Naming Your Characters

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I usually try to attempt a lore appropriate name.

[cbranst2]

I generally go with Al Abaster, unless I'm planning screenshots for use in public places. You know, just to avoid the inevitable backlash.

[A Chinese opium den]

I like to chose random First and Last name combos from lists of common names of the closest real nationality to the character I'm creating, just roll a random number generator twice and pick the names that many spaces down on whatever list a search comes up with first.

[logincrash]

I usually name men "Leto" in honor of the God-Emperor and name women "Summer" which is kinda the same thing.
Or I do obscure retarded references that make only me laugh. Stuff like "Austin Gabriel <- Gabriel Austin <- Gabe Austin <- Gabeausin <- Gay Boston," which is a reference to a 30 second bit on a podcast for edgy teenage boys.

[Element]

Forfantasy settings, usually random pagan deities or pseudo deities: Vainamoinen, Chernoglav, Calu.
Games like morrowind cry out for mesopotamian influence, so I wind up naming the character with whatever I can recall: Enlil, Ea, Murduk etc.
Nothing specific in sci-fi, just try to keep it close to the lore.
If nothing is coming to mind, then usually a short biblical name: Cain, Caleb and so on.

[Metalhead33]

I generally go with whatever seems lore-friendly.

[Boontaker]

I play a white male fighter/magic type, and I use my name.

For multiplayer games I use Boontaker, so people recognize me in pvp lobbies and shit themselves

[Havitner]

I have about four or so names that I use for most singleplayer games where I'm playing a generic guy. Which one I pick depends on what would fit the lore / setting. Unless I'm replaying the game, in which case I use a different name (usually thought up on the spot) so I don't get my saves / characters / RPing mixed up.

For non-RP multiplayer games, I have a consistent username that can probably be linked to my real name with a little bit of detective work, so I only use it when the game or service already has my real name anyway (GOG, paid MMOs, etc.).

I saw this question asked on /v/rpg. The correct answer is using AAAAAA as your name.

'A', so you can save a couple of frames every time it's printed.

[The_Mask]

I go through all of the major characters from Septerra Core.

First through the Gods, then through the main characters and even the secondary ones, if I have to.

[TheEmptyRoad]

First playthrough I use my name for the self-insert human spellcaster I always make first.

Later I try to keep things lore friendly while still being a meaningful name. Like in Mass Effect, one of my FemShep playthroughs I named her Cassandra.

In Dragon Age: Origins my Human Noble Warrior is named Bryan since the Couslands are pretty Celtic name-wise and the default Aedan sounds too modern to me.

My next Human Noble Mage/Rogue/Warrior in Inquisition will probably be named Cameron for much the same reason. Trevelyan is a Cornish name so I tried to find some Brythonic-adjacent kingly name.

For Elves and Half-Elves I like variations of Thryn.

For Dwarves something Norse-ish.

For Gnomes something obnoxious and complicated.

For Halflings something rural and wholesome.

[Acrux]

Aedan sounds too modern to me.

St Aiden was the founder of Lindisfarne, and there were several Celtic kings named Aiden/Aeden. It's a very old name.

It means 'fire', so for Tolkien nerds: the name is an equivalent to Feanor.

[Lhynn]

Lhynn

[Hauberk]

I always try to give them names that fit with the source material.

[Norfleet]

Do you put any thought into how your name your characters in RPGs? Do you just treat it as nothing more than a profile name? Is there a particular name you use in everything? Do you try to make it "lore friendly" and match whatever universe and race your character is?

Making the name "lore friendly" assumes that the player has knowledge of the game's lore. Unless the setting is a previously known one based on a popular pre-existing franchise, the player WON'T have this knowledge.

Honestly, if the game is single player, I'm not sure why they even need to ask given that you are the only one who ever sees it.

[Vergil]

Unless the setting is a previously known one based on a popular pre-existing franchise

So 3/4ths of all games, especially RPGs?

[Nammu Archag]

Do you put any thought into how your name your characters in RPGs? Do you just treat it as nothing more than a profile name? Is there a particular name you use in everything? Do you try to make it "lore friendly" and match whatever universe and race your character is?

Honestly, if the game is single player, I'm not sure why they even need to ask given that you are the only one who ever sees it.

I think, therefore I am

[WhiteShark]

Honestly, if the game is single player, I'm not sure why they even need to ask given that you are the only one who ever sees it.

You'll usually have to see it all the time while playing, so it makes sense to pick something that fits and won't kick you out of the experience.

[TKVNC]

Lore-Friendly, mostly. But generally they're similar throughout.

I sometimes make test characters with stupid names, but I'd never play a game properly with a name like that.

[Envergence]

I always go lore-friendly with no exceptions, and each character gets a unique identity so that they can all be independent of each other. All my Elder Scrolls characters have racially-appropriate names, my Souls characters have setting-appropriate names and monickers, Fallout characters have normal, mostly-American names, etc. I'll occasionally keep the default name like in Dragon Age Origins, or close to default, for instance "my" Shepard is named Sean instead of John because it's less boring but still similar, lol.

[Adeptus]

I usually go with Gedeon. I used it some time ago as a nick and I think it fits most settings.