I frequent a good number of tabletop gaming sites, as well as writer and scifi/fantasy storytelling and worldbuilding forums, and one common trend I see popping up repeatedly is new, or even veteran GMs and writers asking “How do I come up with good place / character names?”
If pulling fake words out of your head does not come naturally, building a living world can become quite daunting. But the reality is there a several simple “hacks” which make simple naming a breeze. I’m going to lay out some good starting places here.
To be clear, none of these tips are true conlang, by which I mean we are not concerned with complex language rules, grammar, or even consistency. Today we are simply going to focus on quickly creating names and phrases around a theme.
Method 1: Real World Names
The simplest way to deal with having to make up names and place-names, is not to make them up at all. Most of us draw a good deal of cultural influence from real world history and places when we develop our stories, and you can do the same with names. Has Game of Thrones’ Dorne got you interested in medieval Spain? Good. Let’s draw on that:
Google Maps is your best friend. Virtually the entire world is mapped and at your fingertips. Zoom in on any rural location and swipe the names of small towns your players/readers wont recognize. Zoom in on a major city and swipe the names of streets and plazas. Rivers, mountains, and more, if you name it, it’s likely on a map.
The suburbs and rural areas around Madrid.
The Medieval Names Archive by the Academy of Saint Gabriel is a literal treasure trove of naming examples from historical record. It’s broken up by location, time period, sex and often even surnames vs. given names and others. All of the names in this resource are from actual texts, birth and death records, etc. of the time and culture you wish to draw on.
This is also a great method for when you find yourself GM-ing on the fly. We are seldom far from a tablet or laptop, so bookmark these pages and wing-it!
Method 2: Adapting Existing Language
Is taking real places names verbatim to literal for you? Maybe you want to draw on a combination of influences. If you’re a writer, you may worry about existing names being recognized. Or perhaps you simply live in southern California and Spanish names are too familiar. This next concept takes a little more work, but it will give you more unique results.
Google Translate, while know to be less that perfect at it’s actual job, is a fantastic starting place for examining the fundamental sounds of a language. Paste in a line of text and it will spit you out a rendition in the language you desire.
If you want to adapt specific phrases, try different versions of them until you have something that sounds good. Don’t be afraid to try synonyms, or to break phrases down into something similar sounding, but not an actual translation. Lets suppose your characters are on their way to meet Edward, who rules from a mighty fortress atop a fiery mountain:
It took a few phrasings to find one that I liked.
“Rey de las Tierras del Volcan” can be a mouthful at the game table, and players tend to forget complex names. To solve this, I like to use a mix of English (or your native tongue) and foreign languages. This combines the ease of familiarity with the excitement of the exotic. Edward -> Eduardo is easy enough. King -> Rey on the other hand is unnecessary. Let’s keep his title in the realm of the familiar, so, King Eduardo. For the name of his mountain fortress, lets simplify the phrase by simply removing a few syllables and letters: Tier el Volcan. The Spanish vibe remains, but the name is now your own.
If you want to take this one step further, grab a notebook, and take a good look at a translated paragraph. This is especially useful if you want to create a few language snippets, but without the knowledge or time requirements of an actual conlang:
What is important here is not the words themselves, but the letters and sound groupings. Jot down the letters sounds you see, and make note of the ones you do not. From this example you can see that many words end in vowels, and that there are many combinations of long words connected by one or two short words. Then it is just a matter of grabbing snippets of words to create your new names:
“Timon de Stramed” “Hedar va tode Morgento” “Temensa” Mumedad i du Presor”
Is this nonsense? Absolutely, but it’s nonsense of the quick and easy variety. If you wish to blend more than one real-world influence, simply repeat the process with the second language and take elements from both.
Whether you are creating names, local jargon, or even the words of a spell, simple language creation can be fun and easy. By following these simple ideas I hope you will find yourself not only relieved of the stress of making up fitting names for your setting, but beyond that, perhaps taking your first steps into discovering the fun of words, sounds and language. I myself use these techniques routinely at for gaming, writing, and even my early stages of a conlang start out very similar to Method 2 as I establish my vocal sounds and patterns.
Questions, comments? Hit me up below, or on my various social media – and happy worldbuilding!
Check this space every Wednesday for new updates and musings!
Creating Character and Place Names - A Conlang-ish Primer. #amwriting #dnd #worldbuilding I frequent a good number of tabletop gaming sites, as well as writer and scifi/fantasy storytelling and worldbuilding forums, and one common trend I see popping up repeatedly is new, or even veteran GMs and writers asking "How do I come up with good place / character names?"
