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

Tibetan...hmm, I've read in some places the origin of most Eastern Martial arts was Indian, so you might be better off translating it into Sanskrit.

I have ideas for stories based on Greek myths, with characters based off heroes and gods and such. The 2 main characters it follows are basically original characters meant to take part in all the events and I can't think of a name for them. One's a guy who's a son of Zeus, the other a girl who is a daughter of Hera. Since the story's not serious, they don't have to be Greek names.

How about Ippitas for the man and Astafis for the woman?

I see another problem with your story, though. ^^; According to the canon, Hera was, among other things, the deity of marital fidelity and all her children were by her husband Zeus (except maybe Haephestus). So unless your heroine is a daughter of Zeus and Hera and, thus, a pure-blood Olympian goddess, I would advise against such gross Canon Defilement. ^^;

edited 16th Jan '11 4:47:29 AM by Koveras

Indeed. Hera actually went to great lengths in order to stop Zeus' womanizing. Turning women into animals, assigning monstrous gaurds to protect beauties etc. You need only read about Herakles to see how much Hera resented him.

@Kaveras: Hows your endeavour coming along? Did you pick name yet? I left another suggestion for you on the last page.

edited 16th Jan '11 5:16:08 AM by AtomJames

Maybe Hera got so sick of Zeus' womanizing that she decided "screw it, it's payback time" and slept with a mortal or two herself?

Yeah that makes sense. She was always described as spiteful anyways.

The problem with Hera going rogue is that Zeus can sleep with a woman and be gone in the morning, while Hera has to actually bear the child, which is a much bigger endeavour. The only time I recall an Olympian goddess bearing non-divine children was Aphrodite and Aeneus.

@Atom James: Not very well, I am afraid. I am thoroughly tempted to dub them "Illuminati" (Informed -> Englightened) but that name is already taken in my setting. Also, I consider revamping the whole concept of them at the moment... But I will keep all your suggestions in mind.

edited 16th Jan '11 6:55:38 AM by Koveras

On the Hera thing, I suppose it doesn't matter either way. I was thinking Hera cheating but eh. Well, the marriage goddess cheating would be hypocritical, and I'm not trying to make Zeus and Hera sympathetic.

OK, I'm writing a sci-fi book and got stuck for a name. I'm trying to find the human nickname for an alien species. They're tall, blue, low-tech and mostly humanoid, and also the first and only intelligent species humanity's found at this point.

"Blues"? Like The Grays, only blue.

edited 16th Jan '11 1:39:44 PM by Koveras

Hi y'all. I need a name for a sleepy little Doomed Hometown, in the 1870's Great Plains. Its function is a sort of outpost for cattlemen on the way to one of the bigger cow towns like Abilene.

edited 21st Jan '11 3:58:47 PM by melloncollie

Hm... A lot of small Texan towns seem to have pretty arbitrary names: Telephone, Cactus, Panhandle, Sunray and my personal favorite, Dumas. Basically, just pick a random word and roll with it.

edited 21st Jan '11 4:51:56 PM by Takwin

Isn't it supposed to be pronounced Doom-as

Also, I always recommend Springfield when naming American towns.

If it's pronounced like The Count Of Monte Cristo, it's Doo-mah.

Well since it's a doomed hometown, why not go with something a little more idyllic like Salvation, Sanity or Sanctuary?

^ You guys burst my bubble about Dumas. D:

I'm still at a dilemma when it comes to that painting name. Is it okay to borrow the title from a Gorillaz song, since that was the inspiration for it?

They made that joke in The Shawshank Redemption, too. :P

Sorry, I've forgotten, what's the painting?

I dont see why you wouldn't be able to. I'm curious to hear more about this painting actually.

I'm creating this alien, would-be world conquerer in the mold of General Zod from Superman, but I can't think of any worthwhile names. So far the closest thing I like is Commander Ux, though I would really like your opinions and ideas guys.

...I am slow on the uptake with Dumas jokes, apparently.

Alien naming is fun and tricky business, Atom. What kind of feel are you going for: retro, Starfish Language, Lovecraftian, fantasy, etc? Ux sounds fine to me, since it's easy to pronounce but still plenty alien.

The painting is a scene of a young man standing in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, (a landfill, to be specific,) with his face obscured by a gas mask. He's holding a sort of makeshift sledgehammer in one hand, and examining a tiny, humble flower in the other. This image has prompted me to begin toying with a story set in this world, but I need to finish the painting before I can really expand on the universe. It was heavily inspired by the song "O Green World," (along with its concert music video), and I'm still tempted to name it that, but I fear sounding unoriginal or even plagaristic by borrowing the title from somewhere else.

edited 22nd Jan '11 1:23:05 PM by Takwin

So I'm writting a vampire story. Yeah, I know... I just used to like vampires and want to give my usual noir/crime/war writing a break.

My vampires are generally either intent on stalking in the night praying on the maggots that are infest the earth known as men, while the others are looking to stay out of trouble.

The latter feed on animal blood and only consume human blood once in a while on vampire holidays, usually through blood banks. They have their own government, laws and law enforcers.

My protagonist is kind of like the Philip Marlowe of the vampire community. A snarky, likable asshole who feels pretty good about being a vampire and has a past as a smuggler when he was a human. I imagine him looking like an ill Gary Oldman. What do I name him?

I just tried to picture him and came up with 'Daniel'. Make of that what you will.

It took me a while to get "Dumas".

If your painting was inspired by a song, I don't see what would be wrong with naming it after the song. Although if you intend to make a profit off of the painting, then I suppose it'd be better to name it something else just to be safe.

I can't think of alien names, sorry ^__^;. Maybe if you have an idea of what his alien language sounds like.

@Koveras, ...YES! That works almost perfectly in the story's (slightly mad) world.

edited 22nd Jan '11 1:50:48 PM by Yej

Two things:

• I need a name for the series I'm writing. It's an Urban Fantasy about a girl with six senses who gets roped into a team of teenagers with supernatural powers who solve paranormal mysteries for whoever requests their service. The girl decides to stick with it because she wants to find out more about the magic of the world (due to The Masquerade, the usual rarity of supernatural powers and a general fear of science within the magical community, little is known about how magic actually works). Drama and nightmare fuel ensue.
• I need a last name for the heroine above. Her first name is Rosemary.