Inventing names is detrimental to my immersion

[Blue]

Generally speaking, I research name generators before I start making names. But I always preemptively choose a real-world culture to theme my in-game culture from, and then take real-world names(usually from baby-name books or other generators) and name people after those.

I used a tool called the Everchanging Book of Names (EBoN) and gave each race it's own culture for naming rules. So one may be German, another Welsh, etc. I'd run out sheets of 100 for each race prior to the game starting, weeding out any actual names. Came up with memorable and distinctive names. Whenever I used one I'd cross it off my list. If I needed another list, I'd just generate one between sessions.

I've been in one game where all of the names were "authentic", with William, Alistair (long before Dragon Age), Cassandra, Albrecht (a dwarf), etc. To me, it sort of broke immersion because many names sounded mundane, but we got used to it.

The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy by Guy Gavriel Kay does a great job by having modern peope transplanted into a fantasy world, and the difference between now-names and the names of the others very much sets a tone. And one of the characters ends up having his name "Fionavized" (made more like theirs).

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Of course, as cultures meet, they mix, sometimes with interesting results. One of the kids behind me in high school was named Augustine Fou. There is a comedian named Russell Donovan Peters- a solid European Christian name, right.- except that he is a 1st generation Indian-Canadian whose family was so interested in assimilating into the local culture, they changed their names.

Then there are names of accident. In the USA, Ellis Island was a major hub of immigration, and there was a lot of paperwork done by average joes who might not have been all that culturally sensitive or proficient with people who didn't speak English well. One example of this was a family from Laos whose English upon entry was less than perfect. When asked for a surname, the patriarch couldn't answer, so the person helping him out put "Unknown" in the blank. The patriarch thought that this meant he had been given a new, American name. Since then, they've been the Unknowns.

 

[GhostBear]

"Does he have a name? Besides Dragonbait, I mean."

"Indeed," the dragon answered. "But it doesn't translate well. I much prefer Dragonbait. It's so appropriate."

This is the way the I prefer to handle it.

I'm currently playing in a game where one of the other players has a severe fetish for apostrophes. He named his character "Elh'ha'a'roun'a Ash'ta'muth" or something similarly silly that nobody can ever remember. We just call him "Ehl", or occasionally "Horse Butt". He gets annoyed with it, but every time he does, we tell him to blame his parents for giving him such a silly name. ~(o:

 

[dd.stevenson]

I use google translate. First I pick a target language that's thematically linked to the culture the npc is meant to hail from. Then I enter a few English words into the translator and see what I get.

So, for example, if I've got a bumpy headed tough for my Transylvania game, I might type in "bumpy potato" (because that's how I imagine his shaved head looks) and then translate to Romanian. The result is "hopuri cartofi", which I then proceed to play around with until I get something I like. I like the second word better, so I switch that to "Ripuri Cartofi", which is good enough for this one-session npc.

 

[steeldragons]

Cultures in my homebrew campaign world each have an associated culture...some of them (primarily humans) are associated with one or more earth-like cultures. The kinda italian/mediterranean mish-mosh nation, the kinda celtic nation, the kinda persian/egyptian mash nation, etc...

So there will be names similar to real world names or real world sounding names. "Baradith, Kathlaine, Jaeden, Daerrun, Timmos" etc...Last names in certain cultures have prefixes (akin to the irish/scottish "O' or Mc/Mac" etc...Others are simple (the barbarian clans specifically), like "consonant-vowel-consonant, son/daughter of consonant-vowel-consonant."

Elves have their own cultural naming conventions (which make rather lengthy names) and a language index (no, I don't use Tolkien's) from which to choose names that translate to "Common" as elfy sounding names. For example and Orean elf [PC race, not all sub-races of elf are PC races in Orea] will have a name that is: Proper name/ surname/ familial clan or "house."

So a full, formal name might be [if I'm translating off the top of my head, properly] "Valaura Rithsorai Eres'ka Staliirostae"...which is Valaura "of the[-i] Sun [sora]-Blade[rith]" from "House[Eres'ka] Star[staliir]-Watcher[ostae: literally "those who watch"].

The proper names aren't that hard, usually 3 or 4 syllables. Possibly able to be cut back to a nickname ("Val" in this in example) or they use their surname...which leads to the common perception among humans that all elves have those nature-y names like "Silverrain" or "Dewleaf", "Blackstag" and that kinda thing. The use of the whole eres'ka/house name is more of a formal address/used by-elves-among-elves kinda thing.

All the other PC races have their own naming conventions (though none as elaborate as the elves) and possibly languages, as well.

This is all a really long way to say, if you're talking about breaking immersion, I think what the op says works for them is exactly the opposite as how I feel.

I don't play a fantasy rpg to be running around with "Bill, Beth, John and Jane." Here and there as an npc peasant/commoner, fine. But not the PCs. And if someone comes up with something a little long or complicated, rest assured that the group will come up with a nickname.

PS: I will grant that the example Ghostbear offers above takes it too far (for me). The player with the apostrophe fetish? Yeah, they need a lil' smack. But really, WotC is to be blamed for that (specifically, for how drow names evolved *rolls eyes sooooo high*).

 

[Hussar]

Let's be fair here. I don't think we can blame WOTC entirely for the apostrophe fetish.

Funny enough, I was just listening to a news story about new baby names. Apparently in North America, adding an apostrophe to standard names is an up and coming thing. So, something like Latisha is becoming L'Tisha. That sort of thing.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

I hate, loathe and detest real world names creeping into my fantasy games but superfluous apostrophes are an even bigger bugbear (mind you, I get just as browned off when I see so many posters confusing "it's" [this is not the possessive form] and "its" [this is the possessive form] or using an apostrophe before the letter S to create a plural - I'm very protective of apostrophes).

I normally run Forgotten Realms. I like the names that Ed Greenwood uses so I have compiled over a thousand of them here: http://my-realms.blogspot.com/search/label/Names by Ed Greenwood I've got more than enough for quite a few campaigns.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Let's be fair here. I don't think we can blame WOTC entirely for the apostrophe fetish.

Funny enough, I was just listening to a news story about new baby names. Apparently in North America, adding an apostrophe to standard names is an up and coming thing. So, something like Latisha is becoming L'Tisha. That sort of thing.

My Mom encountered one a few years ago when she struggled with the pronunciation of L-Sha. After her initial attempt, the woman replied indignantly that "the dash is not silent!"

 

[Sunseeker]

My Mom encountered one a few years ago when she struggled with the pronunciation of L-Sha. After her initial attempt, the woman replied indignantly that "the dash is not silent!"

I'm trying to figure out how to say it without a silent "dash"...so it's "Ldashsha"? ooookay....

Let's be fair here. I don't think we can blame WOTC entirely for the apostrophe fetish.

Funny enough, I was just listening to a news story about new baby names. Apparently in North America, adding an apostrophe to standard names is an up and coming thing. So, something like Latisha is becoming L'Tisha. That sort of thing.

We can all thank Mo'Nique for that. What's silly is that it's not even shortened! It's just Monique with an apostrophe!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm trying to figure out how to say it without a silent "dash"...so it's "Ldashsha"? ooookay....

Yup.

We can all thank Mo'Nique for that. What's silly is that it's not even shortened! It's just Monique with an apostrophe!

Ahhh...that's what we all think, but what if it's actually a contraction of "More Unique"?

If you think this is improbable, ask L-Sha.

And while we are on this one, up until L-Sha, the strangest one my Mom had encountered dated back to when she taught music in school: one of her students was named Pslm Civ. For those of you who are not Christians, that is the standard abbreviation for "Psalm One-hundred and Four."