'tm'f'tb'y might work as an elven name in a comedic setting/system, it'll just be silly if all the others are banned Ar'mirll Moonflower. Any suggestions on that front?

8BitNinja
2017-03-31, 05:47 PM
Greetings, time traveler! Welcome to the 21st century! Queen Victoria is dead and many things have changed in the past 150 years. I see you've already figured out how to access the internet. Please use it to research recent developments in human history. I recommend starting with germ theory. If you don't have the time for that, at least start washing your hands more frequently even if they don't look dirty.

I never said that it was impossible for humans to be mixed. Besides, this world takes place in a 14th century culture where the four elements theory is scientific law (and so is chi) and the world is flat. Also, the point wasn't to be racist, I never meant to exclude or belittle anyone based on race. I know things happened in the past 150 years, but not in this world.

Bogwoppit
2017-04-01, 09:52 AM
I think the point is that you're using outdated terms for real world ethnicities - and that those terms are tainted by their association with now-debunked racist anthropology.
And that you're apparently planning to lump loads of disparate cultures and ethnicities all into a blended monoculture for a given region.

Now, as a simplification for a fantasy game, I can the point - but rather than using the term "Asian", or " African" (when those *whole continents* clearly contained many, many cultures and peoples), you'd be better off saying "pseudo-Asian", and maybe adding that you're going for a Mandarin Chinese flavour.
Or just saying "Human cultures and names are based on some real-world historical cultures that I want to emulate".

You've also apparently assumed that it is normal for names to be *given name* *family/clan name*. This is not the case - it's just normal for the currently successful European-based cultures.
More common is that people had a given name, and maybe some other cognomen to distinguish them from others with the same given name - like a nickname, or a patronymic or matronymic (named for your parent), or a toponym (named after a place).

I hope that helps.

M Placeholder
2017-04-01, 09:53 AM
Gnomes - As many names as possible. No Gnome should have a full name that takes less than 5 minutes to read out.

mikeejimbo
2017-04-01, 01:19 PM
For the lizardfolk in my game, which I also basically stole Argonian biology for, I also just stole their naming convention. The players did not particularly appreciate Cries-Over-Bunnies, though.

Honest Tiefling
2017-04-01, 02:32 PM
I never said that it was impossible for humans to be mixed. Besides, this world takes place in a 14th century culture where the four elements theory is scientific law (and so is chi) and the world is flat. Also, the point wasn't to be racist, I never meant to exclude or belittle anyone based on race. I know things happened in the past 150 years, but not in this world.

I think he's referring more to the fact that those words (Most notably Negroid and Mongoloid) are not used in cultural anthropology (still going strong in forensic anthropology, I guess?) due to associations with scientific racism.

If this is a product you intend to publish this product, I would really suggest using different terms. I personally would really not have to explain to black or asian people that the product isn't racist, really! Please don't punch me.

Also, I am confused what you mean by 'races' as recognized by anthropology...I think you mean ethnicity. Race is the genetic stuff, ethnicity is cultural stuff. Also given humanity's tendency to bang each other, races are pretty fuzzy and usually defined by context.

Not to mention, I think I would define the names else you get gems like 'Elspeth Ramierez' or 'Altantsetseg Kim'.

8BitNinja
2017-04-02, 10:22 AM
I think the point is that you're using outdated terms for real world ethnicities - and that those terms are tainted by their association with now-debunked racist anthropology.
And that you're apparently planning to lump loads of disparate cultures and ethnicities all into a blended monoculture for a given region.

Now, as a simplification for a fantasy game, I can the point - but rather than using the term "Asian", or " African" (when those *whole continents* clearly contained many, many cultures and peoples), you'd be better off saying "pseudo-Asian", and maybe adding that you're going for a Mandarin Chinese flavour.
Or just saying "Human cultures and names are based on some real-world historical cultures that I want to emulate".

You've also apparently assumed that it is normal for names to be *given name* *family/clan name*. This is not the case - it's just normal for the currently successful European-based cultures.
More common is that people had a given name, and maybe some other cognomen to distinguish them from others with the same given name - like a nickname, or a patronymic or matronymic (named for your parent), or a toponym (named after a place).

I hope that helps.

I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to be racist. I was just using terms that I found online. I also wasn't trying to say these and then use the word "race" to say "white people are better than everyone else" and more like "people from different places look different." I also am not trying to be offensive by grouping people into continents, that was purposefully semi-lazy design so that I could work on the nonhumans. Besides, in the book, Black, White, and Asian people are just called by their fictional names (as listed above, but if you don't care to look they are Talkif, Melian, and Sen Zi, three names I got by combining sounds together randomly). I guess for human names I could choose specific countries for names (White- Britain Black- Nigeria Asian- Japan)

Also, do you want me to change my original post?