The "What's a good name for this?" thread

Thanks, I'll look over the names and choose - the iconic scene in my mind is what started as basically a story about Matthew on vacation and at most having to deal with some bumbling villains from his school life...

...and then the clouds part, and right in the middle of a nice, sunny day this hideous airship uncloaks - the very atmosphere of the story changes around it, Justin Henderson and his ship are a Knight of Cerebus down to the visuals. If I had to attach music to this scene, the scene starts with idyllic music, and then as the ship shows up distorts into a cacophonous, mechanical theme with an underlying One-Woman Wail, this theme being at its strongest when Justin Henderson himself is seen.

Matthew - who is usually by this point cool, calm and confident - goes "Oh...No...Its him."

I'm looking for colors along the lines of Periwinkle and Lavender. Colors that are either pastel or also the names of flowers. For the hues of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Yellow-Green, Cyan and Pink

This Wikipedia index page, List of colors by shade, is a good stating point: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colors_by_shade

I need a name for a species of Polynesian Lizard Folk. I have ideas for personal names and tribe names, but not species names. Thoughts?

In Maori folklore there's a creature called a Taniwha, that lived in places with dangerous currents or waves. They sometimes appeared as Geckos or Tuatara lizards, among other things. So there's an option. I was actually going to use the term in my story as the Maori-analogue country's initial name for Dragons before making full contact.

Cool, thanks.

First, relinking to a recent question of mine in hopes of getting feedback.

Second... I'm looking for names to give to Xenomorph cults that emerge in a Medieval European Fantasy setting. Please specify if the name should be given to a cult that is focused on a particular subset of the setting's population, such as a race-specific cult or the cult being for women only.

So, I'm working on fleshing out the setting of my web novel a bit, and I'm trying to come up with names for the five provinces, and three city states that make up the empire. Of these, I have two provinces and one city state already named.

Provinces:

• Bansi: One of the two northernmost provinces, along with it's sister-province Kiran it's famed for its high-quality textiles and cold Dry Season (Cold in this case meaning 'capable of snowing, ever'). Less impacted by the Stone Wars due to being the Western province, its exports focus on grain agriculture with some raw wool.
• Kiran: Like Bansi, famed for its textiles. Its farmland was more heavily impacted by the Stone Wars, so in the last century it's main industries have shifted over to textiles, in particular the highly sought-after Cashmere and Silks. The characters representing it and Bansi have Kashmiri names, though the provinces aren't necessarily based on Kashmir in practice.
• The smallest of the five provinces, but also one of the richest. Originally a purely agricultural province, their expansion into dragon territory is what triggered the Stone Wars in the first place. It remains the major inlet of both mundane and precious stone and metal imports from the Dragon Territory, and even boasts the only 'Draconic City' in the empire, in the form of a spent pit mine that Dragon Traders have converted into temples and dwellings. Characters and things that come out of this province have mainly been named in Assamese thus far.
• A smaller province tucked on the western side of the empire, this province's involvement in the Stone Wars was mainly economic. Many of the natural plants that grow here are highly toxic, and the thick swamp and putrid water make it very hard to clear areas for agriculture. They made a good business selling paralyzing poisons that slowed down the Dragon's healing and shape-shifting powers. These plants also happened to be quite useful for medicine, but even in modern times they haven't lost their reputation for being cunning and just a little bit dangerous. There's even a persistent rumour that the royal family practices Acquired Poison Immunity. So far I've been using Punjabi names and terms for things that come out of this province.
• The Southernmost province of the empire, with geography based heavily on Kerala. This province has a strong connection to the river and the highly water-saturated lands, and was founded by a holy man, Veera Bunahr, who discovered a method of purifying the acrid water (And discovered the main Magic of the setting in the process). The Holy man's family went on to unify the empire and become the royal family, and this province was the seat of government before it was moved to Sangam. It's also notable for being the province most heavily impacted by the Stone Wars, with miles of farmland having been torched by Dragon Tribes. As such, the opinion of Dragons here is still... not wholly positive.

City-States:

• Sangam: The Capital city of the empire, the seat of all major governance and administration. The Capital was moved hear almost fifty years ago at the beginning of the story, though the city existed before that. Situated on the Delta where the Salaee river meets the ocean, the city previously had religious significance (As the ocean is viewed as symbolic of the afterlife). It still has a heavy religious presence, with each island of the delta having at least one temple. In addition, also has a significant mercantile presence, and is the location of the second Armistice Bridge. The main setting of the story.
• A temple city situated on an island near the middle of the length of the Salaee river. While all of the city-states are officially unaffiliated with any specific province, and the River is not the territory of any one province, this one is unique in that it is located roughly at he junction of four of the five provinces, making it the only city state that is not even loosely associated with any. The head of the church is located here, as well as the dominant temples of each of the two sects, and is the main source of magical learning.
• An island city on the length of river between southern Kiran and Bansi. Being an island city it has some religious significance, but more than anything it's known for its centers of learning and science. In addition to its universities, it's also famed for its art—in part because, at the time of the story, it plays host to the largest Draconic population in the empire.

Anyone have any thoughts for possible names for the remaining five provinces and states?

edited 13th Oct '17 3:21:41 PM by kegisak

I'm interested to know if there are any good resources out there for naming places or entities other than characters. Plenty of random character name generators and the like out there, but a tool for constructing names for places, brands, or organisations would be very helpful.

Along similar lines, I am looking for some good names for fictional locations, in particular:

A fictional medium sized town (pop. c. 15,000) in the Sibillini Mountains of central Italy, overlooked by an eponymous (and also fictional) 7,500ft mountain.

A fictional city of about 75,000 people in the Västra Götaland county of Sweden.

A fictional Banana Republic and notorious tax haven island nation in the Ionian Sea of about 1000 square miles in size, with both heavy Greek and Italian influences, often host to numerous lavish international events for jetsetters and playboys, and notorious for the shady dealings that go on in its many surprisingly tastefully decoured casinos. Preferably a name something like San Alturism or something, except less on the nose and better sounding.

edited 6th Nov '17 4:23:12 PM by MemesAreDangerous

San Cayetano is the patron saint of gamblers, though the name is taken by a few cities already. Saint Nicholas (Yes, that one) is also the Patron Saint of (Repentant) Thieves, as well as sailors, brewers and prostitutes, and Saint Matthew was the saint of accountants, bankers and money-lenders.

As you might be able to guess from the post above yours, I wound up doing a lot of looking into place naming conventions, and I found that they're typically divided into three groups:

• Geographical features (Ie. Mont Royal, Grosse-ile, etc.)
• self-identifiers of the People who live there (ie. Land of the Pure, Dutch Land)
• Notable members or founders (With a sub-category for people who the founders wish to honour but are unrelated to the founding itself).

Thanks. The stuff about Saint Matthew seems like a good lead. My original placeholder was San Serriffe, after the old Guardian April Fool's Joke, although I feel that would be an inappropriate choice for various reasons. As I imagine it the place is a bit like a cross between Crete, the Amalfi coast, Monaco, and Barcelona, with a dash of Arabic influence added in for good measure.

The other locations are less developed in my head as they are more just periphery places I'm looking for names for.

Along similar lines, I'm also looking for a name for a (again, most likely fictional) Welsh mountain with a name which in some way evokes moles (both of the mammal and espionage types).

edited 6th Nov '17 6:39:27 PM by MemesAreDangerous

Looking for a good name for a female Eldritch Abomination who's Creepy Good / Dark Is Not Evil. Occasionally pulls of The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You feats and is Laughably Evil.

edited 8th Nov '17 3:26:22 AM by n3rd_d4sh

Sometimes in that sort of situation a regular name can be unsettling, like if there's juxtaposition between the otherworldliness of the character and the normalness of her name. What kind of names are you using for the rest of the characters? If they're mostly English-related and American names, you could check out this list or you could fiddle around with that site.

edited 8th Nov '17 6:22:56 AM by WaterBlap

You can also use the ancient names from Sumer and Akkad (and Elam). Those usually had literal meanings besides. ^note Many names have meaning, but eh ancient mesopotamians would have literally been calling the holders of the following names, for example "clean one." These are best found in a library book as I have had poor luck getting any but the most well known deity names off the net, but here's five from a book, People's Names: ^note 

• Belit (the exalted lady/ the goddess) — usually referred to a goddess (like an honorific), not a name itself, but no reason you can't use it as one. The Sumerian "Nin" serves much the same function. (a variant, "Belitsunu," means "their mistress")
• Zakutu (clean one)
• Anaattalabalatu (I behold life)
• Balukhtum (feared)
• Waqartum (precious/dear)

edited 8th Nov '17 7:43:40 AM by CenturyEye

My current name for her is Xenny. It's supposed to sound both mythical and casual, but I think I can do much better.

I need a medieval English name for a social stratum similar to Dalits, Burakumin and other untouchable people. It's for a dark fantasy story set in a world inhabited by Theriomorphs.

"The poor"?

Sorry, English joke, bad taste.

Perhaps "the desolates" or "the destitute". "Seasonals" if they're, say, transient workers? Depends on the delivery and if it goes into common parlance enough to be used as a de facto referral.

I'm trying to come up with names for the major camps of a racial supremacist movement by members of a transhuman race (let's call them "Supremes") who consider normal humans (AKA "Oldkinders") as inherently inferior.

• Classic supremacists hold that Oldkinders should be reduced to second-class citizens by default, with better treatment to be dispensed only for select individuals at the discretion of individual Supremes and/or Supreme authorities, and consider chattel enslavement of Oldkinders to not be immoral.
• Absolute supremacists hold that Oldkinders are inferior animals fit only to be chattel slaves of Supremes at best, with those unsuited for such a role to be exterminated.
• Exterminatory supremacists hold that Oldkinders are verminous filth that have no right to live in any way, shape or form, and thus must be completely exterminated.

Does these names sound OK? "Classic supremacists" is the one choice that I'm not satisfied with, to be honest.

edited 17th Nov '17 4:55:58 PM by MarqFJA

I'd imagine these groups would name themselves in such a way that it sounds like they're good people but there also happens to be a double meaning for in-group members (see "dog-whistling").

• Classic supremacists: Maybe "free supremacists"? They're born "free" while Oldkinders earn the same kind of treatment. Or "discreet supremacists"? Think of "discernment," where they discern — with "good" judgment (from their perspective) — who should get better treatment. This name would also imply that they think the other groups are not "discreet" (other meanings of this word include "modest" and "unobtrusive" as well as "having good judgment in conduct and speech").
• Absolute supremacists: Maybe "tame supremacists"? They believe Oldkinders should be enslaved, and "tame" can refer to "making useful to [Supremes]" and "lacking in the capacity to excite" (both clearly reference slavery). This name would also imply that they think the other two groups are unreasonable or wild. Or "worker supremacists"? They only care about Oldkinders as far as they are fit to work, non-workers are killed.
• Exterminatory supremacists: This seems to be the most accurately named one, and you asked specifically about "classic supremacists." Just to be complete, though, I'll throw in my two cents. For the exterminatory ones, maybe just "supremacists"? I was going to suggest "supreme supremacists" but that would be redundant. This simple name would imply that they think the other groups aren't "legitimate" or "genuine" Supremes. Or "true supremacists" as a name for the same reasons. The description of them gives me the impression that they're the oddball out or the fringe extremists.

edited 18th Nov '17 5:16:34 PM by WaterBlap

You know, I just realized that using "Supreme" can be quite confusing, so I'm changing it to "Supremite(s)".

Also, I should've clarified that the names are intended to be ones that are coined by Supremites, and mainly used either within Supremite-only circles or in places where Supremites are already dominant (e.g. a country where Supremites have already secured dominance over non-Supremites). Among Oldkinder-dominated public circles, most Supremite supremacists usually present themselves as "Supremite nationalists" or some other term that does not sets off immediate alarms in any sane Oldkinder's mind, the same way real-life white supremacists and separatists often do.

I also ought to explain my rationale for the names I'm currently using:

• Classical supremacists: In-universe, this camp is more or less the "first" of the three camps to formally organize (and thus used to be synonymous with the term "Supremite supremacists"), simply because regardless of which camp a given Supremite actually follows, the first step towards achieving their desired end state is to secure dominance over Oldkinders; only the most short-sighted and irrational Supremites would actually think they can manage to exterminate all of Oldkind in the current status quo, in which they're a relative minority within almost all of the Oldkinder populations they exist in. It's only later that some subsets of this camp realized that its leadership and the bulk of its members had no intention of going further than "reduce Oldkinders to second-class citizens that can be enslaved", resulting in a schism that gave rise to the other two camps. The "classical" qualifier would be used afterwards to distinguish the original breed of Supremite supremacists from those that they consider "radicals" or "extremists".
• Absolute supremacists: The "absolute" qualifier is to indicate that this camp of supremacists believe in an absolute separation between Supremites and Oldkinders in terms of personhood, i.e. Supremites are the only one of the two who qualify as persons, and thus Oldkinders should be treated like (nonhuman) animals^note Yes, I know that some animal rights advocates are arguing for the personhood of some nonhuman animals like chimpanzees and dolphins.. Alternatively, it derives from the camp's end goal being that Supremites would hold absolute control over all forms of power in society (akin to political absolutism). Incidentally, they're also known as "absolutists" when context makes it clear that you're talking about Supremite supremacy/supremacists.
• Exterminatory supremacists (AKA "Exterminatory absolutists"): Well, you yourself admitted that it's self-explanatory. And yes, they are seen as the most out-there by the other two camps; at least the classicalsupremacists and absolutists are able to coexist, because the former is more than willing to let individual Supremite states operate on absolutist surpemacy provided that they respect other Supremite states that choose to be classical supremacists instead, while the latter are generally willing to grudgingly swallow the idea that their Supremite brethren in the other camp have an unhealthy attachment to Oldkinders (because, hey, even they tolerate those among their number who want to fool around with their dogs or what have you; zoosexuality is zoosexuality, right?).

edited 18th Nov '17 6:16:16 PM by MarqFJA

whelp, okay, so i had some idea for magical girl warrior thing with a dream theme and the main characters are based on the sun and moon as well as daydreams and nightdreams. what should the title be?

Lucid? R.E.M? Restless Nights?

Looking for a good name for another character I created. She has a computer monitor for a head, and that's really the only note-worthy detail.

Macintosh

Ha ha ha...