My current character uses details from one of the supplements, but I've been looking at developing a character subplot where its revealed she was declared stillborn by her tribe due to her deformities she was born with.
Do you know what "The Exile" means in elvish?
I've come across two possible translations and was wondering if there are any other sources?
For elves, I ignore the D&D elven names and pick something that works in Quenya or Sindarin (the Tolkien languages) because D&D "elven" is just a lame collection of syllables that "sound elvish" to game designers -- which basically means, "sound like Tolkien" anyway, without actually following any of the linguistic rules Tolkien made up. So I go straight to the master.
Dwarven, I will either hit up Tolkien again, or do something of my own that sounds "Dwarvish" to me, especially with last names ("Stonehammer," or "Mineshaft" or something).
Human, I will draw inspiration from real-world human languages that match the culture we're talking about. For instance, if it's a Roman Empire setting (like the one I am DMing), I use real Roman naming conventions (Praenomen, Nomen, Cognomen), taking names from recorded names not from fake stuff like the XGE list (which combines all 3 types into "first names" because, again, the game designers are making up stuff that "sounds Roman" instead of using actual naming rules of the existing culture). If it's British, I will look up British names online... If it's a French aesthetic, French names, etc. Real world names, again... maybe names of kings from the middle ages or noble houses. That kind of thing.
The "fantasy name generators" online are variously good at this -- as a DM, for NPCs, I am happy to use those. But if I am going to make up an actual PC that I play for a long time, I want a good name and I go for real languages or well developed fantasy ones, not "game languages" which are usually completely undeveloped and always sound "fake" to me.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
BioWizard is right on: Tolkien elvish sounds way better and more real than D&D elvish, so I use it for most of my elves. As to your question, though, “edledhia” is much better than “tel’hrayek.”
(Edit: just checked and it seems to be Sindarin...makes sense! Though the more proper translation, if “the exile” is a person, is edledhron. Egledhron to the Noldor.)
BioWizard is right on: Tolkien elvish sounds way better and more real than D&D elvish, so I use it for most of my elves. As to your question, though, “edledhia” is much better than “tel’hrayek.”
That's because names that "sound elvish" to fantasy gamers and fantasy readers are derived from Quenya and Sindarin, but are created by people who didn't actually learn the rules of those languages. Tolkien knew the rules and based them on Finnish or Icelandic or something and that is why it is realistic. Because he was a linguist.
For instance... Galadriel is not just some cool "elvish sounding name" he came up with. It has a meaning... "-iel" means daughter, so "Galad-riel" means "daughter of Galad" (or maybe of Gil-Galad, not sure). "Ara" means dawn and "wen" means maiden so Arwen's name means "dawn-maiden"... and so forth.
Unfortunately, game designers who want to make things "sound elven" take the sounds like "Galadriel" and "Haldir" and "Arwen" and make similar names, like "Zithriel" and "Glindir" and they don't really know why these names "sound elven" or whether these names even make any linguistic sense.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Most every character I name is named based on the circumstances that would've been in play when they were named. Usually this means they have a name appropriate to the location of their birth, but in some cases that circumstance is not typical. Two of my characters follow the naming conventions of another species, as both were adopted by natives of the second species and grew up away from 'Their Own Kind'. One of them was adopted by the family created by another player in the game; I asked that player to provide names his clan would've considered for my character and chose one of them.
One thing many folks forget is that often, nicknames can stick hard enough to become a de facto name themselves. Not just shortening Michael to Mike or the like, either. The first D&D character I ever made was a tiefling named Red, because he was born to a poor family that spent most of their life blitzed out on whatever they could afford. By the time he escaped that situation and its fallout, he didn't really remember what name his parents had given him, if they'd even bothered, and the name 'Red' had been used for him for so long it just stuck there.
And finally? Don't feel bad for simply assembling syllables at semi-random until you find something you like, or assigning your character a name you're fond of even if it doesn't 'Make Sense'. If your elf is named after a grandparent or a video game character or whatever else strikes your fancy? Who cares, it's your character to enjoy. The story of why the character has that unusual name may end up being a cool character moment in your game. Plenty of people hate naming things and just want to get it done with. So long as you don't name everything you make after food in the weirdest possible way - I'm staring at you across the depths of the Internet, Toriyama - you're fine.
@BioWizard good insight! Though “galad” translates to “radiance” in Noldor dialects of Sindarin, and thus Galadriel’s name has been translated as “maiden (-iel or -el) crowned (ri) with gleaming hair.” “Galad” is not a character name (incidentally, Gil-Galad means “radiant star”), and it’s unrelated to Silvan dialect “galadh,” which means “tree,” as Galadriel is of the Noldor. Funnily enough, however, Celeborn and the other elves of Lorien are Silvan, and their name, the Galadhrim, means “tree people,” with no direct connection to Galadriel! I don’t doubt that Tolkien (and the Galadhrim) intended the double meaning, however, since Galadriel and Lorien are inextricably linked. Not very relevant, but I thought it was interesting.
My current character uses details from one of the supplements, but I've been looking at developing a character subplot where its revealed she was declared stillborn by her tribe due to her deformities she was born with.
Do you know what "The Exile" means in elvish?
I've come across two possible translations and was wondering if there are any other sources?
Edledhia or Tel'Hrayek
Which sounds better?
I like Tel'Hrayek. I am assuming that is from LingoJam? I have been using that site for a lot of translations for some homebrew magical items.
Naming characters, races, and NPCs for D&D has always been easy for me. I typically just either throw together a bunch of syllables into a blender to get a cool name that fits the theme of the character/race.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Naming characters, races, and NPCs for D&D has always been easy for me. I typically just either throw together a bunch of syllables into a blender to get a cool name that fits the theme of the character/race.
Me too. I did heraldry for the SCA, so I was used to looking up historical medieval names for people all around the world, and as an avid scifi/fantasy reader, I find it fun.
Most every character I name is named based on the circumstances that would've been in play when they were named. Usually this means they have a name appropriate to the location of their birth, but in some cases that circumstance is not typical. Two of my characters follow the naming conventions of another species, as both were adopted by natives of the second species and grew up away from 'Their Own Kind'. One of them was adopted by the family created by another player in the game; I asked that player to provide names his clan would've considered for my character and chose one of them.
One thing many folks forget is that often, nicknames can stick hard enough to become a de facto name themselves. Not just shortening Michael to Mike or the like, either. The first D&D character I ever made was a tiefling named Red, because he was born to a poor family that spent most of their life blitzed out on whatever they could afford. By the time he escaped that situation and its fallout, he didn't really remember what name his parents had given him, if they'd even bothered, and the name 'Red' had been used for him for so long it just stuck there.
And finally? Don't feel bad for simply assembling syllables at semi-random until you find something you like, or assigning your character a name you're fond of even if it doesn't 'Make Sense'. If your elf is named after a grandparent or a video game character or whatever else strikes your fancy? Who cares, it's your character to enjoy. The story of why the character has that unusual name may end up being a cool character moment in your game. Plenty of people hate naming things and just want to get it done with. So long as you don't name everything you make after food in the weirdest possible way - I'm staring at you across the depths of the Internet, Toriyama - you're fine.
Most every character I name is named based on the circumstances that would've been in play when they were named. Usually this means they have a name appropriate to the location of their birth, but in some cases that circumstance is not typical. Two of my characters follow the naming conventions of another species, as both were adopted by natives of the second species and grew up away from 'Their Own Kind'. One of them was adopted by the family created by another player in the game; I asked that player to provide names his clan would've considered for my character and chose one of them.
One thing many folks forget is that often, nicknames can stick hard enough to become a de facto name themselves. Not just shortening Michael to Mike or the like, either. The first D&D character I ever made was a tiefling named Red, because he was born to a poor family that spent most of their life blitzed out on whatever they could afford. By the time he escaped that situation and its fallout, he didn't really remember what name his parents had given him, if they'd even bothered, and the name 'Red' had been used for him for so long it just stuck there.
And finally? Don't feel bad for simply assembling syllables at semi-random until you find something you like, or assigning your character a name you're fond of even if it doesn't 'Make Sense'. If your elf is named after a grandparent or a video game character or whatever else strikes your fancy? Who cares, it's your character to enjoy. The story of why the character has that unusual name may end up being a cool character moment in your game. Plenty of people hate naming things and just want to get it done with. So long as you don't name everything you make after food in the weirdest possible way - I'm staring at you across the depths of the Internet, Toriyama - you're fine.
I had one character in a group name her Paladin Hathor, cause she liked the name. I let her know that was an Egyptian god, with a cow's head... And teased her about it for years.
Most every character I name is named based on the circumstances that would've been in play when they were named. Usually this means they have a name appropriate to the location of their birth, but in some cases that circumstance is not typical. Two of my characters follow the naming conventions of another species, as both were adopted by natives of the second species and grew up away from 'Their Own Kind'. One of them was adopted by the family created by another player in the game; I asked that player to provide names his clan would've considered for my character and chose one of them.
One thing many folks forget is that often, nicknames can stick hard enough to become a de facto name themselves. Not just shortening Michael to Mike or the like, either. The first D&D character I ever made was a tiefling named Red, because he was born to a poor family that spent most of their life blitzed out on whatever they could afford. By the time he escaped that situation and its fallout, he didn't really remember what name his parents had given him, if they'd even bothered, and the name 'Red' had been used for him for so long it just stuck there.
And finally? Don't feel bad for simply assembling syllables at semi-random until you find something you like, or assigning your character a name you're fond of even if it doesn't 'Make Sense'. If your elf is named after a grandparent or a video game character or whatever else strikes your fancy? Who cares, it's your character to enjoy. The story of why the character has that unusual name may end up being a cool character moment in your game. Plenty of people hate naming things and just want to get it done with. So long as you don't name everything you make after food in the weirdest possible way - I'm staring at you across the depths of the Internet, Toriyama - you're fine.
Most every character I name is named based on the circumstances that would've been in play when they were named. Usually this means they have a name appropriate to the location of their birth, but in some cases that circumstance is not typical. Two of my characters follow the naming conventions of another species, as both were adopted by natives of the second species and grew up away from 'Their Own Kind'. One of them was adopted by the family created by another player in the game; I asked that player to provide names his clan would've considered for my character and chose one of them.
One thing many folks forget is that often, nicknames can stick hard enough to become a de facto name themselves. Not just shortening Michael to Mike or the like, either. The first D&D character I ever made was a tiefling named Red, because he was born to a poor family that spent most of their life blitzed out on whatever they could afford. By the time he escaped that situation and its fallout, he didn't really remember what name his parents had given him, if they'd even bothered, and the name 'Red' had been used for him for so long it just stuck there.
And finally? Don't feel bad for simply assembling syllables at semi-random until you find something you like, or assigning your character a name you're fond of even if it doesn't 'Make Sense'. If your elf is named after a grandparent or a video game character or whatever else strikes your fancy? Who cares, it's your character to enjoy. The story of why the character has that unusual name may end up being a cool character moment in your game. Plenty of people hate naming things and just want to get it done with. So long as you don't name everything you make after food in the weirdest possible way - I'm staring at you across the depths of the Internet, Toriyama - you're fine.
I had one character in a group name her Paladin Hathor, cause she liked the name. I let her know that was an Egyptian god, with a cow's head... And teased her about it for years.
Would be good name for a Minotaur Paladin though.
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"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Naming characters, races, and NPCs for D&D has always been easy for me. I typically just either throw together a bunch of syllables into a blender to get a cool name that fits the theme of the character/race.
That's pretty much what I do too.
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Naming characters, races, and NPCs for D&D has always been easy for me. I typically just either throw together a bunch of syllables into a blender to get a cool name that fits the theme of the character/race.
That's pretty much what I do too.
Yep. Different species/classes change how I do this, too. Dragons/Dragonborn typically get harder consonants and more syllables, like "Kolrasivanthor" or "Tivsornathilkor". Dwarves and Orcs also get hard consonants, but have shorter and simpler names, like "Jerruk" or "Kalron". Elves get slightly longer names than dwarves/orcs with softer consonants and more vowels, like "Rilaeya" or "Narilosia". Gnomes get simple, kind of silly/strange names like "Blid" or "Nera", and Halflings get more old-fashioned or uncommon human names, like "Jasper", "Davien", or "Laera".
For people who need help getting a feel on the general names of the races, XGtE has a great list of tables that you can roll on or pick from.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
For NPC names I do something similar to Third_Sundering, but I often blur the lines so the rules dont always apply. For character names, It usually takes me a little while. I usually start with a an uncommon human name that I like, such as Kieran, then I will change it around. I usually add a letter that replaces a vowel and changes the sound for example a Y, so now we have Kyeran. The e looks a little clunky and doesn't add anything important so we remove that brining us to Kyran. Kyran is a fine name, but it was too short for what I wanted, so I added another sound (an 'i') to make Kyrian.
And there you have it! Kyrian the half elven dragonlord.
Other times I will use words that I like that are just words, and translate them into old english (with my limited vocabulary it sometimes gets a little tough though) such as 'eye' Which is 'antanere'. That ended up the baseline for a concept, not a name, but you get the idea.
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“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
I tend to look up real names in different languages for most races, usually somewhat combined with in-setting locales and cultures, if necessary with a little twist. Norse for dwarves, Finnish for goliaths, Gaelic/Welsh/Irish for elves, recently Baltic for gnomes, etc. Hebrew or Arabic names for angels or demons are great for aasimar, and I like Mongol for dragonborn. Greek is fairly similr to the examples for tieflings in the PHB.
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Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Naming characters, races, and NPCs for D&D has always been easy for me. I typically just either throw together a bunch of syllables into a blender to get a cool name that fits the theme of the character/race.
That's pretty much what I do too.
Yep. Different species/classes change how I do this, too. Dragons/Dragonborn typically get harder consonants and more syllables, like "Kolrasivanthor" or "Tivsornathilkor". Dwarves and Orcs also get hard consonants, but have shorter and simpler names, like "Jerruk" or "Kalron". Elves get slightly longer names than dwarves/orcs with softer consonants and more vowels, like "Rilaeya" or "Narilosia". Gnomes get simple, kind of silly/strange names like "Blid" or "Nera", and Halflings get more old-fashioned or uncommon human names, like "Jasper", "Davien", or "Laera".
For people who need help getting a feel on the general names of the races, XGtE has a great list of tables that you can roll on or pick from.
Giants and Dwarves have short names and get the harsher consonants in my world, such as "Golgrim" or "Brogon". Dragons and Elves both have airy names with lots of vowels, though dragons names tend to be longer, and elven names often start with a vowel, so you can have "Thauraeln" and "Aliniá". In addition, all giants and dragons have titles after their names, such as "Golgrim the Great" and "Thauraeln the Bold". Gnomes often have short three or four letter names derived from elven names, such as "Talo" or "Elya". Humans and halflings have short but distinct first names such as 'Jarvis" or "Celith". Half-elves have either names from their human parent or from their elven parent, or a mix of both. Thus, "Melanie", "Alaeia", and "Raviscor" can all be half-elves.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Naming characters, races, and NPCs for D&D has always been easy for me. I typically just either throw together a bunch of syllables into a blender to get a cool name that fits the theme of the character/race.
That's pretty much what I do too.
Yep. Different species/classes change how I do this, too. Dragons/Dragonborn typically get harder consonants and more syllables, like "Kolrasivanthor" or "Tivsornathilkor". Dwarves and Orcs also get hard consonants, but have shorter and simpler names, like "Jerruk" or "Kalron". Elves get slightly longer names than dwarves/orcs with softer consonants and more vowels, like "Rilaeya" or "Narilosia". Gnomes get simple, kind of silly/strange names like "Blid" or "Nera", and Halflings get more old-fashioned or uncommon human names, like "Jasper", "Davien", or "Laera".
For people who need help getting a feel on the general names of the races, XGtE has a great list of tables that you can roll on or pick from.
Giants and Dwarves have short names and get the harsher consonants in my world, such as "Golgrim" or "Brogon". Dragons and Elves both have airy names with lots of vowels, though dragons names tend to be longer, and elven names often start with a vowel, so you can have "Thauraeln" and "Alinia". In addition, all giants and dragons have titles after their names, such as "Golgrim the Great" and "Thauraeln the Bold". Gnomes often have short three or four letter names derived from elven names, such as "Talo" or "Elya". Humans and halflings have short but distinct first names such as 'Jarvis" or "Celith". Half-elves have either names from their human parent or from their elven parent, or a mix of both. Thus, "Melanie", "Alaeia", and "Raviscor" can all be half-elves.
Naming characters, races, and NPCs for D&D has always been easy for me. I typically just either throw together a bunch of syllables into a blender to get a cool name that fits the theme of the character/race.
That's pretty much what I do too.
Yep. Different species/classes change how I do this, too. Dragons/Dragonborn typically get harder consonants and more syllables, like "Kolrasivanthor" or "Tivsornathilkor". Dwarves and Orcs also get hard consonants, but have shorter and simpler names, like "Jerruk" or "Kalron". Elves get slightly longer names than dwarves/orcs with softer consonants and more vowels, like "Rilaeya" or "Narilosia". Gnomes get simple, kind of silly/strange names like "Blid" or "Nera", and Halflings get more old-fashioned or uncommon human names, like "Jasper", "Davien", or "Laera".
For people who need help getting a feel on the general names of the races, XGtE has a great list of tables that you can roll on or pick from.
Giants and Dwarves have short names and get the harsher consonants in my world, such as "Golgrim" or "Brogon". Dragons and Elves both have airy names with lots of vowels, though dragons names tend to be longer, and elven names often start with a vowel, so you can have "Thauraeln" and "Alinia". In addition, all giants and dragons have titles after their names, such as "Golgrim the Great" and "Thauraeln the Bold". Gnomes often have short three or four letter names derived from elven names, such as "Talo" or "Elya". Humans and halflings have short but distinct first names such as 'Jarvis" or "Celith". Half-elves have either names from their human parent or from their elven parent, or a mix of both. Thus, "Melanie", "Alaeia", and "Raviscor" can all be half-elves.
I didn't know Raviscor was 1/2 elven.
Yep, he is.
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
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How do you name your characters?
My current character uses details from one of the supplements, but I've been looking at developing a character subplot where its revealed she was declared stillborn by her tribe due to her deformities she was born with.
Do you know what "The Exile" means in elvish?
I've come across two possible translations and was wondering if there are any other sources?
Edledhia or Tel'Hrayek
Which sounds better?
Most times I go to Behindthename and type in a meaning I'm looking for + a language I want the name to be from.
Depends on the setting, species, culture, etc.
For elves, I ignore the D&D elven names and pick something that works in Quenya or Sindarin (the Tolkien languages) because D&D "elven" is just a lame collection of syllables that "sound elvish" to game designers -- which basically means, "sound like Tolkien" anyway, without actually following any of the linguistic rules Tolkien made up. So I go straight to the master.
Dwarven, I will either hit up Tolkien again, or do something of my own that sounds "Dwarvish" to me, especially with last names ("Stonehammer," or "Mineshaft" or something).
Human, I will draw inspiration from real-world human languages that match the culture we're talking about. For instance, if it's a Roman Empire setting (like the one I am DMing), I use real Roman naming conventions (Praenomen, Nomen, Cognomen), taking names from recorded names not from fake stuff like the XGE list (which combines all 3 types into "first names" because, again, the game designers are making up stuff that "sounds Roman" instead of using actual naming rules of the existing culture). If it's British, I will look up British names online... If it's a French aesthetic, French names, etc. Real world names, again... maybe names of kings from the middle ages or noble houses. That kind of thing.
The "fantasy name generators" online are variously good at this -- as a DM, for NPCs, I am happy to use those. But if I am going to make up an actual PC that I play for a long time, I want a good name and I go for real languages or well developed fantasy ones, not "game languages" which are usually completely undeveloped and always sound "fake" to me.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
BioWizard is right on: Tolkien elvish sounds way better and more real than D&D elvish, so I use it for most of my elves. As to your question, though, “edledhia” is much better than “tel’hrayek.”
(Edit: just checked and it seems to be Sindarin...makes sense! Though the more proper translation, if “the exile” is a person, is edledhron. Egledhron to the Noldor.)
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Same. Or else I just name another character Diomedes.
That's because names that "sound elvish" to fantasy gamers and fantasy readers are derived from Quenya and Sindarin, but are created by people who didn't actually learn the rules of those languages. Tolkien knew the rules and based them on Finnish or Icelandic or something and that is why it is realistic. Because he was a linguist.
For instance... Galadriel is not just some cool "elvish sounding name" he came up with. It has a meaning... "-iel" means daughter, so "Galad-riel" means "daughter of Galad" (or maybe of Gil-Galad, not sure). "Ara" means dawn and "wen" means maiden so Arwen's name means "dawn-maiden"... and so forth.
Unfortunately, game designers who want to make things "sound elven" take the sounds like "Galadriel" and "Haldir" and "Arwen" and make similar names, like "Zithriel" and "Glindir" and they don't really know why these names "sound elven" or whether these names even make any linguistic sense.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Most every character I name is named based on the circumstances that would've been in play when they were named. Usually this means they have a name appropriate to the location of their birth, but in some cases that circumstance is not typical. Two of my characters follow the naming conventions of another species, as both were adopted by natives of the second species and grew up away from 'Their Own Kind'. One of them was adopted by the family created by another player in the game; I asked that player to provide names his clan would've considered for my character and chose one of them.
One thing many folks forget is that often, nicknames can stick hard enough to become a de facto name themselves. Not just shortening Michael to Mike or the like, either. The first D&D character I ever made was a tiefling named Red, because he was born to a poor family that spent most of their life blitzed out on whatever they could afford. By the time he escaped that situation and its fallout, he didn't really remember what name his parents had given him, if they'd even bothered, and the name 'Red' had been used for him for so long it just stuck there.
And finally? Don't feel bad for simply assembling syllables at semi-random until you find something you like, or assigning your character a name you're fond of even if it doesn't 'Make Sense'. If your elf is named after a grandparent or a video game character or whatever else strikes your fancy? Who cares, it's your character to enjoy. The story of why the character has that unusual name may end up being a cool character moment in your game. Plenty of people hate naming things and just want to get it done with. So long as you don't name everything you make after food in the weirdest possible way - I'm staring at you across the depths of the Internet, Toriyama - you're fine.
Please do not contact or message me.
@BioWizard good insight! Though “galad” translates to “radiance” in Noldor dialects of Sindarin, and thus Galadriel’s name has been translated as “maiden (-iel or -el) crowned (ri) with gleaming hair.” “Galad” is not a character name (incidentally, Gil-Galad means “radiant star”), and it’s unrelated to Silvan dialect “galadh,” which means “tree,” as Galadriel is of the Noldor. Funnily enough, however, Celeborn and the other elves of Lorien are Silvan, and their name, the Galadhrim, means “tree people,” with no direct connection to Galadriel! I don’t doubt that Tolkien (and the Galadhrim) intended the double meaning, however, since Galadriel and Lorien are inextricably linked. Not very relevant, but I thought it was interesting.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
I like Tel'Hrayek. I am assuming that is from LingoJam? I have been using that site for a lot of translations for some homebrew magical items.
Naming characters, races, and NPCs for D&D has always been easy for me. I typically just either throw together a bunch of syllables into a blender to get a cool name that fits the theme of the character/race.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Me too. I did heraldry for the SCA, so I was used to looking up historical medieval names for people all around the world, and as an avid scifi/fantasy reader, I find it fun.
I had one character in a group name her Paladin Hathor, cause she liked the name. I let her know that was an Egyptian god, with a cow's head... And teased her about it for years.
Would be good name for a Minotaur Paladin though.
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Characters for Tenebris Sine Fine
RoughCoronet's Greater Wills
That's pretty much what I do too.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
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Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
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If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Yep. Different species/classes change how I do this, too. Dragons/Dragonborn typically get harder consonants and more syllables, like "Kolrasivanthor" or "Tivsornathilkor". Dwarves and Orcs also get hard consonants, but have shorter and simpler names, like "Jerruk" or "Kalron". Elves get slightly longer names than dwarves/orcs with softer consonants and more vowels, like "Rilaeya" or "Narilosia". Gnomes get simple, kind of silly/strange names like "Blid" or "Nera", and Halflings get more old-fashioned or uncommon human names, like "Jasper", "Davien", or "Laera".
For people who need help getting a feel on the general names of the races, XGtE has a great list of tables that you can roll on or pick from.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
For NPC names I do something similar to Third_Sundering, but I often blur the lines so the rules dont always apply. For character names, It usually takes me a little while. I usually start with a an uncommon human name that I like, such as Kieran, then I will change it around. I usually add a letter that replaces a vowel and changes the sound for example a Y, so now we have Kyeran. The e looks a little clunky and doesn't add anything important so we remove that brining us to Kyran. Kyran is a fine name, but it was too short for what I wanted, so I added another sound (an 'i') to make Kyrian.
And there you have it! Kyrian the half elven dragonlord.
Other times I will use words that I like that are just words, and translate them into old english (with my limited vocabulary it sometimes gets a little tough though) such as 'eye' Which is 'antanere'. That ended up the baseline for a concept, not a name, but you get the idea.
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
I tend to look up real names in different languages for most races, usually somewhat combined with in-setting locales and cultures, if necessary with a little twist. Norse for dwarves, Finnish for goliaths, Gaelic/Welsh/Irish for elves, recently Baltic for gnomes, etc. Hebrew or Arabic names for angels or demons are great for aasimar, and I like Mongol for dragonborn. Greek is fairly similr to the examples for tieflings in the PHB.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Giants and Dwarves have short names and get the harsher consonants in my world, such as "Golgrim" or "Brogon". Dragons and Elves both have airy names with lots of vowels, though dragons names tend to be longer, and elven names often start with a vowel, so you can have "Thauraeln" and "Aliniá". In addition, all giants and dragons have titles after their names, such as "Golgrim the Great" and "Thauraeln the Bold". Gnomes often have short three or four letter names derived from elven names, such as "Talo" or "Elya". Humans and halflings have short but distinct first names such as 'Jarvis" or "Celith". Half-elves have either names from their human parent or from their elven parent, or a mix of both. Thus, "Melanie", "Alaeia", and "Raviscor" can all be half-elves.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
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Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
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If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
I didn't know Raviscor was 1/2 elven.
I have a weird sense of humor.
I also make maps.(That's a link)
Yep, he is.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
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Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
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If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.