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[Kitti]

Character!
How do you choose names for your characters? Do you try to diversify your characters or primarily play the same "type" for the most part?​

 

[Greenie]

I choose names based on where the character is from as well as what they are, though mostly the former.

Though I did have an Otaku couple who weren't Japanese, they named their daughter Megumi ;)

 

[IntrusivePenDesperateSword]

Most of the time, whatever comes to mind appropriate to the setting. I have tried (and succeeded so far,) in keeping no two names the same. But with like 17 characters, that isn't too difficult.

 

[Hope]

I'm the worst. I usually play the same type pf character, but I'm trying to expand my horizons. I just pick names I like lol. For as much planning I do for the character and plot I get impatient when it comes to certain details DX

 

[Kitti]

I'm the worst. I usually play the same type pf character, but I'm trying to expand my horizons. I just pick names I like lol. For as much planning I do for the character and plot I get impatient when it comes to certain details DX

I wouldn't say the worst, as long as they're decent characters!

But expanding horizons can be a lot of fun. I think it also lets me inject a certain spice and get different inspiration.

 

[Finhawk]

I usually have this "This character's name should start with [insert alphabet here]" -kinda feeling when creating characters and then I just go scroll through lists of names that start with that letter until something catches my eye that simply feels right for the character (and fits with where the character comes from).

If it's a complete fantasy thingy in a made up world, I like to come up with nonsensical names from the top of my head. Most of the time I probably shouldn't google those in case I'll end up regretting things.

When it comes to character types, I do switch it up a little but I guess I only have a handful of different archetypes that I build my characters around.

 

[Jorick]

I try to keep it true to the setting and their background. I mostly play fantasy, but most fantasy worlds that are fleshed out tend to draw influence from real world civilations to populate the place. So I'm playing a character from what is basically fantasy France I'll choose a French name, or English/Scottish/Irish/Welsh for fantasy Britain, or so on.

When I've pegged some languages of origin to draw from I go to a name meaning website and look through lists of names from those languages. I usually end up with 10+ that I like, whether because the meaning suits the character or because I just like the name itself, and I whittle it down from there. Sometimes I'll swap a letter or two in a name to make it more appealing, or smash the first part of one name with the second part of another to make a nice Frankenstein's monster of a name.

If the above doesn't work, or I really don't feel like crawling through another baby name site, I fall back on the clutch fantasy name strategy: just start smashing letters and syllables together at random to make something up. As long as it can be pronounced (which honestly is optional for some fantasy races and creatures) it can work. I go for a general feel of a name when using this method, and sometimes my already chosen character details make that easy. Orcs and such get short names with hard consonants, elves and such get flowing names with excessive vowels, dwarves and such fall somewhere in between, really weird species get names that sound as alien as possible, etc.

And finally, if I'm at peak laziness, sometimes I just go hit up a name generator site that will spit out some kind of names that could work. That goes on until I find something I like.

 

[Dervish]

I start off looking at what race/ species the character is, or what nationality they are, and largely play with words I find appealing within that frame of mind.

Sometimes I go down a list of names, but I only use a name generator for NPCs if it's an alien or fantasy race that isn't human if I am drawing blanks.

A lot of the time, I just have something that comes to mind and it sticks. I sometimes do joke names; I have a Mass Effect krogan character named Tonka because I found it very amusing if he were named after a line of toy trucks.

 

[Kitti]

For me as well, the setting plays a role. Fantasy settings, it depends on the race. I usually start with an "inspiration spark" and choose a name that matches my feeling for the character.

In more real-world settings, I get a mental image of a character first, I might think a little about this feeling and expand who they are in my head before picking a fitting name. Sometimes, wanting a certain feeling or a type of backstory leads to certain cultural decisions and I try hard to research to give fitting names for cultures I am less familiar with. It's also a fun learning experience for me.

 

[Greenie]

....I have a Mass Effect krogan character named Tonka because I found it very amusing if he were named after a line of toy trucks.

Nostalgia trip, I used to play with those so much.

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

Most names pop into my head before I even think about making a character. I'll get a name, then the rest of the character comes in afterwards.

My problem is coming up with names for NPCs and non-regular characters, and for those I use a generator.

 

[Touch of Insanity]

I look through baby names until one just kinda fits what I want. NPC's usually get a few random select names I use over and over again like Julia, Jackson, James, Jessica. . . whoa o.o apparently I like J names for NPC's

 

[Kagayours]

I am so terrible with names. @_@ It is very, very rare that I feel like I can come up with a name that actually means something for the character I've chosen it for.

If I'm looking for realistic names, I often turn to online random name generators... I typically look through at least 20 random names as opposed to just sticking with the first one I get, and I might mix and match certain parts of it, but, yeah... I feel more-or-less dependent on those things to figure out names. @_@

In fantasy settings and other things where I don't need "realistic" names, I often just mash syllables together until I get something that sounds right. But even then, I sometimes turn to name generators for inspiration...

I have a roleplay about roleplays (meta, I know) with an antagonist technically named "Godmod", but almost always abbreviated to "GM", because it makes for an amusing double-meaning (especially given how much control he has over the world). It's probably the most clever character name I've come up with in recent memory.

Also, the RP that I've been spending the most time and effort on over the past year or so is Fandomstuck, and that doesn't require me to come up with character names at all so... all things considered... I feel like it's been quite a long time since I've ever even needed to think up character names for RP's. XD

Also, I'm currently designing a pantheon of gods and goddesses for an upcoming fantasy RP. Despite how fleshed-out some of those designs already are, almost none of them have names yet. DX And the ones that do have names were ones that I stole from thematically similar gods from existing mythologies, mostly Greco-Roman in origin...

I need help. ;_;

 

[LogicfromLogic]

Character!
How do you choose names for your characters? Do you try to diversify your characters or primarily play the same "type" for the most part?

I mainly let my character tell me who and what they are. The names that I choose are very random, sometimes however their names are pre-chosen. I find a name that I really like and decide that i want to make a character with it.

Almost all of my characters aren't white, I got in the habit of randomizing the races of my characters. Noah is one of the few that are, Isiah is too. I try to stretch out their races. However, I have not played a non-human in a very long time; I am not into fantasy anymore.

 

[Windsong]

Random name generator
Add specifics (scottish/gothic/roman/elven/etc)
Hit generate until I find one that clicks

Also setting dependent.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

I sound it out till I find something nice sounding.

 

[Indabayou]

Naming my characters is a tiring ordeal. I will literally spend hours going through names on baby name sites and making lists of the ones I like (which then I decide just aren't quite right with the idea I have in my head of my character, so then its hours more of searching). Other times, I make a placeholder name for a character, which I then get so used to I can't think of them as anything else and so I have to stick with it. This also happens when I make the decision to change a character's name for time-period/genre reasons (aka it doesn't work because their original name will always feel like the 'right one' to me and everything else sounds fake).

I try to be diverse with my characters' races and personalities, but I am slowly learning what I am best at.

 

[LunaValentine]

Sometimes I use names from a set, sometimes a name generator, but I really like making up names by picking a random letter ^.^

 

[Cpt Toellner]

Most of my names come from obscure characters in classical age-midevil history.

I'll also use early, bronze-age city names for characters as well.

"Allectus" is one I use often, who in history was a Roman finance minister who overthrew the Emperor of the rouge "Britanic Empire" only to be killed in the reconquest of the island.

"Penda" Is one I want to use more, who was th last great pagan king of the Anglo-Saxons.

 

[Kitti]

Most of my names come from obscure characters in classical age-midevil history.

I'll also use early, bronze-age city names for characters as well.

"Allectus" is one I use often, who in history was a Roman finance minister who overthrew the Emperor of the rouge "Britanic Empire" only to be killed in the reconquest of the island.

"Penda" Is one I want to use more, who was th last great pagan king of the Anglo-Saxons.

Pretty nifty unusual names. It's fun to have insight into what goes into other people making their characters.