Name Assistance Brigade (The N.A.B.bers)

[FoulVileTerror]

SO!   With that big ol' thread about that ol' subject of some players feeling like they just can't find a name which "clicks" with them, I figure that we can make a dedicated thread to helping to solve their individual problems!

Any time you have a concept, but you just can't get the name(s) you want for it, feel free to bring it to this thread.  Our crack team of volunteer wordsmiths will do our best to offer you some alternatives for consideration!

 

Please; let's just focus on constructive assistance for those players who are in need.  The policy exists, and it will go in to effect when it goes in to effect, if ever.  That much isn't under our control right now.

The debates, arguments, and discussions about the topic can go in to any one of the other threads which are dedicated to those debates, arguments, and discussions.

Thanks!

[Outrider_01]

*cracks fingers*

 

Lets begin!

 

Twisted	Shadow	Skull	Thunder	Mynx
Flame	Ice	Cracker	Rose	Minx
Torch	Maiden	Shatter	Lilly	Jinx
Fright	Wicked	Shield	Lighting	Vixen
Blight	Savage	Sable	Scarlet	Hell
Burn	Sovereign	Regis	Mind	Lass
Shield	Red	Black	Mercy	Pain
Ruby	Gold	Lady	Heart	Cruel

 

 

Savage Maiden

Shield Cracker - WM/Shield

Scarlet Jinx

Shadow Rose

Scarlet Shadow

Mindburn

Blight Mind

Twisted Lighting

Thunderburn

Wicked Lady

Heartburn (probably taken)

Scarlet Flame

Shadowflame

Red Sovereign - Russian them golden age

Ruby Skull - German counter part of Red Skull and female?

Wicked Mind

Sable Ice - Sable term for blackish color, Black Ice

Shadowflame

Shadowburn

Savage Mind

 

Some words take from my characters, not the greatest but can easily get inspiration for something else.

 

Mix and match, the more people drop some the eaiser it can get.

[Oubliette_Red]

Synonyms also work with regards to creating memorable names for your characters, something that stands out.

 

Dark is a commonly used word in comic books, synonyms that could be used in place of 'Dark':

Midnight	Umbral	Dusk	Murky
Gloom	Tenebrous	Tenebrious	Shadow
Stygian	Veiled	Sable	Ebony
Grim	Bleak

 

You can open up options by considering what the name is describing; is it appearance, a description of their powers,, or a frame of mind or any number of other reasons.

 

For instance, back on Legacy I had a Ice/Dark character and 'Black Ice' was pretty obvious (and taken) so I selected 'Sable Drift' instead and found it preferable.

 

Edited August 1, 2020 by Oubliette_Red

[DoctorDitko]

Other good adjectives:

Silver, Darkest, Original, New, Blazing, Illuminated, Icy, Absolute, Curious, Quixotic, Lazy, Quotidian, Crepuscular, Obscure, Verdant, Ruddy, Silent, Sesquipedalian.

 

[Techwright]

5 minutes ago, Oubliette_Red said:

... 'Black Ice' was pretty obvious (and taken) so I selected 'Sable Drift' instead and found it preferable.

 

Sable Drift is an awesome name!  Poetic in sound, and it feels like a special ops code name.

1 minute ago, DoctorDitko said:

Other good adjectives:

... Quotidian, Crepuscular, Obscure, Verdant, Ruddy, Silent, Sesquipedalian.

 

Quite a mouthful.  I'm guessing you're a fan of the name "The Elongated Man"? 

 

 

Okay, I love doing name design.  So just to clarify for my tired, aging brain:  what are we shooting for here?  Just creating a bunch of synonyms that folks can mix 'n match, or building lists of names to toss to the crowd, or waiting for someone to say "help" and give us their character concept?  

[gourdhead]

Also, Google Translate is your friend.  I particularly like Scandinavian languages and Icelandic. 

 

[Coyotedancer]

Don't forget semi-obscure, public domain media references...

 

Once upon a time I took to naming some of my gang after opera characters, for instance. There are some fun names to be had there, even if you aren't a particular fan of the music. (I am, so that just added an extra bit of fun for me. And it always made me grin when someone else recognized where Sarastro or Coppelius or Amneris' name came from. XD)  

 

Find an opera character who reminds you somehow of the character you're making, and have at it. "Figaro" was great for a flashy Sonic blaster with a high opinion of their own opinion. "Falstaff" was perfect for a big guy all about the Wine, Women and Song when busting bad guys was done. My "Rosenkavalier" was a handsome, young and slightly daft Broadsword/Shield scrap in formal dress and a domino mask...  There's a lot of inspiration to be had if you go looking for it.

 

 

 

Edited August 1, 2020 by Coyotedancer

[EmmySky]

Irony and sarcasm have taken me far.

 

SunshineSky is a dark/dark/dark defender with dark incarnates where applicable and her bio reads like a drill sergeant dressing down a new recruit.

 

Usually, in chat and in person, I say "Tankies" instead of "thank you" and hence TankYou was born.  It wasn't until much later I realized her name could be taken as.....well, rude.  Speaks to my naivete.  

 

Also consider homages to people you admire.  JaqMacPratt is an homage to my favorite actor via some iconic roles he's played.

 

Lots of tips for naming characters!  If a name I want is taken I throw Sky on the end of it (to follow my EmmySky nomenclature) like SunshineSky and PrestigeSky.

 

I think it'd be cool to have people say "help I need a name" but some asshat might swoop in and steal the name before the person needing help reads the response.  Lets not do that, please.

[Hexquisite]

4 hours ago, Oubliette_Red said:

Synonyms also work with regards to creating memorable names for your characters, something that stands out.

 

Dark is a commonly used word in comic books, synonyms that could be used in place of 'Dark':

Midnight	Umbral	Dusk	Murky
Gloom	Tenebrous	Tenebrious	Shadow
Stygian	Veiled	Sable	Ebony
Grim	Bleak

 

You can open up options by considering what the name is describing; is it appearance, a description of their powers,, or a frame of mind or any number of other reasons.

 

For instance, back on Legacy I had a Ice/Dark character and 'Black Ice' was pretty obvious (and taken) so I selected 'Sable Drift' instead and found it preferable.

 

And, to help with synonyms, a very simple tool. 

 

Click - or tap,press, select, choose...

 

It's RhymeZone, yes, but extraordinarily useful for finding synonyms and words related to a concept. Everything with 'gravity' taken? This will offer up other words related to the science of gravity, and you might be able to find something in there. 

 

 

[Skyhawke]

www.thesaurus.com and googling translators has been my bread and butter since the legacy days. I mean, I have a FF/Dark Defender named Dusk Spherule. No way I came up with that outta thin air. 😁

Edited August 1, 2020 by Skyhawke

[Nerio72]

Sometimes it helps with 2+ word names to try no spaces. Sometimes I actually prefer how it looks when I try it...

So like the Black Ice example:

Blackice

BlackIce

And if those don't work try the thesaurus method along with it:

Midnight Ice

Midnightice

MidnightIce

 

[Patti]

I read that as Midnight Lice.

[Nerio72]

3 minutes ago, Patti said:

I read that as Midnight Lice.

Yes some just DON'T work, but then you can shift again:

MidnightGlacier

Etc.

[Patti]

I think it works very good.  Just for a differe nt concept instead though.

[Nerio72]

This is making me want to make a new alt...hmmm🤔

Saurus and choose "The" as title. Maybe some kinda dinosaur...

[Llewellyn Blackwell]

Im a big fan of combos like a thing or place plus a noble title. See my character Skylord as an example.

 

Also terms from astro physics and quantum physics + a substance from the table of elements. Gold Nebula, Cobalt Quasar, The Daughters of Uranium could inspire an entire family sg. Just ideas Im tossing out there feel free to use.

[Coyotedancer]

1 hour ago, Nerio72 said:

This is making me want to make a new alt...hmmm🤔

Saurus and choose "The" as title. Maybe some kinda dinosaur...

Flashtoo beat you to it. She's had The Saurus since some time last year. XD

[Nerio72]

13 minutes ago, Coyotedancer said:

Flashtoo beat you to it. She's had The Saurus since some time last year. XD

Aww man! Typical. 🤣

[srmalloy]

7 hours ago, gourdhead said:

Also, Google Translate is your friend.  I particularly like Scandinavian languages and Icelandic. 

 

And sometimes German, with its agglutinative nouns, works  really well; I picked 'Steuerstab' ('Control Rod') for a Rad/Mace Brute I created recently; I liked it better than 'Kontrollstång' (Swedish), 'Styrestang' (Danish), 'Stýri stöng' (Icelandic), and 'Ohjaussauva' (Finnish); the Italian, Spanish, and French versions were all rather clunky, although 'Te Raakau Mana' (Maori) was tempting.

[Greycat]

19 hours ago, Outrider_01 said:

 

 

Twisted	Shadow	Skull	Thunder	Mynx
Flame	Ice	Cracker	Rose	Minx
Torch	Maiden	Shatter	Lilly	Jinx
Fright	Wicked	Shield	Lighting	Vixen
Blight	Savage	Sable	Scarlet	Hell
Burn	Sovereign	Regis	Mind	Lass
Shield	Red	Black	Mercy	Pain
Ruby	Gold	Lady	Heart	Cruel

 

 

 

Oh, just go down the columns. "Skullcracker SHattershield." "Sable Regis." "Mynx minx." "Minx jinx" "Vixen Hell Lass." "Rose Cracker." (Hmm. Plant/ice or plant/cold...)

 

... reminds me.I had Rosy of the Ice. It's an anagram.Can you figure out what of? 🙂

[DoctorDitko]

9 minutes ago, Greycat said:

I had Rosy of the Ice. It's an anagram.Can you figure out what of? 🙂

Shy Erotic Foe?

[Li_Sensei]

50 minutes ago, Nerio72 said:

Aww man! Typical. 🤣

So riff on the idea then.

 

Mind/Psi Dominator, permastealth, named 'oretical', title 'The'.

 

Or an AR/dev blaster 'Theo Reticule'.  (as in targeting reticule)

 

Or a Beast/Poison Mastermind called 'obromine' again, titled 'The'.  Riff on the riff, go the cliched green costume and make him a leprechaun MM called The O'bromine.

 

Puns and word play are absolutely fair game. 🙂

Edited August 1, 2020 by Li_Sensei
stupid idea occurred to me after hitting submit.

[Greycat]

29 minutes ago, DoctorDitko said:

Shy Erotic Foe?

No....

 

*thinks.*

 

*Makes alt.*

[Techwright]

49 minutes ago, Nerio72 said:

Aww man! Typical. 🤣

Time to dig out the thesaurus and find synonyms for "thesaurus".  

3 hours ago, Patti said:

I read that as Midnight Lice.

A teammate of Bionic Flea, perhaps?  

 

 

Well, if we're going to dissect the potential parts of a name, rather than pitch names,  let me review my list:

 

1. The "Chocolate in the Peanut Butter" naming scheme:  Ace Barnstormer - one of my OG characters.  I was frustrated because I couldn't use "Ace", then frustrated because I couldn't use "Barnstormer", and I really wanted a character based on the biplane era.  Rather than continue to seek a one word name, I found the solution was actually a cooler name than its parts.

 

2. Portmanteau - that's just a $5 word for taking 2 or more words and blending them to create a new one that rolls off the tongue.  My light hero's name "Lumineon" is an example,  using "luminous" and "neon", both references to light.  Portmanteaus are actually more common than you'd imagine.  Examples pulled from the web include "cosplay" (costume + roleplay), "prequel" (previous + sequel), and "sitcom" (situational + comedy)

 

3. Puns - I've a water sentinel, an aged hippy whose mindset is more tuned into the Summer of Love than the Year of the Pandemic.  So of course I named him "Aged of Aquarius".  I've had a lot of laughs from other "seasoned" players with that one, though it's kind of shocking how many players apparently are unaware of the song.  Regardless, puns can work for names.  "Panda-emic" anyone?

 

4.  L33T-speak? Street-speak?  I'm not quite sure how to title this one, but modern culture has produced some rather curious new words and texting methods in an effort to communicate faster in text.  My fire/ice blaster needed something modern and different, so he took the name "Grill N Chill" (I should note that it was also heavily influence when seeing a sign at the Dairy Queen, though not truly identical)

 

5. Street signs, business signs, business names - see the end of point #4.  Note, you'll probably want to modify the name slightly, or mix things up by using one of the previous points in combination with this.  Mine's similar but definitely a bit different to DQ's sign.  I've seen a few "iCharacter" type names around, a clear homage to Apple products, but different enough that they maintain their independence.

2 hours ago, Bentley Berkeley said:

Im a big fan of combos like a thing or place plus a noble title. See my character Skylord as an example.

Not just noble titles but titles in general.  My "Cmdr Ray Gunn" uses an old-style abbreviation for "commander" since the full word made the name too long.  (From what I'm told the abbreviation is still in use in some parts of the world.) I probably should have used "CDR", but Ray is supposed to be emulating a 1930s serial movie hero, so the older style just felt better.

[Grasshopper]

5 minutes ago, Techwright said:

3. Puns - I've a water sentinel, an aged hippy whose mindset is more tuned into the Summer of Love than the Year of the Pandemic.  So of course I named him "Aged of Aquarius".  I've had a lot of laughs from other "seasoned" players with that one, though it's kind of shocking how many players apparently are unaware of the song.  Regardless, puns can work for names.  "Panda-emic" anyone?

I don't know if I'd call it a pun or not, maybe "word play", but I have a rad/rad I call Glow Wyrm.  'cause he glows just like a glowworm.  But he also has a wingless dragon on his chest, which is a wyrm.   So ya, word play.

 

You might also try acronyms.  My robotics mastermind I named "The M.A.A.D. Scientist" for Mobile Armored Automation Division.    However, I did drop all the periods in the name so that folks wanting to recruit me to their team didn't have to deal with the hassle.  I did leave the letters capitalized though.   I have seen folks using periods probably because someone is using the full name without them.  Your acronym doesn't have to be perfect.  Have you ever heard of "S.H.I.E.L.D."? Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division (and that's just the latest version)    "It means someone really wanted our name to spell out 'S.H.I.E.L.D.'" -- Grant Ward, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.