Name Inspiration

[GandhitheBFG]

So, when trying to come up with serious names, where do you get your inspiration?

I've found one of the best sources (at least for last/family/surnames) can be the geography sections of other campaign settings such as my half elven eberron rogue named Raymond Ashenford. The 'Raymond' was obviously a last ditch attempt to decide before the adventure begun, and it was an assumed name anyway, but back to the point. Ashenford is a small village in the middle of the dale lands in Faerun, and not completely awful sounding for a name.

How about you guys? especially first names. I find them a lot more difficult.

 

[Torm]

Last names - either a town, a social affiliation, or a job. Joan D'Arc - Joan, from the town Arc. Robert Nine Blades - Robert, who is a member of the thieves guild "The Nine Blades." Marcus Porter - Marcus, who assists in loading and unloading the passenger ships.

First names - Anything that sounds like it would be at home in the New Testament or in the British Isles, or if more exotic (elven, druidic, etc) is desired, scan through member names at someplace like Witchvox.com.

 

[VirgilCaine]

Gee, I use online generators.

 

[tetsujin28]

I give them names people might actually have, since I play historical games almost exclusively.

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

I currently run 3 characters.

Djeta Thernadier came from a variation on the name Yeta which I found while reading a book about the East European Romani. Thernadier is a mispelling of a name from Les Miserables.

My gnome illusionist is called Tilly and honestly, I think that just came to me in a dream or something because I have no idea...

My druid is Rhiann and I got the name from suggestions right here on EnWorld.

 

[GrayIguana]

I love to take names out of ancient history, and twist them a little.

One of my friends, likes to spell the names of famous people backwards. He'll then tweak it if it has potential. Divad Eel Throk came from David Lee Roth. The name inspired entire generations of Eel Throks.

 

[IronWolf]

I use a variety of methods, but most often I work off of some variation of an online generator. It often takes me awhile even with an online generator though to find one that matches what I already have in my head for the character.

 

[Rel]

I get them from my spam e-mail. I keep a pad of paper next to my computer and as I'm deleting junk mail I jot down names that I think might work for NPC's or places or whatever.

I think of it as getting something back from the jerks who fill up my inbox.

 

[Crothian]

I just coime up with them. Sometimes they are made up, other times they are names from soucres. But I rarely seek out names, I poerfer them to come to me over time.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Like Crothian, my names come from various sources.

Sometimes, I'll pull from a list. Other times, I'll start rolling syllables around until it feels right. Still others, I'll take words and twist them around until they become a name.

For example, take my handle here, which is the name of a character from a brief campaign a few years ago. I work on a medication reimbursement hotline, and I deal with a lot of health insurers. So, I picked the two insurers I most disliked at the time, and worked on them until they became a name.

First name: Cignus = Cigna (I know, real clever, huh?)
Last name: Pfaccari = Pacificare

I also give my character builds code names when I'm working on them, especially if they're a proof of concept. One time, the code name became the actual name, since the one I came up with stank.

Brad