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

Maybe this page could be some help.

Michael Markov. Not terribly meaningful (unless he's also a mathematician), but it has a nice cadence.

I need a suitably intimidating sounding name for "The North." Think at first barren, rocky wasteland giving way to endless dunes of snow and occasional outcrops of howling glaciers.

Isn't The North perfect for that? At least it is in England (instant rimshot). Seriously, why not?

Or maybe The Wastes, The Grey/White, The Emptiness. I like the "The X" form, but maybe slotting barren/howling into the middle there might work.

Been stuck with a pretty banal name for an organisation.

The country is ruled by this oligarchical organisation; the organisation is made up of a hundred men, always men, who rule the very large country by religious decree. But it's only the fact that they're actually quite good at it that keeps the country, think War of the Roses-era England with a far bigger landmass, from just removing them. Sort of a Council-based version of the Patrician.

Some important things. -They recruit based on meritocracy; class is irrelevant. -No magical powers, but they do possess a single magical artifact that allows them to control the seasons (hence the country's state of constant warfare).

I don't want to simply call it 'The Hierarchy', as that would be ripping off Mass Effect, but I think 'The Council' sounds too simple. Any suggestions?

Well, the Meritocracy might work. Or something that implies their control over the seasons. "Epoch" is Greek for "season" (and time, but still), so maybe something off that?

I need two names: One for an evil witch/demon/goddess, and one for a dark elf girl. The current name for the elf, "Wasax," just does not roll off the tongue at all.

darkania?

"Wasax"? Boy howdy, you aren't kidding there.

Again, what are most names of the dark elf culture like? My immediate thoughts all involved D&D drow and their fetish for Xtreme Kool Letterz. I doubt that's what you're going for, but you need to provide some description of what that is.

Haven't really been able to come up with names for any of them yet, so there's nothing to go on. They're an artificial species created as assassins by a dead god, they can all teleport through shadows, and are ageless. Their culture is pretty limited, since most of them are barbarians living in the wilds killing things, as that's what they were built to do when their god wasn't giving them instructions. The "civilized" ones are actually the crazy ones, where the behavioral programming didn't take for whatever reason. The one I'm trying to find a name for is one of the "civilized" ones, who has a job as an assassin.

Frankly, if you've got no clue what the names are supposed to be like for that culture, I've got nothing.

Discar - does the dead god have a name?

Minister - The Trusted Hundred? Other ideas: The Assembly, Congregation, Convention

edited 10th Mar '12 8:53:42 PM by Luthen

The Meritocracy sounds abit too obvious, abit too complicated, but I love the word 'Epoch' - perhaps for the leader, he could be called 'The Guardian Of The Epochs', as uneducated peasants would have no real contact with him ; but The Trusted Hundred is certainly the sort of thing I'm going for. Something that a peasant could understand, instantly, and think "The Boss". Anything vaguely English is pretty good; the culture is primarily a mixture of High Medieval, Anglo-Saxon and Norse, as is the language, though I might have the big council guys based around Latin/Greek.

My first thought was The Centumvirate.

I like that one. Or maybe something like The Mandated Conclave.

What's a good name for an anti-mob/anti-corruption group? I want something implying moral superiority.

My setting, the government is corrupt and two rival mobs control part of the government (mainly things pertaining to their self-interest.).

And it's becoming more popular to openly speak out about it rather than just grumble about it behind closed doors. The main goal is to make the country's democracy become the democratic ideals intended back when they booted out the king. They also claim they're impervious to bribes and threats, though the mobs violently point out the opposition is still very mortal from time to time. Though for the mobs it's sort of a balancing act of being mean enough to instil fear and not so violent that the populace goes from putting up with their crap to wanting to destroy them.

That one works. Got a certain sense of power to it, and it can be shortened to 'Centies' for the Lower classes. Thanks, guys, all great suggestions!

You could have a really long name, like The Democratic Association For The Purification Of *INSERT CITY NAME HERE*, if it's a modern-ish setting, or it could be something abit snappier, like 'Purity' or 'Ethical'.

The Peace Bringers, The Uncorrupted, (The) Society Against Corruption . . .

The setting is 1920s-esque.

I hadn't thought of making it a long title... It probably should be a more wordy (or educated sounding... If they use too many words implying they're good, it's like the suspiciously named People's Republic of Tyranny) name since the mobs are considered lower class and no one who opposes the mob openly is poor because it's a lot easier to ruin people who don't have a lot to begin with.

@ Discar: If they're an artificially created society, maybe think about the context in which they were created and their interactions with other cultures that will have influenced their naming conventions? No culture exists in isolation.

@ Kaxen: Maybe they could name themselves after the original resistance leader or movement that overthrew the king in the first place?

Or something simple and memorable like the "Republic Society", or maybe even just something snappy like "Liberty" or "the People". A political organisation's name is a major part of its image, so it will have been chosen deliberately to create a particular impression.

edited 12th Mar '12 3:34:52 PM by BobbyG

@ The Skeletal Gent: "Septentriones" is Latin for North, and it certainly conveys the feeling of grim barrenness.

I need names for five continents, One capital city, and a few names for religions, oh and a proper name for the series, lets get some information

The world is a High Fantasy world, with ley-line based magic however, the magic system is complicated with the addition of nodes, mobile artifacts that control the flow of magic through the world,

The capital city contains a fixed node that provides magic to the entire city,

You are free to provide idea's for religions, however the main religion is monotheistic, believing in a extra-temporal being that has been set to watch the world (they are correct however the other religions are also correct)

The series working title is the Fieldlines but I need a better name,

Any suggestions for artifacts world also be appreciated. Thank you.

For continents, first.

Well, what're the languages like? Why might a continent have a specific name? A lot of cultures don't really come up with names for continents unless they travel a lot, in which case they would have to come up with names to distinguish between them. Generally, whatever ends up being the most dominant exploring culture/language in your world will end up coming up with accepted names for the continents.

Some Earthen examples- the Americas ended up being named after Amerigo Vespucci, the guy who helped discover them. Africa, Asia, and Europe ended up being derived from names that the Greeks gave to peoples from those three continents that they traded with, like 'Asia' initially only referred to Arab traders and sometimes Turkey, then spread. Antarctica means 'opposite of the Arctic', Arctic means 'north', and Australia simply means 'southern land'.

Though, for the rest, you'll generally need to figure out some sounds or a general 'feel' for local languages. That's a big part of it if you don't want generic stuff like 'the Great Swamp' or somesuch.

edited 13th Mar '12 6:21:17 PM by CrystalGlacia

baruta07, you're throwing yourself upon the hivemind rather heavily here. I'm sure you'll be able to find people willing to help you, but unless you want this to become a full-blown collaborative project, I suggest relying on your own gray matter a bit more.

Names are a quite important part of your work that will be repeated over and over again. If you rely on random strangers too much, it might not have your style of writing to it anymore!

The Skeletal Gent:

I am really not on the ball right now, but: Hyperborea! That was the Greek mythological land beyond the north wind. (OK, technically it wasn't cold and barren, but the name is cool.)

edited 13th Mar '12 11:48:33 PM by jewelleddragon

The project needs names, I've not thought up a proper naming scheme, Elotention is one of the cultures, Algin Yarlain is one of the main characters, Darrius is one of the islands, the drin is the collective name for the artifacts system. that's about all I have apart for some plot and world building that I prefer to keep to myself I will give information if you ask for it.