What's In A Name?

Froil

How do you name your character(s)?

Do you prefer lore-friendly names? If yes, do you also use lore-friendly last names? Do you like certain races naming conventions more than others?

Do you prefer joke names? Maybe something that rhymes or you could get a good chuckle out of, that people might whisper you and say "I love your name it's so hilarious". I know I got a good laugh when someone was named "Sine Yo Pitty".

Do you use names from other games or media? Using a name like Gerald of Riviera or Jon SnǑǒŐőŎŏȎ, maybe a name from an old D&D game you did some years ago or even from a song.

Lysette

Lore-Friendly Names

Now, where is the "other" option, which is not something you have thought of?

I do a mixture, some names are lore friendly, others are just real life names from cultures, where I had a relation with. Like some of my characters have Zulu and Xhosa names, because I lived in South Africa for 7 years. One of my characters has a Hindi name, because I have indian neighbors, who are very good friends. Most have lore friendly names, but not strictly.

captainwolfos

Lore-Friendly Names

I tend to heavily research names so they're lore friendly.

I have a single character who doesn't have their actual name, if only because they're one of the House of Reveries, and trying to think of a single word name that hasn't already been taken is really hard lmao. They have a placeholder name for now, and probably forever.

Elrond87

Other Media Names

other media names, like elrond , LeChuck (monkey island, necromancer) Goblin hood as robin hood was taken, with a beast personality, sub zero a warden, pheonix down for a healer, aoe death touch cause i see it used by devs in stream to kill stuff instantly ha, 2 khajiit named after my cats in memory, a female nb black widow and another necro just Ouija cause talkin to the dead

Lysette

Lore-Friendly Names

captainwolfos wrote: »

I tend to heavily research names so they're lore friendly.

I have a single character who doesn't have their actual name, if only because they're one of the House of Reveries, and trying to think of a single word name that hasn't already been taken is really hard lmao. They have a placeholder name for now, and probably forever.

Your character's name can have more than one part - like "xxxx of Tel Mora" for example. This way you can have pretty much any first name you like, just add a location to it and you will most likely be fine.

Mr_Stach

Lore-Friendly Names

Like I have an Argonian Sorc named Walks-through-Storms.
A Khajiit NB named R'Jiir Shadowclaw

I think it makes sense for them to make sense

WraithCaller88

Lore-Friendly Names

I'm an RP nerd, so lore-friendly names ONLY for me.

Danikat

Lore-Friendly Names

Your poll is probably going to need some other options, for example I know a lot of people have a name or a few names they always use in MMOs, so they're not likely to be lore friendly for a specific game, but they're also not jokes and not copied from anywhere else, it's just a name that person is known by.

My top priority is a name I like the sound of, and which fits the character. Secondary to that is making them lore friendly; I try to make sure they don't look obviously out of place and will tailor the name to the race but I'm not going to stick to it strictly if it doesn't fit the character. For example my khajiit has a second name, which they don't normally have. There is a reason (it's her adopted family name) but that's not obvious just from the name.

I will sometimes use joke names, but usually only for tempoary characters. My longest lived one is Holds-All-Stuff, my argonian mule.

DaleyPia

There needs to be an "all of the above" choice as I employ all three aspects together when naming my characters.
I used to have an Argonian named Drinks-All-Coffees, a combination of a traditional style Argonian name, A memoriam to Sees-All-Colors, and my favorite beverage, coffee.

I also have a character named Elyssa Cousland, one of the default names from Dragon Age.

Personally, I think the names should be appropriate for the game. (Meaning someone you'd actually meet given those circumstances.) You might meet a "Bloody Bobby Drow", but you probably wouldn't meet anyone called "My Scrumptious Booty".

kargen27

I think my Argonians are lore and joke names. Drunk-Like-Skunk and Swims-Like-Nord.

My first character is Cairgen just a different way to spell kargen.

I have one Necromancer I wanted to look as un-necromancy as possible. He ended up looking like a Ken doll so he got that name.
Most my other characters have Hopi names. They sound kind of lore friendly I think.

Oh and I have Shirley I Jest obviously a very serious name. That name has been used in a few games and Shirley is always male just for added seriousness.

I like seeing names in game that are clever puns and even sorta or kinda clever puns.

Sjestenka

Lore-Friendly Names

Ain't just lore friendly, but rather lore stereotypical. If i say some crap in zone chat or rando group chat, i want everyone who knows a thing or two about TES to immediately tell what race-nation-culture my char belongs to..
Although i do miss simpler times of names-references x) Like say, Lucretia-My-Reflection. Someone whispered, isn't that a Sisters of Mercy song? Hell yes it was

EozZoe1989

Other Media Names

mine is my name backwards..
eozzoe..
yep..

redspecter23

Lately, I try to name my characters as simply and generically as possible so I don't get banned. Things like Red Templar and Red Nightblade. I've lost all desire to even try anything remotely creative. It's just not worth it.

Beilin_Balreis_Colcan

Lysette wrote: »

captainwolfos wrote: »

I tend to heavily research names so they're lore friendly.

I have a single character who doesn't have their actual name, if only because they're one of the House of Reveries, and trying to think of a single word name that hasn't already been taken is really hard lmao. They have a placeholder name for now, and probably forever.

Your character's name can have more than one part - like "xxxx of Tel Mora" for example. This way you can have pretty much any first name you like, just add a location to it and you will most likely be fine.

Doesn't that make some dialogues a bit awkward, when NPCs address you by the full multi-part name?

vibeborn

Joke Names

I almost only use joke names
My main is named Vibeborn since that is a nickname my brother gave me, and it's a gimmick on my real name
My first high-elf is named Eimie (pronounced Amy) which is a gimmick on people who choose outstanding spellings for normal sounding names
My first argonian is named Eats-Raw-Batter after the first time I made sweetrolls
My first orc is named Failura (not to be confused with Falura), because that's how I felt at the moment
My first wood elf is named Adence which is inspired by my home town
My second breton is named Tina Mølhave and she's essentially the sister of a name my brother kept saying
My other khajiit is named Pizzadyr after my mother thought I called my irl cat a pizza
and my other argonian is called Eleven-Elephants just because

I have a few other characters, but these are the ones where I could remember their names' meanings

I'm the type of person who not only laughs at a joke, but ultimately buys a character slot and names the character after the punchline

PvP_Exploiter

All 3.
I have characters named after NPCs from Oblivion
A few meme / play on word names relating to ESO
And names relating to Star Wars and Runescape

bmnoble

Other Media Names

Usually the first character I create is the same one I use here on the forums, it's become a habit of mine in most games.

Other than that I usually dredge up my memory and use a mix of first names and last names from NPC's in games I have played in the past never their full name and on occasion take inspiration from the stack of DVD's I own I usually use one of the movie titles for a last name.

Vrienda

Lore-Friendly Names

Lore Friendly for me. Always.

God I wish we had RP servers...

FluffyReachWitch

Lore-Friendly Names

Lore-friendly with a side of joke. The majority of my characters are adaptations of OCs who already had lore-friendly names. A couple have joke names that are tailored to fit the naming schemes in the setting.

Wandering_Immigrant

Other Media Names

I have multiple character names inspired by song and other media or pop culture references.

Little Red Corvette, a prince song.
Wilma's Rainbow, a Helmut song.
Dirty Diedra Dunmer Chic, as in Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.
Extra Ordinary Automaton, a play on Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine, the decision to split extraordinary into two words was inspired by Vanya's book in Umbrella Academy.
Buttercup Baby, as in Why do you build me up, buttercup baby, just to let me down, and mess me around.
Sam's Bloody Rage, long story short this comes from the Helmut song Sam Hell as well as the Jack and Jill journals from the movie Fight Club.
Leopold Getz, from Lethal Weapon 2's Leo Getz ("whatever you want Leo gets, get it?"), with a nod to Leopold Fitz from Agent of Shield.
Summerset Barbie, like Malibu Barbie, but from Summerset.
Reeb Maiden, this is a reference to the movie Kalifornia where Brad Pitt's character would say reeb instead of beer.
Orc and Bear, like moose and squirrel from Rock and Bullwinkle.

karthrag_inak

How about "Made-up names that predate Elder Scrolls Arena by 3+ years"? Where is this option?

Lysette

Lore-Friendly Names

vsrs_au wrote: »

Lysette wrote: »

captainwolfos wrote: »

I tend to heavily research names so they're lore friendly.

I have a single character who doesn't have their actual name, if only because they're one of the House of Reveries, and trying to think of a single word name that hasn't already been taken is really hard lmao. They have a placeholder name for now, and probably forever.

Your character's name can have more than one part - like "xxxx of Tel Mora" for example. This way you can have pretty much any first name you like, just add a location to it and you will most likely be fine.

Doesn't that make some dialogues a bit awkward, when NPCs address you by the full multi-part name?

Better than to add a number to the first name imo - even that is totally normal with nobility, think of HRM Queen Elizabeth II. But then again, her majesty will never be directly addressed by her first name.

Hapexamendios

Mixed really. For example I have an Imperial I named after a Roman emperor and a Nord whose name I picked to go with the drunk personality.

fred4

Lore-Friendly Names

On the whole I use lore friendly last names and contemporary forenames. I have two "clever" named characters, Shirley Templar and Your Ex-Girlfriend. The latter got a few laughs in the first week.

JoeCapricorn

Other Media Names

Fen-Wander - the name goes back to Beta with a character named Fen-Wanderer and is similar in some ways to an older Skyrim character named Basks-in-Taiga (both being a verb in a natural environment). The name is also influenced by the British band Fen.

Sorlia - This is an OC name of mine. The original character is a tall dragoness that can shoot bow very good and stuff. She is strong and smelly and lives in a swamp. My ESO character Sorlia is a short Bosmer that can shoot bow very good and stuff. She is strong and smelly and is also a vampire.

Arkgrag gro gruggrigrogig - Name is meant to clear sinuses.

Twilight Amaranthine - From the song Twilight Amaranthine by Asunder. Argonian vampire sorcerer.

Enid Gumby - From Monty Python, the one who exclaims that cement is more interesting than people think! (played by John Cleese) Official build uses exclusively bugged white-level versions of dropped sets.

Kauan-do - From the band Kauan, with Khajiit naming conventions.

Lykathéa - From the band Lykathea Aflame, also it sounds High Elf

Apronice - Another OC name, albino space dragon that runs a starship and explores space and stuff and looks fabulous doing so. The ESO character is a long tradition of me creating alternative versions of him in different universes and is based on an Oblivion character that I had back in the day. Both were High Elf vampires

Fen-Warden - Fen-Wander was always called Fen-Warden by an old guildmaster, so when Morrowind dropped I made a Warden with this name.

Jiren-dar - Named after Jiren, from Dragon Ball Super, with Khajiit naming conventions. Pre-dates the Dragonhold NPC by over a year.

Cuddles-with-Daedra - so named because of her hobby which involves finding Daedra that she finds cute and cuddling with them because she likes them and stuff. Appearance is reminiscent of Molag-Bal and most Daedra she comes across eventually succumb to her whims because she is a more convincing Necromancer than Mannimarco - side horns are detachable to facilitate closer contact, else they start poking eyes out and that tends to be annoying.

Mirilir - Bosmer Stamwarden werewolf. The name is also taken from a beloved NPC

paulsimonps

Lore-Friendly Names

I always make my names lore friendly but I love the creativity needed for joke names.

My favorite Joke names I have seen around the game so far is "Lactose the Intolerant" and "Sir Rebral Palsey".

deejayvee

Other Media Names

Mine are all named from songs by a relatively unknown Aussie band with a strong comedic flavour.

ESO_Nightingale

i have all sorts of names. some are jokes and others are (probably) lore friendly.

Froil

While I admit this is likely an abjective failure of a poll and I know I didn't calculate for every single possible answer, I've noticed a few rather passive aggressive or otherwise angry responses. Chill y'all's ***. This is supposed to be for fun.

If you don't fit in any of the options then consider yourself an unlisted "Other".

SilverBride

Lore-Friendly Names

I try to pick a name that I think fits the character's race and class.

Annalyssa is an Altmer Magicka Sorcerer Vampire.

Elsandrah is a Bosmer Magicka Necromancer.

Ensifera is a Bosmer Stamina Nightblade. Her name is the slightly altered name of one of my favorite bands, Ensiferum, but I felt it worked.

Jhanya is a Nord Stamina Dragonknight.

My User ID is the name of one of my favorite songs, which is mentioned in my signature.

Nightowl_74

I have a couple names that I use for MMOs. They're both just....as far as I'm aware.... a unique combination of syllables that sound nice to me and have a relatively straightforward pronunciation. Kolbati and Chimrit. Aside from that, I occasionally include a nod to lore or use a name from other media but usually they begin with a general idea of the type of sound I want; harsh, soft, choppy, lilting, etc., and go from there.