...Has someone names??
Full Version: Uhm...Names?
I need some names for my game ...Has someone names??
...Has someone names??
The best technique I've personally found that made original, but not ridiculous sounding, names for characters and locations is to take real names and alter a few letters, and then perhaps merge them with other alterations or substrings of an alteration, mix and match til you get something you like and bam; name.
As an example lets say we're name a character, I'm going to pick a random word out of my brain.
Love.
Loove? Koove? Koome? Koom. I like that sound but it needs a little work. Just thinking randomly here.. and I just picked the variation Komre.
Komre, there's your name. Pick a word, change a few letters till you get the sound you like, add your own random flare or an extra sound on the end. Its that easy.
As an example lets say we're name a character, I'm going to pick a random word out of my brain.
Love.
Loove? Koove? Koome? Koom. I like that sound but it needs a little work. Just thinking randomly here.. and I just picked the variation Komre.
Komre, there's your name. Pick a word, change a few letters till you get the sound you like, add your own random flare or an extra sound on the end. Its that easy.
look up the ever changing book of names. that should give you some good ideas.
Why would you need fancy names? Naming a character is not something that should require hours of brainstorming.
Just pick out some names you like (real names, not goofy fantasy ones) and give them to characters whose personalities seem to suit them. Ideally, character names should be relatively simple, easy to pronounce and remember, and not the sort of name you would resent your parents for giving you. If a character's name is lengthy or embarrassing, then they probably have a snappier nickname they prefer to be called by anyway.
Me, I'd much rather play a game with characters named Jack and Amy than a game with characters named Jaffrafor and Amiania,
Just pick out some names you like (real names, not goofy fantasy ones) and give them to characters whose personalities seem to suit them. Ideally, character names should be relatively simple, easy to pronounce and remember, and not the sort of name you would resent your parents for giving you. If a character's name is lengthy or embarrassing, then they probably have a snappier nickname they prefer to be called by anyway.
Me, I'd much rather play a game with characters named Jack and Amy than a game with characters named Jaffrafor and Amiania,
Nicknames serve the purpose of shortening a name or tying it to a moniker that helps identify the character easily. Names are actually fairly complex, and very subjective. They get bogged down in connotations and meanings. They're derived from real words and have definitions attached to them. They identify a person's heritage.
But when it all comes down to it no one really cares how the name sounds. Whether the name be Jack, John, Cloud, Squall, Roland, or Gotrek, the end result is your player will tie the actions of the character to the name, not the name to the actions the character. That being said, name your character whatever you choose.
Just try to tie your cultures together with similar sounding names. It may become disruptive if half the town is named things like Komoichi and the other half Bob and Doodle. My personal preference for naming people are looking up names on something like behindthename and whatnot. You can also look up archaic names for more medi-fantasy stories.
I've used Adolfried, Minow, Lion, Maya, Frankie, Arthur, Mayblanc, Vange, Songhey, Winnie, Lafield, Jorgie, Sahra, Retel, Warb, Achtung, Yasha, and variants and exacts of your generic names.
You can look up names and words of foreign countries too. What do you think Japan does, lol.
But when it all comes down to it no one really cares how the name sounds. Whether the name be Jack, John, Cloud, Squall, Roland, or Gotrek, the end result is your player will tie the actions of the character to the name, not the name to the actions the character. That being said, name your character whatever you choose.
Just try to tie your cultures together with similar sounding names. It may become disruptive if half the town is named things like Komoichi and the other half Bob and Doodle. My personal preference for naming people are looking up names on something like behindthename and whatnot. You can also look up archaic names for more medi-fantasy stories.
I've used Adolfried, Minow, Lion, Maya, Frankie, Arthur, Mayblanc, Vange, Songhey, Winnie, Lafield, Jorgie, Sahra, Retel, Warb, Achtung, Yasha, and variants and exacts of your generic names.
You can look up names and words of foreign countries too. What do you think Japan does, lol.
A good trick is to name your character based off of his personality.
For example you have a character who is always dirty, and you can call him... Grime or Smoky.
Or you can use antonyms for him like a dirty guy named, Lavender or Soap.
If the guy is religious, you can name him Cross, Hope, Pope, Faith
But if you have a character that has a long name and a ton of syllables, you can shorten it. For example... Jessica - Jessy or Jess.
Like Elves tend to have long names Like, Dartinnolocanimrec... In the game have characters refer to him as Dart.
There is a game I am designing where names are easy, because it is suppose to be about a kid playing a game online. So a lot of characters are named XxReaperxX, Soulbind, Igotyougood, Obesity, Roflcopter44, Fatality, Ronald McDonald, FormyGnomies, and BeepbeepImaJeep. Though these are suppose to be NPC characters in the game. Not characters you play with. It all depends on where the person is from.
For example you have a character who is always dirty, and you can call him... Grime or Smoky.
Or you can use antonyms for him like a dirty guy named, Lavender or Soap.
If the guy is religious, you can name him Cross, Hope, Pope, Faith
But if you have a character that has a long name and a ton of syllables, you can shorten it. For example... Jessica - Jessy or Jess.
Like Elves tend to have long names Like, Dartinnolocanimrec... In the game have characters refer to him as Dart.
There is a game I am designing where names are easy, because it is suppose to be about a kid playing a game online. So a lot of characters are named XxReaperxX, Soulbind, Igotyougood, Obesity, Roflcopter44, Fatality, Ronald McDonald, FormyGnomies, and BeepbeepImaJeep. Though these are suppose to be NPC characters in the game. Not characters you play with. It all depends on where the person is from.
http://www.babynames.com/
Good place to get some ideas on names. Since most of my projects are set in modern times, I find this site helps a lot if I'm having trouble coming up with a name (Ie: if I am drunk and falling asleep on my keyboard).
Good place to get some ideas on names. Since most of my projects are set in modern times, I find this site helps a lot if I'm having trouble coming up with a name (Ie: if I am drunk and falling asleep on my keyboard).
Obsessing over names is just another form of procrastination. What you should do is just refer to your characters as \n[0000] to \n[n]*. Focus on personality, story, tone etc. (Or game mechanics if you're that way inclined). Names will come to you when your mind is busy being productive. when they do, you can just plug them into the Database.
*These shortcuts only work for RM, I think.
*These shortcuts only work for RM, I think.
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