Character Naming

I steal them from books, movies, video games, etc

>Base character off of another character
>Rearrange letters into something aesthetically pleasing.
>Great success!

For example
Venom Snake becomes Menov Kanse.

You sir, are amazing, and are, in fact, my nigga. May i steal that from you?

Depends entirely on the game.

In a more serious game, I talk with the GM about typical naming conventions, or if a certain land is based on a real-world equivalent, I look up naming conventions of that area. Taking something common or semi-common from that area is sensible. If the GM allows me to decide the naming conventions, I generally go with something related to the culture of the people there. A lot of names are taken from the bible and whatnot, so taking something from a myth or a hero of legend is good. If I'm making those up too, whatever feels like it fits. I try to stay away from things that reflect my character's role or personality, since parents wouldn't know that when giving the name.

In less serious games, I just make shit up, usually. I'll make the character, then sit on the idea for a bit, see if anything comes to the surface.

I try to limit the complexity of the name or go for things that are easily shortened, since long names will inevitably be shortened.

BIG LARGEHUGE

Or donjon.bin.sh/

Thanks, and yes, you totally can, may your group be more understanding than mine

What is your first language user? Can you give some examples?

I did this for a doctor character ni a Star Wars Universe, with Gaius Baltar and an irl inspiration

Shakespeare first names, last names connecting me to the world's lore

BRICK PUNCHBRICK

MIC MICMUSCLE

RAPESTAB McGENOCIDE

/v/ helps, sometimes.

>Mr Lister The Sister Fister

Always lose it to that one.

First name that is theme appropriate usually with the same letter as my name. Last name relating to place of origin (maybe make it easy to turn into a teasing name).

>Josef Stylin'
Hot damn.

>Not Broseph Styling

I scroll through Youtube comments until I find someone's name that I like and use it. Or a name generator.

DO NOT abuse the descriptive two-word-surname naming convention.

By that I mean an elf named Ashrinel Leafbow, or a dwarf named Ivor Ironbeard, or a rogue name Gares Backblade. Pretty much the only time it's good is if it's an alias or an earned nickname. Example, "Gares assassinated the Dread Captain Ironbeard so now we call him the Backblade" or some such, but if it's his actual family name then that is a fucking travesty. "It's easier to remember" NO. Don't buy that lame excuse. They ought to make some god damn flashcards if their table's attention span is that bad.

There is a time for descriptive names but overuse of them makes me want to strangle something. Please never be the guy that does that OP. The world needs less of it.

This is still my goto naming program despite the issues it has after not being updated to work with any windows os past Vista.

but senpai I don't have vista

To be entirely fair, a bunch of surnames in real life basically equate to that.

My birth surname translates to Greenleaf.

It still works in Windows 10, you just can't get rid of the limits imposed on it that would be gotten rid of by "registration" (running a separate file which did some mumbo jumbo now no longer supported). So you're stuck only getting a few names at once, and a few irritations to usability.

Puns, wordplay, and scientific names. I've had a sword wielding aquatic character named Xiphidar, a play on the scientific name for swordfish, a blue winged fairy named Sibi Rica after sibirica irises, and a mage who can change her size at will named Levy Thann, a play on Leviathan.

>Rich the Witch
>Razer the Ranger
>Saladin the Paladin
>Magnus the Magus
>Marian the Barbarian
>Punk the Monk
>Vogue the Rogue
>Gerard the Bard
>Eric the Cleric

True, but it's far enough removed from the original context that it no longer sounds quite so literal. A name passed down through generations is unlikely to be that on-the-nose.It'd be like if everyone with the last name Smith becomes a blacksmith or locksmith. It's just lazy and irksome to me.

LORD EVIL McBABYPUNCHER

I string together words typically thought to be "metal" to form a ridiculous and nonsensical name. It must also be in all uppercase lettering.

Examples include FUCKHATE MEGASMITE. GENOCIDER BLOODANNIHILATOR, ASHBREAKER OMNIDEATH, and POPE SKULLDOOM.

KILLJOY BABYEATER

Al four of those are perfect SenZar villains.

There is something unbelievably funny about the idea of standing atop a pile of corpses and screaming "I AM GENOCIDER BLOODANNIHILATOR"

Choosing a dominate attribute or trait, translating it to a language that feels like it fits and modifying it to sound name like if it doesn't already.

I have a little program I wrote that outputs random strings of Hiragana written in English characters, run it a few times, then look for one fun to say.

Is that you, Liefeld?

THICK MCRUNFAST

My last name is Wright, and I'm a shipwright....

>It'd be like if everyone with the last name Smith becomes a blacksmith or locksmith.
But that's where the surname "Smith" comes from. Same with "Miller". And "Baker". And "McGenocide"

SLEDGE FISTHAMMER

DREADSKULL ERADIKILL

Tavish McGenocide, of the mighty McGenocide clan, rulers of a thousand leagues of blasted earth.

Depends. Usually I pick an ordinary name (a simple one especially) and give an adjective or something as a nickname. If it's supposed to be a bit more serious, I translate that into some other language.

Litteraly every dwarf in my universe is mineral+bodypart for the last name. Irondick, Bismuthbutt, Gypsumface. You get the picture. Its great.

Goldeneye

Goldfinger

Puns and references

Goldmember

Groovy.

KIRK BABYKICKER

BRONC DRYWALL

Are these all acquaintances of Megumin?

I always set sail for Port Manteau.

>LORD EVIL McBABYPUNCHER

No no no. You need to include Baron and Von for maximum evilness. And maybe a vaguely German name as well.

BARON WOLFGANG VON EVILBABYPUNCHER

Pretty much.
Hiragana phonetics flow nicely even when you just grab a shit ton and spread them randomly, hence why I made it.
pastebin.com/59UbN6By have 10,000 of them.

bingo

1. Take characteristic of character
2. Translate to mongolian
Done
Also alliteration in the person's title if it's all in english

I start with a bunch of last names and place names and just slap two of them together based on whatever sounds right.
>Morrison Marks
>Remington du Plessis
>Marshall F. Callister
>Ingram O'Connor
>Stafford Schroeder
>Elands de la Rey
>Weatherby Clements
>Madder McGallagher
etc.

The titles of Rush songs with some minor changes seem to work for me so far.

My PCs over the last 10 years:

> Vance the Prodigal (male half-drow sorcerer)
> "Smilin'" Jack Eddows (male human fighter)
> Shepherd William Bale (male human fighter)
> Gareth (male human wizard)
> Tian Bak Xi, the Dollmaker (80 year old female human cleric)
> Celestine Percedal Fel (female human inquisitor)
> Boren the Antiquarian (male necropolitan necromancer)
> Isaac Hawkins (male human magus)
> Valen Kai, Last Knight of Solace (male dusk elf magus)
> Cap'n Aubrey Maturin (female human rogue)
> Ser Tristan d'Arras (male human paladin)
> Bjorn Artos (male human druid)

For villainous NPCs, in order of appearance in my campaigns since I started DMing 7 years ago:

> The Exile
> Ilseda Belvane (vampire)
> The Monitor (demon)
> Hierarch Demetrius d'Avannon
> Durga the Magnificent (dragon)
> Hans (also a dragon)
> Nicci
> Anath, Breaker of Chains
> Cullen Shaw (half-giant)
> Edwin Francis Isard
> Nala Nalovha
> Orhmoz Khassadar Taranis (dracolich)
> Marcus Ireneus Koskai (lich)
> Aron Vala, the Herald
> Delton Nerada
> Aron Balaur, King of the Pale
> Aron Macelar, the Butcher
> Aron Tetra, the Maiden
> Aron Syn, the Tutelary
> Izzy

If you can figure out a pattern, you have schizophrenia.

If you guys where forced to choose one of these names what would you?

Yeah, I know. But not all smiths are Smiths, and vice versa. It would be super weird if that were the case.

Dammit user, what are you doing? You were supposed to become an attorney!

Take a word or a person's name from the language used by the cultural my character's culture is most similar to.
Change it a bit or combine a few things.

Ryadaar Songaxe wouldn't be a bad name for a Dwarf Bard.

This, fuck the memesters that use meme names

I try to make common sayings into a name, for example

"Alls fair in love and war" becomes Alzfaran Lovenwar

"Feel the burn" becomes Felix Teburn

Remove almost all sense of shame.
Then take whatever is nearby and name your character something like that.

Eg: Tinta Azul-female swordbitch named for what was written on my box of pens. This was spanish for blue ink.

The Unnamed-Lovecraftian hero in a supers game. The character creation program defaults to Unnamed until you name the character.

Namov-a half ork gunslinger for pathfinder based on a Russian streltsy. Default entry for the character maker; "Name of"

Agendir. A half elf asshole mage. Got the name from mishearing a line from Skyrim "Nice to see you again, dear.

And, as a friend told me, just start taking any two words and think of them as a name. This will result in unfortunate things like Marmalade Camwhore, but it starts to work better after a while.

I feel like I should specify

It's for a Primarch that is Fulgrim if he landed on a Fenris-like world and became a wandering warrior bard who went around fixing his planet's problems after getting a dose of humility after having his beautiful face burned the fuck off

I was going to tell you to fuck off, but I once played a loose cannon cop named Louis Cannon.

I also once named a turncoat spy character Aidan Comfort, but I stopped myself because even I'm not that big of an asshole.

Fucking stupendous

>Mbobo Mali, African witchdoctor necromancer
>Ziplock Baggins, hobbit burglar
>Ermagerd, female paladin
>Brootle Backbreaker, Minotaur gladiator

Right there with ya pal.

I do word association until the chain of thought that gets me to the final name is so convoluted I won't how I got there the next day. For example, if I were making a detective character, my process might look something like this:
>detective
>Sherlock Holmes
>Watson
>Watt
>Electricity
>Key and kite
>Benjamin Franklin
>Founding Fathers
>Alexander Hamilton
>James Reynolds
>Detective Reynold "Ray" Keys

If I need a fantasy name, I do the same thing but run some of the words through translators.

I'm stealing this. This is good.

Language research
What sounds good to me
Random words sloshing around in my brain
Mix well and serve.

I'm trying to come up with a couple dozen silly names to swap between on my character in a not very serious Pathfinder game. He's a grippli alchemist with the vivisectionist archetype. I plan on going full body modification. Extra arms, Wings, Tentacle, Mummification, Tumor Familiar, etc., and shank enemies with quintuple+ Crippling Strikes.

So far, I've managed to come up with:

>That one guy what be a frog
>The group's toady
>Mysterious Croaked Figure
>Tad Poole
>Doc Hoppiday
>Technically got tail
>Spider-Frog
>Dead-Eyed, Four-Armed, Flying, Tentacled People Stabber

Any suggestions, punny or otherwise, would be greatly appreciated.

I love Doc Hoppiday for a gunslinger, also Mysterious Croaked Figure. I'd probably end up choosing something dumb like Victor Froggenstein but all of these are pretty good.

Settle down, Salty Mensesflow.

>Lister's Sister the Fist Resistor
It's like a one-two punch for me user

Wait, you're playing a mutated anthropomorphic frog?

Bufo Peperius Shadilayne.

Thank me later, pic unrelated.

Look at a map of my home village's street names, chop those up, and rearrange the results as needed. I use this more for naming places but it can also give decent family names).

Dig through a list of German nouns and old German names.

Look at the setting I am making a character for and dig deep into whatever info I can find on naming conventions. I really dig D&D's habit of including example names at the end of each race entry and tend to use those as guides to making my character's name sound plausible.

There are many methods available and the choice of which to use is yours OP.

That's not dumb at all. Dr. Victor Froggenstein actually works really well.

And after the horrifying mutations:

>Froggenstein's Monster

>youtu.be/6wicmK4tsAs isn't on the list

I am disappointed user

What did Aron ever do to you?

I don't decide the names, the computer does
I just tell the computer to do it's thing and then autopilot cruise control into cool.
Maybe if I ran it a few million times that would come out, but on the potato I'm on currently that could take an hour for all I know.

I call them how I see them, Afag Sucklecox.

>Froggenstein's Monster

Froggenstien's Mankster?

Only in the modern era is that weird it would absolutely be the case in a medieval setting. Surnames were not common unless you were noble born so at most you would have a location or occupation if differentiating was needed.

Alfred von Hessa
Markus the Miller
The "surname" literally denoted where you were from or your family occupation.

Just take words from Hebrew if I can't think of anything. Easy peasy, and no one ever catches on (: plus it's such a nice sounding language that all the names sound great. Marmatz is my latest dwarf, before that was Aviv (the mage of course) and before that, the beauty Pinah.

Gravy

First ask your GM if they have set a naming schema in their campaign. Sometimes, they'll want everyone to have an ancient Greek or Latin name; maybe Slav, Egyptian, or Korean names.

Barring any restrictive guidelines from the GM:

Buy baby name books; go through them, looking for interesting names that mean something.

Take Scrabble letters one at a time out of the bag, and try to assemble a name from them(set a number of letters you feel comfortable with). Try to use them all.

Use the Tolkien appendix that has the name-elements to cobble something together.

Assemble a set of syllables that you like the sound of.

And finally:

Name your character Drizzt, no matter the race, class, sex, or gender.

BUTCH IRONSTAG