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Pandyman
2017-06-09, 11:39 AM
I'm playing in 5e but this isn't really a 5e specific question. I'm making an elf paladin that warships the goddess of magic in my DM's world. Names, especially using those prefis/suffix charts are difficult to make sound good. Anyone got some good sounding elven names that might fit the character?

VoxRationis
2017-06-09, 12:12 PM
If your DM has their own world with their own deities, you should ask them for linguistic information like that. See if they have any example names, so that you can at least mimic the phonology. Failing that, take inspiration from Tolkien (I think most copies of Lord of the Rings have appendices which explain Quenya and Sindarin phonology), or else from whatever media with elves you particularly favor. But there are no general, setting-non-specific rules for elf names. Tolkien has elven names, inspired more by actual real-life languages, which have linguistic features which I, whose elves are more second-hand and are influenced more by the sort of platonic ideal of elfdom, would never include. I would never make an elf character named Finrod, for example, and even Arwen would be unusual due to the r-w consonant cluster. But clearly these are suitable names for elves.

Bebbit
2017-06-09, 12:21 PM
When all else fails, you can always go with a name generator, and possibly get some inspiration from the randomly generated names.
It's what I do sometimes for my characters. Look through a bunch of randomized names, and then fit some together to make one that I like.

Vitruviansquid
2017-06-09, 12:33 PM
You throw together a bunch of i's, l's, and r's.

JAL_1138
2017-06-09, 12:40 PM
Medium Rare.

Wait no, disregard that. I played a Thri-Kreen recently...

Pandyman
2017-06-09, 12:43 PM
You throw together a bunch of i's, l's, and r's.

irleril lol does that have enough i's, r's, and l's?

Vitruviansquid
2017-06-09, 12:59 PM
irleril lol does that have enough i's, r's, and l's?

Think bigger. Elves like to express their pretentiousness with long names.

"Irlireril"

hymer
2017-06-09, 01:00 PM
Sorry about the presentation, it's copy/pasted from an excel file where I keep names not yet used by anyone in my current campaign. These are more or less proper names based on Tolkien's Quenya and Sindarin languges.

Sindarin F Sindarin M Quenya F Quenya M
Meluil Argalad Hereniel Erunyo
Mireth Pelior Eruvanda Elostor
Arvellas Beleg Artiriel Malinorno
Lavassil Raenion Artanis Arolonto
Areth Haradion Melima Tauro
Haleth Amondos Melda Sardo
Rovain Ereg Erumelde Andunor
Rinnaneth Pellavan Turwen Ertuon
Rilofir Melethron Laurea Soron
Menel Aglar Aratiriel Turon
Dureth Aennen Tarwen Arato
Melethril Alagos Calirwen Varnon
Eirien Alverior Meneldea Catanion
Alhinieth Raevon Sereturiel Marto
Lireth Cellinor Rincea Sando
Glaeril Lennor Lerie Calimo
Mernil Cannor Orwen Milyatyaro
Milil Baranor Mentiriel Meldon
Esteleth Logon Oroniel Morsiron
Eril Calemiron Alassea Tano
Gaelil Laegon Aenwen Leron
Tirnel Esgalon Oron
Gloreth Remon Cemendur
Ehtiveryo
Tiro
Anaron

Pandyman
2017-06-09, 01:33 PM
Sorry about the presentation, it's copy/pasted from an excel file where I keep names not yet used by anyone in my current campaign. These are more or less proper names based on Tolkien's Quenya and Sindarin languges.

Sindarin F Sindarin M Quenya F Quenya M
Meluil Argalad Hereniel Erunyo
Mireth Pelior Eruvanda Elostor
Arvellas Beleg Artiriel Malinorno
Lavassil Raenion Artanis Arolonto
Areth Haradion Melima Tauro
Haleth Amondos Melda Sardo
Rovain Ereg Erumelde Andunor
Rinnaneth Pellavan Turwen Ertuon
Rilofir Melethron Laurea Soron
Menel Aglar Aratiriel Turon
Dureth Aennen Tarwen Arato
Melethril Alagos Calirwen Varnon
Eirien Alverior Meneldea Catanion
Alhinieth Raevon Sereturiel Marto
Lireth Cellinor Rincea Sando
Glaeril Lennor Lerie Calimo
Mernil Cannor Orwen Milyatyaro
Milil Baranor Mentiriel Meldon
Esteleth Logon Oroniel Morsiron
Eril Calemiron Alassea Tano
Gaelil Laegon Aenwen Leron
Tirnel Esgalon Oron
Gloreth Remon Cemendur
Ehtiveryo
Tiro
Anaron

This is actually really helpful, some of these are pretty good, i personally like Soron and Leron

Dunsparce
2017-06-09, 01:37 PM
Honestly when I played an elf I simply named him Simon, and unlike most of my characters he didn't even have a surname, just "Simon". For some reason I find the idea of giving fantastical races plain and boring names amusing.

Lord Torath
2017-06-09, 01:52 PM
I found an elven name generator, and came up with Anglarua Baequimitore, shortened to "Angel" to her fellow adventurers.

I think this is the generator I used: http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/vortexshadow/names.html
(Huh. I didn't expect that to open. I thought Angelfire was gone. Also, this is much nicer formatting than it had when I first found it. And the Drow name generator is a new addition as well!)

Bebbit
2017-06-09, 03:02 PM
I found an elven name generator, and came up with Anglarua Baequimitore, shortened to "Angel" to her fellow adventurers.

I think this is the generator I used: http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/vortexshadow/names.html
(Huh. I didn't expect that to open. I thought Angelfire was gone. Also, this is much nicer formatting than it had when I first found it. And the Drow name generator is a new addition as well!)

This is the one I use.

http://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/dnd-elf-names.php#.WTr-0eHyuUk

Jay R
2017-06-09, 07:36 PM
Tell us something of the culture. Galadriel, Skywise, Drizzt, Herbie, Peaseblossom, and Vaarsuvius are all established elf names, but they come from very different cultures and traditions.

Anonymouswizard
2017-06-09, 08:55 PM
Medium Rare.

Wait no, disregard that. I played a Thri-Kreen recently...

Not much eating on an elf though, dwarves give a much better meal.

For elf names, the answer is it varies. I like to make fun of the tendency to put apostrophes in elven names and the overlong nature of them (B't'm'f'tb'y is a short version), but honestly these days if I ever play an elf again I'll likely go with something like 'Puck'. Something short, unusual, but still sounds like a name and like something a nature series might use. I'll likely just take a one syllable word and use that, state that elves in my culture don't see any reason to use separate words for names.

Then again, a character I really want to play is a plains elf or half elf with a carefree but dutiful attitude, rather than the snootiness that tends to be common with elves. Will probably go with something like 'Clear' or 'Stream' for her name.

JAL_1138
2017-06-09, 10:07 PM
Not much eating on an elf though, dwarves give a much better meal.
That's halfling talk; always going for quantity over quality. Dwarf tastes like gamy dirt, and the texture's off. Elf is a bit stringy since they're always running, and don't get much water weight, but have much better flavor.




Then again, a character I really want to play is a plains elf or half elf with a carefree but dutiful attitude, rather than the snootiness that tends to be common with elves. Will probably go with something like 'Clear' or 'Stream' for her name.

I went the other direction with my Paladin/Bard. He's a half-elf and monumentally snooty, but human-snooty rather than elf-snooty, hiding his ears under his hair and/or a hat unless he thinks he can play it up to make himself seem more dashing, and trying (a bit too hard) to pass himself off as part of Waterdeep's upper crust despite being about as common as hydrogen, and from a background where "dirt poor" would probably be an improvement. He's a bundle of neuroses, inferiority complexes, and self-loathing hidden under a façade of fake status and conspicuous consumption (the latter of which he goes broke trying to maintain).

Dexam
2017-06-10, 02:28 AM
Medium Rare.

Wait no, disregard that. I played a Thri-Kreen recently...

I (briefly) played a Thri-Kreen once in the same party as a Drow.

I nicknamed him "Teriyaki".

JAL_1138
2017-06-10, 06:06 AM
I (briefly) played a Thri-Kreen once in the same party as a Drow.

I nicknamed him "Teriyaki".

Nice, lol. I may steal that next time I play Dark Sun.

We had a couple humans, my thri-kreen, a halfling, and an elf in the party. Me and the halfling would trade favorite elf recipes within earshot of the poor elf and occasionally shoot conspiratorial glances his way, just to mess with him.

goto124
2017-06-10, 06:56 AM
Just take any name and replace all the vowels with apostrophes.

G'ry
'L'ce
J'hn'th'n
'Liz'b'th

Jay R
2017-06-10, 07:22 AM
I once played an elf who grew up with humans, and never heard the word "elf". He was a loner who preferred climbing in the trees, so I gave him the Elfquest-style name "Treewalker".

Eventually he met other elves, learned their language, and wanted to fit in. So I translated "Treewalker" into Tolkien's Sindarin, and he started calling himself "Ornrandir".

Âmesang
2017-06-10, 03:26 PM
Here's "A Treaty on Espruar," the Elven tongue/alphabet in the FORGOTTEN REALMS®, so that could provide some inspiration:


https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/dnd/books/forgotten%20realms/a%20treatise%20on%20espruar.pdf

While my current half-moon elf's first name is "Linda" (from Tolkien's Quenya meaning "singer," being that she's a bard), I used the Espruar document to give her the surname "d'Arilean"—"Spring's Child"—and decided she was given the name in account of being left as an orphan on the Waterdeep Harper's doorstep in the spring.

The elven name I'm currently most proud of is for a female drow named Variolous Baenre—the surname is from the FORGOTTEN REALMS®, but her first name is from a species of black widow called latrodectus variolous (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latrodectus_variolus). It sounded fairly "elvish" to me and, considering the drow's connection with spiders and their brutal matriarchy, it seemed to me like an appropriate species to be named after.

Twizzly513
2017-06-10, 06:35 PM
I once played an elf which was named Arannis Galashirri. The surname means one who speaks with shadows. I'm not sure if that's the kind of flavor you'd like from the worshiping of magic, but I thought it was worth bringing up.

VoxRationis
2017-06-11, 02:11 AM
The elven name I'm currently most proud of is for a female drow named Variolous Baenre—the surname is from the FORGOTTEN REALMS®, but her first name is from a species of black widow called latrodectus variolous (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latrodectus_variolus). It sounded fairly "elvish" to me and, considering the drow's connection with spiders and their brutal matriarchy, it seemed to me like an appropriate species to be named after.

Now see, I could never name an elf with a -us or -ous suffix. It's far too Latinate, and I don't really see most elves as being Roman in culture (although it certainly didn't help that one of my most well-fleshed-out campaign settings was based largely around a clash of civilizations between elves and a fantasy Rome).

JAL_1138
2017-06-11, 06:10 AM
Now see, I could never name an elf with a -us or -ous suffix. It's far too Latinate, and I don't really see most elves as being Roman in culture (although it certainly didn't help that one of my most well-fleshed-out campaign settings was based largely around a clash of civilizations between elves and a fantasy Rome).

Latinate kinda works for High Elves, for the whole "fading people of a once-proud, advanced empire that has long since crumbled to dust and ashes" kinda deal. Although it's sort of inverted from elves' typical Celtic "fair folk" flavor.

Jay R
2017-06-11, 08:26 AM
Buiangol or Buiogűl means servant of magic in Tolkien's Sindarin.

VoxRationis
2017-06-11, 09:19 AM
Latinate kinda works for High Elves, for the whole "fading people of a once-proud, advanced empire that has long since crumbled to dust and ashes" kinda deal. Although it's sort of inverted from elves' typical Celtic "fair folk" flavor.

There are many empires that have crumbled to dust. I don't think that Classical Maya or Assyria would be good fits for elves either.

JAL_1138
2017-06-11, 10:18 AM
There are many empires that have crumbled to dust. I don't think that Classical Maya or Assyria would be good fits for elves either.

I'd be pretty cool with either of those for elves...again, different from standard Celtic flavor, so maybe out of place in a given setting that uses said Celtic/Fair Folk flavor (as Latin would also be out of place in such a setting), but which could be pretty cool as a basis for a nonstandard elven culture.

VoxRationis
2017-06-11, 11:23 AM
I'd be pretty cool with either of those for elves...again, different from standard Celtic flavor, so maybe out of place in a given setting that uses said Celtic/Fair Folk flavor (as Latin would also be out of place in such a setting), but which could be pretty cool as a basis for a nonstandard elven culture.

Well, yes, for nonstandard elven cultures, anything goes. But if we're going with our typical FR pseudo-Tolkienesque elves, none of those languages or cultures really fit.

Anonymouswizard
2017-06-11, 11:55 AM
Latinate kinda works for High Elves, for the whole "fading people of a once-proud, advanced empire that has long since crumbled to dust and ashes" kinda deal. Although it's sort of inverted from elves' typical Celtic "fair folk" flavor.

To be fair, 'elf' doesn't really fit with the Celtic feel. If I'm going to have a race with a Celtic feel I certainly wouldn't use 'elves' ('sidhe', the obvious choice, is unfortunately taken).

Then again, folkloric dwarves could be sorcerers, so D&D racial stereotypes aren't accurate to their inspiration anyway.

(I've always wanted to play a short-bearded dwarven illusionist, just to buck the stereotype)

Jay R
2017-06-11, 07:33 PM
(I've always wanted to play a short-bearded dwarven illusionist, just to buck the stereotype)

If you really want to buck the stereotype with a bearded character, use this elf from original white-box D&D:

http://i.somethingawful.com/u/elpintogrande/december10/elves/elves2.jpg

Âmesang
2017-06-12, 09:35 AM
Pirate elf! :smallbiggrin: Aâr!


Now see, I could never name an elf with a -us or -ous suffix. It's far too Latinate, and I don't really see most elves as being Roman in culture (although it certainly didn't help that one of my most well-fleshed-out campaign settings was based largely around a clash of civilizations between elves and a fantasy Rome).
I suppose I could give 'em a pass due to the high elf/dark elf split, especially with regards to nobility; it just seemed like too good of a name to pass up. I mean, hey, it's better than "Melf," right? :smalltongue:

Speaking of GREYHAWK®, this does remind me of wanting to give the Suel Imperium a Sumer-like flavor, even going so far as trying (and so far failing) to learn Iţkuîl (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ithkuil) so as to have it represent Ancient Suloise, whose "transliteration into modern tongues or alphabets is difficult, and dangerous when used in spellcasting, for the significance of certain inflections has been lost over the centuries…"

Deliverance
2017-06-13, 02:52 PM
Tolkien traditionalist here.

I like Dagormoth for a male elf and Morgrien for a female, both constructed from Sindarin and both easy to pronounce and pleasing to the ear (to mine, at least), while still sounding vaguely elfy if you know what I mean.

Both are taken Sindarin.

Dagormoth is constructed from dagor (battle) and moth (dusk), while Morgrien is constructed from mor (black, night, dark(ness)) and rien (crowned lady, queen).

Kelb_Panthera
2020-03-04, 12:59 AM
Okay, here's what you do.

First, take your keyboard and smash your face on it once or twice. Just enough to have about 4 or 5 syllables worth of letteres.
Then, remove any non-letter symbols you've got.
After that, replace half of the consonants with apostrophes.
Finally, pick a point somwhere toward the middle and divide what you've got into two "words."

You now have an elven name.

A demonstration:

Dml'na Zs'nam.


Okay, not gonna lie. That worked better than I thought it would when I wrote this as a joke.

Azuresun
2020-03-04, 07:38 AM
If all else fails, look up an online pharmacy, and use the names of obscure medications. :smalltongue:

Finasteride
Dermalex
Aronix
Propecia
Viviscal
Meritene
Phytophanere
Lansinoh

truemane
2020-03-12, 07:48 AM
Metamagic Mod: Turn Unthread!