History Main / LawOfAlienNames

* In ''Website/{{Neopets}}'', Grundos, which are alien from Neopia, usually have names like this. But that only applies to (most) plot/game characters; 'user'-owned Neopets (Inlcuding Grundos) may have Names like this, or common names with numbers added.

APlanetNamedZok is a SubTrope. See also PlanetOfHats, NameTron, XtremeKoolLetterz, and FantasticNamingConvention.

* In ''{{Neopets}}'', Grundos, which are alien from Neopia, usually have names like this. But that only applies to (most) plot/game characters; 'user'-owned Neopets (Inlcuding Grundos) may have Names like this, or common names with numbers added.
* Most of the aliens in ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' have names like these. Notably, most of the names ending in -a do not belong to females, as Krotera, Yukabacera, and [[{{Gender Blender Name}} Asha]] are all male. The only other named aliens are Tor, Vateilika, Ansaksie, Iosa, Hel Sarie, and Kiron.
* In Metroid Prime 2: Echos, the Luminoth have names like U-Mos, A-Kul, and other variations that involve a letter, dash, then three more letters. There is also V-Mos, so the second part might be like a last name.

* In ''InvaderZim'', most Irkens have short names, such as Zim, Tenn, Tak, or El, but there's also a one shot character named Gasploodge and several Irkens with names like Skutch, Larb, Spleen, Spork and Skoodge. WordOfGod has it that they didn't try too hard at consistency since an alien planet would have names that vary wildly just like ours. WordOfGod also has it that Shloonxtaplonxtis exists as a member of the Resisty solely to parody this trope, though, so they were at least aware of the LawOfAlienNames.
* Subverted somewhat in ''GalactikFootball'' where all the aliens have names like Warren and Nealy and the heroes have names like D'Jok, Sinedd and [=MicroIce=].
* ''{{Futurama}}'' has Lrr, Ndnd, Kif (a rather mild example), Morbo, Melllvar ("that's Melllvar with three L's"), and Turanga Leela (even though [[spoiler:she is actually a human mutant who was passed off as an alien]]).

* [[{{MeaningfulName}} Warhok and Warmonga]] in ''KimPossible''.

* {{Warcraft}} milks the MeaningfulName trope for all it's worth for the first names of the characters, and the last names are more often than not a case of LukeNounverber.

** All dragon's names end in TH, but the reason for this is never explored. (Word of God says it's because dragons have forked tongues, so would speak with a lisp. (Never mind the fact dragons never actually speak with their mouths, they only ever use mind-speech. (Do people with lisps think with lisps too?)))

** All dragon's names end in TH, but the reason for this is never explored. Word of God says it's because dragons have forked tongues, so would speak with a lisp. Never mind the fact dragons never actually speak with their mouths, they only ever use mind-speech. Do people with lisps think with lisps too?

* Despite the name being Japanese in origin, Garamos (translated here as Galamoth) from the ''{{Castlevania}}'' series fits the above naming example almost perfectly.

APlanetNamedZok is a SubTrope. See also PlanetOfHats, NameTron and XtremeKoolLetterz.

* ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' gives us Vl'hurgs, G'Gugvunts and Silastic Armourfiends of Striterax (whose army is called something even scarier), though Douglas Adams was deliberately and famously [[RefugeInAudacity having fun with this trope]] throughout the series.

* Completely averted by Creator/JRRTolkien. The names of his characters of his books are both meaningful in the (invented) languages, but Tolkien also has a complete pronunciation guide, and also ''multiple'' fantasy alphabets supplied. He even has [[ShownTheirWork rules for how the same letters are used for different languages]] (like how, say, Italian and English don't use the Roman alphabet in quite the same way).

* Completely averted by Creator/JRRTolkien. The names of his characters of his books are both meaningful in the (invented) languages, but Tolkien also has a complete pronunciation guide, and also a fantasy alphabet supplied.

* Completely averted by JRRTolkien. The names of his characters of his books are both meaningful in the (invented) languages, but Tolkien also has a complete pronunciation guide, and also a fantasy alphabet supplied.

Unless the setting as a whole has some kind of ThemeNaming (like [[Franchise/DragonBall all the villains in a family are refrigeration equipment]]), anime aliens often seem to have repeated sounds in their names. It might be because Japanese onomatopoeia tend to be reduplicated like that (they use them for a lot more things than sounds, e.g. "shibu-shibu" means "reluctantly"), and the reduplicated words in alien speech are meant to symbolize [[StarfishLanguage a collection of inhuman sounds]].

* The Ctarl-ctarl in [[Manga/OutlawStar]] also reduplicate, like their ambassador Aisha Clan-clan and their flagship the Orta Hone-hone.

Unless the setting as a whole has some kind of ThemeNaming (like [[Franchise/DragonBall all the villains are refrigeration equipment]]), anime aliens often seem to have repeated sounds in their names. It might be because Japanese onomatopoeia tend to be reduplicated like that (they use them for a lot more things than sounds, e.g. "shibu-shibu" means "reluctantly"), and the reduplicated words in alien speech are meant to symbolize [[StarfishLanguage a collection of inhuman sounds]].

** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' offers an explanation for Orcs. "Burz" is the given name, "Kash" is his home stronghold.

* {{Superman}}'s cousin is named Kara, which is an example of the trope, but an odd one in that the name became popular in English as an actual name after the introduction of the character, to the point where on ''{{Smallville}}'' she just calls herself Kara and there's nothing weird about the name. In truth, it isn't actually alien, rather of Proto-Italo-Celtic origin (Italian "beloved", Irish "friend"), but as stated above, it was hardly ever used as a given name until Supergirl made it popular.

[[folder:Role-Playing Games]]

* The aliens created by LarryNiven ''always'' have names like this. ''KnownSpace'' alone has aliens with names like Chmee, Kdapt-Riit, Lloobee, Hrodenu, Kzanol, Halrloprillalar, Harkabeeparolyn, Phssthpok, and Kawaresksenjajok. The only exception are those aliens who possess vocal apparatus that make their names are so unpronouncable to humans, like the Pierson's Puppeteers (who choose names from the alien cultures they are working with as nicknames) or who don't use personal names (like the telepathic Grogs, who can instinctively tell who is being referenced in a conversation, or the Bandersnatchi, who just never bother with things like names). Also there are the low caste Kzin who are named after their jobs (Speaker-To-Animals). What do you expect from a writer whose full name is "[[LarryNiven Lawrence Van Cott Niven]]".
** Niven once collaborated with a few other authors on a shared-world building project. The planet they were creating was originally going to be called Thrassus. Niven thought it sounded too Latin, so he changed the name to Thraxisp.

** All male dragonrider's names have an apostrophe stuck in: their names are shortened forms of their pre-Impression names. A prequel novel tells us that it is the dragons that first started doing this and that they, at the time, shortened the names of both men and women. Shortened names are meant to be easier and quicker to shout while in the air, which explains why the dragons turned Falarran into F’lar. (The danger of mishearing names is apparently not as important.) After Jaxom Impresses Ruth, Lessa[[hottip:*:Additional capital letters available at reception upon request]] wryly notes that weyrwomen usually choose names that produce something nice when shortened: J’xom and Jax’m don't quite cut it, to her ears. (FridgeLogic: J’om is dead easy.)

* ''MassEffect'''s characters generally follow this trope to a T. Garrus, Liara, Wrex, Kal'Reegar, Tali'Zorah... There are simply too many examples to list.

* ''Website/SFDebris'': Hilariously exaggerated in his review of ''Series/TheXFiles'' pilot episode when the FBI section chief asks how would one prosecute a case involving the paranormal.

* The ''{{Ringworld}}'' series by Larry Niven has an Engineer race with names like Halrloprillalar, Harkabeeparolyn and Kawaresksenjajok.
** Niven's aliens ''always'' have these sorts of names. The only exception are those whose names are so unpronouncable to humans, that they simply choose a nickname to use as their business handle. Like the Pierson's Puppeteers, whose personal ''and'' species handles are taken from human sources. Also there are the low caste Kzin who are named after their jobs (Speaker-To-Animals, etc.)
** For a real life horrifically huge name, consider [=LaurencevanCottNiven=].
** Niven once collaborated with a few other authors on a shared worldbuilding project. The planet they were creating was originally going to be called Thrassus. Niven thought it sounded too Latin, so he changed the name to Thraxisp.

* ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' gives us Vlhurgs, G'Gugvunts and Silastic Armourfiends of Striterax (whose army is called something even scarier).