Traditional names

[Drayab]

I was thinking... most cultures on Earth have some set of traditional names that people can recognize. On Zalanthas, it's not the case. We generally choose our name as something that we think sounds like it fits the desert setting well, or maybe we just pick a name that we think sounds/looks cool. I like having plenty of lattitude to pick what my character is called as much as the next guy, but I think it would add an extra touch if the names of Zalanthas's inhabitants were homogenized somewhat among those of similar culture. Like, we could have a list of common names, or maybe a set of naming rules. For example, maybe certain tribes would name their children after an animal or a favored hunting ground, or something like that. Think: "Chief Sitting Bull." Or maybe Allanakis have named their children after (in)famous templars. Maybe Tulukis have started naming their children after the heros of the rebellion.

Reactions?

[Dakkon Black]

While it does make sense....

The last three dwarves you met were named Thrain

And the last five scary people wanting to be templars were named Sathis

( Only eg's really safe to use as they are in the Docs and not I.C)

Or do you mean like make up just a list of rather common names for arm.

Like bob, tom, carl, moe are for here? That would be cool I suppose. But really... I personally would never make a char thats named bob (or is Zalinized counterpart) Why? Because I play Arm to have a char of my own to mold into a little ball of flesh rending doom for the entir- umm... anyways.

Also as a plus or a minus I can see really hating this...

Contact bob

<wrong guy>

contact 2.bob

<keep looking>

contact 3.bob

<kinda closer>

Think Who was the $(*#&$#(* that suggested this?  :shock:

Just how I see it. However your idea is realistic as more than one dwarf would probably be called Thrain in the world.

[FiveDisgruntledMonkeysWit]

I like. One of my past characters had a VNPC by the name of Lo in his background, that had a significant impact upon his life. Later on, I met another PC character named Lo. I thought it was pretty cool that two people in Zalanthas had the same names, and you know what? I'll probably name one of my future characters Lo just keep it going.

A list of common names would be fun to see, but I'm not so sure on naming 'rules'. People like to make up their own names, but on the other hand, that want to fit in with the world of Zalanthas. Instead of causing a bunch of obsessive players a lot of strife, I think seeing a common list of names, and maybe even what they mean or from where the originated from would be cool.

Maybe I suggest Lo for such a list?  :wink:

[DrunkenSalarr]

A set of rules for Name Structure would be interesting.   Thinking back on Earth History, you can usually guesstimate a time/location about a person from their name (i.e. The majority of Roman males had names ending in -us).

A simple guide of what was popular in each of the (major) cities wouldn't be too bad.  Anything that doesn't fit either of those could be either city or somewhere else completely.  Rules like this would be starting to form about now given how the two major cities have started isolating and distancing themselves from the other.  I wouldn't mind seeing a guide like this being put somewhere, I'd probably start using it, as comming up with a name for my characters usually takes longer than comming up with anything else.

One thing I have noticed, at least for Allanaki Major Figures (Important NPCs)  is that the name endings tend to follow a rule depending on if it is a soft ending or a hard one.

Hard Endings tend to be formed by the following:
either an 'a' or 'o'  followd by a gutteral consonant ('c', 'd', 'k', etc)

Where the Soft Endings tend to be formed by:
either an 'e' or 'i' followed by a softer consonant, most often ('s', 'l', 'r', or 'n')


As far as Tuluki names go, things I have noticed is that they tend to end in such a was as to be drawn out, almost fadeing out.  Usually many times reverseing the rules I've noticed for Allanak.  (using the softer consonats with 'a' and 'o', etc).  And many times end in vowels, where as Allanaki names almost always end in consonants.  Tuluki Name Endings also tend to include vowel combinations or double consonants (ex: Negean or Salarr).

[crymerci]

I believe it was Tony who made a name generator into which he fed names of actual dead PCs from the submissions of players.  Anyone have a link to that?

[Gorobei]

The name Amos should definitely be on that list.

[Rindan]

The name Amos should definitely be on that list.

I must have met a dozen of those Amos bastards.  

I personally have no problem with people repeating names.  I think that taking the name of a well known person from history is 100% legit.  For instance, I could see Thrain as being an extremely common name among non-Allanaki dwarves.  Well known rebels might suddenly become a common name in Tuluk.

I think an interesting question is whether or not the names of nobles and templars would be consider ok names to take on.  On one hand imitation is certainly a sign of reverence, but on the other hand nobility and such might take offense to a mere commoner taking on the name of a noble hero.  I think that it would be generally accepted to take on old heroes names that were nobility.  I would probably avoid taking anything too close to recent memory.  That said, I imagine that if nobility have no problem with commoners showing reverence by copying their names, Ihsahn might be a common name.  Perhaps even more likely would be the names of noble heroes, only slightly changed.  It shows both respect for the person and an understanding that a commoner should not copy a nobles name exactly.  So perhaps Ihsahni or Ihsahm might be acceptable names.

I think it would be neat to develop a little documentation on common names and naming taboos.  I don't think that it would limit people in their naming.  Allanak is constantly getting tribals moving in from the desert and other folks, so they could be general guide lines.  I could write a guideline for English names, but it wouldn't cover a lot of people.

I believe it was Tony who made a name generator into which he fed names of actual dead PCs from the submissions of players. Anyone have a link to that?

Here it is. Name Generator

I think John has a link to it on the site here, but I'm not sure.

Now, since Gorobei and Sanvean were the only two to submit names to me, I don't have Tuluki or Nakki lists separated. If more (many more) people were to submit names with their point of origin, I could revise the lists to give more "flavored" names, depending on the list used.

DudeMar12@hotmail.com if you wish to submit some, I got Staff OK a long time ago on this, just make sure the character has been dead over six months, or at least not known to anybody.

To relate to the actual thread; Of the lists I did go through, I noticed a strong trend towards Nakkis having those hard endings like DrunkenSalarr said, whereas Northerners ended up with longer, more vowely names (Where you would even have double vowels like in Aaron).