Players and GMs can come up with some awesome names. But we all have our own methods that work best for us when it comes to coming up with these names. So comment and tell me what methods you use and maybe some of the best names you have come up with yourself.
I have a pretty easy time coming up with names. I take inspiration from other characters/games/shows/forms of media that I love and might have inspired the character in the first place and come up with names from that. Or I just a name generator and have my boyfriend pronounce the names till I find one I like.
The most iconic name I have come up with was a spontaneous decision, it was a name I had heard recently and thought was really unique. And that was a ship name created for two characters from Tales of Vesperia Rita and Estelle when combined made Ristelle. Ristelle Runelle was first a name of my D&D character but also then became my username for most video games. Other names I made that I really like... Feridy Garal, which Feridy was from an name generator and Garal was a dwarven house name from Dragon age. Sophitia which was taken from Soul Caliber cause I always liked that name. And Summer which was just decided probably because it was summer >.>
My boyfriend is AWFUL at coming up with names. As in he will take literal weeks trying to think of the perfect name and that frustrates me to no end. He comes up with awesome names but he takes soooo long. It is the complete opposite of my spontaneous name making style.
I've posted this in another thread that was talking about awkward similarities that your characters all have, but I'll post here too. :)
All of my characters have the same set of names whether it's in a video game or a tabletop game: Lerithyn, Arial, Kayn, Lillith - They typically will have the same last name if needed as well - Talamari
I find it easy to just manage a small group of names and change them slightly depending on the character.
If I am being honest, I have no idea how I come up with names. There isn't any process to it, a name just comes to me when needed (or it doesn't - but the great thing about having a table full of people all playing the same game as me is that they can think something up when I can't).
When it comes to naming my characters (for anything), I'm rather particular about keeping things relative to the character. I spend up to an hour analyzing what defines the character in terms of race, skin color, mannerisms, and I try many variations of first and last names until I find a combination I think fits that particular character.
For example, one of the characters in a novel-ish thing I'd tried to write when I was a teenager was a rather reclusive herbalist, whose eccentric mannerisms (having an air fight with a door because someone was knocking on it) were some of his selling points (in my opinion). So I wanted a sort of goofy kind of name for him, and after trying out several of them I landed on Earnest (Ernest Scared Stupid was one of my favorite films as a kid). But I also wanted a sort of serious, or solid vibe for his last name as well. Something that sort of indicated that his household name was of solid standing, but that he was more of a bad egg. So I ended up with Earnest Glastin as his full name.
Sometimes coming up with my own little 'house' names is easy, but more often than not it's rather difficult, especially under pressure. One of my favorite names so far has been Brekknar Stonekiln, which I use for just about every Dwarf Male I've ever made.
If it's just a random NPC then I generally just ignore names or find something somewhat OK sounding without caring much about the result.
But if it's for a major NPC or PC, then I'll take days, sometimes longer, to find the right name. I like to have somewhat of a theme for my characters and I use that theme to inspire a name. A for instance would be a name for a PC I made recently called Pelope Astape. She's a special multi-class dragon sorcerer/eldritch knight who uses green-flame blade and booming blade and was once a gold dragon but was reincarnated as a human as punishment by Bahumat. Pelope is a corruption of the Hawaiin Pele, god of fire, and Astape is a corruption of the Astrape, the goddess of thunder. Fire and lightning, very, very frightening :)
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"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
For PCs, I research the various names for the race and region I'm playing in, then pick something that sounds similar to those names. For NPCs, I usually don't even bother naming them, or I let my players come up with names for me (even for important ones, that's always fun when they name what they think is a throwaway NPC and I end up using them in some sort of important role). Other times I follow the same strategy as I do for PCs, but not often.
When I play computer RPGs I probably spend a good hour or two on the "pick a name" screen before I jump into the game >_>
Like Argent the wise. I methodically sift through random name generators. They are as fancy as including race and classm Some of them have lifestyle choices such as commoner, noble etc. I usually attempt many presses of the generate button and find the full name not usually to my liking so I take the first name that appeals to me then spend a few more minutes finding a last name and I usually toggle some similarities to keep it realistic in a sense.
I use Seventh Sanctum or other online name generators. Also, I had, it's in a box somewhere after my last move, a book of names I collected when, back in the 90's I worked Directory Assistance. In a mythical time before Google. I would write down interesting names that I'd come across.
How do I come up with character names? I don't. One of my characters doesn't remember his name, which gave me the month I needed to come up with it; another was raised by animals and doesn't know what a name is.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
I take inspiration from various sources. My Alchemist Myfanwy (see username) came from the Decemberists song The Rake ("Ugly Myfanwy died on delivery, mercifully taking her mother along"). I just fell in love with that name, and always knew I'd want to use it as some point. My current character, Rattle-Clack is a Kenku Necromancer. Kenku names tend to be sounds that they've heard. So I tried to base his name around something... macabre, such as the sound bones might make when they rattle and clack together, and well, there you have it. Rattle-Clack.
When I'm really stuck, I'll go to one of those fantasy name generator sites. Usually I don't get a name directly from there, but I'll find something I like close enough, and I work off of it. Otherwise I just use some of my favorite names, such as Piper. I've played a couple Pipers just because it's one of my favorite female names.
Some names are based on stories/legends that I like (like Brynja from Brynhild) or random things thrown together in other languages (Nebeltanzer = mist/fog dancer). Others just seem fitting, I guess. I have a character that I haven't been able to play yet named Pookie, for example. Pookie is a dog that was true polymorphed into a halfling that goes adventuring because their master told them to bring back money for them. Considering how crazy the character is, it just fit.
For elves, dwarves, etc, I do look up some random name generators for family names though.
Defining feature, physically or backstory, then I tweak all the names in the backstory to it my amusement.
Alabaster Shaide aka Al--dullahan ranger. Dullahan's skin is as pale as it can get while still looking human and their hair, ornamentation, and smoke is black as knight. His backstory has Beh Ti (Betty) and Ahcheviana (Chevy) Chaise. (Paul Simon's You Can Call Me Al [Chevy Chase was in the video]).
Jason "Knots" Argo--Undead Sailor Cleric. Need I say more about where his name came from? Everything is themed on Jason and the Argonauts. (Ship: Medea, Captain (ex cabin boy): Tiphys, First Captain: Orpheus, Mentor: Nestor, etc).
Zelda -- elf warlock: I was given the name to work with when building a character for a newcomer. She has Rho Byn (after Robin Williams); Allynk, Gahnien, King Gah Nindorf(all after TLoZ); Efscott, and Minerva (after Zelda Fitzgerald).
My first character and one I use all the time, see username, Hartke came from the brand of my bass amp head. I have used it in all games and characters to some point. My main in WoW was Hartke the shadow priest.
I come up with my character's background first and then I search online dictionaries of names for names that mean something that fits with the character's background. For example, I had a character who is filled with anger and his name is Raiden which is an Americanized version of the name of a Japanese god of thunder and lightning.
It works pretty well and the names are real. Plus it only takes me about 15-20 minutes.
Players and GMs can come up with some awesome names. But we all have our own methods that work best for us when it comes to coming up with these names. So comment and tell me what methods you use and maybe some of the best names you have come up with yourself.
I have a pretty easy time coming up with names. I take inspiration from other characters/games/shows/forms of media that I love and might have inspired the character in the first place and come up with names from that.
Or I just a name generator and have my boyfriend pronounce the names till I find one I like.
The most iconic name I have come up with was a spontaneous decision, it was a name I had heard recently and thought was really unique. And that was a ship name created for two characters from Tales of Vesperia Rita and Estelle when combined made Ristelle. Ristelle Runelle was first a name of my D&D character but also then became my username for most video games.
Other names I made that I really like...
Feridy Garal, which Feridy was from an name generator and Garal was a dwarven house name from Dragon age. Sophitia which was taken from Soul Caliber cause I always liked that name. And Summer which was just decided probably because it was summer >.>
My boyfriend is AWFUL at coming up with names. As in he will take literal weeks trying to think of the perfect name and that frustrates me to no end. He comes up with awesome names but he takes soooo long. It is the complete opposite of my spontaneous name making style.
~I am a Halfling Warrior at Heart~
~Tempus Fugit~
I've posted this in another thread that was talking about awkward similarities that your characters all have, but I'll post here too. :)
All of my characters have the same set of names whether it's in a video game or a tabletop game:
Lerithyn, Arial, Kayn, Lillith - They typically will have the same last name if needed as well - Talamari
I find it easy to just manage a small group of names and change them slightly depending on the character.
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If I am being honest, I have no idea how I come up with names. There isn't any process to it, a name just comes to me when needed (or it doesn't - but the great thing about having a table full of people all playing the same game as me is that they can think something up when I can't).
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D&D Beyond FoundersI had a friend that would always just close his eyes and turn around and the first thing his eyes focused on was the name he would use.
He had such characters as:
Lam Ppost, the Healer
Ginsters, the Fighter (Ginsters make pre-packed meat pies in the UK)
Reese YclePoint, the Wizard (Recycle Point).
You get the idea :)
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
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I spend forever trying to come up with the perfect name. You are going to be stuck with this character for hopefully many years to come.
When it comes to naming my characters (for anything), I'm rather particular about keeping things relative to the character. I spend up to an hour analyzing what defines the character in terms of race, skin color, mannerisms, and I try many variations of first and last names until I find a combination I think fits that particular character.
For example, one of the characters in a novel-ish thing I'd tried to write when I was a teenager was a rather reclusive herbalist, whose eccentric mannerisms (having an air fight with a door because someone was knocking on it) were some of his selling points (in my opinion). So I wanted a sort of goofy kind of name for him, and after trying out several of them I landed on Earnest (Ernest Scared Stupid was one of my favorite films as a kid). But I also wanted a sort of serious, or solid vibe for his last name as well. Something that sort of indicated that his household name was of solid standing, but that he was more of a bad egg. So I ended up with Earnest Glastin as his full name.
Sometimes coming up with my own little 'house' names is easy, but more often than not it's rather difficult, especially under pressure. One of my favorite names so far has been Brekknar Stonekiln, which I use for just about every Dwarf Male I've ever made.
If it's just a random NPC then I generally just ignore names or find something somewhat OK sounding without caring much about the result.
But if it's for a major NPC or PC, then I'll take days, sometimes longer, to find the right name. I like to have somewhat of a theme for my characters and I use that theme to inspire a name. A for instance would be a name for a PC I made recently called Pelope Astape. She's a special multi-class dragon sorcerer/eldritch knight who uses green-flame blade and booming blade and was once a gold dragon but was reincarnated as a human as punishment by Bahumat. Pelope is a corruption of the Hawaiin Pele, god of fire, and Astape is a corruption of the Astrape, the goddess of thunder. Fire and lightning, very, very frightening :)
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
― Oscar Wilde.
I generally google and use some of the random fantasy name generators when I'm looking for a name for a character
Like my new Tabaxi Monk - Rammenchi Seven Thunderclouds
You can call him Rammen :P
Skameros - Bugbear Barbarian - Out of the Abyss - By Kerrec
Follow your Arrow where it Points - Tabaxi Monk - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy)
Citron Pumpkinfoam - Fairy Monk - Project Point: Team Longsword
For PCs, I research the various names for the race and region I'm playing in, then pick something that sounds similar to those names. For NPCs, I usually don't even bother naming them, or I let my players come up with names for me (even for important ones, that's always fun when they name what they think is a throwaway NPC and I end up using them in some sort of important role). Other times I follow the same strategy as I do for PCs, but not often.
When I play computer RPGs I probably spend a good hour or two on the "pick a name" screen before I jump into the game >_>
Like Argent the wise. I methodically sift through random name generators. They are as fancy as including race and classm Some of them have lifestyle choices such as commoner, noble etc. I usually attempt many presses of the generate button and find the full name not usually to my liking so I take the first name that appeals to me then spend a few more minutes finding a last name and I usually toggle some similarities to keep it realistic in a sense.
I use Seventh Sanctum or other online name generators. Also, I had, it's in a box somewhere after my last move, a book of names I collected when, back in the 90's I worked Directory Assistance. In a mythical time before Google. I would write down interesting names that I'd come across.
How do I come up with character names? I don't. One of my characters doesn't remember his name, which gave me the month I needed to come up with it; another was raised by animals and doesn't know what a name is.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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I take inspiration from various sources. My Alchemist Myfanwy (see username) came from the Decemberists song The Rake ("Ugly Myfanwy died on delivery, mercifully taking her mother along"). I just fell in love with that name, and always knew I'd want to use it as some point. My current character, Rattle-Clack is a Kenku Necromancer. Kenku names tend to be sounds that they've heard. So I tried to base his name around something... macabre, such as the sound bones might make when they rattle and clack together, and well, there you have it. Rattle-Clack.
When I'm really stuck, I'll go to one of those fantasy name generator sites. Usually I don't get a name directly from there, but I'll find something I like close enough, and I work off of it. Otherwise I just use some of my favorite names, such as Piper. I've played a couple Pipers just because it's one of my favorite female names.
Currently playing: Rattle-Clack, Kenku Necromancer, Level 7. 5e Homebrew.
Some names are based on stories/legends that I like (like Brynja from Brynhild) or random things thrown together in other languages (Nebeltanzer = mist/fog dancer). Others just seem fitting, I guess. I have a character that I haven't been able to play yet named Pookie, for example. Pookie is a dog that was true polymorphed into a halfling that goes adventuring because their master told them to bring back money for them. Considering how crazy the character is, it just fit.
For elves, dwarves, etc, I do look up some random name generators for family names though.
Defining feature, physically or backstory, then I tweak all the names in the backstory to it my amusement.
Alabaster Shaide aka Al--dullahan ranger. Dullahan's skin is as pale as it can get while still looking human and their hair, ornamentation, and smoke is black as knight. His backstory has Beh Ti (Betty) and Ahcheviana (Chevy) Chaise. (Paul Simon's You Can Call Me Al [Chevy Chase was in the video]).
Jason "Knots" Argo--Undead Sailor Cleric. Need I say more about where his name came from? Everything is themed on Jason and the Argonauts. (Ship: Medea, Captain (ex cabin boy): Tiphys, First Captain: Orpheus, Mentor: Nestor, etc).
Zelda -- elf warlock: I was given the name to work with when building a character for a newcomer. She has Rho Byn (after Robin Williams); Allynk, Gahnien, King Gah Nindorf(all after TLoZ); Efscott, and Minerva (after Zelda Fitzgerald).
My first character and one I use all the time, see username, Hartke came from the brand of my bass amp head. I have used it in all games and characters to some point. My main in WoW was Hartke the shadow priest.
I come up with my character's background first and then I search online dictionaries of names for names that mean something that fits with the character's background. For example, I had a character who is filled with anger and his name is Raiden which is an Americanized version of the name of a Japanese god of thunder and lightning.
It works pretty well and the names are real. Plus it only takes me about 15-20 minutes.
Professional computer geek
I shamelessly steal names from foreign sports leagues. This will backfire if any of your players are also fans of said sport, so be careful with it.
Like this...
http://bfy.tw/CH6J
Skameros - Bugbear Barbarian - Out of the Abyss - By Kerrec
Follow your Arrow where it Points - Tabaxi Monk - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy)
Citron Pumpkinfoam - Fairy Monk - Project Point: Team Longsword
If I don't come up with one, this site is a lifesaver ...
Fantasy Name Generators