Characters named after deities?


Lost Omens Campaign Setting General Discussion


It just occurred to me that since lots of real-life names are derived from gods and other religious figures, it would be plausible for something similar to happen on Golarion. I remember reading a lore tidbit about how orphanages give children they take in Cailean as a surname, but I was wondering whether were any other cases, particularly for first names. (In particular, I think Asmodeus being the #1 boy name in Cheliax would be hilarious)


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I would guess derivations thereof are more likely, to avoid outright blasphemy. Asmodeon, Parasmo, Modéu, Asmodellius. I don't think many people ever named their kid "Zeus," but compounds that shake out to "Honored by Zeus" or something were fairly common.

Naming kids after prominent servitors of the gods, in the vein of Michael and Gabriel and so on being biblical angels, would probably also be common. Those Heralds that have given names and not weird titles are probably pretty common among the children of worshippers: Basileus in Cheliax, Thais for Caydenite girls, Thalachos in Kelesh.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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It's maybe a fun idea for a PC, but it's an awful idea for print. While in the real world there's plenty of duplicate names (I don't know that there's been a Paizo with only one James working at it since MAYBE the early 2000s), in fiction, it looks like a mistake. We try hard to avoid it, and when we forget (like when I used a favored villain name from my homebrew, "Staunton Vhane", accidentally both as the name of the Forever Man under Magnimar and then again as the major character in "Wrath of the Righteous") it looks like a mistake and/or makes people think the NPCs are related by blood, when they're not.


I love the idea -- one of my favorite PCs, who grew up in a cult of Groetus, is named Rova -- but it just doesn't work in published content.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

The character I played in Jim Butler's campaign back in the late 90s was a spider-obsessed druid named "Ruvagog." Which at the time, naming him after "Rovagug" was more of an inside joke for me and the one other friend in that campaign who had played in my homebrew game back in college. Wonder what late 90s James would think about that inside joke becoming an outside joke? Or that his GM would one day be his boss? TIME IS WEIRD.

Grand Lodge

In a Greyhawk campaign about a decade ago I named my PC Wizard "Varisia" -- I just really like the sound of the name.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

I named a character Sera or more specifically 'Seraphina' which was intended to be honoring Sarenrae because I decided it sounded reasonable to believe some unspecified cultural linkage between the name and the diety.

I also had a Tiefling character whose given name was Asmodheir. (but might be off on the exact spelling, it was a long time ago) It implied by the one whom named him that he was a descendant of the great legal mind. *cough* The name was both supposed to be an honor, but also a play on power for their 'family'. The fun part was of course my character was decidedly good and not interested in helping the family out at all. *chuckle*

And I just have to mention, I heard about a family where I grew up as a teenager. The parents in question had named their two children Zeus and Hera. I found the thought way too disturbing, suspecting that they didn't really have a deep understanding or the core mythology behind the names. It just didn't sit well for me, understanding that Zeus and Hera were both siblings, and the primary examples of husband and wife (and horrible examples at that). I couldn't imagine choosing those two names for my children. And for reference, two of my nephews have names that were chosen from ancestral mythological powers to honor their heritages. (one Norwegian, the other Native American) Also as it was mentioned above. Both of them had their other name (either first or middle) came from one of the Archangels names, chosen intentionally as well.

I think it is an excellent point that for Print you want to keep names unique so they don't collide with other stories, especially for key NPCs. However, it wouldn't necessarily be bad to have some common first names that could be reused, especially for more mundane characters, as they are known, 'common/ubiquitous' names. It might even be good to have some surnames that are almost viral in various regions.

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