Basic Information
Each culture has its own naming conventions on which kinds of name sound "tough" or "intimidating"… and which sound "soft" and "weak". Names are often thought to tell something about the character of a person. This isn't necessarily true in real life, but in stories names frequently have hidden meanings.
In general your given name should at least tell someone that understands your culture your gender - and very often your home region and social class, as well as your religion if your culture has more than one. In some cultures it may even indicate your birth order. Your full name may tell them a great deal more - if only in added detail - as it generally identifies your kinship groups to a greater or lesser degree. That said, in some cultures - such as the Romans - the given name is almost a formality and often all but ignored1.
There is room for almost infinite incomprehension between cultures as to the arrangement and interpretation of names - witness the number of Oriental men addressed as " Mr. (given name)" by Westerners unaware that the Oriental tradition puts the surname first, or the tendency of non-Sikh bureaucrats to enter 'Singh' as a family name - let alone the trouble caused anywhere in a developed country by someone possessing a one word name.
List of Naming Conventions
Characters
- Adam and/or Eve
- A Kind Of One
- Alliterative Name
- A Mech By Any Other Name
- The Butcher
- Code Name
- Day Of The Week Name
- Dead Guy Junior
- Embarrassing First Name
- Embarrassing Middle Name
- Everyone Calls Him Barkeep
- First Name Basis
- Foreign Sounding Gibberish
- Full Name Basis
- Gender Blender Name
- Go Ask Alice
- A Good Name For A Rock Band
- The Great Whodini
- Gunman With Three Names
- Hollywood Meaningful Name
- Hollywood Spelling
- I Have Many Names
- Ironic Nickname
- Jack Attack
- John Is A Boring Name
- Last Name Basis
- Law Of Alien Names
- Line Of Sight Name
- Luke Nounverber
- The Master
- Meaningful Name
- Meaningful Titles
- My Hero Zero
- My Name Is Not Durwood
- My Nayme Is
- Named Like My Name
- Name's The Same
- Names To Run Away From Really Fast
- No Name Given
- Nonindicative Name
- Noun Verber
- Numbered Homeworld
- Odd Name Out
- One Mario Limit
- One Steve Limit
- Only One Name
- Overly Long Name
- Patronymic
- Perdita X Dream
- Prophetic Names
- Psmith Psyndrome
- Punny Name
- Red Baron
- Repetitive Name
- Robot Names
- Sdrawkcab Name
- Secret Public Identity
- Sesquipedialian Smith
- Some Call Me Tim
- Something Person
- Speak Of The Devil
- Species Surname
- Spell My Name With A The
- Stellar Name
- Steven Ulysses Perhero
- Sue Donym
- Theme Naming
- This Is My Name On Foreign
- Tomboyish Name
- The Trope Kid
- Trope O Matic
- The Trope Without A Title
- Tuckerization
- Two First Names
- Unfortunate Names
- Unnamed Parent
- The Unpronounceable
- Who Is This Guy Again?
- You Are Number Six
Ensembles
Locations
Occasions
Things
Pets and sidekicks
Any
Sources
Game and Story Use
- Characters with good names - whether player characters or NPCs - will seem much more impressive if they have equally impressive names instead of something mundane like "Bob".
