Lighthearted character names?

[Blue_Kryptonite]

Some of the real-world names my wife and I have come across working on home equity are far beyond anything I could insert into a game. However, the names tend to fade even if they're silly. Our current game has Rouge Emerelda, Slade Steadfast, Hans Oslo, and Venetia running around in it as PCs, and have for some number of years now.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Silly names like that bother me way less than things like mordern names in D&D. Last game I ran included a guy who insisted on calling his human fighter Joe.

Ironic really, as if you think about it "Joe" as a name is, what, 4000 years old or more?

 

[Gez]

Hans Oslo

Not bad! Reminds me of my brother's drunken pilot in a star wars game, Hal Colo. (Alcolo being a French abbreviation for alcoholic.)

 

[WayneLigon]

If it's a silly campaign to begin with, it's certainly OK. Expected, even. Otherwise, no.

 

[azmodean]

My dad used to have a fishing boat named the Millenium Flounder (officially), so I'm somewhat biased, but IMO it just depends on the group.

My group has a tradition of making fun of every name that comes along. One of us named a PC Celeron (BEFORE intel used that as a name for one of their processors.)

Any time he would describe the actions of the character, someone would chime in, "in an overclocked frenzy", or, "after adjusting his jumpers."

A different DM was obsessed with making names we couldn't make fun of, so we all became obsessed with finding ways to pun with the names.

All in good fun.

 

[reanjr]

I like subtlety when you are naming your character in a comedic, phallic, or derivative manner.

 

[Mighty Halfling]

I like a mix of silly (but not insulting) names and serious ones.
When I'm creating a character, or I know a character building session is coming up, I pack the "Baby Name" book I own. That's always fun to look through. Despite that, I always get weird looks when I bring it out because everyone assumes that the book is all about names like Rachel, Michael, Jordan and the like. Good baby book names have a mix of names from dozens of countries.

 

[Blue Sky]

I used to be really anal about "proper" names in a game. Now, I now my group is going to do it whether I want it or not, so I just go along with it. In our current group we have:

Barrachus, the Black Anvil: Cleric of Hextor, wears a lot of gold chains, and pities every foo' he comes across.

Bong Holio: the half orc fighter
Farquad: His half orc fighter twin
and Ileyna Tuleft: Elven rogue.

In a old game, a buddy had a riding dog named Elvis. Go figure.

 

[Gez]

I always get weird looks when I bring it out because everyone assumes that the book is all about names like Rachel, Michael, Jordan and the like. Good baby book names have a mix of names from dozens of countries.

I've used a similar method and found some really strange names. Also, a good one will give you the etymology of the name (Bernard, germanic, means "Bear", etc.) so you can toy with that and create new names from bits of others (Bernulf -> Bear-Wolf, for example).

But even without that, you can do the mix'n'match. Rachel, Michael, and Jordan? You can do Jorael and Mirachan, for example. Perfectly valid names, done in what, 3 seconds?

 

[Mallus]

Last night my PC's marched into the Cobra-in-Repose dojo to rescue a catpured comrade and get revenge on the sensei, Master Yu... and his crew of student ninja, known collectivelyas the Yu-Tang Clan.

Next session they set sail for Scrimward Islands, which consist of Grand Base (formerly a haven for pirates), Marginal (not a terribly important island), Petit Soir, and St. Tarte's (famed for its "monastery" of the Goddess of Love.).

They're charted a ship, the former noble's pleasure boat, the Wretched Excess, captained by Jaton Spar, who was known in his younger days as "LL Salty Jay" ('cause the all the ladies loved him') and his crew of illegitimate children/grandchildren.