Names in Golarion


Lost Omens Campaign Setting General Discussion


2 people marked this as a favorite.

One of the things I really like about the Pathfinder & Golarion info is the inclusion of sample names. However, the representative lists are fairly short.

Has anyone ID'd good naming sources for use in their Golarion-based campaigns, especially for the human ethnic groups?

The Exchange

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Try the Medieval Names Archive at www.s-gabriel.org and see what fits for a particular region you are looking at. It's part of SCA.

Edit: added in links.


I'm using Behind the Name a lot.


I invested in a huge baby-name book ten years ago for the sole purpose of mining it for character names/ideas for names. A World of Baby Names, Teresa Norman. Tens of thousands of names by culture, with definitions, etc.

It's been a super-valuable resource.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Ethnically, my preferecnes are:

Taldor: Greek names. Taldor seems akin to the Byzantine empire in a lot of ways, so I often play up the Greek infuluence. one of my noble hosues is the house of Paultros for example. I might slip an Obertus or two in for the V:tM fans (I loved the Revenant families)
Cheliax: Roman/Italian sounding names. Again, Rafastio, or Grimaldi would fit here.
Andoran: Not only the Greek/Taldor connection, but some Cheliax/Italian. Natives I give a more Germanic influence. Toss Zantosa and Enrathi here.
Osiron: PseudoEgyptian for the win.
Thuvia: Ignoring the urge to use Barsoomian names, pseudo Persian.
Qadria: Pseudo Arabic/maybe some Ottoman names.
Ulstav: I go Eastern European here. Danislav, Ducheski, and Bratovich. And of course Basarab. :-)


Matthew Morris wrote:

Ethnically, my preferecnes are:

Taldor: Greek names. Taldor seems akin to the Byzantine empire in a lot of ways, so I often play up the Greek infuluence. one of my noble hosues is the house of Paultros for example. I might slip an Obertus or two in for the V:tM fans (I loved the Revenant families)
Cheliax: Roman/Italian sounding names. Again, Rafastio, or Grimaldi would fit here.
Andoran: Not only the Greek/Taldor connection, but some Cheliax/Italian. Natives I give a more Germanic influence. Toss Zantosa and Enrathi here.
Osiron: PseudoEgyptian for the win.
Thuvia: Ignoring the urge to use Barsoomian names, pseudo Persian.
Qadria: Pseudo Arabic/maybe some Ottoman names.
Ulstav: I go Eastern European here. Danislav, Ducheski, and Bratovich. And of course Basarab. :-)

Thanks, Matt! This was the kind of correlation I was looking for.

Thanks to everyone else for the links to great name sites!

Dark Archive

1 person marked this as a favorite.

I use the Onamastikon site quite a bit.

Given that it's Golarion, and not 'Ancient Egypt,' I usually mix and match name elements until I get something that sounds cool to my ear, even if it would sound preposterous to a native speaker of whatever language I'm mangling ('cause I'm making an Osirioni, not an Egyptian!).


That's a great site! Thanks.


I'm putting names into Tablesmith and here is what I have done so far.

Varisian - Besides the given names, which get a higher chance of a hit, I used Gypsy names from Gygax's Ex Book of Names (GEBoN), D-Percent Bulgarian Names and D-Percent Romanian names.

Shoanti - Again, the suggested names from several official sources and then Celtic from GEBoN. I'm seeing that might not fit the best but not sure what else to use. Maybe Art of Wars American Indian names?

Taldan - I pulled the created Roman one in Tablesmith over but then also used Terra Ferrax's Roman names to add to it and also give more possibilities in patterns.

Chelish - then is Roman and Italian, pulling from modern as well as medieval.

(I have many sources for Roman names and so have combined many.)

Elves - Besides Elves of Golarion, I'm also using Terra Farrax's Elves, again with some good ideas for prefixes, suffixes and titles or nicknames in the patterns.

Half Elf - Either elf or human area from, as needed.

Kellids - Not sure what to do with this one yet other than source material.

Ulfen - Source material and I will be doing Norse and Viking for them, again from Art of War or others as I see them.

What I really want/need is to take what I have and make them fit. I have GEBoN, as mentioned, but also some name lists from various places. So, Gaelic from TF, various nationalities from D-Percent, and some other Art of War names. Anyone have any thoughts or do more with this zombie thread?

Thanks!

Jon


Okay, interesting premise:

At the moment, I have been naming people based on ethnic background, as mentioned above. However, are there any countries that have a national identity that have created their own names?

I'm wondering if a country like Ustalav is united enough with history such that it has many peoples but uses some common names?

Maybe the better examples are Galt and Andoran. I see Galt as France and would use medieval French names for them. Andoran, though, I could see as a place that many have gone for freedom and cast off their old ways to integrate into the country. Again, in that case, maybe there are many ethnic groups but they use similar names.

What do people think? Thanks!

Liberty's Edge

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Well, for my highest level character in PFS, Ellestron Makkarios, I took a Welsh first name and a Gaulish last name.

Amanar Bakare is a Thuvian ranger. His first name is Berber (Tamazight) for the constellation Orion and his last name is Egyptioan.

Cael Ardan, a refugee from Ramziran who would like to see Ramzir's head and body on a pike, has his name drawn from Celtic sources.

Kelannon, an elven rogue, has a name that is vaguely Celtic.

Tevieil Ellyllion is derived from a Hebrew word for world and Ellyllion, Middle Welsh for "Of the Elves"

Alarun Rachlav is a mixture of Norse and Slavic names for a Varisian/Ulfen witch.

Feel free to use a lot of different sources, and remember that people do move about on Golarion or from beyond. (Hey, at least we don't have many names like Mayor Charles Oliver O'Kane from Ravens Bluff in the Forgotten Realms. I thought that I could find that one in the Chicago phone book. ;) )

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Lost Omens Campaign Setting / General Discussion / Names in Golarion All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in General Discussion
God tier list