How do you choose names?
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@Ezra When it comes to NPCs, sometimes I plan them in advance but when my players meet someone random I just improv a name off the top of my head--usually it's something kind of goofy or funny. My players expect randomness. When I think about it more, like for an important NPC or my own character--I'm inspired by the tone. What type of personality the character has and try to express the personality as letter sounds. Jarring, aggressive, silly, elegant, etc.
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Choosing a name is typically the very last thing I do with a character and usually by then I have a feel for what they're like. I played a no-nonsense warrior and gave her a short, guttural name. I played a Tabaxi rogue and named her Felix......after Felix the Cat. In my current game I'm playing a bard who always has her guitar with her. Her name is Ruby Soho. A little on the nose maybe but I like to have some fun with my characters' names!
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@SwampCreature said in How do you choose names?:
Choosing a name is typically the very last thing I do with a character and usually by then I have a feel for what they're like. I played a no-nonsense warrior and gave her a short, guttural name. I played a Tabaxi rogue and named her Felix......after Felix the Cat. In my current game I'm playing a bard who always has her guitar with her. Her name is Ruby Soho. A little on the nose maybe but I like to have some fun with my characters' names!
My current Dhampir Barbarian is named Nocturna Deep. She's obsessed with death and undeath...the named felt like a perfect fit. My players current prime nemesis is named Funguul Rastaack. Well suited to a cowardly liar and priest of the cult of Loki.
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@Ezra I'm not too experienced naming characters, but it is often a big obstacle
A couple of things I've done in the past are:- Steal someone's name if they're part of the character's inspiration (like @SwampCreature's Felix
). A character I'm playing right now is named Christian, after Hans Christian Andersen, because I read about how unhinged his interactions were with Charles Dickens and I wanted to play someone like that. - Look up cool-sounding greek/latin words/names that are related to the role I want the character to have in the story and Fantasy-ize them. I remember naming a healer something like Gallenux after the Greek physician Galen of Pergamon. It's a very thin layer of depth, but it helps me psychologically to stop second-guessing naming decisions and just lets me move on from that process
- Steal someone's name if they're part of the character's inspiration (like @SwampCreature's Felix
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I have SUCH a hard time choosing names; it's often the last thing I do after making a character. For instance, I'm currently playing a character named 'Duchess' in a game because I couldn't think of one for her when we were starting. She has a name now, but we still just call her Duchess as her codename and only use her real name for flashbacks.
I often choose names from mythology or just names I've heard that I really like. Recently, I met a woman named Nigina, and I LOVED that name, so I used it for a vampire I'm playing in a game we're running at work called Thousand Year Old Vampire. I used to play a lamia named Nafas, a name I had heard in high school in a documentary about a woman from Iran. Then I have characters like Fehne (a Seelie Pooka from Changeling:The Dreaming), where I liked a word (fen), and just spelled it differently.
@AGreaterMonster NPCs are so hard for me, I often ask my players to make up their names (to great hilarity)
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@K-O I literally sat on character creation screens for hours because I had no idea what name to pick, this usually happens after my preferred name ends up being "already taken". Those two words wound me greater than anything else lol.
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Nothing is more frustrating than sitting on a character and being unable to finish them because their name keeps alluding you. In my current campaign, I've started naming evil characters after evil corporations and change the spelling so the inflection is different. My players haven't picked up on it yet, and it gets rid of my writers block.
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Unless good names pop up naturally, I rely on tools for inspiration. There are a bunch of sites for roleplay character name creators you can easily google. ChatGPT also gives you some insightful names when you describe the character. Another tip for naming villains. You can look up your spam email folder. You will find lots of fake names you can safely pick without hurting anyone's feelings.
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one syllable makes it more fun and memorable for the table to say, therefore you'll get more screen time interactions with the table.
Brick
Kaj
Bags
Ugh
Kwen
Keg'n... okay that's two syllables but Keg'n is fun to say. lol.if you go for complexity then make it REALLY fun. I have a Rastafarian voodoo druid who mainly casts 10-minute ritual spells. I named him "Menemisbrahp Gimmi Temenis" (My name is Brahp give me ten minutes), and of course, his nickname is Brrrrahp"
Brick Lawson is a paladin, his father was a lawman too, and he lives in his father's shadow. so Brick Lawson the name also includes all you need to know about him.
Kwen Cie is an ICE QUEEN sorceress.
"Kaj Juan-O" was a "Jack Model 001" warforged. Once he escaped slavery, he made his own name. By robot logic, he just reversed his slave name to Kaj Juan-O.
Try to add a merchandising catchphrase like a Saturday morning cartoon. My barbarian is very aggressive and socially awkward woman. "My name is Bags McKinzie: Cash grass or ass I bag what I want."
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@mianngu omg this is amazing and I love it. I definitely enjoy doing some good pun names or just catchy fun things sometimes, but when I think about how I would like to write novels, that part gets harder. Like I feel an obligation to not dick around when I gotta be serious ish lol.
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@TableTopProphet I do love one or occasionally two syllable names, it really depends on what I am playing and how epic vs fun I want it to be. I also had to learn a hard lesson at the tender age of 17 when I first got into MMORPGs because my guild didn't use real names and I didn't think about choosing a name carefully, knowing I would be called that for the rest of my time with them. Suffice to say, I joined up with this guild with the name Tzimisce Experiment (from the TTRPG White Wolf, vampire the masquerade) and the leader declared it too hard to pronounce, so I was nicknamed Weirdo.
In another completely unrelated instance (because that's how my brain works) my friend and I loved playing laser tag in high school and you could get your own customized profile that would show your name on the score board. She had picked Random Hobo, but the display actually cut off the last two letters soooooooo...........
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@Ezra
What scarring experiences you've endured! Weirdo and Random Ho. lolI see now why this is something you contemplate.
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@TableTopProphet lol actually I am pretty sure it comes from wishing my mom had named me something different. I have spent my whole life having people misread my name and call me "Justin". So naming is just a weird deal for me now. I have learned to live with my brain's self imposed hysterics.
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@Ezra
Brains do be funny sometimes. I do think there can be power in names. Many religions place importance on mankind giving names, or changing names. But I suppose fantasy naming is an extension of our subconscious. Being aware of this makes you thoughtful and introspective. That's only a flaw if you name it as one. For now, you name it "self-imposed hysterics". Give it a new name, like present, aware, enlightened, insightful. It's your superpower. -
@Ezra ok you have to tell me now if you are secretly my therapist. By law that I just made up, is this Rob? Because you sound like Rob and I am going to have to have to play a round with you someday then lol.
Annnnnnnnnd if not, I'ma need you to stop mind-melding at least until we get to self help Saturdays because I am still stuck at work and right now its still f*** it Fridays.
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@Ezra lol
Well, ya know i'm not a therapist because i drew a conclusion instead of booking your next appointment.
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Let's see.... usually, I develop a picture of who my character is first, what their personality might be, what they might look like, and if there are things like time periods that can inform what my names should be. Here are some of the recent characters that I'm playing and their names/reasons behind their names:
Irenah (I-ren-AH): It's a homage to my great-grandmother's name (Irene), I heard the German pronunciation of it from a tik-tok I think and really loved it so I applied it to my Saytr Bard character. It's not really a fantasy name for the setting but it has more meaning and this character is more my persona than others. I'm using forms of this character in various campaigns.
Victoria - This is for 1000 Year Old Vampire, it's the first name that popped into my head for the style of setting and aristocracy she comes from.
An alien character I have is using the name Irenah but I came up with her Planet, Species, and Last name in a fun way. Her species design pulls elements from Octopi and Catfish. So Silrus (species name), Ariidae (Planet Name), and Maorum (Last name) are all pulled from the scientific names of those various animals.
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@TableTopProphet Ha! Well I will do my best to keep an eye out for any bills just in case ;]
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If I'm ever stuck I mumble vowels in different character voices for a scene I've written which that character could potentially be in... If something sounds rhythmic enough I'll piece together consonants around them until I get something that fits the tone of the world and run with that!
