One name I know of that uses the descriptor rules is Bohan, OR Bohand (as it was several hundred years ago), OR Bowman (which gives the whole meaning away). Archer, Taylor, etc.
There is also a LONG line of names that use descriptions of either the baby in question OR where that family lived in naming the child, using older English than we use...of course. But I have to say that they are lovely names how ever they came up with them.
I still like how the Native Americans came up with names. Many tribes had naming rules where you had TWO names in one life time, your born name and your earned name. The born name could be what your mother saw either shortly after she knew she was pregnant or what she saw shortly after birth or shortly before (Two elks, running bear, little foot for a breech baby that lived). And earned name was a title you EARNED, Eagles Cry (your war cry sounds like an eagle\'s cry, OR you just happen to call out your war cry exactly when an eagle crys on too many occassions to discount it), Silver wolf (the creature you met on your spirit journey), Little calling dove (more than likely the name of a rather soft spoken female of less than remarkable looks, but nice dispossion).
With Native American type naming, numbers written out might ALSO come into play, IE nine toes, eleven fingers (Ugh, not a nice story, but more than likely if your tribe was warlike...you would NOT be messed with often!), or Two Hawks (I actually met a guy by this name, his pet name was Hawks, this was his born name, but when he went on his spirit journey...guess who he met...yep, same two hawks...so some born names just might stick).
I would not be TOO disrupted RP wise with a name of an ancient (or recently revived) cultures god/dess, but a name like Billbo, or Lllegoless or fill in the plagerized rarely lived up to book/movie/other games NPC lore character would most likely make me...and many others GAG.
Originally posted by Nekomusume
In regards to using numbers in names... Actually, in at least one language I\'m aware of, it does happen... Japanese.
Several japanese names use \"one\" in them, in various ways - the best example being \"Ichi\", which is simply the number one.
Using the arabic numerals in names is admitadly quite wierd.
some other name related points...
A great many names started off as descriptive terms or job listings - I mean, think about the english family names Smith, Cartwright, Cooper, Mason, Miller, Baker, Farmer, etc.
Most names used in english are actually just words or phrases in other languages (or even just old or middle english), that may have been corrupted somewhat heavily by their use as names in places that don\'t use those languages. The name \"Kelly\" for example, derrives, I believe, from a gaelic word for warrior. In most of the world, I believe that name meanings are generally well known and immediately recognizable. If you name your daughter \"Ai\" in Japan, there isn\'t a person who speaks the language who won\'t know that her name is, litterally, Love.
Certain name elements refer to social status. The name \"Fitz\" actually means bastard (ie. illegitimate child), for example, and would be given to an acknowledged bastard child of an aristocrat.
Then of course, you have surnames like \"Leifsdottir\" or \"Erikson\" which basicly just say who your father was.
Really, when people say \"pick something that doesn\'t mean anything\" - they are going completely against how people have been traditionally named.