Kismet's Fantasy Name Compendium Index & Advice
"Tiefling Hexblade - Commission" by captdiablo (resized) is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
It can be surprisingly difficult to come up with thematic names off the top of your head, especially in the middle of an intense gaming or writing session, which is why I offer lists and generators. You can grab a name ready to go right off the page with my Fantasy Name Compendium and list for drow and Thayan characters. Or you can try one of my generators and spin up unique combinations with the click of a button. And either way, you can try the advice below to alter names in pleasing ways.
Start the Fantasy Name Compendium Drow Naming Practices Drow Name List Drow Name Generator Thayan Name List Thayan Name GeneratorAltering Names
Most of the names I list can easily be altered to suit a male or female character. It's usually just a matter of adding different endings to a name, and most of us have noticed which endings clue you in to whether a name is meant for a male or female. To alter a female-sounding name so that it will suit a male character, try adding the following to the body of the name:
Masculine Suffixes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
-an | -nik | -anar | -ton | -or |
-ant | -er | -dir | -ius | -ric |
-no | -ien | -ard | -len | -ian |
-en | -o | -as | -on | -rus |
-us | -dath | -ym |
|
|
For example, Abria ends with -ia, which is often affixed to the end of female names. Let's try removing the final -a- so that we are left with Abri. Then let's see what we come up with when we add more male-sounding endings (some endings don't give very pleasing results, so you can forgo what you don't like): Abrian, Abriant, Abriard, Abrias, Abrien, Abrilen, Abrion, Abrius, Abriym. By doing this, we have effectively generated nine variants that can be used as separate names.
If you would like to do the same to make a name more feminine-sounding, try adding one of these endings to the name:
Feminine Suffixes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
-a | -ina | -ie | -ara | -eera |
-aea | -osa | -ya | -tha | -aya |
-ana | -ielle | -ia | -ora | -iss |
-ea | -ene | -ice | -ra | -ka |
-nira | -wen | -elle |
|
|
For example, Alovandre can be modified thusly: Alovandra, Alovandriss, Alovandrea, Alovandrelle, Alovandrene, Alovandria, Alovandrice, Alovandrie. (And there's eight more names you can use.) Certain endings may not always sound right, but you can use others instead.
These suffixes are provided in the .pdf list of names at the very end of the document for quick reference.
