Choosing a name you like for your character can be an important part of the gameplay experience. I know all too well the frustration of choosing a name, only to be told that name is not available. For me, the most frustrating part of not getting the name I’d chosen, was having to come up with a new name right then and there, which sometimes resulted in a name I later hated. However, I came up with a way to mitigate my frustration and wind up with a name I like, (even if it isn’t my first choice), so I thought I’d share it with other players.

 

Before you start the actual character creation process online, make a list of potential names, (and no, I don’t mean three or four names, I mean five, six, seven, or more). Review the list often, eliminating any names that you feel you won’t enjoy seeing every time you play, as well as any that may not fit whatever you have in mind for a particular character, (but don’t get rid of those completely, as they may yet serve you for future characters). If you make such a list and add to it as new names come to you, you’ll be ready to create a character when the time comes, even if it’s a spur of the moment idea, (I have a list I’ve maintained for months, just in case). When the time comes, be prepared to have some of the names rejected, but that’s okay, because you’ve gotten to the point where you are fine with any of the names on your list, (though most likely you will have some order of preference established). Having the list helps keep you from being too attached to any one particular name.

 

There are several options available for creating such a list. You can take common names you like and adjust the spelling, adding/removing consonants, (or changing “c” to “k” or vice versa), and switching up vowels to phonetic variations of the same name. You can also use other languages by coming up with words that define how you see your character, then searching for the translation of that word in whichever language you choose, (think of the origins of “Vader” for example). [Once you have found words you like in another language, you may want to come up with alternate spellings for these words as well, just in case the regular spelling is already taken, or sometimes simply to make it sound more like a name to you.] If you have a specific species in mind for a character, use an online dictionary to identify names for that species, or even words from their language that you can turn into names, (Twi’lek, Chiss, and other species have dictionaries and even naming conventions available online). For something personal, you can look for variations of your real life family name and check the history/etymology of that name to come up with something for your character’s name, your legacy name, or both. Finally, you can just make up something, based on other names you’ve seen, either for that particular species, or in general. This process does not have to take very long either. A few quick searches can be completed in 5-10 minutes. How long you spend looking at the search results is up to you, but it’s definitely worthwhile if it helps you come up with a series of names you like.

 

I also wanted to point out an excellent suggestion I found in another thread about character names:

The longer the name, the better your chances of it being available (ex: "Solovenna" vs "Jax").

 

EDIT: Quote edited to include only the portion I was referencing.

Edited April 9, 2015 by PiiTarr

I also wanted to point out an excellent suggestion I found in another thread about character names:

The part about "making a clone of an NPC" is actually against the Rules of Conduct:

"You may not use proper names of non-player characters within Star Wars: The Old Republic, e.g. Darth Malgus, Satele Shan, Yoda, Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker."

 

"You may not use misspellings or alternative spellings of names that violate any of the above rules, e.g. Hamsolo, Yooda, DorthVader."

...

 

Fairly sound, though when I first read the thread title (I have it on RSS) I was thinking «Here we go again, another name purge suggestion».

 

I'm glad to see this was useful suggestions!

I think I'll add to your post though:

 

Chiss characters are very, very easy to name. Their names follow a very simple format, House'name'family. The "core name" that they use among family and close friends, equal to human first names, are made up from the last sound of the house, the entiretiy of the name and the first sound of the family.

 

For instanace Mitth'raw'nuruodo is Thrawn, Chaf'orm'bintrano is Formbi and Chaf'ees'aklaio was Feesa.

 

Usually I name my characters Russian names (for obvious reasons ), and I decided to go with "Ksenya" for a name.

 

Naturally it was taken, and I could of course have used something like Ksénya but I find using alternative characters is a bit uncouth. So I went with Rohk'sen'yanee, which sounds authentic Chiss, yet the Core Name conversion gets me the name I originally wanted :-)

 

Again, I want to state that in my books, creative respellings of names is much more preferrable, for instance...oh, Niqolai instead of Nikolai, however I am quite opposed to creating characters with letters from other alphabets when they don't make sense, like Jøhn, or Ríchard.

 

There are a few exceptions, for instance my sniper, Fёdor, because ё is actually a letter in the Russian alphabet, but using letters like ñ I highly frown upon, when used out of context. And especially in guild names.

EDIT: Sorry, unintentional double-post, presume internet glitch Edited April 9, 2015 by NikSunrider
Double-post

The part about "making a clone of an NPC" is actually against the Rules of Conduct:

"You may not use proper names of non-player characters within Star Wars: The Old Republic, e.g. Darth Malgus, Satele Shan, Yoda, Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker."

 

"You may not use misspellings or alternative spellings of names that violate any of the above rules, e.g. Hamsolo, Yooda, DorthVader."

 

 

 

Thank you for reminding people of the Rules of Conduct.

I've had no problems with character names, but that's partly due to a random urge I had some years back naming a character for a single player game - All my characters in MMO's have 'Gon' in the name. Normally as a suffix, so Gonarm, Gonhelm, Gonrak for example (And incidentally the names of the three characters I created in a weekend trial in 2012, and just picked up again), but occasionally elsewhere in the name, so Tal'Gona, or Senrugon (Two of my characters from Star Trek Online).

 

Never had any problems with finding a name that isn't taken, and it makes it easier to know who's talking to me in chat as well - If it has 'Gon' in the name, there's a good chance its me.

Hi,

 

This is a good post; I too tend to think of a good name then have several back-up options when creating a character. I speak Mandarin so I tend to use Mandarin words as my names as many of them are not taken and also sound "Star Warsy". In fantasy games I often go for Norse names.

 

I hate seeing characters with names like xxßoßá-féttxx or Shádowkillér - after wiping the vomit from the corners of my mouth and taking a few deep calm breaths, they often end up on the ignore list.

At this point in the life of the game, it's nearly impossible to get a name you truly like. All the "normal" ones are long gone, and even most of the common alternate spellings are too. Hell, even many of the supposedly "random" names are gone. (I tried using a random name for a character and had to modify the 3rd one before I could even use that. One suspects that they're not truly "random". ) Edited April 9, 2015 by JediQuaker

 

after wiping the vomit from the corners of my mouth.

 

I name all my characters on the pve server I play on after vomit. Hurling, Spewing, Pewke, Blowchunker. Never had a problem getting a name.

Edited April 9, 2015 by dlcman

I've had no problems with character names, but that's partly due to a random urge I had some years back naming a character for a single player game - All my characters in MMO's have 'Gon' in the name. Normally as a suffix, so Gonarm, Gonhelm, Gonrak for example (And incidentally the names of the three characters I created in a weekend trial in 2012, and just picked up again), but occasionally elsewhere in the name, so Tal'Gona, or Senrugon (Two of my characters from Star Trek Online).

 

Never had any problems with finding a name that isn't taken, and it makes it easier to know who's talking to me in chat as well - If it has 'Gon' in the name, there's a good chance its me.

 

That's a prefix, suffix goes to the end, like Octagon, pentagon, et cetera.

 

But on that subject, I on my non-main server, I create some really wierd characters.....I have Ascii, Ansi, Utf, Array, For, Variable, Function, Cosine, tanget and the like :-) Math and IT are always underrepresented!

That's a prefix, suffix goes to the end, like Octagon, pentagon, et cetera.

 

But on that subject, I on my non-main server, I create some really wierd characters.....I have Ascii, Ansi, Utf, Array, For, Variable, Function, Cosine, tanget and the like :-) Math and IT are always underrepresented!

 

My mistake - I knew what I was talking about, but somehow typed in the wrong one... Possibly due to trying to track down a game I played once where you had prefix & suffix titles, and could choose one of each. Can't remember for the life of me what it was...

 

Good names for Cyborg's what you've got there though!

My mistake - I knew what I was talking about, but somehow typed in the wrong one... Possibly due to trying to track down a game I played once where you had prefix & suffix titles, and could choose one of each. Can't remember for the life of me what it was...

No problem, I just sometimes lose myself in thought and start correcting grammar on reflex, without thinking if its necessary or appreciated

 

Good names for Cyborg's what you've got there though!

 

LOL I actually haven't tried a single one of them on a Cyborg.....

 

I only have 2 cyborgs actually across all my characters. One is bald and has implants around the eye, the other was my first one and I went with a generic human and hid the cybernetics among the hair, because I wanted the species for completion's sake and couldn't get the proper hair/cybernetics mix I wanted. Maybe just my taste, but some of them don't mix.

My girlfriend has a bear of a time naming her alts so I will share the same advice I gave her. Go to a baby name site and look up names based on definition. You will in most cases get a list of 20 to 100 names that you can weed through to find a few to try.

 

On her last BH build she managed to get a traditional name without altered spelling on her first shot and the best part, it was only 4 letters long.

My girlfriend has a bear of a time naming her alts so I will share the same advice I gave her. Go to a baby name site and look up names based on definition. You will in most cases get a list of 20 to 100 names that you can weed through to find a few to try.

 

On her last BH build she managed to get a traditional name without altered spelling on her first shot and the best part, it was only 4 letters long.

 

Djon or Daiv? LOL!

She got Atol for a male BH. The name means hateful. It is a Saxon name.

I have never had a name rejected because I use a "last name" as part of the character name. It also helps me keep the character names straight. The "first name" portion is usually named after my grand kids or even my cats (Cathars, of course.) So I've got Sydneyschuyler, Rosieschuyler, Benschuyler, Dylanschuyler, Jacksonschuyler, Michaelschuyler, Joshuaschuyler, and Jerichoschuyler for the 8 different classes. I have yet to do Carolschuyler, my spouse, but I did threaten to dress that one up in one of those skimpy dancer outfits, to which she replied, "Oh, please do! You will, won't you?" I know there are some who don;t like those outfits, but SHE does, and that's all I care about. :-) Edited April 11, 2015 by MSchuyler

I have never had a name rejected because I use a "last name" as part of the character name. It also helps me keep the character names straight. The "first name" portion is usually named after my grand kids or even my cats (Cathars, of course.) So I've got Sydneyschuyler, Rosieschuyler, Benschuyler, Dylanschuyler, Jacksonschuyler, Michaelschuyler, Joshuaschuyler, and Jerichoschuyler for the 8 different classes. I have yet to do Carolschuyler, my spouse, but I did threaten to dress that one up in one of those skimpy dancer outfits, to which she replied, "Oh, please do! You will, won't you?" I know there are some who don;t like those outfits, but SHE does, and that's all I care about. :-)

 

I know I got away with naming a character Petrovich! Was soooooo happy over that

I have never had a name rejected because I use a "last name" as part of the character name. It also helps me keep the character names straight. The "first name" portion is usually named after my grand kids or even my cats (Cathars, of course.) So I've got Sydneyschuyler, Rosieschuyler, Benschuyler, Dylanschuyler, Jacksonschuyler, Michaelschuyler, Joshuaschuyler, and Jerichoschuyler for the 8 different classes. I have yet to do Carolschuyler, my spouse, but I did threaten to dress that one up in one of those skimpy dancer outfits, to which she replied, "Oh, please do! You will, won't you?" I know there are some who don;t like those outfits, but SHE does, and that's all I care about. :-)

 

That's quite a smart way to have any common name you want

I often end up browsing baby-name sites for inspiration, and varying from there, for me the "good" names have no more than 3 sylables, and sound somewhat StarWars-ish but not like clones of other characters or too strange and certainly don't use appostrophes or funny vowels. Bob won't do, neither will Menlikurnongorl or Bóbä'Fétt. Edited April 12, 2015 by Mubrak

Two tips:

 

1) Foreign language names on a USA server are often available. I live in Brazil and it has been easy to get portuguese-language names on Shadowlands server, for example (Contador, Espanta, Contrabando).

 

2) Changing 1 letter of a popular name still works pretty well. For example, for my new cute Chiss female Smuggler, I wanted "Smugglebunny" but it already was taken. However "Smugglebunni" was available. Works for me.

 

I wish I could better understand how the game permits 2 word names or hyphens etc. but I never have quite figured it out, and sometimes the look silly. There is one Imperial Agent running around using "I'mnotaspy"

I normally like names that are more like nicknames or titles than proper names (likely because I prefer Superhero MMOs in general). It's hard to get those names, though, so I often have to try other tricks.

 

For my twi'lek gunslinger, for example, I knew I wanted him to be a womanizing, arrogant guy so I named him Tchar-mieng.... probably not proper Twi'lek naming pattern but it reminds ME that he's alien, and phonetically it makes him "Captain Charming".

 

So that's one other method: spell phonetically.

Not bad as an idea, I try it sometimes too on New toonies.

 

Super Mans or SpidersMan are nice ones too.

Not bad as an idea, I try it sometimes too on New toonies.

 

Super Mans or SpidersMan are nice ones too.

 

For this reason, I have a toon named Darkerside and another named Darksides

I like names that sound like it could really exist in the star wars universe. I've found that just randomly writing names that sound different can give u a really unique name. For example, the surname of my legacy is Paven, which is an actual name from star wars. So, my jedi knight is Ar'ric, my SW is Alakall, and my personal favorite so far, my trooper is named Ullian. I got these just putting together sounds that I thought sounded cool.

Wow, I just realized how many times I used the word "sound" in this post!! lol

Edited May 2, 2015 by SharlaSedai

I like names that sound like it could really exist in the star wars universe. I've found that just randomly writing names that sound different can give u a really unique name. For example, the surname of my legacy is Paven, which is an actual name from star wars. So, my jedi knight is Ar'ric, my SW is Alakall, and my personal favorite so far, my trooper is named Ullian. I got these just putting together sounds that I thought sounded cool.

Wow, I just realized how many times I used the word "sound" in this post!! lol

 

I do the same thing. I'll usually find a real life name that sounds cool to me and then make it sound more Star Wars-y. Haha. Sometimes I'll just use an alternate spelling of a real life name if the real name isn't available. Only rarely have I used one of those special characters, and that was only for a name I really, really wanted: Drusilla.