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Thread: Making up Names
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2014-01-13, 06:47 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2013
Making up Names
Ok so I am planning on making a new character to play D&D 4e with a gaming group in college. I have planned out the characters stats, history and personality but I have ran into one simple problem.
I can't think up a name for my character.
So I want to know any tips people have for creating names for their characters.
Also for anyone curious this is the second character I have ever made and he is a Psionic Shardmind.
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2014-01-13, 07:00 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2011
- Location
- North Carolina
- Gender
Re: Making up Names
Personally I just use a name generator along the lines of the seventhsanctum ones, wizards of the coast one or whatever you happen to prefer for the first name. After that google last name generator and you'll get a pretty useful one for family names.
Another option is a baby names website that has a search by meaning function. Look up meanings you like and pick something that sounds good.
*shrug* that's how I do it anyway, just keep going until something that sounds right pops up/something pops up that can be modified until it sounds right.
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2014-01-13, 07:59 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2013
- Gender
Re: Making up Names
I generally use Google Translate to translate a relevant word/phrase into another language with the right "feel" for the character; I often cycle through several languages before I find a word that just sounds right. Then I do a little tweaking/pruning if necessary. For example, I wrote up an NPC native to the Shadowfell who had seen untold horrors in her time; for a name, I typed in "horror" to Google Translate and cycled through a few languages. Hungarian gave me "Griezel", which I found to be an entirely appropriate name for her.
Of course, if the name in question is for a devil or demon, I just consult Wikipedia's "List of theological demons" article for a whole host of good names. Some of them have already been appropriated by D&D (Orcus, Asmodeus, Demogorgon, and Haagenti come to mind), but the rest are up for grabs, and they all sound pretty fierce and intimidating. "Orobas" was the perfect name for an osyluth chess-master and manipulator, just as "Xezbeth" was a magnificent choice for a brutal guardian demon relentlessly seeking the artifact she craved.
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2014-01-13, 08:43 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2013
Re: Making up Names
- I tend to use “not-clever” first names. Theodore or Églantine are perfectly able names for a character, and sometimes James or Mary are too.
- I like stupid play on words (obvious ones in settings that fits, less obvious ones in in settings that don’t).
- Not that easy, but I love to take one important element from my character, take a somewhat rare or constructed word which matches and turn it into a name.
- Or the nick name route. Especially ridiculous “self-given” nicknames. So that the other players characters give you a new one.
Some example of each:
- A character of mine was named “Manolo”. Just plain “Manolo”.
- A GM of mine always had characters named “Philippe Boîtenpoil”, which is French for “haired box”. Well, for “Philip Haerdbocks”). For a less idiotic setting, I had a character named “Ivéa Kremn”, as in “Crème Nivéa”, Nivea Cream. Yes, we are shameless. Yes, it’s ridiculous. But you actually remember those.
- The best name fitting that category is a sample character from a game I love: Nitouche Pérégrine — a Sainte Nitouche (litt. Saint Who-doesn’t-touch) being a falsely prude girl, Pérégrine coming from the latin meaning “stranger”, and being closely related to Pilgrim. Nickname “Callipyge”, “With nice buttocks”. The character, of course, is a young and cute travelling girl.
- Technically, Manolo demonic name (go Reds!) was “The Demolisher”. Complete with awfully inaccurate Portuguese accent. Because he loves to break stuff. With its sledgehammer. Or his head.
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2014-01-13, 09:45 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2012
Re: Making up Names
Thus far I've been using names from Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, although never the main characters.
A few that I've picked:
Ennil El
Kyral Mekirel
Rosamia Badam
Bask Om
Meriol
Riddhe Marcenas
Tiel Noembleux
The franchise's inventiveness and lack of cultural specificity is appreciated for an ambiguous fantasy reality.
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2014-01-13, 09:50 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2010
- Gender
Re: Making up Names
If I need a name in a hurry, I figure out a nationality and profession that match the "feel" of the character, and then go to Wikipedia and look up one of those long lists such as "Russian Composers," or "Italian Female Scientists".
If I want real-world-sounding names, I then pick first and last names from two different people on the list, change a syllable or two to "file off the serial numbers," and run with it. If I want more of a fantasy-sounding name, I will find a few names I like, then mix and match syllables until it sounds like a person's name, but not like anyone I've heard of on Earth.Last edited by mucat; 2014-01-13 at 09:51 PM.
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2014-01-13, 10:13 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2007
- Location
- The DownUnderdark!
- Gender
Re: Making up Names
I have naming tips for NPC i use all the time, i don't know if they will help but hey... can't hurt.
Keep the first name short (or both names IMHO), preferably one syllable. Makes it easier for players and the GM to remember.
If you are using a more "exotic" name. Write it down, show it to someone else and ask them how the pronounce it. If they pronounce it way different to you, scrap it, because it will just end up causing confusing.
Name people after stuff like Boat or Door or Pen. This is also awesome for helping other people to remember the name. I had a Major npc Duke Rail in my last game. NPC was never even seen by the players, only got mentioned a hand full of times in 10 sessions. But they always remembered it.
Give them a weird/interesting nick name. One previous example was "The Dead Bull". Nick name was never explained but they always wanted to know more about that guy. Be cautioned though, its easy to try for weird/interesting and miss completely.Aside from "have fun", i think the key to GMing is putting your players into situations where they need to make a choice that has no perfect outcome available. They will hate you for it, but they will be back at the table session after session.
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2014-01-13, 10:29 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
Re: Making up Names
For a PC, it's okay to make a long one, but you should pick on that you can easily extract a 'nickname' from; It's fine if your name is Mordranthir, but be prepared to get called "Mord" a lot.
The missing bit of info from this post, I think, is "Is there a particular setting?" because that would give you a starting point - usually if there is, a character will have a homeland or something where there's a rule of thumb for names ("These guys all have Latin sounding names!") Otherwise, just look at the 'sample' names for your race (listed in the same general area as your racial bonuses and special abilities :P ) - that should give you an idea of what sort of 'sounds' characterize the race, and you can work from there.Last edited by Airk; 2014-01-13 at 10:30 PM.
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2014-01-13, 10:33 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2008
- Gender
Re: Making up Names
Myself, I love titles and sobriquets and nicknames. They convey a certain legendary feel about the character, and really aren't very different, historically, from how some folk were actually named.
Other common sources of (last) names came from one's family ("Johnson" was literally John's son, et cetera.), or profession (Smith, Miller, Tanner, Fletcher).It is inevitable, of course, that persons of epicurean refinement will in the course of eternity engage in dealings with those of... unsavory character. Record well any transactions made, and repay all favors promptly.. (Thanks to Gnomish Wanderer for the Toreador avatar! )
Wanna see what all this Exalted stuff is about? Here's a primer!
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2014-01-13, 10:35 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2010
- Location
- Dallas, TX
- Gender
Re: Making up Names
When planning out a fantasy character, I usually have a specific culture in mind as a start. So I pick a name from that culture. My last bard was Gwydion, my last Parisian rogue was Jean-Louis, my last hobbit thief was Robin Banks. (I'm kind of proud of that one.)
My current elf, being somewhat based on the Elfquest elves, is Treewalker.
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2014-01-13, 11:05 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2006
- Location
- Joliet, IL
- Gender
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2014-01-13, 11:23 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2013
Re: Making up Names
Baby name sites. Thousands upon thousands of names. Pick a language that sounds suitably foreign to you and your cohorts (or is appropriate to the relevant setting/fantasy culture/etc.), pick the right gender, et voila.
I find Slavic names are pretty cool for generic vaguely European fantasy, on average.D&D retroclones:
SpoilerAdventurer Conqueror King
Basic Fantasy (free)
Dark Dungeons (free)
Dungeon Crawl Classics
Labyrinth Lord (free)
Lamentations of the Flame Princess (free)
Mazes & Minotaurs (free)
Myth & Magic (free)
OSRIC (free)
Swords & Wizardry (free)
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2014-01-14, 08:38 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2013
Re: Making up Names
Thank you fro the suggestions and help.
I have decided to name my character Vitreus, which I got when put crystal into google translate.
Also should have mentioned earlier but I think its a generic D&D setting. Though we havn't seen any other shardmind yet which could make a difference.
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2014-01-14, 09:05 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2013
- Gender
Re: Making up Names
I'm always a fan of generators. If I want something fantastical, there are lots of name generators for elves, dwarves, ect. if you google it. If I want something more realistic, I am a big fan of Behind the Name. It lets you pick a country of origin..so you have a lot of control over the feel of the name. I just keep refreshing until I find something that I like.
I will also often find names based on the characteristics of the character. For instance I am playing a pacifist monk called Frieda Concord (both names mean peace).
Also, it may be worth asking your GM if he has any naming conventions in mind. You probably don't want to be playing a character named Vercingetorix in a world full of people named Steve and Mary (or vice versa)....or maybe you do. That could create some fun role playing moments.
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2014-01-14, 09:15 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2006
- Location
- Olympia, Washington
- Gender
Re: Making up Names
I have a different method for thinking of names based on the race in question. For elves I grab either a v, t, a, or hard c and go from there. I like elves with names that sound pretty, so I usually just try to sound out a nice name. The elf I am playing now is named Ryvan Vanelon.
For half-orcs I like hyphens and rough sounding letters. Bonus points if the name is hard to pronounce because it has too many g's and d's together. Try saying Uglag Gro-Grudlag five times fast.
For dwarves I go right to the name generator in Races of Stone and pick something cool sounding. Last name will likely have beard or hammer in it.
For any kind of monstrous or obscure race I will go read everything I can find about them before thinking of a name. When I was researching hobgoblins for an evil game I discovered that they actually have complicated and well structured names. All hobgoblins have a given name, a last name consisting of their father's name and ending in 'kon, and a clan name. So my hobgoblin cleric is Muaag Khatijad'Kon of the Hand Shatterers. I got those names by entering my name and then my dad's name into a goblin name generator. I picked Hand Shatterers because that sounds really painful.
Actually, to be honest that's how I do most names. Google "X Fantasy Race Name Generator" and either hit random 10+ times or type in my name and hit enter. Sometimes the name is the basis of the entire character, sometimes my name is Redbeard the Dwarf, because I can't think of a name and I have a red beard IRL.I used to do avatars on request, feel free to use them.
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2014-01-16, 04:19 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2013
Re: Making up Names
I like meaningful names, especially in other languages.
One of my characters was Fu-naji-anki, which in (probably mangled) Japanese is something like "Fated Sea Road." Fu-naji was a goldfish hengeyokai who had to track down an major artifact because he decided he'd rather use his shapeshifting to sneak into the local daimyo's estate and fool around with his daughter than keep watch over the thing. Naturally that included travel by sea.
Another is my barbarian/homebrew class Rubedo Arkensang - Rubedo being a Latin alchemical term for "redness" 'cos he's a tiefling, Arkensang derived from the French arc-en-ciel ('arc in the sky", as in a rainbow.) Ark-en-sang would be "the arc in blood," 'cause he uses a flying blade and with his combat reflexes he's basically a walking death-helicopter.
One of my friends is playing an Ifrit named Jean Enfait. I suggested Enfait because it's a French statement of contradiction, because he's a Tattooed Sorcerer - and his familiar is an ice elemental. So he's a Ifrit covered in ice tattoos.
I also had an Orc ranger named Jaeira Fellhammer and a half-Orc fighter named Zadjidan Zera. Jaeira never even used hammers; the names just sounded cool - what do you expect, they're Orcs!
Oh, and my PFS character is a Monk/White-Haired Witch named Jacques of Braids; it's a dumb pun, but Fable fans might get a kick out of it.
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2014-01-16, 06:30 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2010
- Location
- Dallas, TX
- Gender
Re: Making up Names
I was once running two dwarves, seeking revenge on the dragon who had slain their five brothers. Felix was expansive and jovial; Doli was dour and unpleasant.
Only if you processed the names in other languages would you recognize them as Happy and Grumpy.
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2014-01-16, 06:45 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2009
- Location
- Snohomish, Washington
- Gender
Re: Making up Names
There's always the classic method that the game's creators used a lot: make an anagram.
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2014-01-16, 06:48 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2005
- Location
- Oz county
- Gender
Re: Making up Names
I'd have to ask what kind of cultures and names are already in use the in the campaign world. Is the PC a part of that region or from "far away"?
For example, assuming something like Russia, a local could be called Sergei, or Andrei, or Ivan; but there's not much likelihood of finding a local named Hitoshi, Daisuke, or Tomohiro (probably not even on Sakhalin).
'Cause verisimilitude.I used to live in a world of terrible beauty, and then the beauty left.
Dioxazine purple.
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2014-01-16, 07:10 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2013
Re: Making up Names
Here is a nifty RPG name generator. It has the distinction of being the only generator (as far as I know) that can generate Holmesian D&D names. Everyone's game can benefit from names like Fanha Falgramova, Choram Fultreb of the South, and Fumrinkraver!
D&D retroclones:
SpoilerAdventurer Conqueror King
Basic Fantasy (free)
Dark Dungeons (free)
Dungeon Crawl Classics
Labyrinth Lord (free)
Lamentations of the Flame Princess (free)
Mazes & Minotaurs (free)
Myth & Magic (free)
OSRIC (free)
Swords & Wizardry (free)
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2014-01-16, 08:01 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2011
- Gender
Projects: Homebrew, Gentlemen's Agreement, DMPCs, Forbidden Knowledge safety, and Top Ten Worst. Also, Quotes and RACSD are good.
Anyone knows blue is for sarcas'ing in · "Take 10 SAN damage from Dark Orchid" · Use of gray may indicate nitpicking · Green is sincerity
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2014-01-17, 10:06 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2006
- Location
- Eastern US
- Gender
Re: Making up Names
Find a game system/world that you like and take names from that.
I am a huge fan of the WH40K world. So when I need to name a PC, I pick the Space Marine or Traitor Legion that best fits the idea for that PC. Then I look up characters from that Chapter/Legion and use that. (For example, for a Skyrim character who wears heavy armor and fights unarmed, I took a name from the Iron Hands. For a rogue-ish type for a tabletop game, I went to the Raven Guard.)Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
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2014-01-17, 03:26 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2009
- Location
- New York
- Gender
Re: Making up Names
I like to use puns in my PC names, or little wordplay tricks. Here are three examples:
1. A female druid named Lana and her male riding dog animal companion named Alan.
2. Jadeite Nocrius, a green-haired elf necromancer with a somewhat cruel and sarcastic sense of humor. Nocrius comes from the Latin word for pain.
3. Natalia Bolts, the trap, lightning, and mechanical-device obsessed dual-wielding rogue with a massive speech impediment that may or may not stem from a childhood head injury. She's also a bit mentally unstable. And as for the first name, what do you call a situation or person that's crazy? That also goes with metal bolts?Last edited by CoffeeIncluded; 2014-01-17 at 03:27 PM.
My webcomic!
Currently DMing:
Tales of Aequar: Runite's Rise IC
OOC Map
Playing Natalia Bolts,Jadeite Nocrius, and Soren Lowell
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2014-01-17, 03:42 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2013
Re: Making up Names
I tend to just roll syllables and tones around in my mouth until I get something fitting. It helps if you're good at pronouncing sounds not found in English, like Æ, Ø, or Þ (all three extremely helpful in a game set in the dark age!)
you can use this trick with "regular" names to make familiar-yet-exotic names. Just think of what sort of accent your character and her people might have, and flip a standard name through it a couple of times. Say you've got an elf, and don't imagine they use hard frictals or glottal sounds. The standard names Minerva or Eugene can become Minyera and Eowin. if Dwarven does the opposite, Alice and John become Halege and Chonn (or you could flip them around for Minderra and Huchin, Alea and Soin.) This is pretty organic, since this is exactly how the variety of real-world names developed (Jack, Jaques, Iago, Yakov, Ian, Jacob, these are all the same name!)
I've also plagarized names on occasion. My current bard character had her name lifted from Jean Auel's (rather abysmal) books - Roshario. Another name I frequently used comes from the old magic: the gathering comic books, the Fallen empires issues - Tymolin.Last edited by Scootaloo; 2014-01-17 at 03:47 PM.
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2014-01-17, 03:57 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2013
Re: Making up Names
D&D retroclones:
SpoilerAdventurer Conqueror King
Basic Fantasy (free)
Dark Dungeons (free)
Dungeon Crawl Classics
Labyrinth Lord (free)
Lamentations of the Flame Princess (free)
Mazes & Minotaurs (free)
Myth & Magic (free)
OSRIC (free)
Swords & Wizardry (free)
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2014-01-17, 04:46 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2013
Re: Making up Names
Depends on which language. Eth (Ð) and Thorn are both less aspirated than the english th, one leaning more towards "D" and the other towards "T". It's a subtle distinction, but it's there - think of how many english dialects and accents replace "the" with "de" and you get the idea :)
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2014-01-17, 06:44 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2006
- Location
- Material Plane
- Gender
Re: Making up Names
Sometimes I just come up with a name. I'm just like: "Whoa, that's an awesome and heroic name."
Sometimes I don't. When that happens, I usually think of what kind of a name I would want. Greco roman sounding? Northern flavor? Tolkienesque? Plain english action hero/western name? Do I want an elegant name for an elegant finesse-type or primal name for a primal brawler?
Then I hit appropriate name generators, until I find a name that both meets the above parameters and sounds cool. Most often I tweak them a bit. Switching/adding/erasing letters and so forth.
Then I realize I need to come up with a surname as well and I decide he goes with first name basis or is simply named as Coolname the Adjective.
I'm usually more creative when I'm thinking about codenames or non-serious names so I don't have processes for that.Signatures are so 90's.
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2014-01-18, 10:11 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2006
- Location
- Protecting my Horde (yes, I mean that kind)
Re: Making up Names
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2014-01-19, 11:16 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2006
- Location
- Material Plane
- Gender
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2014-01-21, 11:44 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2006
- Location
- Olympia, Washington
- Gender
Re: Making up Names
I used to do avatars on request, feel free to use them.