Non-evocative Names

[Theory of Games]

For me, I meant "evocative of what that culture or setting is supposed to be."

So a halfling table would have names like "Daisy" and surnames like "Buttonbright" on it. To me, those names evoke halfling culture.

But the tables would otherwise by pretty standard NPC names for those cultures. I wouldn't want the baker to be named "Bloodrazer the Widowmaker." He should probably be "Thom Miller."*

The crazy names for special NPCs -- villainous lieutenants and the like -- I typically come up with separately in advance of an individual session, with the help of online translators and thesauruses.

* "Bloodrazer the Breadmaker" would be a pretty fun one-off NPC, though. "My parents had different ideas about my future than I had."

Can't agree enough then. An evocative name can be more entertaining than speaking in a funny voice. Name an NPC wizard "Xurmyokis the Grand Master Mage" and sometimes the ears of the party's casters suddenly raise up.

 

[MNblockhead]

I want to introduce Rakasta to the game but have not found a suitable name generator to them as of yet.

rakshasa? They played an important role in one of the regions of my home brew campaign.

Since they are from real-world mythology, you can draw from names used in that mythology. Wikipedia has you covered:

List of Rakshasas - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

There are plenty of names from that page to make a solid name generator for Rakshasas. You'll note however that a lot of their names are just Sanskrit for words like "formidable", "headless torso", "stick", etc. You could find an English to Sanskrit translator and enter imposing words or phrases. Like "sundered limbs", which gives me "vicchinnaaṅgāni". Which I might simplify to Vichinangani for game purposes and making it easier for my players. Google Translate doesn't give the transliteration. I find it easier to use Chat GPT, "translate X into sanskrit along with the transliteration".

Prompt: "Translate bloody may into Sanskrit, along with the transliteration."
The phrase "bloody maw" can be translated into Sanskrit as "रक्तप्रद जिह्वा" (raktaprad jihvā).

You can use ChatGPT to generate random name lists for you:

Prompt: "Give me 100 authentic sounding names for Rakshasa, based on actual rakshasa names from Hindu mythology, but don't actually use any names used in real-world Hindu mythology. Include the meanings of the names in English."

Response: "
Certainly! Here are 100 original names for Rakshasas along with their meanings in English:

1. Bhayankar: Frightening
2. Krudhagrima: Angry visage
3. Durbhagya: Ill-fated
4. Kalaratri: Dark night
5. Vyathitaksha: Anxious eyes

Etc.

This gave me an idea. Can ChatGPT generate a list of names with a value of how common each is, in a comma-delimited format so I can easily import it into a roll table?

First I tried: "Please generate a 1d100 random name table, using ancient Norse male names. The more common a name is, the more likely it should be the result of a role. For example, a rare name would should just have one number that would result in that name, whereas a more common name may be returned by a range of numbers (example: 1-10)."

That didn't work. It just gave me an ordered list of 100 ancient norse names.

So I responded: "That result doesn't increase the likelihood of rolling more common names. Please recreate using the following format:1. Name (rare)2-10 Name (common)11-12 Name (uncommon)13 Name (rare)"Name" in the example above represents where the ancient norse name would go."

ChatGPT:

Got it, here's the revised 1d100 random name table for ancient Norse male names:

1. Sigtrygg (rare)
2. 2-20. Thor (common)
3. 21-30. Erik (uncommon)
4. Gudleif (rare)32-40. Bjorn (common)
5. ...

Okay, not we are getting somewhere. My next prompt was "Great, now please do the same thing for ancient norse male surnames." And ChatGPT gave me a similar list but this time with surnames.

My final prompt was: "Very good. Now please create a powershell script that will generate a full name, using those two tables based on a randomly generated number 1-100."

And it gave me a script that I copied and saved as a *.ps1 file and now I have have a random generator for ancient norse names that will return common names more frequently than rarer names.

I could also tell it to create a text-delimited list for importing into a Roll Table in Foundry. But if I want to combine two tables (e.g. surnames and given names), I'll need some time to thing that through. I think a macro may be a better way to go...

 

[MNblockhead]

So I asked ChatGPT to just create a FoundryVTT script macro version of the PowerShell script and it did. And it works.

The only thing I didn't like is that it lists common names multiple times in the script so that they are more likely to be rolled. I had ChatGPT rewrite it with weighted values. Which it did. Now, this is a simple script, but by having ChatGPT generate the code I can have a weighted list of hundreds of surnames and hundreds of given names and not have to waste my time copy-pasting or typing them in.

The macro script is below for those interest. I kept the number of names low so the script isn't crazy long.

let firstNames = {
    "Sigtrygg": 1,
    "Thor": 10,
    "Erik": 10,
    "Harald": 5,
    "Egil": 5,
    "Ragnar": 5,
    "Sven": 5,
    "Bjorn": 5,
    "Alrik": 5,
    "Gudmund": 5,
    "Leif": 5,
    "Vidkun": 5,
    "Sigurd": 5,
    "Ivar": 5,
    "Hrani": 5,
    "Hilding": 5,
    "Olaf": 5,
    "Gunnar": 5,
    "Thorbrand": 5
};

let surnames = {
    "Hrafnsson": 1,
    "Eiriksson": 10,
    "Thorsson": 10,
    "Haraldsson": 5,
    "Egilsson": 5,
    "Ragnarsson": 5,
    "Svennsson": 5,
    "Bjornsson": 5,
    "Alriksson": 5,
    "Gudmundsson": 5,
    "Leifsson": 5,
    "Vidkunsson": 5,
    "Sigurdsson": 5,
    "Ivarsson": 5,
    "Hranisson": 5,
    "Hildingsson": 5,
    "Olafsson": 5,
    "Gunnarsson": 5,
    "Thorbrandsson": 5
};

// Calculate the total weights for first names and surnames
let totalFirstNamesWeight = Object.values(firstNames).reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0);
let totalSurnamesWeight = Object.values(surnames).reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0);

// Generate a random number between 1 and the total weights
let randomFirstNameNumber = Math.floor(Math.random() * totalFirstNamesWeight) + 1;
let randomSurnameNumber = Math.floor(Math.random() * totalSurnamesWeight) + 1;

// Function to find the name based on the random number
function findName(names, randomNumber) {
    let cumulativeWeight = 0;
    for (let name in names) {
        cumulativeWeight += names[name];
        if (randomNumber <= cumulativeWeight) {
            return name;
        }
    }
}

// Retrieve the first name and surname based on the random numbers
let firstName = findName(firstNames, randomFirstNameNumber);
let surname = findName(surnames, randomSurnameNumber);

// Output the generated full name
ChatMessage.create({
    content: `Generated Norse Name: ${firstName} ${surname}`
});

 

[MNblockhead]

Considering my screen handle here is an old PC (from the Everquest TTRPG, of all things) who was named solely for the sound of it and ease of spelling I feel personally attacked.

I can see the argument for defining "evocative" as something that makes the character feel like they belong to a living culture/setting, but it seems like you'd be better off doing some through deliberate effort to conform to some consistent naming conventions than using even a carefully-constructed randomizer table. The ConLang community (which is its own rabbit warren entirely) has some interesting discussions about the whole subject of making names fit fictional languages that might be helpful for you though, but fishing them out of the rest of the signal volume may not be worth the effort. Not to mention the risk of getting sucked in and finding yourself writing a dictionary for your pet setting or something...

Yeah, I have time when I drive into deep rabbit holes, but I'm lazy and take lots of shortcuts. I just find the FantasyNameGenerator site and its ilk hit or miss. If I can get a good list of names that feel right for my campaign, it is simple enough to create my own generator and ultimately it is much easier in the long run to have it in my VTT than juggling multiple browser tabs. The nice thing about macros that post to the VTT chat is that I have a record of the names and can gather them up at the end of the session to make notes of any the turned out to be important and worth remembering.

Hmmm....now I need to see if I can have the randomly generated name post to both the chat AND to a journal article....

 

[aramis erak]

There's a reason I have a 20 page names book (digest sized) for L5R... most of which are well documented as actual japanese names.
I have a similar (but smaller) one each for Pendragon and for LotR.

 

[MNblockhead]

Also, I renew my call for some conlang nerds to come up with products for fantasy races, where one could get a big, say, dwarvish dictionary, complete with names and surnames and, as @MNblockhead says, with notations on which names are more common than others. What's the dwarvish version of "John Smith," etc.?

The Dwarrow Scholar (linked to in the OP) has some great resources. The very well thought out system for name creation based on Tolkien's work. Basically he is trying to give Khudzul the same love that Tolkien and Tolkien fans have to Quenya and Sindarin. But it takes me FOREVER to come up with an NPC same using the references on his blog. Worth it for important NPCs, but it would be great to have name lists and some sense of how common different names might be.

I spend more time on place names. I spend a lot of time coming up with place names in my dwarven kingdoms referencing the Dwarrow Scholar's English-Khudzul dictionary spreadsheet and I read up a bit on the grammar, but I did get lazy and I'm sure the word forms for all my place names are not proper according to the Khudzul grammar the Dwarrow Scholar documented.

 

[MNblockhead]

Have any of you ever used constructed languages like Esperanto, Glosa, Loglan, etc.? I learned Glosa when I was young. It is based on greek and latin roots so it sounds vaguely European but different enough to not be immediately associate with a specific language. Might be fun to root through the various language listed on the Wikipedia page that lists constructed languages: List of constructed languages - Wikipedia

 

[aramis erak]

Have any of you ever used constructed languages like Esperanto, Glosa, Loglan, etc.? I

tlingon-Hol, Sindarin, and Quenya. Sparingly, at that.

learned Glosa when I was young. It is based on greek and latin roots so it sounds vaguely European but different enough to not be immediately associate with a specific language. Might be fun to root through the various language listed on the Wikipedia page that lists constructed languages: List of constructed languages - Wikipedia

There are a lot.

One of the largest conlangs, and arguably the most successful, is Church Slavonic, which was created by averaging the Balto-Slavic languages. I have much exposure to it from Church.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Have any of you ever used constructed languages like Esperanto, Glosa, Loglan, etc.? I learned Glosa when I was young. It is based on greek and latin roots so it sounds vaguely European but different enough to not be immediately associate with a specific language. Might be fun to root through the various language listed on the Wikipedia page that lists constructed languages: List of constructed languages - Wikipedia

I use Esperanto, via Google Translate, constantly.

 

[Tonguez]

For my dwarfs I use the name Schmiedehammer for Smith, along with other clans named Steinhammer (Miners), Zweighacker (Lumberjacks), and Maishacker (Farmers) - all usefully filtered through Google Translate and a bit of creative licence.

The Dwarf equivalent of John Smith would be Gunther Schmiedehammer. (I wouldnt name a dwarf Hans or Johann, those are too human).


I tend do a similar approach for other NPCs, for instance in one city the local Coachman Stables was overseen by Rad Weiler, the Wheel maker

Generally though I've never had a problem coming up with names (or even words and sentences) in imaginary languages