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Naming guides

The research behind the generators, written out. How real naming systems work, why invented names succeed or fail on the ear, and how to name a whole culture without it falling apart on the second page. Written by Otto Thorne, who builds the tools these guides are based on.

The craft of naming

8

Why names work or fail on the ear — structure, rhythm, and the mechanics underneath.

An open card-index box with painted emblem cards sorted into groups on a table — cover art for a guide to fantasy name ideas by vibe Fantasy Name Ideas: 100 Names Sorted by Vibe A hundred original names in ten groups, each with the sound mechanics that make it read noble, or stony, or roguish — so you can adapt them instead of using them as-is. An open notebook of crossed-out names with five faint character silhouettes rising from the page — cover art for a guide on coming up with character names How to Come Up With a Character Name The blank page and no idea. A method that starts from the character's world rather than a vowel you like, plus the four ways a name fails and how to test one before you commit. An open book beside a green hillside door — cover art for a guide to name length, rhythm and memorability Name Length, Rhythm and Memorability in Fiction Frodo, Katniss, Ahab. Short, front-stressed, hard-opening — the measurable patterns behind names readers remember, and how to hit them. A neon-lit street in a rain-soaked cyberpunk city — cover art for a guide to cyberpunk street handles How Cyberpunk Street Handles Are Constructed A runner's handle is a reputation compressed into two syllables. The actual grammar behind cyberpunk street names, register by register. A shadowed antagonist against a red sky — cover art for a guide to naming villains without clichés Naming Villains Without Using Clichés Dark, shadow, blood, -us, -ax. Why the obvious villain-name moves stopped working, and what actually reads as menacing now. An elven figure in a silver forest — cover art for a guide on why some fantasy names sound fake Why Some Fantasy Names Sound Fake Zx'thraal fails for reasons you can name. Eight specific failure modes that make invented names read as fake — and the fix for each one. A medieval court scene with nobles and commoners — cover art for a guide to naming characters by social class Character Naming by Social Class A three-part name with a territorial surname is doing different work than a one-syllable nickname. How names encode class, and how to wield it. A dragonborn warrior silhouetted against firelight — cover art for a guide on building fantasy names that do not sound like gibberish How We Build Fantasy Names Without Producing Gibberish Most generators are a syllable blender. Here is the full method we use instead — sound rules, morpheme pools, and the four tests a name has to pass before it ships.

Worldbuilding

5

Naming whole cultures, kingdoms and casts so they hang together.

An observatory desk at night with a star chart of three unfamiliar planets, an orrery and a telescope, a ringed gas giant beyond the window — cover art for a guide to naming planets How to Name a Planet Kepler-452b is a designation, not a name. The real conventions behind planet and moon names, and the three naming layers a fictional world can carry at once. Three vessels moored at a harbour at dusk — a tall sailing ship, a fishing boat and a naval cutter, each with a blank nameplate — cover art for a guide to naming ships How to Name a Ship Royal Navy names come back every century, US carriers are presidents, and renaming a boat is meant to be bad luck. The real conventions, and how to use them in fiction. A hand-drawn map of an invented continent — cover art for a guide to building a naming language How to Build a Naming Language for Worldbuilding You do not need a conlang. A sound inventory, syllable shapes and forty morphemes will name a whole world — here is how to build one in an afternoon. A gathering of a fictional people in traditional dress — cover art for a guide to consistent cultural naming How to Create Consistent Names for an Entire Culture Fifty names that feel like one people, not fifty random strings. The sound inventory, structure and meaning rules that hold a culture together. A walled kingdom seen across rolling hills at sunset — cover art for a guide to naming fictional kingdoms How to Name a Fictional Kingdom Real kingdoms are named after rivers, founders and the people who lost. How to build a kingdom name with that kind of history baked in.

Real naming traditions

5

How actual naming systems work, and how to borrow them without mangling them.

Four cats sitting in a semicircle on mossy stones in a moonlit forest clearing — cover art for a guide to Warrior Cats naming rules Warrior Cat Naming Rules, Explained Prefix from your mother, suffix earned at your warrior ceremony. The full naming system across ranks, Clans, rogues, BloodClan and the Tribe — plus the OC mistakes worth avoiding. A calligrapher's desk at dusk with brush, inkstone, paper lantern and blank sheets — cover art for a guide to building Japanese character names How to Make a Japanese Name for a Character Surname first, three scripts, and kanji chosen for sense as much as sound. How to build a Japanese name for a character deliberately rather than borrowing one and hoping. A quiet Japanese street with paper lanterns at dusk — cover art for a guide to Japanese-inspired character naming Common Mistakes in Japanese-Inspired Character Names Surname first, kanji that does not read that way, an honorific used as a name. The recurring errors in Japanese-inspired naming, with fixes. A knight receiving a banner in a great hall — cover art for a guide to epithets, titles and bynames A Guide to Epithets, Titles and Bynames The Bold, of Gondor, Ironside, Your Grace — three different systems doing three different jobs. How each one is earned, and how to use them. A Viking longship on a misty fjord at dawn — cover art for a guide to Old Norse patronymics How Old Norse Patronymics Actually Work Eriksson is not a surname. How the genitive actually forms a patronymic, when matronymics show up, and the errors that give Viking fiction away.

At the table

3

Fast, practical naming for live games and long campaigns.

A desk with a manuscript, laptop and notes — cover art for a guide to checking whether a fictional name is already in use How to Check Whether a Fictional Name Is Already in Use Before you print it on a cover. A step-by-step clearance workflow — search, trademark registers, handles — and when a collision actually matters. A busy market square in a fantasy town — cover art for a guide to naming fifty NPCs distinctly How to Name 50 NPCs Without Making Them Sound Identical Fifty NPCs, and four of them start with Th. A batch method for spreading sounds, lengths and structures so nobody blurs together. A crowded fantasy tavern lit by lanterns — cover art for a practical guide to naming D&D NPCs A Practical Guide to Naming D&D NPCs The bartender needs a name and five players are watching. A prep system and a set of on-the-spot rules for naming NPCs without the pause.