raiz
Commoner
Posts: 3 
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Post by raiz on Aug 14, 2016 1:55:04 GMT
I have read many articles on world creation. The main problem I have is trying to come up with names, always been a problem when I name characters or cities. Best result I have found are either random generators or taking words and translating them.
I am curious how you folks come up with names. I would like to be able to think of names on my slow shifts at work to have them ready to put into my world after work.
Thanks for the help, on myself and for others who read this as well.
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CRNFAllyKat
Commoner
Posts: 23 
Favorite D&D Class: Seeker
Favorite D&D Race: Shifter
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Post by CRNFAllyKat on Aug 14, 2016 4:42:22 GMT
I like Latin and other languages so help me out. For example I needed a name for a magic user who had a bird attack. Google James Audubon who was an Ornithologist which came from the Greek 'Ornis' for bird. And the caster became Ornis.
I try to think outside the box to try not to make too obvious
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Post by joatmoniac on Aug 14, 2016 16:53:07 GMT
Translating off of other languages is indeed the go to for finding new and interesting ways to say things. The tool I absolutely love and use for almost everything is the Ever Changing Book of Names. It is a program written to use a set of names put in to derive others from them. Short of studying linguistics it is difficult to generate names on the fly without some sort of assistance. I like using other name generators as jumping off points. Taking names that seem ok and playing with changes of the consonants and vowels until u really like it.
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Post by blakeryan on Aug 14, 2016 22:17:10 GMT
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Post by DMBoognish on Aug 20, 2016 17:16:20 GMT
I like to throw bland phrases like "ice claw" into google translate, and try different languages until I see something I like. And if you need a name for the worst red light district, you could name it "Baghdad alley".
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dm_jon
Commoner
Posts: 3
Favorite D&D Class: Ranger
Favorite D&D Race: Elf
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Post by dm_jon on Aug 21, 2016 1:05:46 GMT
I like to look at any group of words, not like a story or article, but just random groupings, like ingredient lists, magazine covers, etc... I just start picking out word fragments and reading them together until I get something that sounds like a good name. Then I follow the rule of say it out loud, and make any tweaks I need to make. I don't get race specific names this way, but it works for general names.
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Post by zenith on Aug 30, 2016 4:08:23 GMT
I use the Ever-changing Book of Names. Hasn't failed me yet. There are TONS of existing languages/cultures/whatever that you can generate names based on. |
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