# My daughter is named after my wife's first PC!



## der_kluge (Apr 16, 2004)

My wife works with a kid in her school that plays D&D.  My wife is a therapist, and the kid was asking her if she had access to any character sheets?  I had already given her PHB/DMG/MM (2nd edition stuff, since that's what he plays).

But, while rumaging through my character sheets, I came across the first PC my wife made.  We played with some friends several years ago (pre 3e) for what ended up being a one-shot game.  She made a druid.  Then, I noticed the name on the character sheet - Erin.  Which just happens to be the name of our first daughter!

I told my wife that when our daughter is old enough, I was going to tell her that Mommy named her after her first D&D character - a druid!   

Of course, the real story is that we were laying in bed one night, discussing names for boys, and I was tossing out names to see what she thought about them.  So, I started with the A's, and said "Aaron".  And she said, "for a boy or girl?"  And I said, "well either, I guess", and she said that she liked "Erin" for a girl's name, and I agreed.  So, we stopped debating girls' names, since we agreed on that one.

Still, we thought it was really funny.

Anyone here got kids named after D&D characters?


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## Delemental (Apr 16, 2004)

I have a friend who named his first son after his favorite RPG character - Quentin Winter.


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## Talmun (Apr 16, 2004)

I once played a cleric named Isaac, which was right around the time my brother, Isaac was born.  I can't remember if I named the character after him, or if I knew that it was one of the names my mother and step-father were considering...


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## Ozmar (Apr 16, 2004)

Our daughter's name is Aria. And I've played characters in the past named Aria, Ariel, Ariandor, etc... But its just coincidence. They weren't that memorable as characters. Aria is just a pretty name that we both liked. 

Of course, I found out later that there's an RPG named Aria. Never played it. I guess there's also a comic book called Aria? Never read it.

Just a pretty name... that's all. 

Ozmar the Father


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## Paladin (Apr 16, 2004)

Just this past weekend I met some folks who'd named their daughter after a very famous D&D character from Dragonlance. 

We were having an Easter get-together with some of our friends from Cub Scouts and they had invited their extended family as well. When my buddy was calling out the names of kids and pointing to chairs for them to sit in he says, "Holly...Loren...*Raistlin*..." I was walking by, stopped and said, "What? How is that spelled???" I was thinking that in my D&D-addled mind I had heard Raistlin, but maybe it was something more mainstream. Nope. He spelled out Raistlin. I started looking around for her parents and said, "Let me guess: you're gamers right?"  They smiled and said they were, but they hadn't played since 2e. I'm trying to get them to come play in our 3.5 game...and now when they bring her I can say that Raistlin is coming to our game.   

On a personal note, should I be lucky enough in the future to have a son, we're thinking about naming him Torm.


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## Black_Dog (Apr 16, 2004)

My daughter is named Amethyst.

It just so happens that my wife had a (very) long running character with an artifact which was named...wait for it...The Amethyst Chakar.

Coincedence?

Perhaps, that and her favorite colour is purple, I insisted on a 'gemstone' name, Amethyst is my birthstone and of course it was unusual enought ot be rare without being damned silly.


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## BiggusGeekus (Apr 16, 2004)

Since my wife nixed Galadrial, Arwen, and Eowyn I decided I wasn't even going to try to sell her on "Tukor".


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## Inconsequenti-AL (Apr 16, 2004)

If I had a daughter, I'd probably name her Gary, after Mr Gygax. 

Hey, at least it's better than Prince Destructor - after my very first RPG character (Advanced heroquest, aged 8 1/2).


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## Mercule (Apr 16, 2004)

My wife wants Marcus or Alexander (or Marcus Alexander) for a boy.  I just can't do it, though.  Both are important monarchs in my campaign setting.  Similarly, Belinda and Rachel are out for girls.


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## BSF (Apr 16, 2004)

BiggusGeekus said:
			
		

> Since my wife nixed Galadrial, Arwen, and Eowyn I decided I wasn't even going to try to sell her on "Tukor".




My son's middle name is Aragorn.  If we have a daughter, we have been debating Galadriel for her middle name.  

Total geekdom, but we always felt that Aragorn was a strong, noble character and we hope our son holds some of those traits as he grows up.


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## omokage (Apr 16, 2004)

I'm often told that my son's name sounds like it _should_ be an RPG or SF character.

Gabriel Ash.

My wife will tell you that his middle name is for Ash in _Evil Dead_. I will tell you, depending on my mood that his middle name is for the tree, or for Ash in _Pokemon_. A couple of my friends will tell you that he's going to be called GayBash in school.


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## Ferret (Apr 16, 2004)

If I have a some I might call him Nicholas, but it's early days yet (I'm 15).

What? oh sorry that had nothing to do with any kind of RPG.


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## kengar (Apr 16, 2004)

omokage said:
			
		

> I'm often told that my son's name sounds like it _should_ be an RPG or SF character.
> 
> Gabriel Ash.
> 
> My wife will tell you that his middle name is for Ash in _Evil Dead_. I will tell you, depending on my mood that his middle name is for the tree, or for Ash in _Pokemon_. A couple of my friends will tell you that he's going to be called GayBash in school.





More likely GayA$$, but kids are cruel. No name is safe.


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## Frostmarrow (Apr 16, 2004)

My son's second name is Dante. It makes me think of Las Vegas for some reason. It's a cool sounding name which I've used for several characters in the past.


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## tonym (Apr 16, 2004)

die_kluge said:
			
		

> ...Anyone here got kids named after D&D characters?




Kinda.  The name for my daughter came from an NPC of mine, not a PC.  The NPC was named Sindil--a powerful wizard in my 2E campaign.

Some years later, when my wife was pregnant, I pitched that name to her.  She liked the name, but not the spelling (the "SIN" part, specifically)...So she came up with a new spelling: Cyndil.  Which is what we used.

Adding another layer of geekiness to this already geeky story, I may've been influenced in the naming of my NPC by the Star Wars "Ewok" movie, which has a curly-haired little girl with a similar name.

By the way...haha....I waited until LAST YEAR (five years) before telling my wife that Cyndil's name originated from an insane, cursed evil NPC wizard of mine who lived in the one-room belly of a gigantic Bog Toad. 


Tony M


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## Arbiter of Wyrms (Apr 16, 2004)

*The Curse of the Shared Name*

I've actually gotten a bit superstitious about having in-game and real-world names overlap.  My wife named her first character after her pet iguana, and two sessions into the game, she announced that she had changed the character's name because her iguana died.  I worked it sureptitiously into the story, and eventually, the character's name reverted.  It worked out in the end, but the iguana's still dead.
My mother was raising Koi.  very nice, very big koi.  She wanted names for them.  I named one after a gold-dragon, archmage NPC of mine, and it promtly died.  I decided not to test that sort of thing again.
One more-I know a little girl named Shannari.  Cute kid, but a little strange.  Compared to her weird, and I mean WEIRD, parents, though, she's downright average.  
I think that I'm just a little creeped out by my own superstition.


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## Mark (Apr 16, 2004)

Mercule said:
			
		

> My wife wants Marcus or Alexander (or Marcus Alexander) for a boy.  I just can't do it, though.




Your wife has excellent taste...

Sincererly,
Mark Alexander Clover


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## orsal (Apr 16, 2004)

die_kluge said:
			
		

> Anyone here got kids named after D&D characters?




No kids, but I have a friend who named *himself* after his D&D character.

Details here 

Of course, my ENworld handle is the name of my first D&D character, but that's unremarkable.


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## dinsdale (Apr 16, 2004)

My wife is pregnant with a girl and she has suggested on multiple occasions that we use the same name as one of my wife's long-standing LARP characters.  She's not that attached to the character, but really liked the name, which is why she chose it in the first place.  But somehow, I just can't bring myself to agree with the idea.

We would have considered stealing names from the LotR, but with its current popularity, I think we are going to pass. 

However, middle names could be fair game.


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## diaglo (Apr 16, 2004)

kids out there are lucky i didn't name them.  

my character names tended to include my sense of humor.

Working in a hospital, i have seen some winners without D&D references... edit: a don't work there any more...i'm with the gov't now.

Baby Boy or Baby Girl being a common one....
Nylon
Chanel Number 5
Hu Flun Poo

these are actual names....i kid you not.


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## DungeonmasterCal (Apr 16, 2004)

die_kluge said:
			
		

> Anyone here got kids named after D&D characters?




I don't personally, but I know two sisters who named their kids after their elven characters from way back in the day.  The only one I can remember is Sindel.  The other two sound like stereotyped Elvish names.  You know those kids never have lunch money once they get to school.


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## Arakon the Grey (Apr 16, 2004)

Well I named my son after a very memorable character of mine, a dark elf worshipper of Eilistraee, Malachi Helviiryn.

His name is Malachi Anthony.[insert last name]


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## Mystery Man (Apr 16, 2004)

Erin is a pretty name for a girl. Thank goodness its not Lothar of the Hill People or something else equally horrifying. A million possibilities went thru my head before clicking on the thread.


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## diaglo (Apr 16, 2004)

Mystery Man said:
			
		

> Erin is a pretty name for a girl. Thank goodness its not Lothar of the Hill People or something else equally horrifying. A million possibilities went thru my head before clicking on the thread.




watch it. Lothar Ironhand was one of my characters. and i had it long before the L series was in print.


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## Davelozzi (Apr 16, 2004)

One of my players had a character in an old campaign that had a wardog named Shadow.  Later, the same friend's family got a dog and named it Shadow.  He denies the connection, but come on.

No one I know actually has kids named after characters.  I would consider doing the pet thing maybe, but I'd shy away from naming my kids anything from D&D.


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## Hardhead (Apr 16, 2004)

A friend of mine named their daughter Serra Angelica [Laste Name].  I don't know if he ever told his wife that she was named after a Magic card (I guess she thought it was a novel spelling).

If I have a son one day, my plan is to name him Plato, because it's a good "geek" name, and I have an excuse - he'd be named after my grandfather.


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## Altamont Ravenard (Apr 16, 2004)

kengar said:
			
		

> No name is safe.




"What about 'Bart'?"

"Hmmm... 'Aart', 'Cart', 'Dart', 'Eart'. Seems fine!"

AR


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## Talmun (Apr 16, 2004)

Altamont Ravenard said:
			
		

> "What about 'Bart'?"
> 
> "Hmmm... 'Aart', 'Cart', 'Dart', 'Eart'. Seems fine!"
> 
> AR




Two things,

1) Barf

2) The base name for Bart is Bartholomew(sp?)...lord help you if your sixth grade class finds that out.   

I, too, would generally stay away from giving my child a first name that was too fantasy inspired, although middle names are fair game, if I could get my (non-gaming) wife to agree.


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## Mercule (Apr 16, 2004)

Altamont Ravenard said:
			
		

> "What about 'Bart'?"
> 
> "Hmmm... 'Aart', 'Cart', 'Dart', 'Eart'. Seems fine!"



Um... Go one more letter down the line:  Fart.


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## Djeta Thernadier (Apr 16, 2004)

I'm never having kids but if I did, I would not be opposed to naming a daughter Djeta or Rhiann.


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## der_kluge (Apr 16, 2004)

diaglo said:
			
		

> kids out there are lucky i didn't name them.
> 
> my character names tended to include my sense of humor.
> 
> ...




My wife used to work with some people whose kids had strange names.  There was one that had a bunch of names and one of them was "Armani".  When asked about it, they said, "after the suit."  Well, duh.

This kid came to my workplace one day (kind of a school program, I guess), and I was talking to him about his sister who had just given birth.  Her name - Queen Anastasia.  As if that wasn't the worst part, she took the father's last name (which was not the husband, coincidentally), but it was Warrior.  So, this kid's name is Queen Anastasia Warrior.  Seriously.


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## Djeta Thernadier (Apr 16, 2004)

die_kluge said:
			
		

> My wife used to work with some people whose kids had strange names.  There was one that had a bunch of names and one of them was "Armani".  When asked about it, they said, "after the suit."  Well, duh.
> 
> This kid came to my workplace one day (kind of a school program, I guess), and I was talking to him about his sister who had just given birth.  Her name - Queen Anastasia.  As if that wasn't the worst part, she took the father's last name (which was not the husband, coincidentally), but it was Warrior.  So, this kid's name is Queen Anastasia Warrior.  Seriously.




Wow.


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## der_kluge (Apr 16, 2004)

Apparently, Mystic Eye Doug's two boys are named after the characters in Highlander.  Aiden and something else.  If I were more of a fan, I could tell you.


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## der_kluge (Apr 16, 2004)

I love crazy names.  One of my coworkers, when he started one of his jobs, his boss said, "You'll be working with Jack Frost."  Turns out, there was a guy in his department actually named Jack Frost.

When I worked at the Wal-Mart home office, they were always paging people over the intercom.  There were a couple that cracked me up every time.  One was "Candy Beavers".  You've got to respect a woman named Candy Beavers.

The other was a guy named Bud Hogue, which doesn't look crazy, but when you don't enunciate it properly, it comes across at butt ho'.


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## Umbran (Apr 16, 2004)

Not named after D&D characters, but I do know of a pair of boys named Boromir and Faramir.  I'[m not sure if that's doing the kids any favors....


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## Zander (Apr 16, 2004)

die_kluge said:
			
		

> One was "Candy Beavers".  You've got to respect a woman named Candy Beavers.



 That made me laugh so hard, I cried!

My own surname has a fantasy & RPG connection. It's Simkin, just like the character in the Darksword books/RPG by Hickman and Weis (see my sig).

I met Margaret Weis once. She thought it was amusing that my surname was the same as one of her characters. She kindly autographed my Darksword books/RPG, making the dedication "To Simkin".


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## Estlor (Apr 16, 2004)

I don't think I could bring myself to saddle a child with a fantasy name.  I'm more into common, normal, plain names for kids.

 Now, I have used old PC names in stories I write, and if my fiancee and I ever have a boy he'll probably end up named the same as the main character of one of my work-in-progress novels, but that's not unusual because it's one of my two favorite boy names (Ryan).

 (And, because I love giving more information than necessary, the other name is Scott, which is probably my favorite but my fiancee says all the Scotts she's ever known have been double-plus ungood people so she hates to chance it.)


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## nyrfherdr (Apr 16, 2004)

I have a close friend named Aragorn.  His parents were obviously big Tolkien fans, since he was born before D&D.

I asked my wife if we could name our son Jareth Xavier.  Named for Jareth, The Goblin King and Professor Charles Xavier founder of the X-men.

She decided against that for some reason.


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## Angcuru (Apr 16, 2004)

Umbran said:
			
		

> Not named after D&D characters, but I do know of a pair of boys named Boromir and Faramir.  I'[m not sure if that's doing the kids any favors....



*after seeing the LotR trilogy for the first time*
Boromir - I'm gonna diiiiieeee!!!!
Faramir - Daddy hates me!!!

Ok, choosing an original, unique name _inspired_ by a fantasy name is all well and good.  There are just too many Robs, Jessicas, Bobs, Betsys, Johns, Joes, Chris's, etc. out there.  

My kids are going to have names that are unique and cool-sounding, but nothing like Ragnar, Mordenkaiden, Galadriel, or Eowyn.  That's like tattooing _I like beatings._ on a kid's forehead.


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## Piratecat (Apr 16, 2004)

Two of my friends had a rule: no naming their daughter after former D&D characters or ex-girlfriends. Unfortunately, that ruled out most of the good choices.

In Dragon several years back, someone wrote in saying that they named their daughter Alustriel, and asking Ed Greenwood what it meant. He basically replied, "You dumbass, I made it up, and now your daughter is going to be nicknamed 'Lusty' in school." Bad choice, I'm thinking.

I think I'll name my child Drizzt. Girl or boy, makes no difference.


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## diaglo (Apr 16, 2004)

Angcuru said:
			
		

> Ok, choosing an original, unique name _inspired_ by a fantasy name is all well and good.  There are just too many Robs, Jessicas, Bobs, Betsys, Johns, Joes, Chris's, etc. out there.
> 
> My kids are going to have names that are unique and cool-sounding, but nothing like Ragnar, Mordenkaiden, Galadriel, or Eowyn.  That's like tattooing _I like beatings._ on a kid's forehead.





Dweezil, Moon, Star, ....   some kids are better naming themselves later in life.


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## eXodus (Apr 16, 2004)

as these are other people's children i find the whole thing really entertaining and humorous. 

my wife and i are not having children so my son is safe from being named calvin of carnage and death after my very first pc. our pets are not so lucky though.

my wife recently named our new pit bull emma frost. not a d&d character but most know of the x-men character of the same name. she is already excited about one day having another dog named gambit!


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## The Forsaken One (Apr 16, 2004)

> I think I'll name my child Drizzt. Girl or boy, makes no difference.



Argh 3 posts did he beat me to it 

But seriously, I honestly think Mystra, Auril and especially Talona are nice names (especially when pronounced in Dutch). And I really like the first name "Winter", luckily my girlfriend does to, as well as Talona but she doesn't know yet where it comes from. I think telling her its a fantasy goddess of plague and poison kills the mood a bit


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## Desdichado (Apr 16, 2004)

My kids all have more normal, although not plain, I think, names.  Spencer Joshua, Jessica Michelle, Alexander Williams, Logan Taylor.

However, my little sister once dated a guy named Gamble Lynn Money.  And there's a sales guy that is in the cube next to me a fair amount named Barry Cuda.


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## Hardhead (Apr 16, 2004)

Angcuru said:
			
		

> Ok, choosing an original, unique name _inspired_ by a fantasy name is all well and good.  There are just too many Robs, Jessicas, Bobs, Betsys, Johns, Joes, Chris's, etc. out there.




This is becoming less and less true.  As of this year, for the first time in history, the top 50 names account for less than 50 percent of boys born each year, and for less than 40 percent of girls.  Novel names are becoming more popular.

Names also go in cycles.  My grandparents were stongly against my parents naming my Zachary, because it was "such an old name."  _No one_ was named "Zachary" anymore!  But then, in the late seventies, all of the sudden the name exploded in popularity, and has increased every since.  In the 1990s, it was the 16th most popular name.  It actually annoys me, to tell the truth.  When I was grade school, it was an odd name, and I really enjoyed having an odd name.  Now, no one blinks twice at it.  





> My kids are going to have names that are unique and cool-sounding, but nothing like Ragnar, Mordenkaiden, Galadriel, or Eowyn.




I met an Arwen once (before the movies came out).  She liked her name, but wasn't a big Tolkien fan.  I don't believe she even finished Lord of the Rings.

My opinion is: if you give your kid a weird name, then the least you can do is give them a normal middle name to fall back on, should they decide they don't like it later in life.  Not that my friends have followed this practice.  One named their kid "December Storm" and another friend (who's only met the first friend a couple times) named their kid "Raven Sky."  I must have weird friends.

I met a guy last month who was about 18.  His name was Paladin.


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## Mercule (Apr 16, 2004)

Joshua Dyal said:
			
		

> My kids all have more normal, although not plain, I think, names. Spencer Joshua, Jessica Michelle, Alexander Williams, Logan Taylor.



Likewise.  I've got a Gabrielle Elise and Brigit Keely.  Considering the first is pronounced with a long "a" (Gabe, not Gabby), I have come to the conclusion I've doomed one daughter to always have her name mispronounced and the other to always have it misspelt.

On a different note, I heard of a gal once named Carrie Seaman (or some variant spelling).  She dated a fellow name Daley.  My understanding is that it was suggested that, should they marry, she hyphenate her last name.  *sigh*


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## Brother Ezra (Apr 16, 2004)

I don't have any kids, and would probably give them normal names if any pop out in the future.  I was thinking about my first D&D characters, tho, and applied them to children's names:

Bozomus: "Call me Bozo"
Lilandra: Lilly could actually be okay.
Elmo: "Tickle me, baby!"
Otis: "MY MAN!!!!"
Sulgo Stonefoot: I'm not even gonna try.


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## Henry (Apr 16, 2004)

One of my old gaming friends has a nephew -the parents named him Remington Spencer. Yes, after the Arms company and the firearm, respectively.

I've personally run into children with names from Doral (after the cigarettes) to Chanel (yes, the perfume). I cannot for the life of me fathom people who actually name their children after consumer products, but that's my little pet peeve.

And Rel's wife has got to have one of the coolest names I've heard in a while. I'll let him tell if he wants.


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## mmadsen (Apr 16, 2004)

You can have a real blast looking at the Social Security Administration's Top 1000 Names of the 1990s.  It's really shocking how _unpopular_ so many "common" names are.


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## DiamondB (Apr 16, 2004)

Some of my old gaming buddies believe that I named my son after my Cyberpunk character.  Of course the reality is that my wife and I had already decided on that name for our son (who wasn't born for another 7 years).  I really liked the name Joshua Michael and figured my, as yet unborn, son wouldn't mind.


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## tmaaas (Apr 16, 2004)

Black_Dog said:
			
		

> My daughter is named Amethyst.




My third daughter's name is Amethyst. I knew there'd be a few others out there, but your daughter is the first I've heard of with the same name. I'm surprised there aren't more.

My first daughter's name is Arinmir. Brownie points to the first person who names the source.

And, for the record, my second daughter is Amber.


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## Rancorpit (Apr 16, 2004)

I think I should name my son (should I ever have one) after my first D&D character, Guilo. I'd be satisfied to use it as his middle name, too.   

Probably he'll end up with a more common Finnish name, though. Something along the lines of Jaakko, Vesa, Oskari etc.


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## Umbran (Apr 16, 2004)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> "You dumbass, I made it up, and now your daughter is going to be nicknamed 'Lusty' in school." Bad choice, I'm thinking.




Not a gaming-name related story, but further illustrating the point...

A family friend was at a party, discussing choices for a name for his baby girl.  He wanted a name in keeping with the family's origin, and was leaning towards "Sellita", a fairly pretty name from the mother tongue.

Another friend, rather deep in his cups, piped up loudly, "Sellita?  Sellit!  Sell it for fifty cents!" 

Needless to say, the lady is named Lillita instead


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## Hardhead (Apr 16, 2004)

mmadsen said:
			
		

> You can have a real blast looking at the Social Security Administration's Top 1000 Names of the 1990s.  It's really shocking how _unpopular_ so many "common" names are.




If you go here you can find the list for every other decade in the 20th century as well.  Looking through the old names is fun.  It's hard to believe that "Elmer" was as popular then as "Brian" was in the 1990s (both 36th in their respective decades). 

What I found odd, though, was the change in Women's names.  The top 20 men's names from the 1900s look pretty normal:



> John
> William
> James
> George
> ...




Clarence and Albert are really the only ones that people don't really use anymore.  

On the other hand, the women's names are:



> Mary
> Helen
> Margaret
> Anna
> ...




Florence?  Ethel?  Midred?  Edna?  Helen?  Gladys?  No one really names their kids that anymore.  There seems to be more change and trends among women's names (for instance, the statistic I cited earlier was that the top 50 names, for the first time, accounted for less than 50% of the boys' names and less than *40%* of the girls names).  

The circumstantial evidence on this board points the same way.  Most of the weird names are girls' names.  Even "Raistlen" was a girl.


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## Hardhead (Apr 16, 2004)

Umbran said:
			
		

> Not a gaming-name related story, but further illustrating the point...
> 
> A family friend was at a party, discussing choices for a name for his baby girl.  He wanted a name in keeping with the family's origin, and was leaning towards "Sellita", a fairly pretty name from the mother tongue.
> 
> ...




Lillita?  Lolita.  Not much better.


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## Nifft (Apr 16, 2004)

I've heard a theory that it's most healthy to name your kid with one NORMAL name, and one COOL name.

"Normal" first name: this will get them safely up to high school, and perhaps beyond.

"Cool" middle name: when they wish they were someone special (high school, college, or post-college acting career), they'll have a "cool" name that's legally theirs.

 -- N


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## Elder-Basilisk (Apr 16, 2004)

With a name like that, he needs to get a business card: "Have gun, will travel."



			
				Hardhead said:
			
		

> I met a guy last month who was about 18.  His name was Paladin.


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## SpringPlum (Apr 17, 2004)

In an interesting reversal, I know a couple of guys who named characters after themselves.  One guy used his own middle name and the other used his first name.

Of course, by the time that I have children, they will probably have the same name as either a PC or NPC from our gaming group.  The other day, my SO and I were discussing good names for children--and every name we liked had either been used in a game or reminded us of someone we hated.


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## d4 (Apr 17, 2004)

Hardhead said:
			
		

> Florence?  Ethel?  Midred?  Edna?  Helen?  Gladys?  No one really names their kids that anymore.



yeah, those all sound like "grandmom" names.  (FWIW, my grandma is named Florence.)



			
				Nifft said:
			
		

> I've heard a theory that it's most healthy to name your kid with one NORMAL name, and one COOL name.



my sister got that. Lisa Renee. up to her early twenties, she went by Lisa. now she uses Renee.


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## the Jester (Apr 17, 2004)

I don't have kids, but if I ever do I'm naming it Illithid.


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## BrooklynKnight (Apr 17, 2004)

For years, i've wanted to name my first daughter Kaylie-Amarice.


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## Umbran (Apr 17, 2004)

Hardhead said:
			
		

> Lillita?  Lolita.  Not much better.




Eh, most grade school kids won't know what a "Lolita" is.  Plus, this was over 30 years ago, long before the "Long Island Lolita" nonsense that made the term popular again.


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## Seonaid (Apr 17, 2004)

I've always said that I want to name my kids traumatic things like Rock or Chanel. It's character-building.

I have a really boring name (first, middle, _and_ last) and even though no one ever mispronounces it, it's still boring. (My claim to fame is that my first name has about a million nicknames and derivatives.) Now, though, I think I'll just name my kids something that isn't common in the United States. For example, I really like the name Brigitte pronounced the German way, not the French. Then again, I'm really hooked on "Kestrel." A lot of my characters (D&D and otherwise) are named Kestrel, or some variant thereon. It's not as odd as it could be, but it's definitely gaming-related and definitely not "normal."

Edit: I've also considered my handle as a name (and it is my name in the SCA), but I don't really like the way it's pronounced, just the way it's spelled. I like Siobhan, too, but it's become too Anglicized, in my eyes.


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## CanadienneBacon (Apr 18, 2004)

We have a daughter named Ember and she gets quite a few compliments on it.  Also a lot of confusion as we explain it's Ember with an E, not "Amber."  Still, it's worth it.  Had her matching twin been a boy, we would have named the other one Coal.  As it turned out, Ember's twin sister is named Madelaine.  Credit my husband for coming up with Ember.


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## Zander (Apr 18, 2004)

CanadienneBacon said:
			
		

> We have a daughter named Ember... Credit my husband for coming up with Ember.



Hmmm. How old is Ember? Perhaps credit Jonathan Tweet as author of the 3.0 PHB.

BTW Pretty name.


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## Axegrrl (Apr 18, 2004)

> I have a friend who named *himself* after his D&D character.

Heh. My first AD&D character's name became my computer ID in college. As it happened, my advisor's wife and I had the same given name. When he went through a messy divorce, he started calling me by my computer ID name (and we were all extra-nice to him on days he did that, 'cause we figured it meant he was having a really bad day with the divorce procedings). 

Years later, I moved -- and the local friend knew me from my computer ID thru GMAST-L. It was sooo much easier to go with that name, rather than having him explain the name variance....

So my current name is that of my original D&D character...who was named after a very minor character in a book by Madeline L'Engle. 


I know of at least two guys who've used multiple names, at least one of which has been an RPG character.


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## Silver Moon (Apr 18, 2004)

My wife and I had a rule that we would not use D&D character names for our children's names.  Although she and I each have a PC named for two of her siblings.   And I often use work associate names for NPC's.


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## orchid blossom (Apr 18, 2004)

My friend and her husband named their son Grayson.  He's a big fan of Nightwing, but she wouldn't go with a more obvious reference.  With Grayson, those in the loop will guess, and those not will just think it's an unusual name.

They named their daughter Jade.  Not that unusual, but they picked it from the Green Lantern's girlfriend, I believe.


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## DaveStebbins (Apr 18, 2004)

Hardhead said:
			
		

> Names also go in cycles. My grandparents were stongly against my parents naming me Zachary, because it was "such an old name." _No one_ was named "Zachary" anymore! But then, in the late seventies, all of the sudden the name exploded in popularity, and has increased every since.



The thanks for that one may need to go to John Denver...



			
				The Forsaken One said:
			
		

> But seriously, I honestly think Mystra, Auril and especially Talona are nice names (especially when pronounced in Dutch).



Hopefully, when pronouned in Dutch, the second one doesn't sound like "Oral" which would be a tough name to be saddled with in the US.

On a personal note, when my brother (a big fan of the Avengers TV show in the '60s) found out we had named my daughter Emma, his first question was whether her middle name was "Peel."

-Dave


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## Hardhead (Apr 18, 2004)

DaveStebbins said:
			
		

> The thanks for that one may need to go to John Denver...




Porbably right.


This is sort of the opposite, but I once named a character of mine after a RL friend.  It was in a modern day setting using the Alternity rules, and I wanted to make him a minor celebrity.  I was trying to think of a "Hollywood" type name, when I thought of my friend Jayson's last name -  Hammer.  So I asked Jayson what his middle name was.  

"Jayson.  I don't go by my first name."

"Then what's your first name?"

"Christopher"

Thus, my action star PC was born - Chris Hammer.


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## Hypersmurf (Apr 19, 2004)

Edward Lear (inventor of the Learjet, among other things) named his daughter Shanda.

-Hyp.


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## omokage (Apr 19, 2004)

SpringPlum said:
			
		

> In an interesting reversal, I know a couple of guys who named characters after themselves.  One guy used his own middle name and the other used his first name.




I played a character for 3 years named Christian Sylvia Brighton.
Christian = my middle name and my great grandfather's middle name.
Sylvia = my great grandmother's first name
Brighton = I wanted a good English name for him.


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## thatdarncat (Apr 20, 2004)

Estlor said:
			
		

> (And, because I love giving more information than necessary, the other name is Scott, which is probably my favorite but my fiancee says all the Scotts she's ever known have been double-plus ungood people so she hates to chance it.)



 Now I feel bad...




My choice for a boy's name? Harry.

No way I'm getting away with that one though


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## Knightfall (Apr 22, 2004)

I've never met anyone with a fantasy and D&D inspired name and I'm not likely to settle down get married and have kids. When I was younger we had several cats. One I named Prowl, because of the Transformer. Another I named Tattenger, from a TV show I don't even remember.

I've taken first and last names from people I've known and turned them into either place name locations or NPC names. I knew an "Erin" once who's name became that of a evil enchantress. 

I knew someone named "Carla" who's name got converted & morphed to a city name - Aarlan.

I knew someone with the last name "Tschaja", which bacame a city name.

I named a city "Gillian" after the actress from X-Files.

I named a NPC "Morgan" inspired from a character on a Canadian TV show called Radio Active.

I used the name "Onaway" for a major city. It's the name of a small rural town here in Alberta.

I've integrated the old EN World City Project into my campaign. The city's name - "Mor's End" - is named after Morrus. 

The continent of Janardun is named after the Canadian singer Jann Arden. (I was into her music for a while and the name stuck.)

As I've gotten older, I've done this less and less. However, a good resource for names are old year books from college. Browsing through my GMMC year book from 1994 has inspired certain names for locales on my homebrewed world. I tend to use those from other programs more. It doesn't feel as silly that way.

I also named a couple of NPCs "Ahdina" and "Loghan" after a couple I knew, at my second go around at colllege, named Adina and Logan. They are the queen and king of a major country on my homebrew.

Of course, I've borrowed other character names from other campaigns I've played in and read about (on EN World).

And last, but not least, one of my players named his skyrider paladin, "Mojo Rising". I kid you not. 

Cheers!

KF72


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## Seri (Apr 23, 2004)

thatdarncat said:
			
		

> Now I feel bad...
> 
> 
> My choice for a boy's name? Harry.
> ...





darned straight, There will be no Harry Potter in our family


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## thatdarncat (Apr 24, 2004)

Seri said:
			
		

> darned straight, There will be no Harry Potter in our family



How about James, after my father?


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## Galethorn (Apr 24, 2004)

If I ever have a son, I'm going to try to name him *Eolan*, or at least have it as a middle name. You see, Eolan is a slightly modified version of "Eolann" which is a celtic name, and I'm at least half celt (other half is viking, if you have to know), and it seems like a good name. However, I hope the day I have to name a child is AT LEAST five or six years away...10 seems even better. (Hey, I am only 16 after all)

As for how I've used the name in the past; Eolan is the name I use for big, red-haired warriors other than Galethorn (who's usually a big, red-haired warrior with a rangerly twist). Eolan, for instance, is my character in one campaign who killed a young black dragon in four hits over the course of four rounds...and he was level 2. You see, he was using the UA variant of rage called 'whirling frenzy' so he got extra attacks...and every single hit was a natural 20...and the DM had just given us lots of loot so we could face 'greater challenges'.


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## Gez (Apr 24, 2004)

If I have kids one day (I sure hope I won't, brats are bothersome little creatures), I will _not_ call them Maeglin or Ketanidos.

Definitely not.


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