Character names, do they give ya'll as much trouble as they do me???

[Lord Ravinous]

I'm frickin' stumped, I mean I've had trouble w/ names in the past, but this is by far the worst time I've had w/ coming up w/ a name in my memory.

I've been at it for a WEEK now, two if you count initial character creation, three if you count since I came up w/ the concept. But I'll be durned if i can't think of nuthing.

So now I'm here, as a pityful excuse for a 5 year gamer, asking for help with a name. I've got a good name generator in my Favorites file, but that don't really help here, cause my guy's a monk and none of the names fit, NONE.

So if ya'll could help me with the process of coming up with a name for an Agnostic(for lack of a better term) Socialist Monk thats on the road to enlightenment, I'd be very appreciative and most thankful.

*helpful tid-bit of knowledge: Richard Geer and gerbals don't mix.

 

[Fenes 2]

I have several methods to create names. For PCs, I usually try to string together a nice-sounding first name, with a matching (or not matching) last name depending on background. Or I use (or combine) a name from literature, movies or comics. For NPCs I have bookmarked several cultural name lists and pick and choose from them. Spanish, egyptian, greek, depending on the background of the character.

 

[hong]

I have found a truly excellent source of fantasy names, in the form of Internet messageboards. Here are some I've used so far:

Kengar
Destil
Kyramus
Simon
Whyrph
Takyris
Tolen Mar
Taren Nighteyes
Mordax
Kitana Vorr
Voneth

Just stay away from the really WEIRD names, and you'll be fine.


Hong "like, y'know, "hong" or something" Ooi

 

[Herremann the Wise]

As a DM, names are one of the most important elements for my games as my players will testify too . (I can't remember how many times they've got annoyed at me for telling then that they're spelling the name wrong).

However, in reality names are really a mixture of talent and hard work.
Talent from the point of view of picking up the seed of a name and then bending it into the sound that you want for a character or spontaneously coming up with a name that just blows your players away. Actually, I don't know if it's luck, intelligence or just a plain large vocabulary that helps here.
Alternatively hard work goes a long way. I have a name document that has a few thousand names (3,314 at last count) that have been hand selected and put into it. By hand selected, I mean not just cut and pasted from lists of names, I mean looking through a list and picking the best of the one or two that jump out and have an immediate impact - for example, the list above has two that I like in Takyris (Although I'd spell it Takieris to emphasize the pronounciation) and Tolen Mar (Perhaps a very nice name for your monk). Over time, you get a list of names that you treat like absolute gold. I just leave the word document open on my computer at work and every time I think up or see a good name, I'll put it in. For example, in todays list we have:
Coriarn
Glessia
Aidan
Tansis
Vernaan
Herga
Lassion (La-sigh-on)
Marrin


Actually, one of these might be suitable for your monk:
Tansis Amaan.
Has a certain ring to it? I don't know.

Best of luck anyway. Persist and put a bit of effort into it - get rid of any random name generators you have - and you'll be rewarded in the end, whether you have the knack for names or not.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

PS: If you were not playing a serious game and wanted to give people a bit of a laugh, you can name him after one of the more comic characters I have in my games: Kramm Kellogg. Always gets a laugh.

 

[The Forsaken One]

Kris Hulsen
Crocusstraat 4
5691 TC Son en Breugel
The Netherlands
0499-475518

 

[alsih2o]

But I'll be |)am|\|ed if i can't think of nuthing.

what makes people go so far to avoid the language filter? this seems pointless and trite.

you obviously knwo you shouldn't be doing it or you wouldn't be doing it this way. why, when presented with such a great resource as enworld must you try to get around the rules?

and was that word soooo important to that sentence?

this just makes me sad...

 

[Ukyo the undead]

I don´t have any problem creating names just because I am thinking the name waaay before I need to use it.
When Im playing a character, Im often thinking about the next one.

The fact that the campaigns I play are very long lived helps.

My characters so far, since 2nd edition.

Eli Wofeni( half-elf cleric of Paladin and Cypher-Planescape-)
João, the cleric of Pelor( greyhawk)
Razab id Hakyah( Cleric of the God of Sun of AL-Qadim)
Atahc Alam( CLeric of Pelor, Greyhawk)
Lyn Illurien( Ranger/Fighter, worshipper of Heironeous)

 

[Lord Ravinous]

what makes people go so far to avoid the language filter? this seems pointless and trite.

Sorry. Consider it fixed.

 

[alsih2o]

Sorry. Consider it fixed.

very "stand up" of you lord R, i appreciate, and do not actually intend to complain so much

 

[Hand of Evil]

I hate coming up with names and I do use a generator for the most part but sometimes just fill a character/NPC needs a special name and nothing I try works! This is when I turn to adjectives, I look at key charactistic of the and then look at that word in another language (german/French/greek/latin). Does it work, not always but I have to try it. Then I steal from TV/movies/books.

Now, a monk would loose his/her name during training and would just be called something like 'grasshopper' until he/she passed a test, so you have some time.