"Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."
So this is another topic I struggled with. Not because I don't think it's important, but because I'm not entirely sure I can properly articulate any useful advice for this. Hell, to this day we still call it the hardest part of character creation: The name. It's hard as hell, but because you want to come up with a GOOD one. Anyone can blurt out something that could probably be someone's name, after all. In fact, I started doing exactly that to solve all the blank stares filled with unspoken cries of 'help'. The fact that nobody ever took my suggestions(What's wrong with Bumblechunk Slaptyback, after all?) proves that hardly anyone ever REALLY wants to give up on this. The character's name is where you can make your first impressions and nail down a great beginning to defining your character's feel and tone. So, here we go.
I'll get this out of the way first, the Intarweb has plenty, plenty of places you can find a name generator or baby name website. These can give you either a good idea on how your PC's name would sound based on ethnicity, or give good 'meat' to start with. I'm only going to link you to one of them, a drow name generator that was taken from Dragon Magazine, and I'm only bothering because it's a great object lesson(as well as being a pretty good elf-y name maker).
This object lesson is that names are made of syllables, and it's up to you to swap them around or fill them in. In fact, the 'pattern' of a name can make all the difference because it controls the flow, the feel of the name. I've found making sure your name is within one syllable(but not the same) is a good place to start. There's plenty of exceptions of course, but when you're deciding on a name, looking at the pattern can help shape how the name 'feels'. In addition, a severely unbalanced syllable count can put emphasis where you want it: Names like Cleopatra Jones(and its 4:1 ratio) shift the attention to the longer portion.
So flow and feel are important. Syllables and sounds can change those a lot. Before we get into content, I thought I'd point out a dumb little trick that comic books have been using for years. Peter Parker, J'onn J'onnz, Clark Kent, Wally West...comic books use repeated similar sounds to make a name more memorable. Keep in mind this also means names like Diana Prince or Cain Marko for using two 'hard' sounds to start off the names.
Cain Marko brings me to the next tip, which would be content. Hey, we flowed pretty well this time, it's like I'm a real god damn writer. Er, anyway. Even though you may not consciously be aware of it, Cain Marko tells you a lot about the kind of person he is before you even really see him do anything. There's probably billions of people named Cain or Caine or Kain, but the one you're likely to remember was a murderer. Famously so, being the biblical first murderer. Marko also sounds low-brow and crass, like something a construction worker would call his buddy Mark. So you immediately start to think Cain Marko is a low-class murderous thug. Just in case someone is confused at the point I'm making, I'll point out that Cain Marko is none other than the Unstoppable Juggernaut.
Let's dovetail again into his superhero name. These are both really fucking hard and really easy, but I'm going to address them alongside a similar concept of nicknames or fake-ish names. By fake-ish name I mean something that has a really obvious reference in it or doesn't REALLY sound like something anyone would actually be named, like Maxwell Lord or Dan Backslide. These hammer you over the head with descriptives, and that's totally fine. It might be crass or cheesy, but it's way better than nobody being able to remember your name. Nicknames can do the same thing, or they can tell hook into an amusing story. They can even divert your expectations, like a lunatic being nicknamed Baby-san solely because he's kinda short.
Superhero names. Like I said, these can be really easy because they're MEANT to be big and bold, but really hard because leaning on descriptives can be really boring. The only time you want to do a really flat name like Wonder Woman, Robot Man, The Atom, Black Thunder, or Goliath is if you want your hero to feel classic and silver-agey. Otherwise, esoteric references or puns are your friend. Look into where they're from or where they spent a lot of time, and start looking for references in the culture or mythology of the location, or dig even deeper and find a small element you can associate with something else or expand into a new meaning, like a fire controlling hero with a reference to hot foods, or a villain whose name and actions remind you of California's brush fires.
This is completely an aside, but I just wanted to say something. Nobody likes puns. Everybody hates them. The secret, though? People who like puns? Kind of hate puns. They love them for how cheesy and blunt they are, like being hit with a very clever baseball bat. Either way, they'll remember your punnishing name for SOMETHING.
Puns, Nicknames and 'superhero names' can also mean titles. In a fantasy game, a lot of titles can be subjective, or so unimportant that your GM might as well let you take one. I mean, what's a character being a Duke or Duchess REALLY mean for a game? They have a house somewhere they'll never use, and a king somewhere whom might beg his help for something. That's an oven-ready plot hook right there. Anyway, titles can 'sub in' for a last name if your character wouldn't logically have one, or if you just can't think of one. Plenty of them are given in the same manner as nicknames anyway: a tiefling with golden skin might become known as Seong, The Golden Child. A man who wears his family crest proudly might become known as The Duck Knight for its prominent mallard. Basically, a title is just a fantasy nickname. Use it as such.
So anyway, I guess it's time for an example and some final advice. Let's get the example out of the way.
Doug Jones
James "Sonny" Crockett
Dan Backslide
None of these are bad names. Doug Jones is bland and normal, but in a modern game full of normal people, that's not that bad. Maybe his player would like to add some sort of nickname, or maybe he WANTS it to be easy to forget to put emphasis on a superhero(or supervillain) name. After all, the real life Doug Jones is a great fucking actor who never seems to get much credit or recognition...maybe because his name's boring.
Crockett reminds you of Davy Crockett, the 'king of the wild frontier' who was a no-nonsense badass. Sonny reminds you of the sun or a sunny demeanor and brings your thoughts to where his show is set: Miami, Florida. Finally, he has a normal first name like 'James' but his nickname implies nobody who really knows him actually calls him that: like he has a checkered past or a lot of very informal, maybe shady friends.
Dan Backslide has a really short first name that puts emphasis on that weird last name. Even if you don't know what backslide means(I don't even know if that's really a word) you immediately have your suspicions. He's a complete slimeball and probably a cowardly wimp.
Finally. Remember that ethnicity isn't the only thing that gives a name a certain feel. Fantasy races, real world subcultures, martial arts stars or even blacksploitation heroes all have a certain 'feel' to the name that you can and should try to learn. Plenty of various fantasy themed races have a pattern of a vaguely fantasy-sounding first name, then slamming two real words together for the last name. This is probably so popular because of laziness, but it DOES make it easy for you to guide expectations where you want them.
I doubt this'll be the only time I talk about names. There sure is a lot to this. I hope this helped someone, somewhere escape from giving their awesome PC a bland name out of exasperation.
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