Naming Question

[Sakar]

I re-read the naming policy and noticed something I missed the first time...

\"Perhaps you might choose a name that sounds similar to a famous landmark, \"Eiffel\" for example. But even though you might not have realised its similarity to a real-world object, the fact remains that it is an OOC reference. When naming your character, please be considerate and investigate whether the name you have decided on refers to an important or well-known place/culture/object/landmark/etc.\"

The name \"Sakar\" is not \"well-known\" but it refers to some prophet in (I think) a Native American culture. He (or she?) gave (some chief) \'bad advice\' when it came to war. It was also spelled in the textbook something more like \"Sequar\". This was also years ago, I didn\'t just decide to do this on the spot for PlaneShift. (I am not trying to say, \"I\'ve used this name for years you can\'t tell me not to use it!\" I\'m simply showing that this name wasn\'t completely random, but explaining the initial characters it was used for is a waste of time.)

Recently I ran both spellings through AltaVista.
I found out that \"Sakar\" is a corporation selling camera/speaker accessories. And it can be a persons\' last name. Here I thought I was being clever changing some letters in \"Sequar\"... which also turned out to be a persons\' last name.

Well I just invalidated my current PlaneShift character and made myself look a total newb; but where do these fantasy generator names come from? Are they random letters put together that sound cool? Or are they actually more elaborate corruptions of existing names? Aren\'t all names derived from activities or locations at some point in time anyways?

...

Or do I have too much time to think about this, but sadly not enough to actually play PlaneShift at the moment?
(That is not to say I wrote this to take up space. These questions are going to be on my mind for a while, and it might spark an interesting discussion.)

[Neryam]

Hehehe.. well random fantasy name generators take parts of fantasy names and put em together..

Heres some nice ones:
http://rinkworks.com/namegen/
http://www.chriswetherell.com/elf/
And a nice Vampire mans AND personality gen:
http://www.emmadavies.net/vampire/

[Moogie]

In reality, there are few names that can\'t be attributed to at least something that already exists in our world. When it comes down to this, where the line is so hard to draw, I take a look at the person using it. Is he using his name deliberately to rip off some company? Does he want to sound \'legendary\' by using the same name as an ancient hero/god? How much thought has he given his character\'s name, that the coincidence of it being owned by some vague real-world person or thing can be ignored, and chalked up to the fact that \'it\'s a small world after all\'?

In your case, having had the consideration and intelligence to write this thread with such a polite and open-minded attitude, I am more than happy to give you permission to use Sakar as your name. And welcome to the community. We like you.

[Leeloo]

Originally posted by Moogie
In reality, there are few names that can\'t be attributed to at least something that already exists in our world.D

Absolutely correct. I\'m still looking for a better name (no, I\'m not satisfied with Yuli, and Leeloo is still from a movie), and whenever I come up with one, I try it on Google, to be sure I\'m not breaking the rules by picking a well-known name. The ones that sound best have several million hits, where as the ones that I probably won\'t be happy with anyway come in around 125000 hits.

Maybe I should stop using Google to check if my idea is original

[Sakar]

Originally posted by Neryam
And a nice Vampire mans AND personality gen:
http://www.emmadavies.net/vampire/

I like vampires! I\'ve been attempting to write a short story involving one/them for too long >_o;

Originally posted by Moogie
I am more than happy to give you permission to use Sakar as your name. And welcome to the community. We like you.

Thankyou! I\'ve been off and on PlaneShift since (Molecular Blue?) came out, back when the activities consisted of collecting crystals growing in the Hydlaa streets, or playing Hide & Seek and allowing wall climbing/\"phasing\" through walls. As enjoyable as it was to hear about people who had climbed the sky, I like the more-stable environment, if you overlook the chaos around the Hydlaa Plaza smith ^^;

Originally posted by Leeloo
I\'m still looking for a better name

I was thinking about naming tricks, and I wonder if the IBM/HAL trick allows for a source of valid naming? When you can\'t do something involving but can\'t get on to your next errand right away, making a list of words and increasing or decreasing the \"value\" of the letters provides... interesting results. This is unrecognizable unless you take the time to \"decode\" the word, but often produces blocks of consonants. Sometimes you find an interesting name, though. I used AltaVista to search for one \"name\", and I recieved only 13 results, !

[TheMinority]

working off moogie\'s statement about name rips:
example! my character (Sekhemet Basek) obviously gets her name from the Egyptian cat goddess. (although she does have an extra \'e\' for a +8 in mad coolness [because of a -16 in my spelling XD])

HOWEVER!! she is NOTHING like her Egyptian name... in fact, if she relates to ANY nationality/race on earth, she more closely resembles the Irish. she doesn\'t go around proclaiming herself a goddess due to her title, in fact, she is claims just the opposite: a lowly minstrel, aside from the self-given title of the Minstrel of Epic Proportions. ^_^

this is most likely why the GMs never renamed me when i first started: i did not pretend to be Sekhmet, the cat goddess. i was merely Sekhemet Basek, the lowly Minstrel of Epic Proportions.

[Keyaz]

I look at this name and i think:


\'Sakar....hmm, cool dude\'

nuff said