"Wolverine was already taken" - a guide on naming your character.

[Gamezfan]

Nice guide! Can really help me with some of my naming problems.

I got some, however, im very pleased with:
Blood Elf Death Knight - Sunfrost(Sun, Sunny, sometimes Frost)
Goblin Warlock - Goblock(Havent played much on him, but still damn pleased with the name)

[Deleted]

I'm generally pleased with my names, and must same they come pretty close to your guide actually.

Garruk - Male Orc Warrior, it kinda screams Orc to me
Vixay - Female Goblin Warlock, from Vixen which kinda suits a goblin female and their emotes
Sparkplug & Fizzwinkle - Both male Goblins, both genuine Goblin names if you ask me

[Calenel]

Didnt actually know that :| i guess CritneyFears and ImLycanIt (bit of a stretch at a mcdonalds parody) are at risk then?

[Singularity]

Singularity

[Jiraden]

I always tend to lean towards pun names...

Names like Anguskahn and Slamburger for meh taurens

[Zka]

Very cool guide! Does my DK's name qualify as absurd? (Deinterlace)

[Deleted]

Kind of was surprised my awesome name wasnt taken :P But nice guide

[GeordieMagpie]

Good, But you forgot the part of "Name after people you like" :P. As opposed to Lore-NPC fitting names.

[Kaptainkaos]

My Paladin: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte.../devout/simple

My Worgen Warrior: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...urchill/simple

I'm pretty happy with those names.

[powerstuck]

Why is it people have to think Wolverine?

Do people even know what Wolverines are? They certainly are of NO relation to a wolf. They are mustelidae, part of the ferret, weasel and otter family...Thats right, NOT Wolves...Its too bad people don't read something instead of picking names that just make them appear total buffoons.

My personal explanation would be that most people saw X-men movies where Wolverine, one of the main characters gets the metal blades coming out of hands. Tho, his hair, beard and body hair grow making him look like he is transforming into a wolf. Worgens do just that.

[Doggyballs]

I've had 'Doggyballs' as my warriors name for over 2 years lol Spoken to GMs hundreds of times and I've never been told to change it
I prefer non-serious names. Names that make people smile or laugh

Bád - Priest
Áwful - Mage
Supdawg - Warlock
and ofc
Doggyballs - Warrior

Overall though, great guide for new players. I can't stand seeing 'Darknite' or 'Holyheel' and stuff like that. There is also a Ret with the name 'Wannakillu'. Just makes me rage and instantly lowers my respect for that player lol

[MaiGoL7]

Look for the Jacob Black from twilight saga.

[Neongreen]

Loved the guide! Lots of greats thoughts on how to name your characters! Mine i kinda focused on the classes mechanics (aside from my pally)

Neongreen (Paladin)

Chainreactor (Shaman)

Devistalion (Warlock)

Battlecattle (Warrior)

Deathcicle (Death Knight)

Irhuntard (Hunter)

Loved the guide, keep up the good work!

~Neon

[Nickkelbackk]

Keep in mind the part about what you want people to call you. My character is named Bigfatcowwie. Because I am a dwarf (short, stout, fat) and a hunter(Cow = what lazy hunters hunt). Now, I didnt think much about what people might call me in vent when I made this name. I have been called many things, Big(fine), Bigfat(little strange) fat(why?) Fatcow(lol seriously?). Thankfully my guild has adopted the use of Cowwie(good) and not fatcow.

[Ethan191]

i like short simple names and silly ones,

Zonka - troll dk
Cheeçh - goblin rogue
lemy - troll druid (lem means poop in Irish)
shamroçk - goblin and 2 guesses to what class
bonner - undead warlock

i dont like alt codes but most names r taken up by lvl 1 - 15 toons that r inactive

[Corde]

My hunter: Anonhunter
And my shammy: Shockoff

[svafa]

Contrary to popular opinion multi-word names are not a violation of the naming policy. Sentence fragments and phrases, however, are. Thus, a name like Brassbolt, Wobblebonk, Steambucket, Furryfury, Jagerbomb, etc. are not in violation of the phrase section of the naming policy. Names like Ieatmysheep, Leafmealone, and Thatsnotmilk would be in violation of the phrase section of the naming policy. However, on a non-RP realm they are likely admissible as the naming policy is enforced retroactively through player reports, which typically means that unless they are offensive, they won't be reported. Excepting very rare occasions, if your name is not specifically reported by a player, then a GM will not take action against it.


More on topic with the thread, when selecting names I have a number of sources I like to use.

pantheon.org is a good research tool for various myths, legends, and religions that can be useful when trying to find a name that denotes a certain concept while also remaining unique and "in-character". Names would include my own pseudonym here and on the WoW Forums, Svafa, but also things like Aoede, Airitech, Nokomis, Nahual, Gwyllgi, and many more.

Etymologies are a great place to find names for characters. I usually just use reference.com but any dictionary would work. Couple it with a thesaurus and you have an even better resource. For example, say I want to make a goblin character, so I hop over to reference.com plug in the word goblin, scroll down to the section labeled etymology and I get things like: hiisi, duende, tengu, kallikantzaroi, skratta, gobel, and similar. Not all are that good for a Warcraft Goblin perhaps, but they are just a starting point. I actually kind of like kallikantzaroi, too bad it's too long...

Ancient/foreign languages. This ties in with etymology to some extent, but is a separate approach to a similar end. As an example, my brother has used the name Metus in games previously, though not in WoW. It's a latin root which means "fear" and sounds so much cooler than a name like Ifear or Fearme or whatever compound word you want to create in order to strike fear in your opponents. It also happens to be a lesser known Roman deity roughly equivalent to the Greek Deimos, tying it into the mythology naming source as well (you'll often find this with etymologies and ancient languages).

Popular culture is yet another good source and the one most people lean toward. Characters from books and movies, band names, and similar can be good starting points, or even ending points. The trick is to avoid the obvious and well-known. Legolas and Wolverine, as highlighted in the guide should be avoided. Angua and Wintermute are likely borderline, but generally acceptable. Cacame, Faykan, and Dio should all be good choices that wont' throw any flags and no one will know the difference. Unless, of course, they're well-versed in the source material for their names, in which case you'll more likely be getting props than glares.

You can also go the random name generator route. I dislike using them personally, as I like to have some meaning, even if obscure and hidden, behind the names of my characters. However, they are a useful resource. I've been using the seventhsanctum for years as they have several different name generators for different themes. It even has name generators for magic items, martial arts moves, and alien races. Personally, I think my favourite is the Lovecraftian name generator.

Finally, the wowpedia is a useful resource when deciding on a name. In general it's not a good idea to start looking for a name there, but when you're trying to finalize a name, it's a good place to check out your race's naming conventions and the provided samples just to make sure your name fits the racial identity passably. Naming a Night Elf Dawnsong is going to set off all sorts of alarms, but it would be suitably appropriate to a Blood Elf.

[Baabinator]

Actually it is Greek Mythology and it is a river of the dead in the underworld. The dead are ferried across the river by Charon. It is the river that Achilles was dipped into to make him immortal.

As your knowledge of lore extends further then mine, i can honestly say i don't give a damn about lore. To be honest, it was a mere coincidence until someone told me that it actually was a river somewhere.

Anyways, some good, some bad names in this thread so far.

I think it's kinda lame that so many people have a single noun and just add "plate" or "death" or whatever to it.

[karaokekc]

I personally enjoy names that have some sort of meaning behind them.

Veduny - Undead Mage
Pagan magicians were called veduny, "the knowing ones."

Papalegba - Troll Resto Druid
In Haitian Vodou, Papa Legba is the intermediary between the loa and humanity.
He stands at a spiritual crossroads and gives (or denies) permission to speak with the spirits of Guinee
Because of his position as 'gate-keeper' between the worlds of the living and the mysteries he is often
identified with Saint Peter who holds a comparable position in Catholic tradition.

---------- Post added 2011-01-19 at 09:54 PM ----------

I used to be on a kick where I said things backwards... Had a male BElf named Xeslaro and no one ever picked up on it.

[Deleted]

My paladin's been happily (har) called Happybucket for a few years now, really happy (AGAIN, and unintended too!) with the name. It's silly, yeah, but you can't really call it unoriginal (only 3 people in europe with the name I think, 2 of the characters found on armory are mine, and the others are all unplayed). Plus people shorten it to happy in raids which makes me happy in turn \o/ (though the rare person does call me bucket which I'm alright with too really)