A Noble Name

[MortalPlague]

I have a player in my campaign who's playing the son of a noble in hiding. His name is Aiden Farwatcher, but the last name has clearly been changed from the original to protect him and his parents from their enemies. It's getting to the point in the campaign where I'd like to involve that subplot. There's one small problem, however... I can't come up with a last name for their noble family.

I'm looking for something that sounds good following the name 'Aiden'. It has to be something 'cool', since I'm springing this on the player without any consultation. Normally I'd have him choose it, but I intend to have other characters use the name beforehand without him knowing who they're talking about.

I may also be using the family name to name their home town. If you can come up with a name that would work well for a noble family and a town, that's a huge bonus. The town is a mid-size town on a lake who receives ore from the dwarves and sends it downriver.

 

[Blackrat]

Well noble names in real world often follow the same pattern with linguistic differencies. They usually consist of "Of" and a name of place or some form of distinguisher. Example Joan of Arc, or Jeanne D'Arc as it's in french. Jeanne from Arc (though this whole name is actually a misstranslation). Or "von" in germany.

The use of these can make it sound noble. To distinguish it as fantasy name it could incorporate fantastic elements.

For example, a german sounding noble name could be "von Trollhofen" which means "from Trollcourt" approximately.
Then making a french sounding noble name "d'Argent". Using the d' from french and adding Argent which means silver in latin . This could, with little imagination be translated as Silvery or some such .

If you give more specific what you'd like from the name I could come up with more.

 

[ppaladin123]

How about Farrister? Just sounds nice...doesn't have any meaning.

 

[S'mon]

Phoenix?

 

[MortalPlague]

For example, a german sounding noble name could be "von Trollhofen" which means "from Trollcourt" approximately.

We have a 'Brandon Von Redding' PC in our other game (run by the player in question, actually), so 'von' would certainly be appropriate. Any other prefix would work quite well.

More specifically, I'm looking for a name that sounds glorious and powerful, old and regal, lordly and sage. I'm looking for a name that my player will take to when he discovers that it is his birthright.

 

[Fenes]

Her'es a link to a list of the most popular surnames, usually with an explanation of what they mean. You might find a good name there.

 

[Blackrat]

We have a 'Brandon Von Redding' PC in our other game (run by the player in question, actually), so 'von' would certainly be appropriate. Any other prefix would work quite well.

More specifically, I'm looking for a name that sounds glorious and powerful, old and regal, lordly and sage. I'm looking for a name that my player will take to when he discovers that it is his birthright.

Is there any particular meaning you'd like for the name. I could just germanise it . And for a glorious german noble name, one could also add another prefix. Using that previous example to show what I mean. It could become von Trollhofen zur Teufelwald. Which roughly translates as "From Trollcourt in the Devil's Forest".

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

A former member of our group had a Torg character from Horrorsh, a vampire and ghost hunter called "Van Wirsing".
A name from the German Sesame Street was "von Bödefeld".

I think "van" is the Dutch version of the German "von" or the irish (?) "o' ".

"von und zu" is also used in German.

If you go with Blackrats suggestion:
Maybe "Farwatcher" gives some hint to his noble title?
Maybe he is actually an "Aiden von Fernschau"? Or "Aiden de Loinvue"?

 

[MortalPlague]

Or "Aiden de Loinvue"?

Aiden de Loinview?

Good suggestions, guys, but I think I'll take a step back from the overly german stuff. I do like the idea of making it a three part name, perhaps with Van in there (since the noble with Von is from the opposite side of the continent). Aiden Van... something. Or maybe Aiden Val something.

 

[Bluenose]

Aiden de Loinview?

Good suggestions, guys, but I think I'll take a step back from the overly german stuff. I do like the idea of making it a three part name, perhaps with Van in there (since the noble with Von is from the opposite side of the continent). Aiden Van... something. Or maybe Aiden Val something.

Well, you could use another nations aristocracy. Hungary has a fascinating mix of Germanic, Italian, Magyar and other names such as:
CLERICI
VER COPONS
CSÁKY-PALLAVICINI
HAMILTON
ESPAGNOL
METTERNICH-SÁNDOR

Then there's Polish, Danish, Spanish or Italian aristocrats. And if they sound right there's plenty more from round the world.