Topic: Names in Shadow World

[egdcltd]

What cultures, or whatever, real or fictional, if any, have been used as inspiration for the personal names in the various Kulthean societies? I get a Dragonriders of Pern feeling from the Cloudlords, for example.

[markc]

  I do not know the answer to your question but I can saw watching the World Cup recently has given me a host of good name ideas.


  Name's unfortunately are an area I tend to have trouble with as to me a name has to feel right. It does not have to have anything to do with the plot, PC professions but IMHO should be culture based or "big" event based in which their parent or guardian would chose that name for them. Or in some cases a huge event in which popular names disappear , ie there are very few Napoleon's and Adolf in the world vs when the main name holders we think of last had them. I used to throw darts against a person they called by a nickname because he tended to get funny looks from those who did not know him well and just got an impression after hearing his name.
  The same is also true on the other side, I bet there are/possibly going to be some interesting names that are given to children if they were conceived at the world cup.
  I probably put too much thought into it and should just look on the web, phone books, Restaurant Menes, take part of one name and part of another an join them, etc.


 Also here in the USA from time to time a Judge is asked to make a legal change to a child's name because their given name could cause harm. In my state (Oregon) I do not know of any banned name lists but I do know that some countries and states in other countries do have such a thing.
MDC

[Zilverscale]

Also here in the USA from time to time a Judge is asked to make a legal change to a child's name because their given name could cause harm. In my state (Oregon) I do not know of any banned name lists but I do know that some countries and states in other countries do have such a thing.
MDC

Not even the names Adolf or Hitler 

I know those names, especially the latter, are generally banned...at least here it is.

[markc]

  Yes, here in the states we can be fairly lay and "free speech" can be a common legal point brought up by people trying to name or keep their kids with unusual names.


 I through darts vs someone who was called Add by his team mates and a year or so after our first meeting I learned his real name was Adolf. Then he went on to explain how it was an old family name and he asked people just to call him Add to prevent any looks of confusion and problems.


 On the other hand if you have sometime you can look up parents naming one of their kids Ayaren Nation "Lastname" (I do not remember the last name right off the top of my head), a person who tried to change his name to a bunch of 0's and 1's as well as someone who wanted a bar-code for thier official name.
 MDC

[Cory Magel]

Also here in the USA from time to time a Judge is asked to make a legal change to a child's name because their given name could cause harm. In my state (Oregon) I do not know of any banned name lists but I do know that some countries and states in other countries do have such a thing.
MDC

Not even the names Adolf or Hitler 
I know those names, especially the latter, are generally banned...at least here it is.

I can't imagine a name being outright banned here in the US.  Maybe in the south... but there's no way it would be 'official' or 'law'.
Course, like markc, I live in the Pacific Northwest (Washington State) and, for the most part, we're about as tolerant as it gets (sometimes too much so).

[DragonReborn]

I must admit that Shadow World names in the beginning posed an obstacle to me. Some of them, I just can't get to sound right in my head (and I don't want to sit around trying to loudly pronounce "Andraax", "ANDRAAX" ... it might scare my wife).

Kulthea was alright. Sounded weird in the beginning, but now it's the new normal. K'ta' viiri strechted it... but I made it work in my head.
T'thaan, Ahn Sye Zanar, Ssoei Womiis and Ssoei Womuul. Seriously? These names were not intended for human vocal cords. Granted, they indeed weren't. For reading pleasure it can give someone a hard time to remember key characters and in a gaming session there is no guarantee that one doesn't stumble over one of those syllables. Makes you look drunk if you don't swing it in time.

[terefang]

Here in Austria/Europa certain given-names are banned unless you have proof of a non-offensive connection.

Eg.:

• God is strictly forbidden,
• Jesus is only allowed for spanish-language parents
• Adolf(shorted to Adi) is not strictly forbidden, but discoraged
• Aryan, Aria, etc are available for persian-language parents

You might find the generator below useful ...
http://generators.christopherpound.com/

[markc]

 I also like looking at movie credits for name ideas, especially older movies (1930-1950) but some of the newer movies I see also have some good ideas.
MDC

[metallion]

I must admit that Shadow World names in the beginning posed an obstacle to me. Some of them, I just can't get to sound right in my head (and I don't want to sit around trying to loudly pronounce "Andraax", "ANDRAAX" ... it might scare my wife).

Kulthea was alright. Sounded weird in the beginning, but now it's the new normal. K'ta' viiri strechted it... but I made it work in my head.
T'thaan, Ahn Sye Zanar, Ssoei Womiis and Ssoei Womuul. Seriously? These names were not intended for human vocal cords. Granted, they indeed weren't. For reading pleasure it can give someone a hard time to remember key characters and in a gaming session there is no guarantee that one doesn't stumble over one of those syllables. Makes you look drunk if you don't swing it in time.

I imagine even Vorig Kye winces every time a human tries to pronounce his name. Coming from a language made to be spoken by folks with a Dragon's hearing, there's likely nuances we can't even be aware of.

[jdale]

www.behindthename.com and surnames.behindthename.com are my go-tos for names, since there are extensive lists per language and you get meanings as well.

When I want a general sound from a language, but not a real name, I have some utilities that take whatever combination of lists from behindthename, put them through a blender, and spit out recombined names. Then pick the ones that have a sound I like. Currently I'm using one set that is based on a mix of Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, and Ukrainian, and another that is Kurdish, Mongolian, Slavic, Kyrgyz, and Kazakh. Not to mention more conventional ones that are pseudo English, Dutch, or Scottish. These give fairly distinctive sounds per region.

[Terry K. Amthor]

www.behindthename.com and surnames.behindthename.com are my go-tos for names, since there are extensive lists per language and you get meanings as well.

When I want a general sound from a language, but not a real name, I have some utilities that take whatever combination of lists from behindthename, put them through a blender, and spit out recombined names. Then pick the ones that have a sound I like. Currently I'm using one set that is based on a mix of Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, and Ukrainian, and another that is Kurdish, Mongolian, Slavic, Kyrgyz, and Kazakh. Not to mention more conventional ones that are pseudo English, Dutch, or Scottish. These give fairly distinctive sounds per region.

Neat, though I notice that the surnames site does not include Amthor. 

[terefang]

Neat, though I notice that the surnames site does not include Amthor. 

refer to this: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amthor

abridged: old german family name for someone living near or at the town/city gate
(german: am Tor == english: at Gate)

PS: still missing an answer to the original question!

[Terry K. Amthor]

PS: still missing an answer to the original question!

I've forgotten the question, and it's not obvious in the thread...

[markc]

I think they were looking for what influences, if there are any, your name choices (design) for your characters, but I am just guessing.
MDC

[egdcltd]

I think they were looking for what influences, if there are any, your name choices (design) for your characters, but I am just guessing.
MDC

Yes, that's pretty much it. Whether the different cultures/races had a specific influence on personal names - I suggested maybe Pern for the Cloudlords themselves.

[markc]

 Maybe you should list the various cultures/factions/races you are interested in and Terry and give you a Yay or a Nay as to if he remembers something influencing him.
  I also do not know what the legal ramifications would be if Terry said yes this influenced me a lot or that did, he might have to send Nicholas an email asking if he knows.
MDC

[egdcltd]

I also do not know what the legal ramifications would be if Terry said yes this influenced me a lot or that did, he might have to send Nicholas an email asking if he knows. [/font]
MDC

Hadn't thought of that. Well, if it's a real world influence as opposed to fictional, none. Otherwise, um, probably better not to share.

I think if you just went through things like the races that are on Shadow World that have had a decent number of individuals named, that would be a rough list.

[terefang]

Hadn't thought of that. Well, if it's a real world influence as opposed to fictional, none. Otherwise, um, probably better not to share.

I think if you just went through things like the races that are on Shadow World that have had a decent number of individuals named, that would be a rough list.

having a list of known (properly styled) names or a good known source, i could stick that into a word-confluxer and make a nice list to pick from for the players or npcs.

PS: even if its only for spitting out some gethyrean (not a good example).
PPS: i'll start with some and scan thru the text.

[egdcltd]

Hadn't thought of that. Well, if it's a real world influence as opposed to fictional, none. Otherwise, um, probably better not to share.

I think if you just went through things like the races that are on Shadow World that have had a decent number of individuals named, that would be a rough list.

having a list of known (properly styled) names or a good known source, i could stick that into a word-confluxer and make a nice list to pick from for the players or npcs.

PS: even if its only for spitting out some gethyrean (not a good example).

Yes, that's what I was after, sources so I could use them to make up a random name generator.

[terefang]

Yes, that's what I was after, sources so I could use them to make up a random name generator.

i already wrote such a generator (java7) cli which simply needs a source sample (txt) file as input.

i can put it online if requested.