NPC names

[Omegaxicor]

I am curious what do people do for NPCs that will appear regularly, I don't mind a silly sounding name if I only have to say it a few times but if s/he is going to be in the campaign for most quests (or at least play a part) then I need good names.

The two NPCs are going to be an Evil but nigh-invincible enemy and a Good but incorporeal ally (basically one who can change the world and one who is powerless to interfere) so they will appear regularly and changing their names after a few quests because they are irritating me isn't an option

I have tried name generators but they produce stupid sounding names that I couldn't use with a straight face they are both from an ancient extinct race so they need to be unusual names which creates the problem

 

[DnD_Dad]

Look in old books or take organic words like river, sky, earth, whatever you are trying to convey with the character and translate it into Greek or German online. It come up with good sounding names and I use it regularly in my campaign.

 

[Celebrim]

Obscure languages, often borrowing nouns as well as names. I'm fond of using Cornish, Welsh, and Finnish right now, but suit the language to the overall pattern of names you are using.

Name generators are great, but shouldn't be taken at face value. Of 50 or so random creations, maybe 6 or 10 will sound good in the ears of an English speaker. Also keep in mind that suggestions for first names might make more decent last names, etc.

 

[sheadunne]

Consider using common things that aren't usually names. As an example, I had an villain named Path. There are a lot of cool sounding words that are used in everyday speech.

Also consider names that people would refer to them as, not their actual names. The Hound. The Betrayer. Etc.

 

[Omegaxicor]

Yea I tried those but with the English language any translations are...noticeable

EDIT:
@sheadunne I might consider that, a title for it rather than a name

 

[sheadunne]

Yea I tried those but with the English language any translations are...noticeable

EDIT:
@sheadunne I might consider that, a title for it rather than a name

It's also a good way to "hind" information about the NPC. Who is he/she really?

 

[Jacob Marley]

In my Magical Medieval Society: Greyhawk campaign, I make use of real-world naming conventions. Oeridians = Anglo-Saxon (from the PASE database); Baklunish = Turkish and Persian; Rhennee = Hungarian; and so on. Baby name books and online guides are quite useful. Using real names sounds right to my ear whereas many fantasy name generators (online or otherwise) tend to sound a bit off.

 

[Celebrim]

I agree with JM. Unless you are Tolkien and have a life to spend on it, the best results are going to be mining real world languages for names. That way you have names that sound like they belong together.

In my own campaign, I have several ethnic groups:

Har use fantasy first names taken from a random name generator set to produce medium length English sound groups and English last occupational last names - Smith, Thatcher, Tiller, Turner, etc.
Tumesi use Romanian inspired names.
Concheeri use Cornish/Welsh inspired names.
Drestians use Norman inspired names.
Tethryns use Italian inspired names.
Elfs use psuedo Sindarin, which is psuedo Welsh IIRC.
Drawfs use psuedo Drawven names, which is I think psuedo Old German.

It won't necessarily help you with your immediate problem, but another good convention is to start naming your places, and then create last name naming conventions based on being from that place. So, if you have cities like 'Anzio' and 'Amalteen', you might have a common family name in the region be name variants like Anzurb, Anziurb, Amalurb, Amalturb, Amalteenurb, etc. - all names that are common language corruptions of 'Inhabitants of X'.

In in the local culture I also have a variaty of complex stems that indicate station. So 'Amrantiad Bel-Anziurb' means that he is the current patriarch of the family Anziurb, a family that originally came from the land around Anzio (which was founded as a Tethryn military output). His first name is Concheri, so he probably has red or brown hair and blue eyes, and his friends might call him 'Ran', and his wife might call him 'Amry'. Depending on his station, people that don't know him well will call him Master Bel-Anziurb (guildsman), Goodman Bel-Anziurb (serf or other tenant), Squire Bel-Anziurb (free holder), or Lord Bel-Anziurb (noble). Master Bar-Anziurb calls him 'Dad', and Mister Ap-Anziurb calls him 'Bro'. And there are probably hundreds of locals running around with the same name, which helps you set up relationships when you can't think of a new last name to use. ("Oh yeah, that's me cousin. How do you know old Ran?")

I try to avoid over using names that have common usage in modern America, but I'm don't work that hard to avoid it.

 

[Omegaxicor]

I really like the idea of different groups with different modern languages

In my campaign, Humans use modern English/old English, Dwarves use a Dwarven Name Generator I found, Elves use an Elven Name Generator, etc. because they work well but Human name generators just don't, they sound silly...

I wouldn't mind using names like that for "brief" NPCs a few quests but for Notable NPCs that I will be using for literally years, I want a name that 1) I will remember how to pronounce 2) I will enjoy saying rather than having everyone laugh as I attempt to say it 3) it doesn't indicate anything about the NPC so I can identify it by its actions (maybe the guy is related to the most powerful family in the world but rather than naming him, I want him to show the players his sense of entitlement) but that only works for some NPCs.

 

[Celebrim]

because they work well but Human name generators just don't, they sound silly...

If the name is sounding silly to your ear is it is because you have a very strong sense of what sounds like a name. For your major PC's, you should probably stick to corruptions of English first names that are either recognizable replacement sounds or else viable nicknames for real names. These take a while to come up with, but they are pretty easy to hunt for. Just start listing English names and trying to figure out how to make them 'fantasy' by slight alteration. For example, the name 'Jason' might manage to pass your test of seriousness by contracting to the name 'Jace' or by replacement of sounds till you get to something like 'Paxson' (which will pass because it is a somewhat unusual last name being repurposed) or 'Bayson' (passing because of the sound similarity to Jason). It's really going to depend on your 'ear', but keep in mind that your ear is just tuned to a particular language.

1) I will remember how to pronounce

Regardless of what you do, always spell names phoneticly. Note the addition of the 'y' in 'Bayson', to strengthen the reminder of the long 'a'. When a random name generator kicks up a word, play with the pronounciation and then keep a spelling that absolutely to to you conveys the sound you want. 'Teilder' better sound like 'Tea-ill-der' to you consistantly, or you'll need a different spelling convention. Or if you saw it and wanted to say, 'Tale-der' then when you write it down spell it that way even if you have to keep the for your own purposes hyphen.

I will enjoy saying rather than having everyone laugh as I attempt to say it

One of the biggest things you have to fight as a DM is the urge to be embarassed to offer up your imaginings to your players, and to apologize for it. If you are confident, they'll be confident.