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.

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

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".

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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".

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.