Full Games List
Featured Games
New Games
Reviews
Media
Images
Blogs
Game Updates
Images Feedback Summary
Game Design Highlights
Tutorials
Articles
Scripts
Utilities / Plugins
Resources
Engines
Engine Bulletins
What is Makerscore?
Past Events
Achievements
Misaos
Forums
Post History
Chat
New to RMN?
Full Store List
RMN Music Pack (free)
NAMING YOUR CHARACTERS
Posts
narcodis
View playlists
CloseDoes anyone else get as caught up with this as I do? I seriously spend days with trying to decide names for characters in the back of my head.
And I'm not talking about naming your characters with any storyline significance. I usually find that it's easier to work backwards, by naming your character, and go and write about why he's named that.
I usually base naming a character on sheer aesthetics. Does it sound cool? Does it roll off the tongue smoothly? If I were to sign a receipt with this name, could I whip up a badass signature for myself? I don't know why, but this sort of stuff is important to me when naming a character. It's like naming your child, except you don't want to name it after any of your relatives or friends.
I've found it's alot easier for me to name villains and/or supporting characters than it is to name the leading characters. Villains you can come up with gritty, nonsensical names, but with a main character, you need something you can get used to calling yourself. Something simple, but sweet. Usually one-three syllables.. any more, and you get something too contrived, I think.
Female characters tend to be easier to name than male characters, in my experience. It's alot easier to name a female character after something aesthetically pleasing and not have it sound gay.
I'm thinking a good hero's name is Ezra. Am I crazy? Because I'm using it right now.
There's no wrong or right answer here. I get really stuck on thinking of interesting and fitting names. How about you all?
And I'm not talking about naming your characters with any storyline significance. I usually find that it's easier to work backwards, by naming your character, and go and write about why he's named that.
I usually base naming a character on sheer aesthetics. Does it sound cool? Does it roll off the tongue smoothly? If I were to sign a receipt with this name, could I whip up a badass signature for myself? I don't know why, but this sort of stuff is important to me when naming a character. It's like naming your child, except you don't want to name it after any of your relatives or friends.
I've found it's alot easier for me to name villains and/or supporting characters than it is to name the leading characters. Villains you can come up with gritty, nonsensical names, but with a main character, you need something you can get used to calling yourself. Something simple, but sweet. Usually one-three syllables.. any more, and you get something too contrived, I think.
Female characters tend to be easier to name than male characters, in my experience. It's alot easier to name a female character after something aesthetically pleasing and not have it sound gay.
I'm thinking a good hero's name is Ezra. Am I crazy? Because I'm using it right now.
There's no wrong or right answer here. I get really stuck on thinking of interesting and fitting names. How about you all?
Shadowtext
120
I tend to feel that the best names are the ones believable as existing in the real world, or esoteric names that really do exist in the real world....Ezra's a pretty good one. There are real people named Ezra, some of whom are even historically significant, and it doesn't come off like a contrived, tortured fantasy-style name that I see too many people do. I blame Tolkien.
Even using fairly normal human names is fine, but too mundane can break a player's suspension of disbelief.
I'm kind of fond of androgynous names, and giving people names that are usually wrong for their gender. It's not something I'd suggest as "advice" for other people to use when coming up with names, just a personal observation for the names I find most amusing to give characters lately. So it's purely an element of my personal style.
I agree that names are important, but there's no hard and fast rule about finding good ones I think. I think one of the most important points is imagining having a conversation with someone with that name, and whether you would be able to take them seriously....and how you would choose to shorten it if you became casual with them, if it's not already fairly short. It's an important aspect of the social dynamic that gets overlooked a lot--generally the only characters you see using pet names are the overly energetic, goofy characters, but in real life they tend to be common to whole social circles, at least.
Even using fairly normal human names is fine, but too mundane can break a player's suspension of disbelief.
I'm kind of fond of androgynous names, and giving people names that are usually wrong for their gender. It's not something I'd suggest as "advice" for other people to use when coming up with names, just a personal observation for the names I find most amusing to give characters lately. So it's purely an element of my personal style.
I agree that names are important, but there's no hard and fast rule about finding good ones I think. I think one of the most important points is imagining having a conversation with someone with that name, and whether you would be able to take them seriously....and how you would choose to shorten it if you became casual with them, if it's not already fairly short. It's an important aspect of the social dynamic that gets overlooked a lot--generally the only characters you see using pet names are the overly energetic, goofy characters, but in real life they tend to be common to whole social circles, at least.
I'm even more pathetic than you are. I try to find names that sound realistic ... but are unique and generally unused off. I even go as far as Googling the name to see how many results it would get. In this particular project, I decided to name my protagonist Seltaire Lombardi.
author=Feldschlacht IV link=topic=1644.msg25933#msg25933 date=1217578461
I just make up shit.
For the most part, I do too. But I dunno, I really get stuck on it for long periods of time.
Ashramaru
39
When it comes to Fantasy games, I try to be make up my own.However when I make a modern day game, I like to keep it realistic and use the names of my friends, and mostly influential figures. I love Allusions, so I get some ideas from Roman, Norse, and Japanese Mythology. But its a difficult process if you get into it, I cant make a game until I make the Characters.
I try and make up original names, but it is tough. I'm guilty of going on to name generator sites. As long as the name fits with the genre, if it's set in the Fantasy World of Dragons and Mages, you don't want to have Dave and Steve.
It depends on the plot for me as well. If it's Fantasy I'll give them unbelievable names with compound last names. While if it's modern I use real names just not as generic as bob. While when I'm doing a game set in Japan, I use Rum and Monkey's random Japanese name generator as long as it sounds Japanese it's good.
author=Feldschlacht IV link=topic=1644.msg25933#msg25933 date=1217578461BUT I make sure every major character's name start with different letters.
I just make up shit.
VideoWizard
2842
author=narcodis link=topic=1644.msg25923#msg25923 date=1217572919
Does anyone else get as caught up with this as I do? I seriously spend days with trying to decide names for characters in the back of my head.
FORMERLY KNOWN AS DRAGONSHADOW
Wait a minute, the DragonShadow from the early, early RM2k days? I didn't realize you were still in the community.
As for naming characters, I look both for meaning, and what sounds good. Sometimes I'll add a letter or two to the name to make it different, if it is overly common.
And Little Wing Guy, make it Stefan and David, and it'll be better than just "Dave and Steve".
Using Final Fantasy IV as an example, it's strange how the main character (and two others) have the most common names. Yeah, you have Yang, Rydia, Palom, Porom, Edge, FuSoYa, Tellah, Kain, and Cid, all fairly exotic names- and then you have Cecil, Rosa, and Edward. What happened there?
Cecil has the most common name of any Final Fantasy hero!
<FF2 through FF12, in order>
Firion, Luneth, Cecil, Bartz, Terra, Cloud, Squall, Zidane, Tidus, Yuna, You, Vaan.
author=kentona link=topic=1644.msg25957#msg25957 date=1217600671author=Feldschlacht IV link=topic=1644.msg25933#msg25933 date=1217578461BUT I make sure every major character's name start with different letters.
I just make up shit.
That pretty much sums up what I do, then all my other team members threaten me with mutiny, so I let them change it.
dethmetal
990
author=VideoWizard link=topic=1644.msg25960#msg25960 date=1217602780
Using Final Fantasy IV as an example, it's strange how the main character (and two others) have the most common names. Yeah, you have Yang, Rydia, Palom, Porom, Edge, FuSoYa, Tellah, Kain, and Cid, all fairly exotic names- and then you have Cecil, Rosa, and Edward. What happened there?
Cecil has the most common name of any Final Fantasy hero!
<FF2 through FF12, in order>
Firion, Luneth, Cecil, Bartz, Terra, Cloud, Squall, Zidane, Tidus, Yuna, You, Vaan.
Terra is a much more common name than Cecil.
trance2
500
Also, Kain is a pretty popular name, even though it's a bastardization of the name "Cain," which is the one that people sometimes use. You know, of Abel and Cain fame? And yes, Terra is much more common that Cecil. I've actually met someone named Terra, but never anyone named Cecil. Like that means anything, though.
Skie Fortress
2394
My usual habit is to use a mix of something with a meaning and something completely arbitrary. Names usually pop into my head without much effort, so I just pin them on whatever I like.
Yeaster
6164
I just give my characters normal names, but if I can't think of a name, I just name them after various people in the media (usually reality show people).
S. F. LaValle
1069
I also spend very long creating names, even for when I play games where I get to choose a name! For my own characters, I followed the same philosophy as Shadowtext; names that are viable and seen in the real world, but are not too mundane. I also used a very common female name and changed the spelling (just like "Terra" instead of the common "Tara"). Being a story with text, there is a unique advantage with changing the spelling of a common name, as it appears more exotic even though it might have been pronounced the exact same way.
I also found it far easier to name my female characters than my male characters. Interesting =)
I also found it far easier to name my female characters than my male characters. Interesting =)
I have the feeling that if I ever have kids one day, my brain is going to explode when I over-think naming them.
Well.. I've been gone for several years.
Forgive me, but your name sounds extremely familiar, I just can't put a finger on where I remember it. Remind me? :-X
Wait a minute, the DragonShadow from the early, early RM2k days? I didn't realize you were still in the community.
Well.. I've been gone for several years.
Forgive me, but your name sounds extremely familiar, I just can't put a finger on where I remember it. Remind me? :-X
http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/ you can take names from here its a name gernerator and I like many this names if you want take one Dila,Fyrek, Yena, Veizze, Avenly, Drelos.
Shadowtext
120
I really hate the types of names that come out of name generators. They perpetuate exactly the wrong kind of names--the ugly ones that are often too long and sound like....well like someone just threw a bunch of random letters together.
