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Or names in general even.
I enjoy role-play. While I accept that there are gamers that don't want to get into a great deal of it while running time constraint scenario, I'm going to at least play it up in my head. Or better yet have it ready for when someone is willing to RP.
So the books give us common names for male and female. I see those as the "most popular names for the generation". Like those of us that went to school with eight Michaels and twelve Jennifers.
Are there any good resources for the world of Golarion that might give me a better idea what people are called? The half orc I made that is Keleshite I gave an Arabic name, but what about my Halfling Revolutionist?
Do I just give in? Do I become like two of the guys at a table I played recently; "Whitey the Fighter" and "Herobrine the Fighter".
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Names are important.
Here are the names of some of my characters:
Zrinka Twilight Female half-elf bard/cleric of Calistria. (That is her stage name.)
Sparrow Sundance Female human paladin/gunslinger
Trade Princess Na'idrahezade bint al-Djinn Female Qadiran swashbuckler/sorcerer
Professor Cosmo Berrythwaite, of the Korvosa Berrythwaites Male halfling lore oracle/archivist bard/gunslinger
Juniper Berrythwaite, of the Westcrown Berrythwaites Female halfling paladin/sorcerer/dragon disciple (all of my halflings have the last name Berrythwaite, all the male halflings have a name that ends in O—Keelo, Cosmo, Arlo, Giacomo, ...)
Elska Female human hunter from the Realm of the Mammoth Lords.
Zranashta Female Varisian arcanist (I like the "Zr" sound for Varisian characters)
I have seen a lot of dwarves named Rogar, and I think two had the last names Stonehand and Stonefist. I kind of like that there are common names around. I really like the name Rogar, also.
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The naming conventions are common, but not set in stone. My PFS characters for example are Xao Li Quin: human monk, Kahel Stormbender: human aerokinetic, Shardrena Treefairer: half elf sorcerer, Marak Cobbler: human spiritualist, and John Lee Glaze (not made yet but name and number reserved for once I do have the book needed for concept).
For last name a good naming convention can be taken from the middle ages. Namely that people are named after their profession, a description of where they hail from, or their parents profession. Alternately they may be named based on their parents.
Thor's full name is Thor Odinson for example, while his father is Odin Baurson. Rather then since there may be multiple people by the same name Tom might be known as "Tom from over the hill", or "Tom Overhill" for short. If his father was a barrel maker he might be Tom Cooperson, but if he took up blacksmithing he'd be known as Tom Smith.
Kahel is known as "Stormbender" because he manipulates the weather around him. At the moment it's just gusts of wind (air blast and basic aerokinesis) but eventually he'll be able to do more. I intend to eventually take Expanded Element: Air, and if he gets to a high enough level Expanded Element Water. Or might reverse that order.
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Strenella Alesia Lywellyn Went for a not quite Celtic feel. Sarkonian ancestry though not Sarkonian in upbringing.
Ambrose Demitrius Maximillan Dalsine Taldan and black sheep of that line. He is at core a family man and would do anything for them. However he feels the loss of position (he married for love).
Lucie Dalsine The above character's daughter. Lack of other names point out that she is not bothered by the loss of position and is happy about who she is. Note that they are different factions. She has all those middle names, but they are so unimportant to her that she possibly doesn't remember them.
Shem El Hazaar Groetus touched. I went for a desert feel, what a madman would need.
Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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I use Behind the Name and Behind the Surname to construct names for my characters.
For example, my tiefling bloatmage is Serkan Malak (Chief [lit. head blood] Angel)
My gnome barbarian who rides a whirlwind is Neil Markey (Cloud horse rider)
my gnome bard named "Gormheir" was kind of a mashed together name from some seperate irish name elements, to mean "Illustrious Height" (meaning either "very tall" or "the perfect height" depending on how you looked at it.
But sometimes I just go with the ironically fitting. My Ifrit gunslinger is named Flint Wheeler after two types of firing pan. (Flint lock and Wheel lock)
Some don't have surnames. My summoner is "the Golux" and his eidolon is "the Todal" which is a literary allusion that would be spoiled by adding a surname. (The Thirteen Clocks. Basically the The Princess Bride of 1950. Go read it if you haven't. )
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Even on Earth, naming conventions are not universal. Modern Iceland generally does not use family names. Family names didn't become universal in Finland until 1920. I've had students who (legally) had only one name, which was given to them at birth -- and, no, I have no idea how they open a bank account.
There's actually nothing wrong with "Whitey the Fighter,".... in fact, he probably drinks at the same tavern with Shakespeare's "Snug the Joiner."
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Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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Even on Earth, naming conventions are not universal. Modern Iceland generally does not use family names. Family names didn't become universal in Finland until 1920. I've had students who (legally) had only one name, which was given to them at birth -- and, no, I have no idea how they open a bank account.
There's actually nothing wrong with "Whitey the Fighter,".... in fact, he probably drinks at the same tavern with Shakespeare's "Snug the Joiner."
In the Mabinogion, there is a segment where one of the characters demands that they open the gates to Arthurs court in the name of all his knights. Individually. By name. It is a very, very long list. If you get your hands on a copy where the names have been translated, you find out that some of arthurs knights were named things like "Pig, son of Boar", "Strong, son of Mighty", "Nine, son of Seventh." (I kid you not.)
So yeah, names were either a lot simpler back then, or the bards that passed down the Mabinogion periodically got drunk and just started tossing stuff in there to see if anyone was listening.
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I have a growing litter of kitsune swashbucklers named de'Bonaire from Taldor.
Mom didn't know dad was a kitsune. Had all the whole litter of kids at once. Swore if he ever touched her again she'd *redacted* his *redacted*. So now they manage an over the pole trade route from tien to Taldor. The distance should be enough to keep him safe... he hopes.
I gave my plane-touched characters surnames based on their ancestry.
Valeria's surname, Ketsa, is derived from Quetzalcoatl (I think I'm spelling that right), the inspiration for the coatl.
Voren's is trickier to explain. First, he doesn't actually have any surname he's aware of, but paizo.com wouldn't let me get away with that. So, I turned to a fiendish root language (Lothan)I came up with for a setting of my own. Honestly, it's just English backwards because I was too lazy to come up with another complete language. Anyway, since his fiendish progenitor is associated with black flame, I gave him the surname Kcalberif.
Also, the Races books from 3.5 D&D all have handy name-building charts that I use fairly often.
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Except for characters that only get nicknames, all of my characters have both first names and last names. Having said that, last names are rarely used.
There's two exceptions, characters introducing themselves to add pizzazz: "James Stalwart, at your service", "Buck. Buck Beastwood", and characters that refer to themselves by their last name as if it was their first name (because nobody ever calls them by their first name).
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It definitely bothers me that the most integral element of the game has come to be seen as somehow optional. If you can't roleplay, that's not a hanging offense, but it means you should want to improve, not scream sour grapes and try to swap out the fundamentals of the entire game.
No, Allerum; you're asking the right questions, and it's other people's failing that they don't care. Never "give in."
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While I don't always sit down and come up with a unique personality for my characters, one does usually develop. Xao for example has a firm belief in the sanctity of life, so against sentient foes he rarely uses lethal force. Only when someone proves beyond a shadow of a doubt they're beyond redemption will he kill. Which means in 90% of combat encounters he uses non-lethal attacks even if lethal force would be faster. In fact the only sentients he's deliberately set out to kill in battle were gnolls, and that was only after he discovered the partly eaten remains of a merchant in their camp. Before seeing that he was merely trying to knock them out.
Little touches like this are what real roleplaying can stem from. Initially I was doing non-lethal attacks cause he's lawful good and there was no proof the thugs were actually criminals rather then defending their homes from a perceived threat. This over several sessions evolved into a code of ethics that values both justice and mercy in equal measures.
A good name can also be a doorway into forming the personality of a character. So you've got a character who for some reason you named Mimmsy Williams De'Pimssy Everalar. Why does he have such a long and haughty (even if slightly silly) name? Maybe he's a noble, fifth son of a duke? Or maybe he's the estranged brother who's sibling now runs a nation wide trade caravan? How does he feel about being cast out from his family? Why did he join the Pathfinder Society?
Or maybe backstory gets sparked by something else? In my lodge's regular Standard sessions I'm playing Kahel Stormbender. Someone else is playing a hydrokinetic named Kalhan Aquatis. The given names are quite similar, why? In-game we ended up RPing it as half siblings who didn't know about each other till one saw a pendent the other was wearing. Again, RP that stemmed from good names.
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Why-Knee Face the cowardly wizard
Depeche Mode barbarian/alchemist pesh addict
Coreran Ger, My Core Ranger.
Deltronovan Bonaparte the 18th Samurai of the cockatrice braggart extreme(My take on PFS zap brannigan).
Without Surnames
Oooook my 5 int separatist cleric of shax, He only worships the envy side. Not smart enough to remember his last name. How he spells is name is an extended mobius with and x with a line through it. Although outside of his knowledge his full name is Octavious Montabon.
Pontificor, sorcerer. Orphaned gnome. So no last name
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Some of my characters's names:
Lucija Lal Rani, Gnome Summoner: I based her off the Conjurer from underappreciated computer game Dark Legions, so she's got the whole "egomaniacal dark sorceress" thing going for her, and I wanted to work something along "Lucifer" lines into her - so, a name like "Lucy." I looked up unfamiliar cultural variants of that name from all over the world, and picked "Lucija," the Polish version. For last name, I wanted a name like "red queen" (I'd initially wanted to represent her with a particular red chess queen from an old chess set of my family's, but nobody knows where it is), so I found "Rani Lal" in Hindi, which I considered reasonable since she's Qadiran. Her middle name is "Culexus," a cool word I originally picked up from a WARHAMMER catalog, then found not too long after that in my middle school Latin textbook, but forgot the meaning of for some time afterward. Looking it up now, Google Translate says it means "mosquito." Hmmm....
Spenser Pellinore Quixote The Last, Marquis de Exupery, Human Cavalier: This one's much more straightforward. "Quixote" is an obvious reference, and "Spenser" refers to Edmund Spenser, famed author of The Faerie Queene (and the character is indeed a little feytouched). The middle name "Pellinore" refers of course to the goofy (at least as portrayed in the T. H. White novel and the Disney movie based on it) Arthurian knight, "The Last" is just an odd, somewhat destiny-invoking play on "so-and-so the 13th" and such, and "Exupery" refers to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince.
Vladek Tehuty-Cabal Odradek, Elf Witch: This is a character name I'd had in my head for some kind of offbeat magical sort for some time. "Vladek" is just an Eastern European name I like the sound of, and "Odradek" is a bizarre creature from a Franz Kafka short story. "Tehuty" is a more true-to-the-source variant of "Thoth," and the suffix "-Cabal" is a sort of ongoing personal reference I've got going with several of the archmage-type characters I've made since middle school, like there's a kind of multiverse-spanning spiritual "family" of individuals like this.
Kali Altzairu, Human Monk: She's a Kuthite Hungry Ghost Monk, so as you can imagine, not the nicest person you'll ever meet. "Kali" is an easy reference to get, and "Altzairu" translates roughly from Euskadi (the Basque language) to "woman of steel." Even though Euskadi is a language completely alien to all others, certainly to the Romance languages it's surrounded by, I guess I figured it wasn't a bad fit for a Chelaxian, since Cheliax is kind of part of Golarion's "Romance nations" set (and they probably paved over some obscure older cultures in the region as well, so maybe that was passed down). Her last name was originally "Scharon," as a combination of Charon the ferryman and Israeli general Ariel Sharon, but I eventually concluded I didn't want to play a character, even a far-from-heroic one, named for a modern-day war criminal.
Dr. Zephyrus Vitruvian, Elf Alchemist: This one's pretty complicated. I initially conceived of this character and another one (see below) around the same time and as the same character - a kind of "V for Vendetta" character who raised his fist not only against mundane tyranny, but also that of the gods themselves. That was more funneled into the other character, but the name "Vitruvian" stayed with this one, "Vitruvian" being a word I've come to associate with mortals who challenge the divine by way of da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" being a kind of symbol of secular humanism. The name "Zephyrus" came later, and it's me being cute. In addition to sounding a little like "Severus" (since he's an Alchemist), it more importantly refers to the character's being a Reanimator - and "Zephyrus" is the *WEST* wind! ;)
The Amazing Vanzetti, Aasimar Sorcerer: This is the other "militant atheist" character I mentioned above, a renegade Razmiran Priest whose contempt for his former master extends to the true gods as well. Like I said, this is a sort of "V for Vendetta" homage character, hence "Vanzetti" as an anarchist whose name starts with V (it also helps that this character's Sorcerer Bloodline is Martyr, which goes with Sacco and Vanzetti being scapegoats). "The Amazing" goes with "The Amazing Randi," as well as his general "flamboyant showman" persona. His real, full name is Julian Leroux Vanzetti, "Julian" being a reference to Julian Assange and to Emperor Julian the Apostate (PBUH), and "Leroux" referring to Gaston Leroux, original creator of the Phantom of the Opera, another Chaotic, explosives-wielding (at least in some iterations), mask-wearing character.
Zeno Loxley, Elf Wizard/Fighter: This character is an aspiring Arcane Archer, so "Zeno" refers to Zeno's Arrow (I know, kind of a terrible name for an archer if thought about a certain way, but it still refers to an arrow that breaks the laws of physics, so a better name for an magical archer), and "Loxley," of course refers to Robert of Loxley AKA Robin Hood.
Sihir Aneh Yang Mengembara Alam Semesta, Wayang Wizard: I'm afraid I've forgotten what this means, aside from "Sihir Aneh" meaning "strange/mysterious wizard;" it's something I put through Google Translate in Javanese, the language of the real-world homeland of wayang shadow puppetry.
Xukong, Dhampir Magus: This is a very "shrouded in darkness and mystery" type of character, and "Xukong" is simply Chinese for "the void," the character being of the jiangshi-spawn variety of dhampir.
Nemesis Melek, Aasimar Cleric: She's a negative-channeling fire priestess, so another "badass gal" type of character; Nemesis is the Greek goddess of retributive justice (so a bit of reverence to her upper-planar heritage, as well as to her "fall,"), and Melek/Moloch is of course the (either rightly infamous or wrongfully maligned, depending on who you ask) Canaanite god of fire.
Ṣ̄ilpin k̄hxng ngeā thī̀ xāṣ̄ạy xyū̀, Wayang Bard: This is another product of putting a long strange phrase into Google Translate, this time in Thai; again, I forget what it means, aside from "silpin" meaning "black."
Nectanebo the Vulture, Elf Occultist: Nectanebo II was the final native Egyptian Pharaoh, and it sounds like a pretty good one while he lasted. The epithet "The Vulture" refers to his affinity for necromancy, the fact that his necromancy Implement is a flowing overcoat that might kind of make his head look like a vulture's (even though he's not bald), the fact his activities as a Pathfinder are kind of vulture-like (in the best of ways), and the fact that I have a longstanding soft spot for vultures.
Xanac Candledark, AKA P̄hī xảnāc theīyn s̄īdả
, Wayang Psychic: This is Thai for "ghostly black candle power," and my idea for this character was a kind of play on fan-favorite Freakazoid! villain Candlejack.
Honorable Mentions for characters beyond Golarion:
Tvashtri Abdul-Khasis, Tiefling Clockwork Mage: This is my resurrection of the beautifully byzantine Clockwork Mage from the 2nd Edition Sha'ir's Handbook put into practice, and his name reflects that. Tvashtri is the Hindu god of crafts and ingenuity and engineering and such, "Khasis" refers to Kothar-wa-Khasis, Canaanite god of much the same fields, and "Abdul" is of course the Arabic prefix for "slave of" (thus making no sense as a name of its own under any circumstances), so the idea being that his diabolic ancestor was originally brought to the Material Plane to serve a magical smith sort.
Theoclastus Muspelwinter Qadathra Ben Thoneph Von Junst Flying Pyramid, Ph.D., Esq., AKA the Skiron Slayer
, Tiefling Antiquarian: The Antiquarian is a Lovecraft homage class made on these boards that I recommend checking out, and this was my playtest character for it; his full name is me being very silly and draws on too many sources to mention, including pseudo-Latin, Old Norse, Lovecraft references, and of my own imagination; his nickname, "The Skiron Slayer" or just "Skiron," refers to the Greek spirit of the northwest wind, supposedly a bringer of plague and drought, so a reference to how his victims (this is a Chaotic Evil character who first appeared in a hellish prison demiplane, you see) were shriveled up by his magic.
and of course, Sasithorn Xuwicha Thaang Loom, Wayang Shadowcaster: My gem of a success out of Google Translate, roughly translated from Thai to mean "the moon of excellent education who can escape from a black hole" (yes, "Loom" is Thai for "black hole" - isn't that cool?!?).
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My first, and favorite, PFS character is a Chelaxian noble-woman that I originally named Imperia Korva Alazario. To be entirely honest, I was very new to the setting at the time, so I just flipped through a copy of Humans of Golarion and threw together a few of the standard Chelaxian names that I liked.
Over time, I grew unhappy with the way her full name rolled off the tongue, so I eventually changed her surname to Marcello (Mar-che-low), which was derived - or rather, distilled - from a handful of sources. In particular, the "che" sound gave it a bit of an Italian feel, which invoked a particular character from a Visual Novel I greatly enjoy (Beatrice the Golden Witch from "Umineko no Naku Koro ni", if you're cutrious), which in turn invoked Dante's Inferno. Given that Imperia was designed as a devil-summoner, and an unrepentant follower of Asmodeus, the new name "clicked" in a way the old one never had. One quick retcon of having just ended a fruitless marriage to a lesser cousin of the Alazario family, and she went "back" to her own family's surname.
The Marcello family has since grown substantially, though most of the characters I've dreamt up have yet to see play...
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Venture-Captain, Texas—Austin
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I usually skip surnames on my characters, except for my tiefling. At level 1 when I was still trying to figure out what his class was going to be, I rolled him up as a Magus to go through citadel of flame.
Another guy sits by me whom I have never met and I ask what he is playing, and he tells me that it is a tiefling magus.We immediately decided that are characters were brothers, so I took his characters surname since I didnt have one.We spent he whole session trying to one up each other, steal kills, and roll better skill checks and kept track of who won (he did by 1 freaking skill check!)
One of my favorite sessions and me and him are good PFS friends now
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It comes and goes. It really depends on how important the past is to a character. Most of mine live in the present (and the future).
I've got a gnome- -Chomm Skee, and a teifling named after a Skyrim dungeon, Avan Chanzel, an elf Barbarian named after a famous mathematician, Bõrel, and a Tien Halfling named with a portmanteau of Japanese MLB players, Sawatashi Hasegawa.
At the same time, there's Janus Issilix (of Westcrown), Jillia Tennille (of Almas), Violetta Traviatta-Infini (of small-town Cheliax), and Lehnæighyah Variyah (elven, via Varisia).
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I try to put some effort into my character names, though they're usually not that great. Most have surnames, though not all. Looking through my list, there are two that I didn't give surnames to originally for no good reason, but I can explain it in story pretty easily.
My PC's worth mentioning:
The Brightsword siblings - Humans from a long line of paladins and minor nobility in Absalom. Brightsword just seemed like a good fantasy paladin name. I have 3 PC siblings in this family. The black sheep of the family is a barbarian who goes by the nickname "Mash". He gets embarrassed when fellow Pathfinders find out that his full name is Reginald Bartholomew Brightsword VII. The cleric of the family is Sister Isabella. She still has her surname, but her calling as a priestess of Sarenrae is the most important thing in her life. Catherine Brightsword is the eldest sibling, very much dedicated to carrying on the family traditions. She's both the paladin of this generation, and proudly wears her family surname for all to see.
My gnomes - Yzarctihstab Garblenarf and Kelladorf Wizzlefarb. I think it was in Gnomes of Golarion that it said that gnome surnames often don't survive a single lifetime, let alone get passed down through generations, because gnomes will change their name on a whim. These names just sounded silly enough to be appropriate for stereotypical Golarion gnomes. Now that Yzarctihstab is an official Baron of Taldor, the Garblenarf name might last longer than most gnome surnames.
Corin LaDrock - I have no idea where I got this name. He's a human from Cheliax, but his surname is that of the Andoren man who freed him from slavery. Orphaned and enslaved as a child, he never knew his family surname.
Seamus Luckleaf - My leprechaun wannabe PC. He's a halfling cleric of "Lady Luck" (Desna), with an Irish first name and accent. Like the Brightswords, I went with the fantasy surname convention (popularized by Dragonlance, also seen in Order of the Stick) of combining two short words to make a last name. In this case, he's a halfling whose family's halfling luck is legendary, so having the word "luck" in there just seemed necessary.
Azkadellia - Named for a TV character whose surname is never mentioned. I didn't intentionally avoid giving her a surname. I guess I just didn't think of it at the time. But given that she hated the only family she ever knew, abandoning her family surname and just referring to herself as "The Sorceress Azkadellia" fits her personality.
Qassir - halfling from Qadira, whose name is the Arabic word for "short". Again, I don't know why I didn't think to give him a surname. But he's trying to break into the Qadiran human tradition of dervish swordsmen, so neglecting his halfling roots kinda fits for him.
Norowareta Nagagorjo - This one's got a story behind his name. First off, it uses the Japanese naming convention of putting the surname first. Nagagorjo comes from the list of common nagaji names. His backstory involves being banished from his village and forced to give up his family name when he started babbling in the language of devils as a child (oracle with the tongues curse). So his family name was replaced with Norowareta, which is Japanese for "cursed". Thus, his name is literally Nagagorjo the Cursed.
Green Beard the Pirate - Because what else would you call a half orc pirate??? Obviously a nickname. I think I gave him an orc sounding real name, but I don't even remember what it is.
Hoshi Daisho - Daisho is the Japanese term for a two weapon sword fighting style, usually with a katana and wakizashi, similar to how this Japanese themed character actually fights.
Celia - No surname. I was just lazy on this one. I named my sylph PC after the sylph from Order of the Stick.
Molos Pinktusk - Tiefling from an orc nation. The orcs call his family Pinktusk, because they have pink skin like humans, but big tusks like orcs.
Yoshi Yamamoto - Based on very common Japanese names. Yamamoto is one of the most common Japanese surnames, and it means "base of the mountain". Yoshi is a common male name meaning "the best". He's a fey foundling Minkian aasimar, named for where he was found, and the fact that he was the best looking baby they'd ever seen.
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Alrighty, my character's with surnames (not all of them)
Krakard Vakurt Andoran-born half-orc fighter who specializes in the use of the bastard sword. Name was something that I figured sounded right for a half-orc.
Inspel Veskel Jr. Taldane Elven Magus. Ditto for Elf here
Mavis Crabtree Human Musket Master from Alkenstar. I can't remember why, but at the time I thought Crabtree suited her, and I wanted to name someone Mavis
Balthazar Gideon Aasimar hunter with a Velociraptor companion named Casper. Casper and Balthazar pertain to two of the three wise men from the bible, whereas Gideon may have also been biblical in inspiration, but at this point I don't quite remember.
Wyra Fraym Gnome Evoker Arcanist. Her name is actually derived from Wire Frame, as there was another Gnome Arcane spellcaster in the lodge named Pixel, but the last name also works as a misheard pronunciation of flame.
Zeniin "Storm Piper" Slimpiina His birth name came from a Gnome to english dictionary whose location I have forgotten, whereas his nickname comes from an audio mix I used to fall asleep to, essentially pan-pipes and thunder.
Albert Litchfield the Fourth Demon-born Tiefling Bloodrager. His name came from a musing when I saw a street called Litchfield Lane. I thought it was an interesting, if somewhat silly sounding name, and came up with the idea of some well-born person named Albert Litchfield the Fourth, from there I applied it to the character and fleshed out his backstory.
A lot of the Dwarven names I have are derived from a Dwarven dictionary, and a lot more names are simply things I came up with that sounded right. There are some who have names based specifically out of a language (Kr̥pāṇa "Pan" Torikkusu's name is derived from Arabic and Japanese, Bard Ulf Frederik from Nordic, Dr. Markov Von Dunkelstien from eastern European, Leon Nuru-Ode from Egyptian and Latin)
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Did OP ever get a source for Golarion naming conventions? I must've missed it in this wall, no...bastion of text.
I'm actually not sure there should be one that covers all names. Or even a majority for that matter. If the real world is any indication (and in it we only have one race of creatures giving things names - that we know of), any "source" we point at will be wrong.
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I have a few with and few without surnames:
Saphira Ainara Blair, Human Bloodrager, Absalom born, didn't know about human ethnicities back then. Named after the high-priestess of Cayden Cailean in Absalom, Ainara meaning swallow and Blair meaning battlefield.
Alma Makvala, Tiefling Arcane Trickster, I like the name Alma and wanted a surname that fit.
Shamira Kellid Mammoth Rider, I always envisioned the mammoth lords as using first name only and maybe adding their following if they were among strangers.
Gudrun Kellid Lorewarden, same as with Shamira.
Kaja Astadottir Ulfen Oracle, standard icelandic namescheme :)
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Even when there is a naming convention, it's not 100% set in stone. As I mentioned, I usually use the naming convention of "description of where one lives, what they do, or who they are related to". At least I do so for commoners. This is a good stand by naming convention.
When making characters I envision from a "Far east" type land I either use a Chinese or Japanese sounding name. Xao Li Quin is one example of such a name.
Other times I chose a name based on personality, goals, or other intangibles.
Occasionally I don't bother with a surname at all. Many people in the middle ages didn't have one, especially if they were the only "Carl" in the town or village.
And sometimes I pick a name that "sounds cool".
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Most of my characters have surnames:
Ferious Thune, my first PFS character and so named before I was aware of House Thrune, thus the accidental similarity. He's my only seeker/Venture Captain, and he's currently eating where to open his lodge. He also had almost the least thought into his original background, though he has grown a personality over time. Mainly that involves an intense hatred of Harpies.
Sessel, no surname on my -2. I made him hastily before I knew I could run a pregen and before the 1st level rebuild rules came in. He, too, has developed a personality over time involving being a human raised by Dwarves who tries to (often somewhat offensively) act like a dwarf.
Mariko Kagashima, loyal servant of the Lantern Lodge turned spy for Taldor, turned spy for the Sovereign court. I wanted a japanese name for my ninja character, which seemed to fit her Tian-min origins.
Rasmarr, no surname. As a nagaji former slave, I figured he may not have one (or may not have one he chooses to use).
Baeleron Sul, my Shadow Lodge (always!) turned Silver Crusade fighter. I just liked the cadence of the name.
Taurnil Melwasul, and elf stricken by the Black Blood of Orv. Completely made up last name. Or maybe I got it from an elven name generator. I just liked the sound of it.
Lalla Kaslov, a Varisian Kapenia Dancer, so I went with a slavic/Roma sounding name.
Mr. Sin (not the message board poster of the same name), my gnome investigator. He was modeled in part after a character from classic Doctor Who which uses the same name. In his case, I've actually never come up with his given name. Mr. Sin is probably something he chose for himself after the fact, anyway.
Warwick Cailean, a decidedly not noble Taldan bard who was raised in an orphanage run by the church of Cayden Cailean. As is common in those cases, he took the surname Cailean. Plus, he's a drunk.
Siddig al'Bashir, my Qadiran paladin. His name is a combination of the actor Alexander Siddig and his character from Deep Space 9, Julian Bashir. Also, he's a good times paladin.
Stelio, no surname. A Varisian half-orc Sczarni turned Exchange. A former bill collector for the Sczarni (Enforcer Intimidate build). Loosely modeled and named after Stelio Kontos from American Dad, thus the exclusion of his surname.
And I've got a couple of blob characters without definite names yet.
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Just being called "Bob" doesn't cut it anymore.
I, Marv, feel that single plain names and an epithet can make quite the statement. Besides my father had no surname being an Orc and my Mom was forbidden from using hers considering her marriage to an orc.
She made up for it by naming me after her father.
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I have a character who was once a Taldan thief known as Roberto the Bold. He stole from the wrong dragon's horde and was cursed as punishment.
He is now known as Bob the Kobold. He was told he could be turned back if he performed a miracle in service to good dragonkind. Instead, he's been drinking his way across Taldor up until recently.
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Nonnie Kaneis: Nonnie Kaneis is an assumed name. Nonnie is short for Anonymous and Kaneis (κανείς) is Greek for Nobody, if Google Translate is to be believed. His real name is Dorsin Salic. I honestly don't know how I came up with that one, but I like the sound of it.
Sazzle Verona: Sazzle is a pun on the Sawsall power tool. I liked the sound of Verona as a surname with Sazzle. Sazzle's dislike for his name is one factor that fuels his rage.
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Lafethalyn Tahlsar My dead half elf witch was named with the help of a random elf name generator from the pages of dragon magazine, it is supposed to mean "Moon Healing Bolt Blade Seeker" in elven.
Andraste My aasimar oracle of life I found her name with behind the name and did not steal it from dragon age. Additionally, she has a last name, but is forbidden from using it by her Chelish family due to being an aasimar.
Rinne My human priestess of Razmir is named after a character I used to roleplay in high school. Her name comes from the Japanese word for reincarnation.
Talfryn Yea I don't know where I got that name from. He's an aasimar eldritch knight.
Marcèl Lebeda is a noble swashbuckler from the house of Lebeda in Brevoy.
Gløry my spellscar drifter (Cavalier) needed a name after I built him at the table before a game, he adventured with a hard named Hope. We went in with hope and glory, we came out with Gløry carrying Hope.
Glyndower is a placeholder for my future Undine PC, I got the name from behind the name.
Rune is my harrower, it means secret. Also, he is a tattooed Varisian, so he is covered in runes.
Speaks with spirits My Shoanti Shaman.
Eirlys is my Dhampir Arcanist, pretty sure I got this name from behind the name as well.
Ceirwen Ulfen Shaman idk if I got that name from behind the name of not.
And that's just about all my PFS characters.
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Venture-Agent, Netherlands—Utrecht
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Saa Basara is an Aasimar Osiriani Cleric of Gozreh. Kinda out of place. Saa means "wise man" in some language, I forgot which. Basara had a meaning as well, I think, but I forgot. Either that or I liked the sound of all those a's.
Fosco Overhill is a Halfing Cavalier. Overhill sounds nice and sunny, which I like about him.
Zaigan Rifrey is an Aasimar Bard. Rifrey sounded exotic and snooty enough for a Bard.
Sasaya Inyoka is a Nagaji Ninja. I took his first name from a Magic card. "Inyoka" means "snake" in some language, I forgot which.
Samandriel Autumnvale is an Elf Druid. I liked the moody tone of "Autumnvale."
Thurston Tyndall is a Half-Orc Inquisitor. I just liked the name Thurston, and "Tyndall" rolled out of a random name generator. I liked the alliteration.
Lux Cassius Caulfield is a Half-Orc Paladin. Both Lux and Cassius are suggested named for Paladins in the Dungeon World game, and I liked both too much not to use them. Cassius isn't his middle name, it's part of his first name: Lux Cassius. Again, I liked the alliteration with Caulfield. Don't know how I came up with that name, I've probably read it somewhere.
Vanovar Taleishin is a Human Cleric. Both names came out of a random name generator. I had absolutely no inspiration for that one.
Brecht Volkna is a Half-Orc Slayer. Volkna also came out of an RNG, and it just sounded slayer-y to me.
Cassander Greenleaf is a Half-Elf Occultist. I rebuilt him from a Halfling Druid and decided to keep the last name. I'd probably have chosen a different name had he started out as an Occultist.
Seshiro Salazar is a Nagaji Cleric. Seshiro is also from a Magic card, Salazar sounded exotic and snake-y enough.
For Overhill and Autumnvale, I used a random name generator that gave me certain pre- and suffixes and I mixed and matched whichever I liked.
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I started playing trying to avoid phonically difficult names, and surnames. Part of the idea was we are a crack team of agents going into life threatening situations, my Pathfinder wants you to remember his name and to clearly speak it in the heat of battle. So hence we got:
Tem, the First. I imagine this orc was going through the bureaucracy of the Molthune military and immigration;
Official: "Whats your name?"
Tem: "Tem"
Official: "Tem who?"
Tem: "Is there another Tem in this camp? No? then, Tem the First"
Joe. Another intentional omission of the surname.
VC: "Joe, Cleric of Desna, will be the fourth agent for this mission"
Pathfinder: "Joe who?"
VC: "Joe who works at the pub on 4th street on Sundays and Mondays."
Rok. This dwarf druid got made fun of so many times for being stupid that he started calling himself Rok, not understanding the insult: smart like rock.
Jack Pineglade. The first character with a surname, from the esteemed Pineglade family.
Bruun the Wall of -----. This is my next character, and I think he'll be named after his first memorable fight eg: the Wall of Kortos Mounts.
Yan Barga (Yanislaw Dumavic Barga) - Issian Human. My Ranger in Kingmaker. Adopted and raised by a Cheliaxian/Garundi Sarenrae-worshipping merchant family. Given the name Yanislaw or "Yan" for short, to better blend with the Brevoyan people.
Danielle Montag - My Tiefling Witch of Varisian origins. I always imagined Varisia to be a stand in for mid-south-eastern Europe i.e The Balkan, Romania, Switzerland, Greece, Malta, Czech Republic, Slovakia etc. Danielle is "Swiss". She's played as a side character in Kingmaker.
Flynn Rollins - Kitsune Swashbuckler/Barbarian for Skulls & Shackles. Grew up as an orphan, an thus have only periphery knowledge of the Kitsune Tian origins. His human shape has a very ambiguous ethnicity. The yellow Fox eyes and red-ish hair, does not help.
Raksha Akeela - My upcoming Shoanti human Cleric of Gorum for Rise of the Runelords. Named after two of the wolves who appeare in Rudyard Kipling's the Jungle book. She is of Lyrune Quah, the Moon clan. There is a theme here.
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Might as well make a proper contribution. Only proper surnames though.
* Vasco Cantige (Taldane)
* Ayrol Meandras (ditto)
* Perrin d'Auseil (Chel)
* Freki Ironblood (Kodarite)
* Ekewadu Oditobe (Zenji)
* Paurun Bindrani (Jalmerani)
* Dien Kommienezuspadt Iriannaleesa Roughchannel Weefiresoul (Wispilite)
* Vayu Dhatri (Korvosan Vudrani)
* Bodie Werrun (Ustalavi)
* Feruza Umid Kadam (Kara)
* Subath Usermeru (Osiriani)
* Gustov Lebeda (adopted)
Venture-Lieutenant, Alaska—Anchorage
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I have the following characters with surnames:
Lord Henric Carnes(Varisian originally of Andoran now of Taldor)
Razvan Carnes (Varisian, Andorian,brother of the above)
Dorian Tilernos (Taldane Paladin form Last Wall)
Solomon Tilernos (Taldane, brother of the above of Mendev)
Waldur Wyrmson (Ulfen from the Land of the Linorm Kings)