Names and their importance and impact

[Seranda]

I find myself often asking my partners “Western or Eastern” names. I can also add fantasy to that as well. Nothing makes me hit the breaks faster than going through some detailed planning and having a rock solid starter, only to see the the partner character’s name is Feets.

Not his nickname (hell, maybe he runs fast, or is lethal with kicks), no. His name is Feets.

In a run of the mill slice of life in a fictional county in Ohio it just doesn’t really work.

I think there are ways to work around it, but most importantly just communicate it.

I am honestly shocked how many RPs I’ve started without knowing my partner character’s name. It’s something I need to improve on. I’ve asked some to review the names if they wish. Some understand and make light of it, others feel offended and leave conversations.

I think it’s more important than people think. A recent PM I described the names I wanted to use, and the partner replied, “Those names are hot.”

That’s what I want. Every element of my character has to be enticing and appealing to YOU to keep you coming back. A name is just another part of it.

 

[Sync]

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. - "Romeo and Juliet", William Shakespear

Face-to-face, a person's name is but one of many things we use to determine a person's overall value to us. Their name can often be not as important as other characteristics.

On paper, though, when all you have is a slab of text...a name becomes more valuable as a tool for judging a person. A name comes with a pre-determined set of characteristics, even if they're imagined.

So when you're telling a story on paper, a name is as important a characteristic as any other.

 

[obieblu]

I used to google demographic information from areas and dates where my charter was born to see if there was anything that jumped out to fit the mood of my intended character. That can work for modern and realistic historical set games. Nowadays, I save time and ask GPT to fetch that info for me.

I occasionally use those random name generators, if my character is a specific race like a Zeltron or Halfling that has established naming conventions.

With the onset of text AI's, I can do things like take a mundane name that I feel represents my character and ask for suggestions on conforming that name to a different time/location/fantasy/etc.

It's never been communicated to me that my partner approved of or disapproved of a name I used.

I only ever think of it because years ago on here, someone complained about boring names for characters. I immediately imagined how it would affect the psychology of a realistic modern character to be named something fantastical. They'd have a complex and probably have been teased if not bullied. I agree that 'Dave' doesn't belong in deep space in the year 3000, but 'Erendriel' is not well-suited to a modern office workplace romance.

I guess I just place a lot more importance on the personality that's show to me. I think a name is as much a personality as heterochromia is a personality.

I have a partner on another forum that is playing a demon with a name with a lot of vowels in an odd combination. I have to copy/paste the name from their last post every time I reply. It's annoying. After my first experience with something like that years ago, I decided not to inflict finger-twister names on my partners to have to type a lot.

 

[Seranda]

There was a time where every partner played a Jake or an Alex. And it was really confusing.

Not bad names, but how do you all end up with those same two names over and over lol

 

[Ink Slinger]

I am kind of in between on it. While I do appreciate seeing a cool name from a partner, I'm more interested in what that character does during the roleplay and how they interact with my character and how the story progresses. I feel like I'm more impressed by actions because in the end, as long as it's an appropriate name for the setting, etc, whatever my partner decides to name their character is up to them. The same for me.

Now I put thought into it by going for a trait of theirs or searching for meaning behind certain names.

 

[Neon Dream]

I tend to ask what the character's name is, especially if I am writing the starter (which tends to happen more often than not). Also, there might be the simple fact that my character's knowledge of that name is critical or crucial to the RP itself.

I also sometimes admittedly will use name generators, though rarely do I use them exactly; it's more to get ideas and inspiration as needed, and they do work well for that.