You know, the most generic names in your setting. The ones where you'll find a dozen people with the same name? I'm trying to think up suitably generic sounding names for a character of mine.
I dont have any. If somebody who isnt supposed to have a name is asked for it by a player I just make one up on the spot.
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For surnames, it's simple - just grab a common occupation, like miller, smith, or tailor - you know, the ones every tiny backwater village has. Look here for a bit more on that. This blog post also should provide some ideas for profession unrelated surnames. Note: Most surnames started as description and thus shouldn't apply to too many people per village: Since a village probably has only one smith and one miller but dozens of farmers, calling someone "X (the) farmer" to clarify which X you mean doesn't really help. Likewise, if red hair is a common regional trait, "Red" wouldn't really work as a surname.
For given names, it very much depends on the culture - the most common ones are generally religious or historical figures. Compare common real life names like Mary and Micheal (after the archangel) for religious, or William (after the Conqueror) and Charles (after Charlemagne) for historical.
So, for instance, in Golarions Lands of the Linnorm Kings, I'd expect Saebjorn (after the first linnorm king), to be a popular name. Of course, variants are common, in this case e.g. "Jorn Smith".
You'll notice that John Smith is a combination of just these two - John is the name of two important christian figures (the baptist and the apostle), and smith is one of the most common medieval professions.
My games don’t have a generic name, but we do have a generic inn: Arcane Mark’s.
I think Deklord has the right idea. I would suggest looking at some random name generators that you can find on the web to come up with the first name. Most of them can filter by language or culture. Figure out what language or culture would best fit the one your character comes from and use that. If you don’t want to end up with John Smith then avoid English. I always had good luck with Celtic or Irish.
For given names, it very much depends on the culture - the most common ones are generally religious or historical figures. Compare common real life names like Mary and Micheal (after the archangel) for religious, or William (after the Conqueror) and Charles (after Charlemagne) for historical.
So, for instance, in Golarions Lands of the Linnorm Kings, I'd expect Saebjorn (after the first linnorm king), to be a popular name. Of course, variants are common, in this case e.g. "Jorn Smith".
You'll notice that John Smith is a combination of just these two - John is the name of two important christian figures (the baptist and the apostle), and smith is one of the most common medieval professions.
Now that's a good point. I'd expect that Desi, Cayde, and Saren (or Desa, Cailey, and Sara) would be popular names. I also like to have common names, differentiated by "The Younger" or "The Elder."
Put it all together, and you'll have folk like "Desi Carpenter the Elder", "Old Cayde Forester", "Young Cayde Forester", (and if you're in a jovial mood) "Very Young Cayde Forester".
It also seemed pretty common in certain cultures to have people named by geographical features or settlements. "Sara Two-Rivers" or "Cailey Clifton" would probably be normal names for out-of-towners.
Addendum:
Also, I think the Czech (don't quote me on this, though) commonly have animal surnames. I don't exactly remember why, though.
For surnames, it's simple - just grab a common occupation, like miller, smith, or tailor - you know, the ones every tiny backwater village has. Look here for a bit more on that. This blog post also should provide some ideas for profession unrelated surnames. Note: Most surnames started as description and thus shouldn't apply to too many people per village: Since a village probably has only one smith and one miller but dozens of farmers, calling someone "X (the) farmer" to clarify which X you mean doesn't really help. Likewise, if red hair is a common regional trait, "Red" wouldn't really work as a surname.
Or sometimes you just don't have a surname until someone gives you one based on description, just like how you said names start!
Kobolds don't really have surnames, so that's what happened for me. I work with black powder (for my gun and stuff), and that stuff gets everywhere (because it explodes, or gets spilled, or gets sorta puffed into the air...), so the nice Dwarves I spent some time with who showed me some metalworking and explosives tips kinda just started using "Powderbreath" for my surname.I guess this is kinda the opposite of the topic since it's about how you can have a very personal surname, but being the direct opposite of the topic is... kinda on-topic?
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Addendum:
Also, I think the Czech (don't quote me on this, though) commonly have animal surnames. I don't exactly remember why, though.
I believe you are correct. Some examples here. Includes: ram, dove, small hedgehog, rooster, falcon, nightingale, titmouse, wolf, and sparrow. Squirrel (Veverka) is also a Czech surname, though it may not be common enough to be on the list. Also no idea why.
Note also many profession based surnames on the list, including several variations on the last name "farmer," based on how much land you have...
I'd expect that Desi, Cayde, and Saren (or Desa, Cailey, and Sara) would be popular names.
It's potentially possible to just straight use the gods' names: One one hand, there is no "shall not take the lords name in vain" commandment preventing it, on the other hand, there are other examples, i.e. in pre-roman times, the ancient greek only used derivates of their gods' names, or added a suffix. The romans were more relaxed about such stuff, and names like Diana are still in common use.
Names like that are called theophoric name, and it's probably the universally most common naming practise in real life.
Also, I think the Czech (don't quote me on this, though) commonly have animal surnames. I don't exactly remember why, though.
There's a bunch of cultural differences. Patrionic names, i.e. using the fathers name (normally with a connector, cf. "Xson" in scandinavian, "X ibn Y" in arabic, or "MacX" in scottish and irish; all of which mean "son of") are used in a huge number of cultures.
In a more in-touch-with-nature setting (i.e. druids and shamans are high ranking members of the society), animal names as surnames might be common. A more feral society could very well have descripting nicknames instead of surnames. The geographical features you spoke about sound like good surnames for a nomadic society (as in "born when the tribe was making camp near X"). In a tribe of hunters, I'd expect every other guy to be named Deadeye.
And of course, we all know that all dwarves have surnames that have something to do with gems, precious metals, mining, alcohol, or thet describe their hardiness. After all, our dwarves are all the same!
It's important to note that the naming scheme will probably affect the player's perception: Jorn Olafson will make the players think of him as a viking, while Patchouli Fairyblossoms might make the players think of him as a hippie.
On a side note, when in doubt, name females after flowers. Always works.
Jiggles.
What's your name?
I'really of House Should