Naming conventions... Please help for tonight's game!

[Wanderlust]

I've just moved to a new area and have finally put together a group for a new campaign. Thing is that I'm the one in the hot seat... Which is a place I've not been in a long time, and which I had little experience in to begin with. So, I'm looking for all the help that I can get, but the problem that has currently displaced it's small-pointy teeth is that of Naming Conventions.

Currently, I've been working on a homebrew setting, and one thing that I want to be emphasized is the differences between the races. So, in coming up with their cultures I was planning on using real world people's as a basis. My problem is two-fold: first in deciding on conventions for surnames (Examples being the use of "son" on the end of a father's name to create the surname for the offspring, or a profession as a surname, or a place, etc.), and second, deciding on which real world people's names should go with which fantasy race.

As it stands:
1. Elves: In the line of Tolkien tradition I am planning on using Welsh, and I think their distinct trait will be a lack of surnames.
2. That's as far as I got. But, I'm tempted to use Hungarian for Dwarves.

So, my question is: What do you feel would be the proper surnaming convention for a race, and where should the given names come from?

*Bonus question*
Anyone know the meanings behind the name suffixes -gaard, -sted, -berg, -holm, -heim, -brandt, -wald, -kopf, -stein, -bach, -baum, -straus or -dorf?

 

[Rel]

There are a number of computer programs out there that generate random names from a given cultural set, both fantasy and real world. The one that pops to mind is called (if I'm not mistaken) the "Endless Book Of Names" (EBON for short).

But I would also say this: If your first game with this group is tonight and you are just now addressing the issue, I'd tend to play a bit more loosely with the naming conventions. While I think it is an interesting detail to add, there are other aspects of the game that contribute more heavily to the overall enjoyment of the game that I think are a higher priority. For a new group of players, I'd focus on those. In particular, I'd REALLY try and figure out what their preferred playing style is if you don't already have a good handle on that.

Hope things go well for you!

 

[VirgilCaine]

www.squid.org has lots of naming styles.

 

[jgbrowning]

*Bonus question*
Anyone know the meanings behind the name suffixes -gaard, -sted, -berg, -holm, -heim, -brandt, -wald, -kopf, -stein, -bach, -baum, -straus or -dorf?

berg, mountain
wald, forest
kopf, head?
baum, tree

I think these are all german based.

joe b.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Here is a site that I use for naming inspiration. It's an index of actual names from historical sources, grouped by culture and geography. That way, you could say that all the Orcs have scandinavian names, or elves use Persian/Zoroastrian naming conventions, or the dwarves are all french, for example.

 

[ninthcouncil]

Anyone know the meanings behind the name suffixes -gaard, -sted, -berg, -holm, -heim, -brandt, -wald, -kopf, -stein, -bach, -baum, -straus or -dorf?

These mostly look like placename elements. I don't speak any Scandinavian languages but some I recognise from their presence in English placenames.

-gaard: Scandinavian, "farm"

-sted: not sure about the scandinavian languages, but in English placenames this (more commonly "stead") means simply "place, site" (e.g. farmstead, homestead).

-berg: German & Scandinavian, "mountain"

-holm: Scandinavian, "small island"

-heim: German & Scandinavian, "home"

-brandt: German, "sword" OR "burnt" (i.e. living in an area cleared by burning)

-wald: German, "wood"

-kopf: German, "head"

-stein: German "stone"

-bach: German, "stream"

-baum: German, "tree"

-straus: German, "bunch"

-dorf: German, "village"