Character names and where we might get them from are today’s topics. This is important insofar as we don't want to delay the start of the actual adventure because someone is trying to think of a name!
A book often referred to among the founding works of American science fiction is named after the principle character: Ralph 124C 41+ (by Hugo Gernsback). Wikipedia says there's a reason (outside of the novel) for the name, but most of us would probably agree that the name is awful. Most of us have also heard of parents giving a child such an awful name that we think, "they shouldn't be parents if they're willing to inflict that upon another person!" Sometimes even simple names take on extra meaning from living people: “Michael Jordan” for example, or “Cam Newton,” often from sports celebrities, or presidents, or kings and queens.
Why does a player in an RPG choose a particular name for their character? It can be an anagram, pun, or homage like the original characters created for early editions of Dungeons & Dragons. Or it may be a snap decision, because to many players, the name isn't important.
Some people agonize over names. A way to make character generation as quick and painless as possible is to provide tables of appropriate-sounding names. I’ve written my own random name generators and you can too, with some research into their origins. Many of these names have accompanying backstories, so I’ll give examples of how I used them in my games.
The Easy Names
There’s obviously the list of ordinary names, which you can get from any baby name list like “Eleanor” (which is at least a medieval-sounding name) or “Fred.” If you don’t have a name off the top of your head, you can create a nickname and flesh the character out later. As an example, I’ve created “The Man with no Name” (who wore a poncho - sometimes referred to as Clint), “Muscles” (later Eradan - 18 strength), and “Wiz the Elf” (later given a more appropriate name). They can also be rhymes, like “Smiter the Fighter” or “Billbash the Rash.” Billbash was the same character who, at second level, horse-charged an old D&D balrog … and survived.
Myths & Legends
Legends are a common source of names, some more popular than others. We’ve likely heard of “Galahad” (a paladin, of course, drawn from Arthurian legend) but there’s plenty of names to be mined from the Matter of Britain, the Matter of France, and the Matter of Rome. The Matter of Britain is the body of Medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany, and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. The Matter of France includes names like “Rinaldo” or “Rinaldo,” “Charlemagne” from the Carolingian Cycle and the chanson de geste (song of heroic deeds). The Matter of Rome which includes material derived from or inspired by classical mythology features “Alexander the Great,” and “Julius Caesar.” (And includes the Matter of Troy, such as The Iliad and The Aeneid). Given that the names have been often translated into English, there’s also the many variants to consider: “Arthur” is likely derived from “Artorius,” but there are many other root words it has in common like “Artri” and “Artgur.”
There are plenty of names from mythology and religion; some are now so common to be popular usage (“Thor”) while others are less well-known, like “Freya” and “Azrael” (the Angel of Death). Fiction is a common source; the less popular the fiction the more likely the name will not be recognized. Tolkien’s corpus is most commonly cited, like “Glorfindel” (a Tolkien hero) and “Elendil” (a Ranger), but there’s also “Donblas”, a god from Moorcock’s works, and the entirety of Dante’s Divine Comedy to choose from.
Other Inspiration
A little more obscure but no less interesting are asterisms and other astronomical words. You could name a character after a constellation, like “Ophiuchus” or “Orion” (Wiz the Elf’s later name), or after a star like “Sirius.” You can also use place names and geography, like “Bognor Regis,” from an English town, and “Barclodiad y Gawres.” It turns out the latter is a burial chamber on the southern coast of Anglesey in Wales; I didn't know it meant "a giantess' apronful" until writing this article!
Speaking of word roots, you can translate a word representing your character into another language using Google Translate. I used “Yilderim,” the Turkish word for “lightning,” for my 18 Dexterity dwarf.
When in Doubt…
Finally, you can just ask the Internet for help. Check out Fantasy name generators. Names for all your fantasy characters. for links to many names. Or simpler, Fantasy Name Generator and donjon; Fantasy Name Generator
When choosing a PC's name, it’s important to consider what you want to accomplish. You may not take the character very seriously because you suspect they’ll be dead soon, or don’t plan to play for very long, in which case a simple name is probably all you need. Or you may want a name that tells a backstory and work hard to fit it into the game’s lore.
Where problems arise is when the player’s choice doesn’t fit with the group’s overall; there’s always the one guy who doesn’t put much thought into a name that seems out of place--I'm thinking of YOU, "Fred”!
My questions to readers: Have you ever refused a PC's name because it clashes with your setting?
A book often referred to among the founding works of American science fiction is named after the principle character: Ralph 124C 41+ (by Hugo Gernsback). Wikipedia says there's a reason (outside of the novel) for the name, but most of us would probably agree that the name is awful. Most of us have also heard of parents giving a child such an awful name that we think, "they shouldn't be parents if they're willing to inflict that upon another person!" Sometimes even simple names take on extra meaning from living people: “Michael Jordan” for example, or “Cam Newton,” often from sports celebrities, or presidents, or kings and queens.
Why does a player in an RPG choose a particular name for their character? It can be an anagram, pun, or homage like the original characters created for early editions of Dungeons & Dragons. Or it may be a snap decision, because to many players, the name isn't important.
Some people agonize over names. A way to make character generation as quick and painless as possible is to provide tables of appropriate-sounding names. I’ve written my own random name generators and you can too, with some research into their origins. Many of these names have accompanying backstories, so I’ll give examples of how I used them in my games.
The Easy Names
There’s obviously the list of ordinary names, which you can get from any baby name list like “Eleanor” (which is at least a medieval-sounding name) or “Fred.” If you don’t have a name off the top of your head, you can create a nickname and flesh the character out later. As an example, I’ve created “The Man with no Name” (who wore a poncho - sometimes referred to as Clint), “Muscles” (later Eradan - 18 strength), and “Wiz the Elf” (later given a more appropriate name). They can also be rhymes, like “Smiter the Fighter” or “Billbash the Rash.” Billbash was the same character who, at second level, horse-charged an old D&D balrog … and survived.
Myths & Legends
Legends are a common source of names, some more popular than others. We’ve likely heard of “Galahad” (a paladin, of course, drawn from Arthurian legend) but there’s plenty of names to be mined from the Matter of Britain, the Matter of France, and the Matter of Rome. The Matter of Britain is the body of Medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany, and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. The Matter of France includes names like “Rinaldo” or “Rinaldo,” “Charlemagne” from the Carolingian Cycle and the chanson de geste (song of heroic deeds). The Matter of Rome which includes material derived from or inspired by classical mythology features “Alexander the Great,” and “Julius Caesar.” (And includes the Matter of Troy, such as The Iliad and The Aeneid). Given that the names have been often translated into English, there’s also the many variants to consider: “Arthur” is likely derived from “Artorius,” but there are many other root words it has in common like “Artri” and “Artgur.”
There are plenty of names from mythology and religion; some are now so common to be popular usage (“Thor”) while others are less well-known, like “Freya” and “Azrael” (the Angel of Death). Fiction is a common source; the less popular the fiction the more likely the name will not be recognized. Tolkien’s corpus is most commonly cited, like “Glorfindel” (a Tolkien hero) and “Elendil” (a Ranger), but there’s also “Donblas”, a god from Moorcock’s works, and the entirety of Dante’s Divine Comedy to choose from.
Other Inspiration
A little more obscure but no less interesting are asterisms and other astronomical words. You could name a character after a constellation, like “Ophiuchus” or “Orion” (Wiz the Elf’s later name), or after a star like “Sirius.” You can also use place names and geography, like “Bognor Regis,” from an English town, and “Barclodiad y Gawres.” It turns out the latter is a burial chamber on the southern coast of Anglesey in Wales; I didn't know it meant "a giantess' apronful" until writing this article!
Speaking of word roots, you can translate a word representing your character into another language using Google Translate. I used “Yilderim,” the Turkish word for “lightning,” for my 18 Dexterity dwarf.
When in Doubt…
Finally, you can just ask the Internet for help. Check out Fantasy name generators. Names for all your fantasy characters. for links to many names. Or simpler, Fantasy Name Generator and donjon; Fantasy Name Generator
When choosing a PC's name, it’s important to consider what you want to accomplish. You may not take the character very seriously because you suspect they’ll be dead soon, or don’t plan to play for very long, in which case a simple name is probably all you need. Or you may want a name that tells a backstory and work hard to fit it into the game’s lore.
Where problems arise is when the player’s choice doesn’t fit with the group’s overall; there’s always the one guy who doesn’t put much thought into a name that seems out of place--I'm thinking of YOU, "Fred”!
My questions to readers: Have you ever refused a PC's name because it clashes with your setting?
