It's yet another character name thread

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I was reading a thread about names way, way down, from a couple of years ago. So I thought it might be interesting to find out what sorts of names are popular in Candlekeep these days.

With my taste for Irish folk songs, I suppose it was inevitable that my character would be named Trevelyn, a name I first heard in a song called "Fields of Athenry".

 

I've only ever played with one character in Baldur's Gate and her name was Arya.

 

As I am interested in Irish mythology I use names from famour Magicians, Druids, Warriors and Bards

Fighter character - Cú Chulainn (The Hound of Ulster
Druid - Cesard (from the Fir Bolg race) or Cathbad

 

Generally Jarravir. Because it sounds kinda like my name with a bit added on the end.

 

Arevan, if I play a mage. Colthrun if I play a thief.

I use the same names for any other RPG game, actually.

 

Lots, some I make up, some I take from the D&D Hero Builder Guidebook (crappy book, but got lots of nice names according to race):

Male Gnome Illusionist \ thief - Jaroo

Female Half Elven Fighter Thief - Elwyn (My nickname )

Male Human Cleric - Tostherius

F Elven Fighter \ Mage - Laurain (pronounced law-RAIN)

F Human bard - Lenuara

M Human Kensai \ Thief - Kingza (silent g)

F Half Elf Ranger \ Cleric - Alhandra Galacia

M Elven Swashbuckler - Carados Talaviir

M Human swashbuckler\ fighter - Arkanis Zort

F HE F\M\C - Trilien Talaviir

F Drow Undead hunter - Trilien Do'Urden

M E mage - Drizzt the mage ( )

M H Ranger - The Human Drizzt (That was also a nickname I used on gaming boards a few years ago)

F H Fighter (I played in P&P) - Helain De'Liam (My last nickname )

M D F\C - Kirkagore (A name I stole from someone in my P&P group )

I had a lot more character (and therefore names) but alas, they were lost when I formated my comp...
Also, I never played Halfling :X The gnome was not the PC and the dwarf was a solo I didn't even take out of the first dungeon... I don't like short people :X

 

names all depend on the mood i'm in

Male Bard/Blade = Bard
Female Skald = Harmony
Sorcerer = Arcadius
Dwarf = Drongo Doomhammer
Mage/Thief = Marius

i really like the lewis carroll poem "jabberwocky", so if i'm in the mood i use that for name inspiration ....

Paladin - Snicker-Snack
Druid - Callooh-Callay
Sorcerer - Manxome-Foe

 

I'm a serial restarter, so I've used too many to list here, but the few I've got the furthest with all seem to be references to other games, strangely enough.

First time through (and the only time I've ever taken on Sarevok et al) was with an elven ranger named Tseramed, who was an archer from Ultima VII: The Black Gate. My first character to fully explore the TotSC missions was an evil thief named Garrett. And another character who I got really far with was a cleric named Parias - as was the cleric from Hexen.

All this proves, of course, is how much of a geek I am...

[ June 14, 2005, 19:24: Message edited by: The Magpie ]

 

Guess!

 

My male characters all have either humorous geek names such as Tarquin, Neville or Cuthbert, or manly germanic names that one can imagine being the name of some European porn star, such as Gunther. For women, they either have old woman names like Ethel or Maureen, or they have names which end with an "a" sound (Anna, Rebecca etc) because I think they sound pretty.

One thing I personally dont like to do is to pinch names from literature of mythology (it always irks me that they couldnt think of a better name for the leader of the Easthaven expedition in IWD than Hroðgar) or to change names to make them sound more fantastical (eg adding lots of unnecessary and difficult to pronounce consonants in an effort to make things sound outlandish). I make an exception for the name Eleanor, partly because (I think) it was a name before Tolkein used it, and partly because its a gorgeous name.

Apologies if there's anyone out there called Tarquin, Neville, Cuthbert, Gunther, Ethel or Maureen, by the way

[ June 14, 2005, 22:35: Message edited by: Will ]

 

When I played through IWD, and couldn't be bothered to come up with names for a whole party, I just switched the letters of their race/profession around (the party consisted of: Apindal, Grefith, Circle, Feith, Maeg, and Fel).

@Harbourboy: IIRC, "Arya" is currently a popular name for Indian boys...

 

I do try hard to make up original names, not always successfully, but I remember a poster on the old Interplay boards who answered this question something like: "I usually name my characters "Bill" or "Sam", or, if I'm feeling especially adventurous, "Ted".

 

I am just laughing at the thought of a sexy elven woman named 'Ethel'. Thats horrific!

 

The sexy elven ladies generally get the more aesthetically pleasing names, although there are exceptions.

 

I'm pretty good at making up my own names, but I like paying homage to my favorite authors and use names from their books. Specifically, Mercedes Lackey and Terry Pratchett. Sometimes, it depends on what soundset I'm using for the character.

Ranger - Kerowyn or Darkwind
Paladin - Faith, Carrot or Elspeth
Thief - Amanda or Shadoe
Mage - Rincewind, Firesong or An'desha
Cleric or mc F/C, R/C - Bronwyn
Druid - flowery names like Nessa Rose, Avril, Lily

 

My characters are always based on actual characters from books, films, TV etc. Maybe because I have insufficient imagination to roleplay properly unless I have this background. Whilst I have only played Baldur's Gate with one character (Arya from A Song of Ice and Fire), I have played other games with Bart, Homer, Marge, Buffy, Zander, Darth Vader, Yoda, Aragorn, Pippin, Arwen, Sauron, Shield Anvil Itkovian, Anomander Rake, Mystique, and Wolverine.

Actually, I don't think I have ever made up a character name myself.........

 

I usually use the names of people I've played pen and paper with (or their characters ) And Maureen is not an old lady name, I played AD&D 2nd ed. with a Maureen when I was in middle school.

P.S.@Harbourboy:
I think it's spelled 'Xander.'

 

I think I will create an evil cleric called Father O'Toole

 

[K34]MG or something like that (K34_MG, K34-MG or MG). Comes from Lotr (G - Gandalf) and BZflag (original Linux game played at our school - got title Marshal (M) in team battles).

If i'd have whole party, i'd put:

Legolas - fighter/thief
Aragorn - Ranger/cleric (or Cleric, depends on game)
Gandalf - Mage
Gimli - Fighter

 

The ideal fantasy name for me is similar enough to names that exist in the real world so as not to be unpronounceable, and also exotic enough to fit the setting. That's where I got my male character name from (as the first post) (that's the only name I like for men, too - I even use it for elves even though it's quite obviously a human name. In Baldur's Gate you at least have the excuse that your character was raised by humans), ditto Kahlen for the "sexy elf women", as someone put it.