Do you base your fantasy names on real-world language?

[AFGNCAAP]

Well, along the lines of real-world influences for names, here's a few recommendations:

Gnomes: Maybe Russian or Old German---something sorta-kinda related to Old Norse &/or the Vikings, since Gnomish uses the Dwarven alphabet (& gnomes virtually have the same lifespan as dwarves)
Halflings: Slavic or Rhomani; maybe Celtic; depends on the kind of halfings you have. If they're more Hobbitish, then something a bit more down to earth/common (maybe even just Modern English names); Slavic or Rhomani for the more nomadic halflings per 3rd Ed.
Orcs: Have to agree with the Mongol suggestion here--nice & gutteral-sounding names.

 

[CrazyMage]

I don't usually pair up a real world language with a specific race so much as a particular culture and region. Using a known language can be a good way to maintain a consistent feel for a group of people, though my personal preference is to tweak everything so that it isn't too familiar (there are a few words in Lord of the Rings that form their plurals by adding "-im" That's a Hebrew plural ending--too familiar and so not "foreign" enough for me). Finnish is a good suggestion, likewise Estonian or Hungarian for a different feel to things. In my campaign world there are lakes named after Albanian for "good morning" and "good evening". I have the Central Asia phrasebook from Lonely Planet (Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Uyghur, Pashto, Kazakh, etc.) which I found to be very inspirational for sorcerer/wizard names.

Keep exploring languages (and not just for D&D names). There's a lot of cool stuff out there.

 

[Talvisota]

I second the use of Finno-Ugric languages, like Finnish and Hungarian. Indeed, Talvisota is "Winter War" in Finnish.

Most Central Asian names, by the way, are actually transliterations. For example:

Ainur: moonbeam
Bekzat: noble
Raushan: rose
Raikhan: basil

and the real kicker:
Nazgul: flirtatious flower (no kidding!!)

and the list goes on.

A name that actually means something can be interesting. Who has forgotten "Dances with Wolves?"

Cheers!

 

[Welverin]

I...just...can't...resist.

I'd suggest Finnish.

What's a Teemu anyway?

 

[Zappo]

I invent names, though when I want to characterize a particular culture I try to make them sound particular.

BTW, there's a shareware software called "Everchanging Book of Names" that, given a sizeable set of names from a language will analyze it and then create random names that sound like names from that language. The bigger the set, the better and more varied the result. The shareware version has a good number of fantasy languages. I can't provide a link but I think a web search shouldn't be difficult.

 

[Melan]

I often use Ancient Mesopotamian and Persian names for wizards.
Oh, yes, and I keep away everyone from Celtic.

 

[el-remmen]

Yes, I do this - but I do lot of name re-combining and tweaking - the general standard is as follows however:

Elvish: Latin and Bastardized Tolkien Elvish (which has Finnish origin).

Dwarvish: Herbrew / German

Gnomish: Yiddish / Hungarian

Halfling: Welsh / Gaelic

And then there are a bunch of human dialects as well. .