Naming your Character

[T'lara]

www.babynames.com and other resources. I have name lists from different cultures but first and last names. There are great resources on the internet.

I always come up with the name last after I write my background, because once I have the character fleshed out the name comes to me. I can find it without a doubt. I sometimes like to give names meaning. Look at definitions. If people want more links. I will gladly post it for you if you want to see those resources. www.babynames.com is the best of them.

[Poolshark]

I have it easy when it comes to naming new characters. I work in a small company that specialises in helping to reduce the tax burden of UK IT contractors (and those in other industries too!) so I see loads of new names each week.

That said, I am kind of in the 'A' category. The name has got to suit the character.

:-)

Cheers

Tas

[Sarge]

I don't think I've ever come up with a name first. I usually come up with a name after I've put some thought into the character's background. Often, my names are variations of common or stereotypical names; for instance, my half-elven sailor is Long Tom Earendil, and my halfling samurai is Bilburo Bagginagai.

[Tricky]

With most characters i make, the name usually comes last.
You want a name that sounds good; this is usually hard with another race.

"Is Gu'rtz a good Klingon name?"

With super hero games, the Hero name usually comes first, or during the power acquition phase: "I've got light generation at Amazing, so he's as bright as the sun. Plasma blasts of heat and light. And Energy flight. Guess I'll go with
SOLAR as his name!" (then comes the si name, which takes forever)

[TheAntisocial]

I usually pick one main thing the character will focus on (fire for example) first, then stat out the char (after finding some classes that might fit my idea), do a brief story and usually midway through that, a name comes into my head and there it is.

For some reason, nearly every character of mine's name has a ' somewhere in it.

[tmutant]

I usually decide on the character concept first, establish race/ethnicity, then name the character. It's usually the first thing I put on paper. Sometimes it's really easy, other times it's "dig out the character naming book" (from the Writers Guide) (Which I have to borrow from my friend Chris because I don't own a copy ).

[ryushima2011]

I usually start with the personality and background of the character, and then I name them.