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deadly kisses of love (deadlylovekiss) wrote in rp_tutorials,
@ 2011-02-02 21:10:00

Entry tags:

question: character creation

I don't know if this is something that would be allowed on here, but I have another question.

How do you pick a name for a character that's in reason? I prefer names that are a bit unique, but sometimes I feel that my name choices could affect how people look at my character. If that names sense.

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nebari
2011-02-03 06:35 pm UTC (link)

I agree with all of the above. I once had a character named 'Mary Christmas' and a google search proved that there were women named like this. Another RP situation was where the parents of a character of mine loved giving their children strange names (such as Wolfgang and Mozart), while giving their pets normal names. I knew a real life Wolfgang, so crazy is maybe not that crazy?

Truth is, plenty of people have weird ass names. More so if you look at the trends throughout the years. While I giggle over the surname of 'Dick', it was perfectly normal in the oh, sixties and earlier? And look at the names in the HP fandom, like Scorpius? (I'll admit that I'll think of Farscape first, but oh well.) On the other hand, there's plenty of John Smiths too.

It really depends on what you like. Some players don't like strange names for their character, but on the other hand, it helps to remember that you didn't have a choice in deciding how you would be named - your parents did.

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nebari
2011-02-03 06:48 pm UTC (link)

On the other hand, yes, it's sad that you're not taken seriously when you name your character something 'funny', but most of the names I use for my characters are from real people and I have the habit of throwing around documentation and proof until they can't stand it no more. Bad me.

I've always been squinted at for giving my people 'strange' names. Well, guess what? Not everyone in the world is of American origin. If I'm playing a Dutch/Belgian character, I'm not going to name him Donald O'Donnelly. He's going to be Jozef Janssens.

But to those people ... It's just a name. Lestat de Lioncourt is one of the most ridic names ever and we've all come to love him. If you're going to let a name hinder the possibility of having a great RPG experience, then I pity the lot of you. But it's your character and if they laugh at you, then well ... I always went 'neener neener, you'll miss out on playing wifs me'. There always will be people who will.

Another option might be to write a short explanation in your character's bio why you chose that name? IDK.

But it IS a good question.

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deadlylovekiss
2011-02-04 12:43 am UTC (link)

If I have a character who's ethic background plays a MAJOR part in their lives then, I do give more traditional names. Other times, I just names that would be more common for a guy then a girl.

As I said above, I do sometimes explain the name, if it needs to be explained. Thank you! I was thinking about it before I went to my History class and thought I posted it, to see what others thought.

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	hammertech 2011-02-04 03:15 am UTC (link)
	This is a great point: what seems like an odd name will quickly become normal. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	ginge 2011-02-04 02:37 am UTC (link)
	Drive-by, but I know a Merry Christmas. Sucks for her like. And I think her brother is like, Noah Christmas. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ginge 2011-02-04 02:37 am UTC (link)
	Sucks for her life * (Reply to this) (Parent)

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