How do you come up with names?

[lonesoldier]

I'm currently working on making a setting and I was wondering how you guys come with names for your characters/places/items/whatnot. So I far I've been using random name generators around the internet, but it often takes a while to generate a good name. Any tips?

EDIT:
For my sci-fi writing I tend to use poorly declined Latin nouns for names, sometimes I throw a little Greek into the mix. I also use the names of gods occasionally (Devi, Neith, etc).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Decide on the cultures you want to use and ruthlessly pillage the baby name sites for that culture or ethnic group. You can also steal place names for the appropriate culture or run the words you want through Babel Fish in the appropriate language and get something that feels right-ish.

And, of course, yoink any good names that you see mentioned on ENWorld. I also repurpose OD&D and 1E iconic elements -- "Gleep Wurp the Eyebiter" may not be a realistic or plausible name, but there's a manic sort of coolness in stealing an old 1E throwaway name like that for a modern campaign.

 

[blargney the second]

I think of a horrible pun and let nature do the rest. *grin*
-blarg

 

[Aristeas]

Wikipedia gives lists of famous people by ethnicity which I've found handier than baby name sites, because the Wiki entries give both first and last names. So for instance, all the frost giants in my recent campaign were drawn from List of Icelanders. The only really drawback is that, depending on the culture you select, it can be hard to find female names if the culture hasn't had many famous women and/or it's hard to tell which names are female.

 

[Graybeard]

Since the cultures in my game are based on ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt, etc., it is fairly easy to come up with names for places and people. <ost of the other games I have played in have cultures based on England, france, Germany, etc. so names are easy to come up with.

 

[RainOfSteel]

I'm currently working on making a setting and I was wondering how you guys come with names for your characters/places/items/whatnot. So I far I've been using random name generators around the internet, but it often takes a while to generate a good name. Any tips?

EDIT:
For my sci-fi writing I tend to use poorly declined Latin nouns for names, sometimes I throw a little Greek into the mix. I also use the names of gods occasionally (Devi, Neith, etc).

Follow the TableSmith link in my Sig, below. Join the group. Download and install the software. There are lots of excellent name generators already available that are fully tweakable, and tweaking them (or creating your own) is super-easy.

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Aside from that, I do one of four things:

1) I string random syllables together in a style I "think" matches the local region, and then discard anything that sounds silly or unworkable.

2) I play a name-game. I take an existing name, and then play a type of free-association game, where I morph the name from one stage to the next, until I come up with something I want.

3) Use existing names and surnames.

4) Stick existing words together to creature surnames. Hedgerock, Thistlebarrow, etc.

 

[Drawmack]

I come up with a two or three word description and then depending on what it is I either just kind of use what I came up with or I run it through bable fish. I tend to have a lot of names in my games like Tumblebush the Druid, Nibly Winkelfire, Nimblefinger Quickhand, etc. - cause I don't really care if my names are a little silly. Think about it, how many people in the real world have silly names.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

I am a student of Greek and my wife is an expert at Latin, German, French, Italien, ancient Hebrew, and a smattering of other languages. We have more dictionaries in my house than you'd really care to know. Finding cool names is not hard. In fact, if you know Koine Greek or have access to a dictionary ... you'll notice that all of the significant cities in the portion f my homebrew world that I've posted here at ENWorld (see my sig) all have meanings. Granted, when I transliterated them I change a vowel or two here and there just to make it sound better in English. But if you know where to look, you can find out about the cities just by knowing the name in Greek!

 

[Mycanid]

Decide on the cultures you want to use and ruthlessly pillage the baby name sites for that culture or ethnic group. You can also steal place names for the appropriate culture or run the words you want through Babel Fish in the appropriate language and get something that feels right-ish.

And, of course, yoink any good names that you see mentioned on ENWorld. I also repurpose OD&D and 1E iconic elements -- "Gleep Wurp the Eyebiter" may not be a realistic or plausible name, but there's a manic sort of coolness in stealing an old 1E throwaway name like that for a modern campaign.

I think this really is the best, especially agreeing with the good dwarf in the SECOND paragraph.

 

[Sejs]

Depends on the character's culture, but ultimately - 20,000 names.com