Naming Your Character
The most immediately noticeable and commonly used aspect to any character is its name. Your character’s name will stick with you for an entire campaign, so it should be meaningful. Some people have a very difficult time choosing a quality character name, while others don’t even try.
Names come from somewhere. Figure this out, and the rest is easier.
Luckily, most fantasy core handbooks, such as the Iron Kingdoms Character Guide and Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook, include a list of appropriate names that take much of the work out of it. But this is insufficient for a richly developed character. For that, you must ask yourself a few more questions.
- Why did the character’s parents choose this name? – Parents always have a reason for choosing a name, even if it’s just that they liked the sound of it. But usually the choice is more significant, such as naming their child after a relative, friend, or other significant person.
- Does the character go by their given name? – They may not, but then you must know why not, what name they do go by, and how they came by that name.
- What about nicknames? – Most people have several labels placed on them throughout their life. Choose some, and how they got them, though you may find it easier to figure out the source of a nickname first, and allowing that to determine the name chosen. This will create more natural nicknames.
- Should your character have a surname? – Yes. Your character’s surname connects them to a family, or their family’s profession, depending upon the setting. These are very important pieces of your character’s history, and should not be ignored.
These simple questions will do two things. Firstly, they will give your character some all-important depth, and more importantly, you will have a character name that you won’t be ashamed to tell other characters.
What is the best character name you’ve come up with, and why?