How the fuck do people come up with names? Somehow, this feels

I just ask the GM for a few typical names and pick one of them.

>>43760015
Your GM has a list of typical names? Man, you're lucky. I've tried that, and I get funny looks and a "I don't fucking know, pick whatever you like."

Then again, our group is a piece of shit and half of our characters either have completely regular names (John, Bill, Anna, Bob) or terrible jokes or pop culture references. It's looped around to the point that people unironically go for stuff like Bilbo Potter because we're so used to it.

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Think of where your character comes from, then think of a name that would be typical for that civilization or nation.

Your character's name SHOULDN'T be descriptive of your character. In fact, that's where the McEdge of Mary Sue names come from, because they try to either be too descriptive or make them "special" (just like their characters are supposed to be)

This is why I prefer going for mundane names, either from real life or what'd sound like it'd be a common/fairly normal name in the setting I'm playing.

Also, your thread reminded me I had file related somewhere on my computer, so thanks I guess.

>>43760067
>Then again, our group is a piece of shit and half of our characters either have completely regular names (John, Bill, Anna, Bob)

I'd get some of those names, like John, Bill and Bob, but certain names like Anna are pretty regular and timeless (or at least sound that way)

Like I said in >>43760508, regular names or seemingly-regular ones are exactly what I'd like to go for, as plenty of other names either sound stupid, marysue/edge, or are a shitty variation of popular characters (Legolas and Aragorn are known for this)

Regular names are great as long as they fit the place where your character comes from.

>>43759996

I case i have absolutely no idea where to start:
>http://fantasynamegenerators.com/

Great site with stuff for a lot of genres, fandoms and settings.
If you are searching for more mundane names just google a random name-site and scroll until you find something you feel good with.

>>43760508
>Your character's name SHOULDN'T be descriptive of your character.
I do this shit all the time, it's fun.

>>43760731
Sure, it can be.
But the majority of people are shit at naming in general and are even more shit doing it that way, unless the whole campaign is a joke or wackfest, in which case you get over the top like Big McLargehuge or whatever.
OP himself stated that he's a shit.

http://www.behindthename.com/random/

>>43759996
I tend to use a random fantasy name generator and swap the structure of some of the results in my head until I get a somewhat realistic name, or take a name from another culture. Had a character named Radomir, for instance, which I've never heard used here in the US, but is used in some Eastern European countries.

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This might be a helpful resource for you.

For literary characters, names are a Big Fucking Deal. For RP, it's whatevs. Half the time I draft up a history & think of what the parents would call their baby. What of the parents' names? Give no fucks.

>>43760067
Not gonna lie, regular names are used sometimes.

I use minerals, gems and flowers.

Ruby, Cristal, TigerEye (an orc ), Daisy, Rose, Emerald...

>>43759996
I've never been able to come up with decent names, so I just grab a couple from a mental list I've compiled over the years for just this purpose.

Failing that, I steal something that sounds close enough from UESP's Lore:Names page, or use seventhsanctum.

>>43759996
>First name
Choose a modern first name. I'm talking normal ones here, if your first guess is Shanequa or Airwrecka, you're fundamentally doing something wrong. Boring names like >>43760067 brings up are the easiest to work with.

Now, google that name along with the word name itself. Within the first 5 results should be a wikipedia article for the given name of the full form (Bob gives you Robert, Bill gives you William). There should be a huge list of variations of the name. Choose one that looks cool.

>Surname
First, a series of questions.
>1. Was your character orphaned at birth or at a young age?
>2. If not, were your character's parents nobility, clansmen, wealthy merchants, or some other form of mid-upper class family within their society?
>3. If not, were your character's parents adventurers?

If you answered yes to 1, you can go without a surname. Lucky you. If you happen to want one anyways, choose literally anything. Your character's younger self decided on a surname and it doesn't matter if it's stupid, silly, or happens to be the same as another character in the party's surname. This is one of the few times where a surname like Darkshadow isn't pants-on-head retarded. Just normal retarded.

If you answered yes to 2 instead, you can either use http://fantasynamegenerators.com/noble-house-names.php or just use any random surname and say that it was your family's surname.

If you answered yes to 3, take one word relating to the mother's class and mash it with a word relating to the father's class. This works very loosely and you may have to use trial and error to find something that doesn't sound horrible.

If you answered no to all of the questions, congratulations, you parents are complete nobodies. Your surname is your father's profession. Alternatively, drop your shitty surname and take up a new one before the BBEG finds out your last name is Thatcher and sets fire to the homes of every roof thatcher in the country because your GM is shit

>>43760830
Personally, when I play dwarves/orcs/vaguely Nordic characters I like giving them a highly descriptive surname like Gilttongue or Strongarm or "The Dreadful" that they inherited from their father, whose talents were completely different.
So you end up with stuff like Grom Stoutaxe, the noodle-armed scribe, or Edgar the Swift, who came home last raiding season with a pegleg.

>>43761327
Those kind of names are pretty damn sweet, I'll admit

>>43759996
I actually just name them after soccer players who played for my favorite club (grasshopper club zurich)
Since I don't live in switzerland anymore, nobody knows them and some names sound exotic enough, like Shani Tarashaj or Munas Dabbur.

>>43760508
This; it's always better to be a John Smith than a Deepdelver McOrcbane.

>>43760067
He doesn't need to have made a list but he should at least be able to give you a rundown on the major cultures in the setting and let you know whether english, russian or korean-sounding names are most appropriate.

GMs, if you haven't given any thought to your setting's linguistic landscape, you're shit tier.

>>43761464

i remember reading once about the idea that someone's name influences their actions and behaviors from birth because their name becomes a showing of their character. Ask any Lyle you know how irritating it is to be called a liar all the time! They're usually roughly honest because of it.

That said, in literary terms, there's value to poetic names. But that's usually what nicknames are for.

But if you have absolutely no setting guidance, the standard route to an acceptable D&D-mediaeval name is like this:

Pick whatever is a normal, modern first name to you and tweak a couple letters. So your male character might be called Edain, Atto, Grig, Jahn, whatever.

Pick a second name that describes your character's occupation, former occupation, or family's occupation (e.g. Carter, Naylor, Aurifaber). It's also acceptable to go by the name of your town of origin, or to have picked up a nickname or heroic epithet somewhere along the line (Kinslayer, Ninefingers etc.). If your character is nobly born they probably have a genuine family name - in this case the easiest thing is to steal a historical example if you can get your GM to point you at the right culture.

I'm the best at names. What is your character? I will name it.

>>43759996
I usually come up with a word that roughly describes them ("warrior, mage, fighter etc.) type that into google translate, set the language to translate that into as one roughly linked to the culture of the character's birthplace and then corrupt that word enough so that it sounds like a name. Works pretty well IMO.

>>43759996
I anglicise something Polish or Finnish unless I feel something Germanic fits.

>>43760706
>http://fantasynamegenerators.com
An acquaintance of mine runs a 5E game on twitch.tv via Tabletop Simulator every Sunday shameless plug: http://www.twitch tv/brickroadbrickroad they've just started a planescape campaign and it's become a running gag to use it on the spot to name every NPC that isn't wasn't specifically prepared beforehand, conspicuously shilling for it each time it is used.

>>43759996
I pick my race first. Then, I pick a letter and stick with it. Afterward, depending on the race, I start rotating either consonants or vowels. I keep rotating letters like a combination lock until I find a set of three or four I like. Then I lock that in and try to decide if I need to add more on, or if it's okay as it is. Repeat until desired effect is achieved.

>>43762187
My character is a cute glasses girl with an irritable temper who is a major pessimist, a major math/numbers nerd, and has a trigger word that turns her into a fantastic sniper.

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I like to come up with a moderately uncommon English name, and then use a regular English word for the last name. When choosing a word for the last name, I select a word based on the phonetic sounds in the word itself, and by the connotations and imagery associated with the word, but never word's literal meaning itself.

When done right, this method can produce an appropriate name with a nice ring to it that rolls of the tongue easily, like Lina Inverse.

>>43762858
Bethany.

>>43759996

I've never really had this problem; most of the time it's pretty easy for me to come up with a name. I guess it's just one of those things that some people have trouble with and other people don't.

Usually, the names kind of just come to me in a fit of inspiration. I'll be sitting there, and then suddenly I'll think of a name like "Wren Montaine" or "Jack Mason".

Sometimes it might be envrionmental. I remember I was floating character ideas for a game around in my head while listening to Tommy Tutones, and suddenly it occurred to me to name the character Jenny.

Then sometimes there are just names I really like. Like I've always really wanted to play a character named Eris, but it's hard to find a context where it doesn't just feel like some animu snowflake name.

>>43762952
That's actually pretty good, thanks!

>>43763070
I wasn't even the guy you were asking, she just seemed like a Bethany.

>>43763086
You do a good job of seeming like someone else on an anonymous imageboard. What makes her seem like a Bethany?

>>43763101
Don't know. Bethany just seems like the kind of name a nerd would have.

>>43763086
Yep. I usually do words. Someone name their shapeshifter Myriad. Myriad is the best shapeshifter name.

>>43763145
>Myriad is the best shapeshifter name.
>giving the whole jig away like that
0/10, would not infiitrate with

>>43763247
>implying stupid peasants will know what Myriad means
>implying Myriad is even a word in their language
>implying they'll even use their real name when infiltrating
Shit, I didn't think of that. Maybe less infiltration, more turning into dragons.

>>43763247
>>43763300

I have a friend who played in a game where a high profile NPC was called "Baron Arachnos".

Apparently the GM was really caught off guard when everyone was unsurprised he was giant spider in disguise.

>come up with a simple fantasy name
>another player remarks how similar it is to the name of a TV/movie/anime/game/novel character from the past ten years

Is there a list of these or something? God damn.

>>43763387
I hate this so much

>>43759996
Take a foreign name and give it pseudo-archaic spelling

>>43759996
I have such writer's block with names that my most recent character just goes by their title and refuses or ignores requests for their actual name.

I decide on the personality and ethnicity of the person and then spend two hours researching names based around their most important characteristic, their secret and their role. I take 1 of whichever of the 3 I liked the most and make it their first name. I then reroll the other two as last names and pick my favorite from those.

Depending on the setting I may alter the name to sound more in line.

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I just go with something that's fun to say. Basically it ends up being a fantasy East-West Bowl. Glethro Babblehorn. Tilluda Dumphries. If it's good enough for a throwaway NPC name, it's good enough for me.

Or if it's a modern setting, I just go with something normal for their first name, but with surnames based on weird or horrific events in human history like Kathryn Salem or William Jonestown-Massacre.

As a forever-GM one of the best ideas I ever had was to make six or so spreadsheets that have a hundred first names and a hundred last names, appropriate for the setting of course, and whenever I need a name just pick from the two columns at random.
I've got a Western Fantasy list, a Contemporary an Orc/Barbarian list, a pulp-scifi list, a dwarf and an elf list. The last is an experimental list which is composed of intra-campaign/system/universe names and the names of NPC's which the players have particularly liked.
I presume that if I had players who played with me for a sufficient length of time would begin to detect naming patterns, and the fact that there are NPC's who transcend games but honestly that could take so long that it's basically a non-issue.

>>43767068
Featuring Steven McHolocaust, paragon of righteousness

>>43759996
I dunno, I just made names for fantasy characters that fill certain archetypes, and those name stuck along for the rest of my life, some tagging along the way.

no real explanation.

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>>43759996
I just go with whatever comes to mind, which is how I sometimes end up with characters with very silly names, like Chareth Cutestory.

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Was about to make another thread, but since this one is pretty much the same...
DM here, I'm going to run one of /tg/'s settings, "The fire died" (check http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/31538422/ if you want to know more about it)
To make it simple, everything is going fine, the only problem being the name of the sandworms: think of them as guides for the desert tribes that always speak in undecipherable riddles. They have name like " The Warmth Opening A Desert Flower Beside A Beloved's Corpse" or "The Egg Whose Mother Died".
These names have to be cryptic but still make sense in a way. And I need at least two of them. One for a NPC and one for the BBEG (sort of) wich has to sound menacing, but not too much. Help ?

Usually I have the grace of a lax DM and everyone else trying as hard as me to be a special snowflake so I can get away with it. I used to think of myself as really shit at names but I think if you can find a way to have fun with it it'll start to come naturally. My method usually involves taking a name, word or term that has an obvious relation to the character, then just add a slight level of corruption to that.
But then, sometimes it's as simple as taking a regular name based on its meaning or using name generators.

I have a motherfucking player that asks for the name of everyone. He let enemies live long enough to ask them their name and them finishes them off.

>>43759996
Just do what GRRM does and change a few letters around to make it sound more fantasy-ish. For instance, David becomes Davos, Peter is Petyr, and Edward is Eddard.

>>43770629
enraging but fun/10

>>43770629
Is his PC's name Arya Stark?

my pals are always picking some cool words (black , night, fire etc) and translate them into latin

worked well until they wouldnt want to have the word "neger" in their name

>>43759996
My names are usually either "sounds kind of normal" or "it is completely obvious what this person does."

One time I rolled up a Sorcerer in Pathfinder. She had the Elemental Bloodline (Air), and was a Sylph (PF planetouched, basically, Plane of Air). Her name? Borea.

On the other hand, I've had a Brawler named Marcus.

>>43759996
honestly?

Something I've had good luck with is spamming the random article button on Wikipedia until I find something or part of something I like. If I'm playing a 40k Rpg I do the same thing on lexicanum. Additionally, If I have a more developed idea I look for names from the particular ethnicity or look Through the character naming sourcebook which is another great source. All of these can be done in combination.

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i like to keep my character names simple , like i am a parent which doesnt exactly know what my child will be like , so i go with something foolproof

wouldnt want a librarian named firebear ironfist

i like to use names without more than 2 syllabels , but synonyms are fine

last character: kon/mun , seou

>>43759996
Make a more formal name that sounds stupid, and make a shortened more casual name.
Robert -> Bob
Feanor -> Fen
Ruk'takin ->Rug

>>43770265

The Place Where the Lost Things Go
The Memory of Times Better Than These
The Joyous Word Forgotten and Unheard by All
The Heat of the Sun Scorching Body and Mind

I don't know jack about the setting I just went off the two examples you gave.

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My usual method is to pick a country that's close to where your character is from and then just pick two villages at random from it for a first and last name. So last time I made a barbarian, I picked Ireland and got Durrow Rathanagan. Admittedly you could pick New Zealand and end up getting Dunedin Chatanooga out, but if you're using this method you likely aren't fussy.

>>43774175
those are really good, thank you

What I do is use fictional languages like the ones from dwarf fortress for example. If it were just a random list of gibberish words it wouldn't mean much to me, but the fact that each of those words means something in that made up language makes all the difference. Then I can name myself Steel or Appleleaf or something and like the name.

>>43761963
I have to agree with you; I've noticed that all the Alexanders I know, who aren't called Alex, tend to act slightly more "heroic" than other people; they're usually more outspoken and solid than others.

However, the ones who aren't, have never heard of where the name "Alexander" comes from.