# [Pseudo-poll]/[Study] Female Fantasy Names



## Magic Slim (Aug 27, 2003)

Hello all, I have decided to conduct a little study on female fantasy names. I would really appreciate it if you could give me the names you used for *Female Characters*, not female NPCs, not female names taken from movies or books or TV. The characters you actually have played / seen played. Just first names.

I'd prefer if we stuck to names that appeared in fantasy / medieval games, but if you want to post Modern / Sci-fi, it's ok too, as long as you tell me.

I have an hypothesis I want to verify (nothing scientific) and I'll post it as soon as I have enough responses (~40?).

Thanks in advance.

My participation:

Ealindiliria (elf)
Rapine (halfling)
Bolork (half orc)

Slim


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## Tyler Do'Urden (Aug 27, 2003)

Just first names?  Let's see how many I remember...

Silva (CG Elf Wild Mage)
Ukee (N Dryad Druid)
Shar (CN Human Cleric/Psion/Ranger)
Marah (NE Human Sorcerer)
Kayte (NG Human Enchanter)
Encya (LG Elf Cavalier/Enchanter)
Shelniyna (CG Half-Elf Cleric)

I've had quite a few other female PC's (and female players, for that matter), but these are the only names I can remember offhand...


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## Elf Witch (Aug 27, 2003)

Here goes

Bridget 
Morrigan
Ariana
Taryn
Lasandra
Kalinda
Mikayla 
Briana


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## Desdichado (Aug 27, 2003)

I only remember the most recent ones: Risanne and Laela.


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## Savage Wombat (Aug 27, 2003)

Let's see:

Nerissa
Ishani
Jael
Sinaethri
Rook
Kris
Rowan
Marla Sandpiper
Willamina "Thimble" Sandpiper
Vespa
Gloria
Mercedes
Circle
Ovina
Tyra
Whisper
Ricza
Iluthiel

That should help.


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## Magic Slim (Aug 27, 2003)

Cool, keep them coming... (1 part of my hypothesis is proving correct so far)

Slim


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## jmucchiello (Aug 27, 2003)

Magic Slim said:
			
		

> Cool, keep them coming... (1 part of my hypothesis is proving correct so far)



Aman (kinda ironic I've just realized.)


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## Djeta Thernadier (Aug 27, 2003)

1.Djeta
2.Lily


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## Bloodsparrow (Aug 27, 2003)

What the hay...

Fie (Elf)
Shawe (Human)
Shade (Human)
Faedrah  (half-elf)
Timkin (half-elf)
Bedlam (half-elf)
Greenie (Kender)
DahShae (half-elf)
Rune (half-elf)
Treblem (Half-Orc)
Tel'Shaelah (elf)
Rowan (elf)
Sherbert (Kender)
Pete (Short for "Petra", Human)
Katana-O-Seota-Abrasur-Onna (sp? Japanese, roughly "sword wielding B****. Or so I'm told.  Human... Well, Vampire.)
ShabuShabu (Annother Japanese Vampire.  Name means "swish swish" and is a particular way of preparing and serving food involving a boilling pot of water.)
Nik (Human)
Jara (Human)
Meghan (Human)
Hits-Her-Mark (Lupis Garou)
Katie (Homid Garou)
Bloodsparrow (Human)
Doit (Human)
Gersy ("Tauren")
Pebkac (Half-Orc)
Garema (half-Ogre)
Sofie (Human)
Abyssinia (Human)
Sasha (Human... Well, Vampire.  But not Japanese this time... )
Fenchurch (See above)


There are more I'm sure...


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## barsoomcore (Aug 27, 2003)

From various points around Barsoom:

Zuleika
Man Chong
Kani
Isabella
Collette
She Zhuan
Muen
Sandradeep
Sarkoja
Amphilelomai
Trytalypto
Chk'tksothk
Parinder
Sharina
Peolacotlan
Ky'in
Rhiaellian
Mabreg
Genevieve
Tsing Kwan


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## Kichwas (Aug 27, 2003)

Ameris
Selise
Brandi
Kayserya

Two of those were culled from setting books for DnD campaigns, and a third from a song. The fourth inspired from a saying.

Do you only want names we came up with -out of the blue-?


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## 7thlvlDM (Aug 27, 2003)

Ahh!  Just the first names?  Well you can pull my first names from these full names =D

Ariana Al'kiri
Harriet Furfoot
Lewin Fetterwick
Kendra Darkstar
Saffron Delong
Shia Steel
Sherwin Marsh


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## Carnifex (Aug 27, 2003)

Various female PC's from the various online campaigns I've played in:

Siduri (a human bard)
Melody (A human wizard, and unfortunately for her the chosen scion of a dark god)
Nadine (Randomling's d20 Modern D*M character)
Andaluz (A human rogue assassin-type)

From the first Planescape campaign I ran:

Eltanar (a human enchantress from Krynn)

From my current Acrozatarim game:

Melisande (aasimar sorceress/paladin)
Wyshira (water genasi cleric)
Sandslipper (earth genasi psion)
Meg'anna (human druid)
Ebri (human cleric/monk)


Note that none of the above characters are actually my PC's - I've never actually played a female character. Probably because I'm usually the DM, I guess.


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## barsoomcore (Aug 27, 2003)

Oh, wait. All of mine are NPCs, which you didn't want. Sorry, Charlie.


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## Bloodsparrow (Aug 27, 2003)

Magic Slim said:
			
		

> Cool, keep them coming... (1 part of my hypothesis is proving correct so far)
> 
> Slim



 What is it?

BTW - Not all of mine were played by me, but all were PC's, and some were played by guys.

(A few break the rule of not being named after tv or literary characters... Namely Timkin, Jael, Fenchurch, and Sasha.  But I included them anyway.  Jael is biblical so it only sorta counts I think.)


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## Rugger (Aug 27, 2003)

Hmmm...Some of my current and old PC's:

Vul'Sha (Orc)
Therlissa (Human)
Lintra (Half-elf)
Drelenza (Drow bastardization of an old D3 name)
Kalinda (Aasimar)
Octavia (Halfling)
Zeeba (Halfling)
Saralinda (Human)

Other female PC's run by other players in my games:

Elaynus (Elf)
Arianna (Air Genasi)
Jillian (Halfling)
Alixis (Halfling)


So ya gotta tell us about your theories... 

-Rugger
"I Name!"


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## Cthulhu's Librarian (Aug 27, 2003)

None of these are my characters, but are all from games I've played in over the past few years. 

Katja (human)
Ruyen "Sunny" (half-drow)
Abagail (half-elf)
Trilla (elf)


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## Ferret (Aug 27, 2003)

The one I played in BG was a halfling theif/fighter called Genilia, but i can't remember the spelling. It's pronounced Gen-ee-lee-a


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## Wulf Ratbane (Aug 27, 2003)

Tigglebitty Funbaggs, the halfling whore of Greyhawk


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## Bregh (Aug 27, 2003)

Sure. But all of these are OAD&D (1st edition) names.   
Hope that doesn't screw with your processes!

 

(the) Darling Blade (Human)
Tria (Human)
Aileen (Human)
Alexa (1/2 elf)
Wyst (Human)
Adrienne (1/2 elf)
Ellwyr (Elf)
Llerin (Human)


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## S'mon (Aug 27, 2003)

My Neverwinter Nights PCs:

Mimi Rogers
Shakri Jameson

Generally for female NPC character names I tend to be lazy and use Latinate -a or -ia endings and lots of vowels, names like Saria (from my game on Sunday).  For more important NPCs I'll tend to aim for a distinctive, stronger sound.


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## randomling (Aug 27, 2003)

The names of my fantasy game characters? OK.

Xhila Galadon (CG elf bard/wizard, Greyhawk)
Shay Peral (N human cleric of Boccob, Greyhawk)
Assia Salhi (NE human rogue, FR)
Teyin, forgot her last name (NG half-elf fighter, FR)
Maryse Lithine (N human rogue, homebrew campaign)
Serena Allman (LG human psion, Planescape)
Thana Aulen (NG human fighter, homebrew campaign)


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## bekkilyn_rpg (Aug 27, 2003)

Zani
Alessa
Rhiannon


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## Wombat (Aug 27, 2003)

Julia Peregrina
Elspet
Evvy
Amentia
Cupcake (but that was Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0...)
Haswythia
Feregund
Sanara
Seraphina

Anyone else would be NPCs, which I have by the hundreds...

Funny -- I just realized that half of the characters I have gotten to play (and all the most memorable) have been female...


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## MarauderX (Aug 27, 2003)

from 3.0E:
Annastasia
Zehnya


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## Phaedyme (Aug 27, 2003)

Anjelika
Anya
Xenia
Cat
Iron Grace Scarlet
Candace
Lydia
Lucille


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## root (Aug 27, 2003)

Alexandria
Alassra


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## Wippit Guud (Aug 27, 2003)

Anyone else notice about 50% of these names end in "a"?


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## Elder-Basilisk (Aug 27, 2003)

Perpetua Val'holryn
Thetis Grek
Sharalia Clearsky (I probably shouldn't admit to having plagiarized people on these boards but I did--I never expected the character to last as long as she did)
Anya Inorien


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## jmucchiello (Aug 27, 2003)

Wippit Guud said:
			
		

> Anyone else notice about 50% of these names end in "a"?



It's far more interesting to count the number of 'U's in the names. It's less then 10 so far if you ignore names that are English words (e.g. cupcake).


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## Nifft (Aug 27, 2003)

All I have are NPCs:

Best know is a Human Paladin, *Amelia Richelieu*
Close second is a Halfling village Druid, *Myrtle Siffleur*
A protagonist's sister is named *Chloe d'Avignon*
The recently deceased Human Wizard *Marie Delacour* and her missing (presumed dead) sister *Stephanie*

 -- Nifft


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## Ankh-Morpork Guard (Aug 27, 2003)

Oki...not all mine, but these are from the games I run...

Din-Nar (CG Elf Ranger)
Talindrae (CG Elf Wizard)
Ithava (LG Human Cleric/Sorcerer)
Dairin (LN Human Fighter)
Meia (CN Pixie Sorcerer)
Arianwen (CG Elf Bard/Sorcerer)


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## Planesdragon (Aug 27, 2003)

Names I've seen in my campaign for female player-characters:

Jastin
Reece
Miriel
Aerielle
Ry
Sangaku
Shaylin Greenbottle / Trolldodger

There are more, but those are the ones that pop up off the top of my head.


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## Thistleknot (Aug 27, 2003)

There are several that I've played and seen played. 
There are lots of female characters I've seen or played in my 12 years of gaming. 

I've seen these played: 

Lyndathia
Alyson
Sorrin
Uruki 
Sapphire

I've played: 

Jessica 
Alyssa
Samantha (Sci-Fi:Rifts)
Anastasia (Sci-Fi:Rifts)
Bunny
Vanessa
Nicole
Lacey
Jordan (Mutants and Masterminds)
Alexandra


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## Feathercircle (Aug 27, 2003)

Ick, I hate this new layout...   my post just tried to quote without me telling it to, and it's the spacing on the board seems awkward..   whose bright idea was this anyway?


Anyway, my own female characters:
a kobold whose name escapses me at the moment, but it had a k and a double-e set in there somewhere
a psychotic half-kyton, half-githzerai fighter named Rathassa of the Chains (also called Rathassa the Kinslayer)
Eldarith, a tiefling paladin/tainted one (PrC from Dragon)
Svava, human valkyrie (Norse campaign's paladin-equivalent)

and a couple of weird neuter characters:
Ikatherilan (name used by Ikanthilossk the chaotic good illithid (long story there...) while posing as a female elf..)...  nicknamed to Ika off of either name.   I later found out that 'ika' is Japanese for 'squid'.  Go figure.
Korsoegrasis (doppelganger..   soon to join a pbp near you.  Maybe.)

From my PCs/ people who I've been in campaigns with:
Gellidyr (sp?) druid, I think, from the Norse campaign...  we thought he was a guy, until he died and we were about to bury 'him'.  That was weird.
Brinnegil Gartad (not her full name...), the gnome rogue
a S&M paladin whose name I have mercifully forgotten, played by the guy who later, while DMing said something to the effect of "all paladins in my campaign are evil"

And a bunch of NPCs.

And a nervous, bookish drow wizard who I might end up playing if we do Urban Arcana/ d20 Modern..   who doesn't have a name yet.


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## Thistleknot (Aug 27, 2003)

Edit: Double Post.


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## Feathercircle (Aug 27, 2003)

Ick, I hate this new layout...   my post just tried to quote without me telling it to, and it's the spacing on the board seems awkward..   whose bright idea was this anyway?


Anyway, my own female characters:
a kobold whose name escapses me at the moment, but it had a k and a double-e set in there somewhere
a psychotic half-kyton, half-githzerai fighter named Rathassa of the Chains (also called Rathassa the Kinslayer)
Eldarith, a tiefling paladin/tainted one (PrC from Dragon)
Svava, human valkyrie (Norse campaign's paladin-equivalent)

and a couple of weird neuter characters:
Ikatherilan (name used by Ikanthilossk the chaotic good illithid (long story there...) while posing as a female elf..)...  nicknamed to Ika off of either name.   I later found out that 'ika' is Japanese for 'squid'.  Go figure.
Korsoegrasis (doppelganger..   soon to join a pbp near you.  Maybe.)

From my PCs/ people who I've been in campaigns with:
Gellidyr (sp?) druid, I think, from the Norse campaign...  we thought he was a guy, until he died and we were about to bury 'him'.  That was weird.
Brinnegil Gartad (not her full name...), the gnome rogue
a S&M paladin whose name I have mercifully forgotten, played by the guy who later, while DMing said something to the effect of "all paladins in my campaign are evil"

And a bunch of NPCs.

And a nervous, bookish drow wizard who I might end up playing if we do Urban Arcana/ d20 Modern..   who doesn't have a name yet.


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## Feathercircle (Aug 27, 2003)

Ick, I hate this new layout...   my post just tried to quote without me telling it to, and it's the spacing on the board seems awkward..   whose bright idea was this anyway?


Anyway, my own female characters:
a kobold whose name escapses me at the moment, but it had a k and a double-e set in there somewhere
a psychotic half-kyton, half-githzerai fighter named Rathassa of the Chains (also called Rathassa the Kinslayer)
Eldarith, a tiefling paladin/tainted one (PrC from Dragon)
Svava, human valkyrie (Norse campaign's paladin-equivalent)

and a couple of weird neuter characters:
Ikatherilan (name used by Ikanthilossk the chaotic good illithid (long story there...) while posing as a female elf..)...  nicknamed to Ika off of either name.   I later found out that 'ika' is Japanese for 'squid'.  Go figure.
Korsoegrasis (doppelganger..   soon to join a pbp near you.  Maybe.)

From my PCs/ people who I've been in campaigns with:
Gellidyr (sp?) druid, I think, from the Norse campaign...  we thought he was a guy, until he died and we were about to bury 'him'.  That was weird.
Brinnegil Gartad (not her full name...), the gnome rogue
a S&M paladin whose name I have mercifully forgotten, played by the guy who later, while DMing said something to the effect of "all paladins in my campaign are evil"

And a bunch of NPCs.

And a nervous, bookish drow wizard who I might end up playing if we do Urban Arcana/ d20 Modern..   who doesn't have a name yet.


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## Feathercircle (Aug 27, 2003)

Ick, I hate this new layout...   my post just tried to quote without me telling it to, and it's the spacing on the board seems awkward..   And now my posts take forever to send..  I hope this doesn't double/ triple post...   whose bright idea was this anyway?  


Anyway, my own female characters:
a kobold whose name escapses me at the moment, but it had a k and a double-e set in there somewhere
a psychotic half-kyton, half-githzerai fighter named Rathassa of the Chains (also called Rathassa the Kinslayer)
Eldarith, a tiefling paladin/tainted one (PrC from Dragon)
Svava, human valkyrie (Norse campaign's paladin-equivalent)

and a couple of weird neuter characters:
Ikatherilan (name used by Ikanthilossk the chaotic good illithid (long story there...) while posing as a female elf..)...  nicknamed to Ika off of either name.   I later found out that 'ika' is Japanese for 'squid'.  Go figure.
Korsoegrasis (doppelganger..   soon to join a pbp near you.  Maybe.)

From my PCs/ people who I've been in campaigns with:
Gellidyr (sp?) druid, I think, from the Norse campaign...  we thought he was a guy, until he died and we were about to bury 'him'.  That was weird.
Brinnegil Gartad (not her full name...), the gnome rogue
a S&M paladin whose name I have mercifully forgotten, played by the guy who later, while DMing said something to the effect of "all paladins in my campaign are evil"

And a bunch of NPCs.

And a nervous, bookish drow wizard who I might end up playing if we do Urban Arcana/ d20 Modern..   who doesn't have a name yet.


----------



## Feathercircle (Aug 27, 2003)

Ick, I hate this new layout...   my post just tried to quote without me telling it to, and it's the spacing on the board seems awkward..   And now my posts take forever to send..  I hope this doesn't double/ triple post...   whose bright idea was this anyway?  


Anyway, my own female characters:
a kobold whose name escapses me at the moment, but it had a k and a double-e set in there somewhere
a psychotic half-kyton, half-githzerai fighter named Rathassa of the Chains (also called Rathassa the Kinslayer)
Eldarith, a tiefling paladin/tainted one (PrC from Dragon)
Svava, human valkyrie (Norse campaign's paladin-equivalent)

and a couple of weird neuter characters:
Ikatherilan (name used by Ikanthilossk the chaotic good illithid (long story there...) while posing as a female elf..)...  nicknamed to Ika off of either name.   I later found out that 'ika' is Japanese for 'squid'.  Go figure.
Korsoegrasis (doppelganger..   soon to join a pbp near you.  Maybe.)

From my PCs/ people who I've been in campaigns with:
Gellidyr (sp?) druid, I think, from the Norse campaign...  we thought he was a guy, until he died and we were about to bury 'him'.  That was weird.
Brinnegil Gartad (not her full name...), the gnome rogue
a S&M paladin whose name I have mercifully forgotten, played by the guy who later, while DMing said something to the effect of "all paladins in my campaign are evil"

And a bunch of NPCs.

And a nervous, bookish drow wizard who I might end up playing if we do Urban Arcana/ d20 Modern..   who doesn't have a name yet.


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## Privateer (Aug 27, 2003)

The elusive quadruple post... I thought I'd never see it again... ah! It's showing it's plumage!   

I can only contribute two names, sadly:
Kayla (halfling rogue)
Dara (human druid)


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## Wippit Guud (Aug 27, 2003)

You say it's quoting without you  asking... do you see a button that says quote? 

When you hit reply on a post, you're replying to that post, so it quotes it. If you hit reply at the top or bottom, it doesn't quote it.


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## Feathercircle (Aug 27, 2003)

It DID sodding quintuple post!  I'm terribly sorry...
Can someone help me delete those multiples?


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## AsEver (Aug 27, 2003)

From the past:
Malva
Quintaelov
Rika
Splendora (  I was young...)
Terranova
Alean
Brook
Claudia
Eleaza
Elreav
Kendra
Kyrian
Loretta
Lyssia

Currently active pc's:
Poppy
Kestral


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## Shadowdancer (Aug 27, 2003)

I can't remember them all.

I had two female drow characters named Xunni and Zesstra.

I currently play a female bard named Arianna.

I once played a wizard named Mara Jade.


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## Khorod (Aug 28, 2003)

I've never seen a quadruple post.

Raellia
Danica


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## Malakye (Aug 28, 2003)

Only one that I can remember.  It was a female cleric if Lathander played by my friend:

Ivana

full name was Ivana Tinkle


sad, I know.


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## Teflon Billy (Aug 28, 2003)

Wippit Guud said:
			
		

> Anyone else notice about 50% of these names end in "a"?




I was just thinking the same thing...wierd


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## hunter1828 (Aug 28, 2003)

Not all mine, but all PCs:

Zorra (human wizard)
Milea (elf rogue/wizard)
Lace (human paladin)
Trelina (half-elf rogue/wizard)
Daneth/"Dancy" (human young Jedi - WEG Star Wars d6)
Alystin (elf cleric)
Lily (halfling rogue)


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## Richards (Aug 28, 2003)

Here are the female PCs from our 3E campaign so far:

Tiatianna, elf sorcerer
Rhianna, human bard
Veridian, half-elf druid
Sarabella, human monk/psion/metamind
Mistral, Small air elemental familiar (run by the player, so she was kind of a PC)
Crystal, elf ranger

Johnathan  <---(that's me signing off, not a female PC name!)


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## s/LaSH (Aug 28, 2003)

Without digging out some really old character sheets, I can only remember:

Stella

And quote the names of PCs I DM for:

Caterina
Thetis

(Fear the imagination that comes up with these names! Bwahaha!)


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## Tauric (Aug 28, 2003)

These were the names of of my friends' characters

Jyseria (human bard)
Alice (human fighter)
Feyline (elf fighter)
Holly (elf cleric)
Lilla (human cleric)
Briana (human wizard)
Pruuma (half-orc cleric)

Now, what's this hypothesis?


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## Shadowdancer (Aug 28, 2003)

Richards said:
			
		

> Sarabella, human monk/psion/metamind






_Edit: I've never been told a post is too short before._


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## Shadowdancer (Aug 28, 2003)

Hmmm, if my counting is correct: 137 out of 262 names, or 52 percent, end in a vowel.


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## Elf Witch (Aug 28, 2003)

Wow I noticed a lot of Ariana or Arianna when I Picked it for my female elf I had never heard of it.


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## SpringPlum (Aug 28, 2003)

I had to double check my spelling but here they are:

Saoirse
Anastasia
Naesa
Lorelei
Maena
Siovale

I think that's all for fantasy-style games. 50% end in an 'a' so I guess I'm pretty par for the course.


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## Elf Witch (Aug 28, 2003)

Double post sorry.


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## Magic Slim (Aug 28, 2003)

Wippit Guud said:
			
		

> Anyone else notice about 50% of these names end in "a"?





SHH!

Thanks for the input, everyone. It's a little late to do the analysis, I'll get right on it tomorrow morning.

Slim


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## Bloodsparrow (Aug 28, 2003)

Shadowdancer said:
			
		

> Hmmm, if my counting is correct: 137 out of 262 names, or 52 percent, end in a vowel.




Well of course!

Nothing's more fem. then a _vowel_


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## Shadowdancer (Aug 28, 2003)

OK, here are some other female PC names from our campaigns over the years:

Raija
Minerva
Crystal
Galinda
Lysette
Lysia
Miori
Kiyosaki


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## Morbidity (Aug 28, 2003)

Bimp (gnomish druid)
Blot (gnomish cleric)
Luna (elvish bard)
Zinnia (pixie sorceress)

And a few more from one-off games that I can't remember


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## Skade (Aug 28, 2003)

Here they go:
Argas
Arden
Carias
Celeste
Jessan Rae
Cordany
Dunielle
Skade
Mallavain
Mellian
Mara
Thandie
Vira
Ellis


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## Brother Shatterstone (Aug 28, 2003)

Wippit Guud said:
			
		

> Anyone else notice about 50% of these names end in "a"?



Yup... I have one to add also and a small story behind it... 

Loskeruina


Which was suppose to be *Loskeruin* but with it PbP, no one could remember that my charatcer was female... So an "*a*" was added and everyone did a much better job of remembering... Silly huh?

or maybe it's sad...


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## Bagpuss (Aug 28, 2003)

Mysha Silverbreeze
Aritz


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## Nellisir (Aug 28, 2003)

jmucchiello said:
			
		

> It's far more interesting to count the number of 'U's in the names. It's less then 10 so far if you ignore names that are English words (e.g. cupcake).




+1 (from first names)

Asilud Sunnilda Gelud-Diedelindadottur
Asinarathi Greycloak

I like "a" sounds.

Cheers
Nell.


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## Magic Slim (Aug 28, 2003)

OK I'll compile the names and let you know what I find out. 296 entries, thanks a lot!

Slim


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## Magic Slim (Aug 28, 2003)

Nifft said:
			
		

> All I have are NPCs:
> 
> Best know is a Human Paladin, *Amelia Richelieu*
> Close second is a Halfling village Druid, *Myrtle Siffleur*
> ...




A little soft spot for french names I see? 

Slim


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## Magic Slim (Aug 28, 2003)

Ok I've cleaned up the names a bit. Here's what I found out.

1) ~24% are names that are common in real life.
2) ~62% end in a vowel.
2b) ~42% end in "a".
3) ~6% are basically names that have a reference to an object of some sort (ex. Circle, Saffron, Cupcake, etc.).
3b) if we exclude these names, the percentages in 1), 2) and 2b) go up a little.
4) less than 10% of the names contain a "u".
5) more than half of the names contain an "e".

Anyone else have a question regarding female fantasy names?

Slim


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## Magic Slim (Aug 28, 2003)

part II of a triple post


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## Magic Slim (Aug 28, 2003)

part III of a triple post


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## Steverooo (Aug 28, 2003)

I remember:

Fili,
Cannonfodder Lichesbane,
Rammadon,
Evadere,
Wraith,
Freya, and
Yngwyldr.

There were others, whose names I can't remember.


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## Elder-Basilisk (Aug 28, 2003)

Not really. AFAIK, female names ending in "a" is one of the conventions of latin-derived languages.

Julio=male; Julia=female
Silvos=male; Sylvia=female
Augustus=male; Augusta=female
Alexander=male; Alexa=female

Other languages and language groups have different naming conventions (Alexi and Misha are apparently male names in Russian even though one would expect them to be female names in other contexts) but Latin and French are very important influences on the English language so it is not surprising that our naming conventions (and most respondents here are English speakers) reflect that influence.

We pick up on the small conventional cues that language gives us about names. So, if Loskeruin (which, if pronounced Law ske Roo In doesn't sound particularly female to me) is difficult to remember as a female name, forcing it into a recognized naming convention makes it easy to remember.

And there's nothing wrong with that. It would be a very strange world indeed (one in which names offered no clue as to the sex of their bearers) if it weren't a surprise to meet a boy every introduced with the name "Sue."



			
				Brother Shatterstone said:
			
		

> Yup... I have one to add also and a small story behind it...
> 
> Loskeruina
> 
> ...


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## ArielManx (Aug 29, 2003)

I'm a little late for the statistics, but here are two more (my husband already mentioned my main character, Zorra):

Lithra (half-drow rogue/ranger)
Narine (human Cleric/Fighter/Doomguide of Kelemvor [epic level])

I also had a wood elf ranger named Zandra in a short-lived PbEM game.


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## barsoomcore (Aug 29, 2003)

Here's a simple bit of analysis: check out how many Japanese girl's names end in "o". Those that don't end in either "a" or "i", pretty much.

But then, most Japanese boy's names end in a vowel, too, I'd say.

On the other hand, I don't think that Chinese girl's names show a preference for vowel endings. I'm no expert though -- but I'll bet there's one around here somewheres...

Does anyone know if Indian languages show a preference? I'm kind of curious. I mean, it's a safe bet that most of us here come from a Latin/European language background, so it's unsurprising that we would think up names that follow the sorts of conventions we're used to. But is it a universal thing? I wonder.


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## afreed (Aug 29, 2003)

Magic Slim said:
			
		

> 1) ~24% are names that are common in real life.
> 2) ~62% end in a vowel.
> 2b) ~42% end in "a".




Rule 1 obviously doesn't count, but rules 2 and 2b both apply pretty aptly to the current top 10 female names from the <a href="http://www.census.gov/genealogy/names/dist.female.first">US census</a>.



> 3) ~6% are basically names that have a reference to an object of some sort (ex. Circle, Saffron, Cupcake, etc.).




This doesn't; not entirely surprising, since object-names probably make more sense for fantasy.



> 4) less than 10% of the names contain a "u".




This one applies...



> 5) more than half of the names contain an "e".




This one, interestingly, doesn't. Probably the most major deviation from popular real female names.

Idle statistical thoughts...


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## Kilmore (Aug 29, 2003)

The only one I can think of is Faeona.  Yep, that fits in pretty well with the theories.

I'm going to name my next female character Uluupt.


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## LazarusLong42 (Aug 29, 2003)

Well, even though much analysis has been done already, my (short) list:

Raie
Kintys
Serei

Those pretty much fit the bill, but I tend to shy away from names ending in -a --on average, at least--specifically because of the Indo-European tendency toward -a marking a female name.

[Armchair linguist mode]

If you really check through languages, you'll find that most Indo-European languages tend to follow the rules you've quoted above:  most end in a vowel, most of those end in -a, very few u's.  This applies among Romance languages, Baltic and Slavic languages (take, for instance, Russian, where -a as a marker on a female name is almost mandatory), all of the Germanic languages (including English), the Aramaic language group (Arbaic, Hebrew), and most Indian languages (subcontinental Indian, not American Indian).

There are variations amongst these--Russian has a higher concentration of u's, for instance--but -a as a marker for "female" has probably been with us since Proto-Indo-European was grunted^h^h^h spoken ten thousand or so years ago.

I know less about the world's other language groups, but as I recall -o is the female marker in Japanese, for instance.

[/armchair linguist]


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## hong (Aug 29, 2003)

Elder-Basilisk said:
			
		

> Not really. AFAIK, female names ending in "a" is one of the conventions of latin-derived languages.
> 
> Julio=male; Julia=female
> Silvos=male; Sylvia=female
> ...




Others:

Ninjus = male; Ninja = female
Bacterius = male; Bacteria = female
Katanus = male; Katana = female


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Aug 29, 2003)

My female characters:

*Anna Cale* - human cleric of goddess of healing, 2e
*Raasor* - human Strength priest, 2e using specialized priest from Complete Book of Priests
*Helva Sensdottir* - human druid, Rejurik in Birthright campaign 2e
*Isida Kep'Tukari* - human monk, 3e
*Leyna Thorngage* - halfling rogue, 3e
*Kay Seben* - human fighter, 3e
*Rowan Stormwind* - ice para-genasi cleric of Auril, FR 3e
*Liayen Sunhammer* - loresong faen magister, AU campaign


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## Nifft (Aug 29, 2003)

Magic Slim said:
			
		

> A little soft spot for french names I see?




It's a campaign set in a kingdom based on renaissance France.
Now they're moving to a chain of islands based on conquistadorial Spanish colonies, so there will be some non-French names.

The backstory of the world is that the First Empire spoke Latin, conquered the world (and several others besides), and fell over 2000 years ago. Surviving humans now speak a variety of regional languages, mostly Romance ones.

 -- Nifft


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## Kerrick (Aug 29, 2003)

I keep a running list of names, both male and female, for characters in both games and stories I write, so I noticed years ago that the majority of my female names ended in A. It wasn't really something I could get away from, so I've accepted it as a fact of life. This thread is a great resource for names; I hope you guys don't mind if I borrow a few.

Here are my contributions...

Jessalie McCarren 
Lydia Darkstarr 
Karita Mersine
Lyah Masaaren
Mirabeth
Leilani
Kariann
Khefra (Egyptian priestess of Bast)
Sabrina o' the Blade


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## heirodule (Aug 29, 2003)

Strawberry Shortcake
Solonor


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## Uzumaki (Aug 29, 2003)

-ko is the feminine derivative for Japanese names. It means 'child' or 'small.' Like Aiko, Yumeko, Mariko, etc. 'Ichi' and 'suke' is usually a masculine ending, like Kenichi, Shuuichi, or Daisuke.


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## Norfleet (Aug 29, 2003)

It's not surprising that many female names end in -a, seeing as this is a common trend in several languages where feminine nouns behave likewise.


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## Bloodsparrow (Aug 29, 2003)

afreed said:
			
		

> 5) more than half of the names contain an "e".
> 
> This one, interestingly, doesn't. Probably the most major deviation from popular real female names.
> 
> Idle statistical thoughts...




Condidering the "e" is that most used letter in the English language... Would this be ... At least a little, unsurprising?


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## welby (Aug 29, 2003)

Celeste


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## Gez (Aug 29, 2003)

Magic Slim said:
			
		

> Rapine (halfling)




1st question: Is she a rogue?
2nd question: If yes, do you speak French?

(Rapine is old slang for theft.)

First names of female character I've played in fantasy games? Long list.

Hermeline (Ars Magica, faery-blooded cohort), Inaoko (D&D+OA, human aristocrat/sorcerer), Avecine Balanim Carnamade Castelline Fernottine Nivaïl Lorelette Sélanil Valnip (a gnomette wizard, with lotsa names, in D&D), Neige (meaning snow, Changeling infant sidhe -- it's fantasy enough, despite the outside world), Naline (D&D, play-by-post, gnome druid/rogue), Katel (or Cathel) (Ars Magica, apprentice), Narcotorpa (Ars Magica, mage), Elorane (Ars Magica, future apprentice)... I'm forgotting some.

Names of female fantasy characters I have seen played? Even more. I'm bound to forget the three quarters.
Siawen (D&D, elf wizard), Laurine (D&D, half-elf bard), Jaliane (D&D, elf bard/fighter), Prisca (D&D, human monk), Icelina (Ars Magica, faery-blooded mage), Nauroria (Ars Magica, apprentice), Xaxiliax (Guildes, Ulmec witch), Xung-Li (D&D+OA, human bard), Thénamys (Ars Magica, cohort), Aeris (Ars Magica, cohort), Ezalie (Ars Magica, apprentice), Azalaïs (Ars Magica, cohort), Linotte (Ars Magica, grog), Yavanna (Dragon Warriors, cleric), Adeline (Vampire: Dark Ages, reluctant gangrel -- would have been a much better fit as a ventrue)... 
I've forgotten lots, notably nigh all "secondary" PCs of a whole Ars Mag campaign (we start lots of campaigns -- but sadly end very little -- so we have each lots and lots of characters).


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## Gez (Aug 29, 2003)

Nellisir said:
			
		

> Asilud _Sunnilda_ Gelud-Diedelindadottur




I've a cousine named Zunilda (but everyone call her Sunnie). Weird.


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## tetsujin28 (Aug 30, 2003)

Uzumaki said:
			
		

> -ko is the feminine derivative for Japanese names. It means 'child' or 'small.' Like Aiko, Yumeko, Mariko, etc. 'Ichi' and 'suke' is usually a masculine ending, like Kenichi, Shuuichi, or Daisuke.



This was not always true. It's a fairly recent invention.


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## Wormwood (Aug 30, 2003)

Names of the two female characters I've played:

Ursa
Raven


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## William Ronald (Aug 30, 2003)

Here are some female PCs that I have seen.  I have only played a female character at conventions.  

Siobhan
Glenoria
Beruthiel
Arwen
Berengaria
Romily
Arwen
Alissa


(I would have to check some old records for more.  In general, most players I know tend to use cultrual, historical or literary names for their characters. I think it helps to have some sort of consistent naming schema in campaigns.)


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## Tonguez (Aug 30, 2003)

Gez said:
			
		

> 1st question: Is she a rogue?
> 2nd question: If yes, do you speak French?
> (Rapine is old slang for theft.)
> 
> .




Actually Rapine as used in English is a somewhat archaic word for the act of pillage/plundering too (no doubt derived from French). I beleive the words Raven, Ravenous, Rapacious and Rape all have the same origin too.

As to the topic at hand It would be an interesting exercise to see if any such convention applies to my native language (a Polynesian language in which ALL sylables (and thus all words) end in a vowel.)

as to character names I 've used 

Macabre
Tula
Kelea
Hinehou


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## masque (Aug 30, 2003)

barsoomcore said:
			
		

> Here's a simple bit of analysis: check out how many Japanese girl's names end in "o". Those that don't end in either "a" or "i", pretty much.
> 
> But then, most Japanese boy's names end in a vowel, too, I'd say.




Well, there's a specific reason for that.  As far as I understand it, Japanese has a mora (like a syllable, but not quite) based system, rather than a letter based system, in that their unit of writing is, for the most part, CV (consonants-vowel), with  5 V-only mora, and a single C-only mora (-n).  Well, and the glottal stop mora, but that can't occur at the end of a word anyway (there are always exceptions, mostly in slang).  

Examples: a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, sa, shi (si), su, se, so, ta, chi (ti), tsu (tu), te, to (depending on the system of romanization one uses), etc

the "ko" mora can sometimes be written to mean "child," so that is one reason why some female names end in it.  For instance, Akiko=Autumn Child; Chieko=Wise Child.

Forgive me, it's been a while, in case any of that is incorrect.

With the way the language is structured, it would be improbable that a name would end with a consonant.  Most words don't end with a consonant as it is.

Thus ends the impromptu Japanese linguistics lessons.  Hope I didn't mess it up too badly.


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## seasong (Aug 31, 2003)

Blossom (warrior errant from high magic jungle setting)
Yug (dwarven heretic/repentant - equivalent of 'mud')
Lilyananta (munchkin 1ed fighter/m-u/thief, african sorceress)
Zero (sci-fi uber martial artist, former geneslave)
Catava (weird religion fanatic priestess)
Katrine (wizard, pretty generic)
George Dash (rogue, always dressed as a boy)
Twilight tiTamme (1/2 demon necromancer)
Iokles (1/2 dragon minotaur cavalier)
Antiopeia (human mounted archer - named for a little known amazon)
Meg (modern college student in a horror campaign)

...and of course...

Silverleaf (unicorn-riding elf maiden paladin with a greatsword, 1st ed)

There were a few others, but I can't remember their names. Too bad you're not looking for male names - I'ved got a metric buttload of those .

Orange were my favorite characters


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## Magic Slim (Aug 31, 2003)

hong said:
			
		

> Others:
> 
> Ninjus = male; Ninja = female
> Bacterius = male; Bacteria = female
> Katanus = male; Katana = female




Very funny = male; hahaha = female

Slim


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## Magic Slim (Aug 31, 2003)

yay triple post again.

Thanks again for your participation, may have it been by providing names, linguistical analysis or jokes of various order 

Slim


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## Magic Slim (Aug 31, 2003)

...


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## Magic Slim (Aug 31, 2003)

hehe just found out that a message must be at least 3 characters long. I guess I can't say "no", then...

Slim


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## Sanackranib (Aug 31, 2003)

I very seldom run female pc's. however 2 I can remember off the top of my head were:
1] Anastasia - a human female rogue
2] Desdemona - a human female mage/thief


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## Wolf72 (Sep 3, 2003)

Dher (not der as in duh ... but kind of like dare, but not as 'a' sounding ... oh wait, the 'e' sound in guerra).  Anyway that was a Male Half-elf Sorceror ...

then (hey the e sound in then works) my PC was reincarnated after being killed (24 pts of dmg and I had 7 left!) by the party's fighter, who was possessed, *grumble grumble* ... into a human female (no stat change, I almost had centaur) it became:

Dherra


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## s/LaSH (Sep 3, 2003)

masque said:
			
		

> Thus ends the impromptu Japanese linguistics lessons.  Hope I didn't mess it up too badly.




To emphasise: There are somewhere around 60 characters in each of the Japanese alphabets (the phonetic ones, not the pictographic one; and they're just different 'fonts' with different uses, really), and only one of them is a consonant, N (distinct from the na-ni-nu-ne-no characters). It's sometimes pronounced M, but only in special circumstances. And I don't speak Japanese, so I can't really tell you more...

But it is interesting that in a lot of Japanese music, they pronounce that N as an individual syllable. Which really throws off wannabe Western karaoke singers...

Education is fun!


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## Zappo (Sep 4, 2003)

It's too late in the night for me to remember all, or even most, of the female names I've heard or used... three will have to suffice.

Sarai
Alina
Lianne

It's worth noting that practically all Italian names, both male and female, end in vowels. Heck, practically all Italian _words_ end in vowels. Male names generally end in 'o', female names generally end in 'a'.


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## Magic Slim (Sep 4, 2003)

Gez said:
			
		

> 1st question: Is she a rogue?
> 2nd question: If yes, do you speak French?




I thought I had answered this a few days ago, but it seems the posts never got thru...

Her full name was Rapine Abraxas, and she was a halfling Sor1/Rog5 before she got paralysed and coup de grace'd by ghasts. The poor girl didn't make a stinking fortitude save of her very short career.

Bien sûr que je parle français, je viens du Québec!

Salut Gez, and good night all.

Slim


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## Gez (Sep 4, 2003)

Magic Slim said:
			
		

> I thought I had answered this a few days ago, but it seems the posts never got thru...




You know, this is the first time I can post since my last comment in that thread... A weird routing problem from my ISP...

So, the result of your study?


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## tetsujin28 (Sep 4, 2003)

Tonguez said:
			
		

> Actually Rapine as used in English is a somewhat archaic word for the act of pillage/plundering too (no doubt derived from French). I beleive the words Raven, Ravenous, Rapacious and Rape all have the same origin too.



 Rapine would be from Latin _rapio, rapere_, "to carry off, sieze, snatch". "Ravenous" is from Middle French, _ravine_, meaning basically the same thing. Not to be confused with the bird, which is from _hraefn_. That's what being a classicist will get you


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## masque (Sep 5, 2003)

s/LaSH said:
			
		

> To emphasise: There are somewhere around 60 characters in each of the Japanese alphabets (the phonetic ones, not the pictographic one; and they're just different 'fonts' with different uses, really), and only one of them is a consonant, N (distinct from the na-ni-nu-ne-no characters). It's sometimes pronounced M, but only in special circumstances. And I don't speak Japanese, so I can't really tell you more...




True.  I believe there are 46 distinct characters in both of the phonetic "alphabets" (hiragana and katakana), with a " mark differentiating between an unvoiced mora and its counterpart (ka/ga, sa/za, ta/da, ha/ba) and ° denoting the difference between ha and pa. -N is generally pronounced as -m when it comes immediately before a bilabial sound, the only one that comes to mind being ba/bi/bu/etc, as it has been a couple years since my last Japanese linguistics class, or any linguistics class.

Hiragana is the more flowing script, and is generally used where kanji is not.  Katakana is the more rigid script, and used to be used for verb forms; now its main use is for loan words.  Kanji are scary, especially as I can only recognize about 100 of them and their common compounds with any regularity.  But at least they make sense sometimes, as fire+mountain=volcano.


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## woodelf (Sep 5, 2003)

Giyh (halfling psionicist)
hmmm... i don't get to be a player very often, and the other couple seem to be male.

Names of PCs from games i've run (and, in case it matters to your data-collection, all of these were played by female players):
Leann (psionicist--half-dryad?)
Xentera (thief or scout, half-elf, i think)
Drusilia, "Dru" (elven druid)
Tra'aliy'ah (human gypsy-ish prostitute)
Jadenna, "Jade" (elven wizard)
Bubbles (dracon priestess)
Ixryxia (winged folk priestess)
Bambo (sidhe evoker)
[damnit! there was a sprite wizard, one of the longest-played characters in any game i've been in (~7 years), and i can't come up with it--started with a 'T', probably had an 'R' in it, and all i keep coming up with is "Telerie [Windyarm]"--one of the main characters from Snarfquest.]
A couple of these had last names, but most of them didn't and the rest i don't remember.


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## woodelf (Sep 5, 2003)

barsoomcore said:
			
		

> Here's a simple bit of analysis: check out how many Japanese girl's names end in "o". Those that don't end in either "a" or "i", pretty much.
> 
> But then, most Japanese boy's names end in a vowel, too, I'd say.
> 
> ...




Japanese uses syllables; all but 2  of the ~5 dozen syllables end in a vowel.  Therefore, it's just about impossible to construct a word (name or otherwise) in Japanese that *doesn't* end in a vowel.

Other languages: don't know off hand.  Go to http://www.kabalarians.com/ and check out whatever language group you want--biggest list of real-world names (conveniently sorted by ethnicity/language and gender) you'll find just about anywhere, online or off-.  This is a general admonition for all gamers: Get Thee to Kabalarians!  It was cool--i pulled the Apache and Arapahoe name lists (and combined them) for a tribe of nomadic noble savages (as in the archetype, not the [non-existent] anthropological classification).   It's really cool, because you can grab authentic names that all come from the same culture and thus have some consistency of sound, and you can often convey something, even to people who don't know cultures--we tend to have heard just enough names of various cultures for it to trigger resonances subconsciously, IME.

Also, you can take a couple different Kabalarians lists, and use them as input for a language generator (several free ones online) to create something new but plausible and consistent.


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## woodelf (Sep 5, 2003)

afreed said:
			
		

> This doesn't; not entirely surprising, since object-names probably make more sense for fantasy.




Actually, object names (usually "pretty" objects) are *really* common in female English names, at least as common as profession names are for males:
heather, violet, jade, crystal, laurel, just off the top of my head.


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## Radiant (Sep 5, 2003)

now what can I remember.
Rael, assasin
Lyriel, witch
Gen, would translate roughly as a ranger
Maive, luckless musican

about the number of U's in the name's, you will sure find none in mine just like you won't find O's. I just don't like them and never use names with those letters for my pcs.


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