What's in a name? (Character names, that is)

[Iron Croc]

Hello, T&D! I've yet another question for you.

How do YOU come up with character names? Do you just mash your keys together and see with what works? Do you HAVE to put in 800 apostrophes in every name or else it's no good? (Seriously. Don't do this. It's SILLY. :P )

What goes in to the way you name your characters? And tell me why!

 

[Micro]

It's usually pretty random. Sometimes I think up names on the spot, other times I combine words/names I like... and sometimes I'm so stumped that I just mash my keys randomly until I get some stuff that looks vaguely like a name and get inspired from it--other times, this produces some surprisingly good names!

 

[Zebestian]

Now, now, Croc. What's it with you and asking these questions but not answering them yourself? Come one, be a little more courteous and make the first step instead of expecting others to do that. :D
I... don't have to come up with names a lot. Only for songs. But whenever I have to name a character I have a few standards I always use. For example female names ending in -elia or -alia. A few of the names I came up with also come from typos, funnily enough. Then there's also those names that are merely random German words, like in every good JRPG. Gotta have a Stahl, Finster or Regen in every good JRPG. XD

 

[Akod]

Back when I was big into D&D names were a large part of my character. Names are a major factor to consider when you travel around a continent. People look at names to understand gender, nationality, beliefs, even species, if that's a factor. When deciding on names I would look at things like what race are they, what time period is it, how advanced is the person's origin at birth, what were the person's parents like, is religion a deciding factor and, if so, which one, then I would try to create one that fit the bill and I liked.

 

[Iron Croc]

...be a little more courteous and make the first step instead of expecting others to do that. :D

Ever since I got attacked one time on a different forum by most of the responses, I now ASK a question, then wait for OTHERS to respond... THEN I give MY OWN opinion. That's just how I roll.
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Now, that being said... I myself like to give relevant names. I can't bring myself to bash against a keyboard and see what sounds good, although I have come up with pretty good names after letting them stew inside my mind.

Oftentimes, I find the best way to find names is to look up baby names! Whether they're in English or any other language. You can see a name, how it's pronounced, AND see the meaning behind said name.

One of my favorite characters' names was Kameron (An English name, I believe), but that means "Crooked nose"... not a very flattering name... so I changed it to "Kenta"... meaning Strong (in Japanese)...

I suppose my preferred method is either inspiration or BABY NAMES! :3

 

[Chibae]

I use a fantasy name generator and find whatever one hits me in the face :P

 

[Akod]

I use a fantasy name generator and find whatever one hits me in the face :P

I've done this before, when I couldn't decide on a name myself. Depending on the name generator, this isn't really a bad choice. Well made name generators can actually generate good names, albeit at a poor ratio to bad names.

 

[Bizarre Monkey]

Make aesthetically pleasing name first, come up with hijinks later.

See a good writer doesn't need to plan everything in advance, they only need to plan so little that interpretations can be made by players that could be entirely false in their conception.

 

[Companion Wulf]

I'm writing an article on this for RPG Maker Times at the moment (can't seem to find the time to finish it though).

I actually use a combination of methods, depending on the genre and setting. One method I've used in the past is study real names and use translators to convert into other languages and then change a few letters to make it unique. For example, the Irish equivalent of Patrick is Padraig, so changing and adding a few letters come up with Padraeg or Padhraich. Its Latin equivalent is Patricius, commonly used to refer to the "patrician class" and funny thing is this Latin version ultimately became the Imperiator's name in The Gladiator Project (later revisited for MV).

 

[Eien Nanashi]

Back then sometimes, I put down a bunch of letters for the first letter of the name, and run through the entire keyboard looking for a good combination.
But I haven't been naming recently, so... XD

I kinda use a name generator too, and sometimes try to translate a word related to the character (usually into Japanese... and if it doesn't give a good result, a different language) and make it into a slightly meaningful name.

Now for this game I was trying to finish so I can finally leave it in peace (Procrastination II), I've named the protagonist after a dwarf planet (which are usually named after gods or whatever). And then another with a common name, another with a version of a common name, and another with a meaningful word translated into another language. Anything that helps me decide on one pretty much.

 

[LTN Games]

Oftentimes, I find the best way to find names is to look up baby names! Whether they're in English or any other language. You can see a name, how it's pronounced, AND see the meaning behind said name.

Yup, this is what I like to do, I always keep one rule in mind and it is the fact that In the old days before English is what it is today names were spelled differently in most cases, same name different spelling. If the name has a good meaning but I don't like the spelling then I will change the spelling around a bit, but it still sounds the same so its all good. I also like to put two words together(usually meaningful) and play with the spelling to see what I can come up with.

 

[Jazeeri]

If I am doing different races/lands/tribes/clans, I tend to choose a prefix or suffix type for males and females that follow a similar rule or pattern. The ending y or i could be male or female depending on the rules I decide for that particular group.

 

[Cunechan]

I think of the character itself first, if I can see how the person is, deigned and the acting I can think of any name. I prefer using either japanese names (because of the meanings. That's awesome and an easy way to show a bit of your character with just knowing the name even if it's ironically) or more normal names like fe Lana OR I take normal names and change them up a bit. I think the name of a character is an important part, always think of the person was named that once when the person was found/born whatever. Normally I try to avoid names that no one can pronounce anyway but I just can't

 

[MinisterJay]

I try to create unique names. One time someone asked me about a forum handle I had, Mang Thiaf Chun. What did it mean? Was this character a thief, and I purposely misspelled it? It was just a half-orc character I had made. He was a warrior. I just came up with the name. In one book I write, My Demon Friend , one one the demon characters was named Greggstkor. Sometimes I just use concepts from the Original American settlers and put characteristics in part of the name, like Serai Irontongue. There are so many methods to be used. For games made specifically for younger audiences, I try to use three or four lettered names, like Bob and Sue.

 

[ejronin]

Hello, T&D! I've yet another question for you.

How do YOU come up with character names? Do you just mash your keys together and see with what works? Do you HAVE to put in 800 apostrophes in every name or else it's no good? (Seriously. Don't do this. It's SILLY. :P )

What goes in to the way you name your characters? And tell me why!

Typically, character names are something I consider last and try to use familiar names players can associate with some thought.

I keep them simple. As with movies and most approachable books, character names feel sophomoric to me if they're outside the scope of general content. For example, Han Solo fits the content of Star Wars where the surname highlights the overt characteristics, while if you read a Phillip K Dick book the character names go from what you'll see in a day to day rela life encounter to something sort of odd.

If you're looking for names to fit something fantatasic in nature then fantasy names along lines of Feldin D'Montegonish might be okay, but if you're developing a story that has more of an internal exposition toward characters then names don't have to suit the archetypical base.

As an aside, I have three children:

Shawn Kennedy, Jr.
Donovan Victor
Myles Alexander

Obviously my first-born bears my name (not my idea but I gave it no resistance). I have an odd name which means "grace of God, helmeted warrior, wealth upon the hill"

The other two I gave great consideration and wanted something that was not pompous sounding but gave a sense of the idea to live up to something greater than myself (kids tend to emulate behavior). So, my hope is they set an aspiration that fits their perception. Translate that to a game and shape the situations where the player can live up to or decry their given name.

But, be careful because there's a point where over thinking facilitates under execution.

 

[noxyoursox]

I name every single character in my game (yes even the NPCs), so I've kind of developed a consistent process. For main characters (protagonists, villains, and people important to the plot) I research existing names that come from an appropriate background (name is either "neutral" or matches the ethnicity of the character in a respectful way), sound good and have a relevant meaning. I try very hard to make sure no main characters have names that sound too similar (I don't even start them with the same letter if I can avoid it). I sometimes adapt words from other languages into names as well.

For NPCs, I sometimes use real names if one immediately comes to mind that just fits the character, but usually I go to the Rinkworks fantasy name generator and make up names in large batches with the kind of sounds I want.

 

[Anubis In Love]

Most of the names come to me by just thinking about the character and what kind of person they are and somehow it just pops up in my head. Other times I do some research on baby naming sites, although it's kind of boring for me and discourages me.

 

[sinfulGurotesque]

What I typically do is get two words that I feel relate to the character, toss them into a translator until I find a translation I like and then mash up the names.
Ex. strawberry rose => marrubi arrosa (Basque) => Marrosa

Sometimes I just come up with a bunch of syllables and toss them into something that sounds nice, like Mahenka or Turgibek.

 

[Essy]

Plot important characters tend to have symbolic or ironic names. Irony for characters that will be meant to have a bit of mystery to them.
For example Trinette, a name that means 'Innocence' was used for a traitor.
I tend to hand pick from a specific culture though for consistency. In mu current project(that I've been slugging on) I'm sticking to Germanic names.
Using the protagonist's as an example, the game follows two girls Sam and Carolyn. Sam was used for the more feminine of the two whereas Carolyn is straight up androgynous.

I'm also 'slightly' fond of Eldritch Abominations. I normally close my eyes and roll my hand across until I see a good name somewhere in there for them.

 

[Chaddog]

I've used several different methods in the past. I've used name generators as a jumping off point, especially when I'm trying to think up a style of name for a unique race. I've also used the smashing-keyboard method. That's a fun one, but sometimes too random. A lot of times, I'll find a phrase and remove/add letters to get something I like. "Willow Tree" (my wife loves those things) can become Illowt or Owree. Both would be fun names for a forest dwelling folk. There's definitely some great ideas in this thread.