I'm starting to create a character in Dungeons & Dragons. Is there a set of rules or standards, or any references or fashion, on creating a character's name?
For example, on D&D Beyond, it asks you to choose a username for your account, and the placeholder text is: "BruenorBattleHammer". How can I create something like this?
Let's cover a basic premise first: You can name your character whatever you want. Or perhaps more usefully, you can name your character anything your table/playgroup is ok with. I'll get back to that.
If you want consistency with existing lore, or just not have to come up with a name of your own, each race option has a list of example names (e.g. Elf Names) listed within the description of the race. Using one of those is totally ok. Appendix B to Xanathar's Guide to Everything also has tables of example names at the end of the book, including examples for every non-human PHB race and examples from a variety of real-world cultures.
To explain D&D Beyond's placeholder name: that's the name of one of the example characters from the Player's Handbook. You'll find both parts of that name in the Dwarf name section. (In fact, Bruenor Battlehammer is the name one of the main characters from R. A. Salvatore's The Legend of Drizzt series.)
Choosing a name, and setting tone and expectation for things like names, are a good thing to include in a Session 0. See the question What is a session 0? (and its linked questions and articles) for a starting point.
And as final advice for naming your character, I'll suggest trying for something memorable and pronounceable. And those are related; when I've made characters (be they PCs or NPCs) with an unpronounceable name, it's hard for anyone to remember and they end up being nicknamed with something that is pronounceable. And that isn't always what you're going for. Picking a name from the PHB is a simple and sure way to get something pronounceable, and it's gonna take a hot minute before you get repeats.
I'll also drop the suggestion to make the name evocative. For example, I have an artificer named Tink who's a tinkerer. I'll leave figuring out why my always-willing-to-be-helpful Warforged is called Alexa as an exercise to the reader.
In the end, it's all up to you how to choose a name. You could open a dictionary at a random word, look for a name with a specific meaning or use your favorite author, but in the end it is up to you to choose a method to come up with a name.
A name is more than just one word. In fact, it might have, in its totality, quite many words that each fall into about four categories.
Almost all people have at least one given name, which is how one identifies as in an intimate peer group. Depending on culture, this name might be dropped for another one later, but in general, everybody has at least one First Name.
If the name gets dropped on adulthood for another, it's often considered a Childhood Name, in contrast to the Adult Name.
A special type of first name is the Order Name, where one changes the original given name for one because one enters some kind of brotherhood or sisterhood. If the name is only used within the order, it is a calling name, if it is a replacement name for the whole world, it's a first name.
The first name isn't always the name one calls out for a person with. Such names could take the form of Stage Names for theatrical people (which can be inherited like in Kabuki), Pen Names ('Richard Bachmann'), Battle Names to protect one's true identity ('Batman'), Deed Names or Commemorative Names ('he who finds water') or in general Nicknames. Sometimes, Nicknames are short for the real name - Cassandra becomes Cass, Richard become Rick.
Then there are Occupational Names which typically indicate the profession of a person and can slip into the surname category, but don't necessarily have to. An example for the latter is 'Smith'.
Derogative Names fall into the same category and can have overlap with the Occupational Names, especially if the occupation is seen down upon - e.g. 'Slave' or 'Gravedigger'.
Some of these calling names might be given by others because the First Name is utterly unpronounceable or far too long! - and might not be a name the character likes. For example, Hepzibah was called that name for it was unpronounceable by the others, but she utterly disliked it in Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #107:
Many cultures have some kind of heritage identifier as part of the name. This is typically seen as the Family Name, Lineage Name or Clan Name, but can also consist of several parts. For example, it could consist of a major family Name onto which a Branch Name is affixed.
Then, there are Origin Names, which are typical for when surnames are not common (for a part of society) but are usually only used outside of the own town or province. The typical particle in English to join the locale to the name is 'from', but in some cases is 'of'. As a random example 'Alice from Bobton' separates her from the local Alice when she is in Charlston.
Surnames also can contain nobility particles, like the german von/vom, Dutch van, French de/du or the English of.
And then there are titles. Often, these are indicators of nobility or special positions and can be used as a complete replacement for all other name parts unless several holders of the same title are present.
Sir, Doctor or Abbot are such examples, but so are military ranks. Landed nobility can often be called by their land: The Lord of Worchestershire can be addressed by this title alone.
Now, I have pointed in several areas to cultural quirks on naming practices. Yes, names are indicative of a culture of origin. Also, some names fit into some games but not into others, because there is a culture that matches or belongs to the game's setting. So, let's explore that first with some examples:
Now, if you are worried if a name fits a setting, the litmus test for modern names fitting into a setting's culture is pretty much if there is a culture that is similar enough to the name's culture of origin. So, for example, the name...
These random examples show one thing: Names belong to settings. Or rather, Names belong to cultures within a setting and indicate them. As long as the game contains a culture, it can contain the name: Mr. Tachibana Mamouru could also be the Japanese bookworm in a Cthulhu group or the corporate Werewolf from Tokyo. Sir Pickering might be a British Gaijin in a game of Sengoku or just a snobby Brit in a game of Werewolf.
Now, when does a name fit a fantasy game's culture, which might be entirely invented by the authors? That is the question you ought to ask yourself. Often, games publish source material that contains cultural (or, a D&D calls it inappropriately: racial) information, including for fantasy species. And this information often contains a sample list of names.
These name lists are usually picking up the setting and the cultures depicted in them. In the list for the 2017 Conan RPG, we learn that typical Cimmerian names are Ronan and Wenna 1. In the supplement for Elven Culture in The Dark Eye 4, we learn that Elves in Aventuria have at least two names, one of which is in the elven tongue and unique while the other is either a group name or 'nickname' that is typically in elven too but is usually told to humans translated into the regional tongue. By mix-matching the parts from the example list, Mandara "Hazelbush" is just as typical as Delayar "Spearseeker" for an Aventurian Elf 2.
And then there's Owen K.C. Stephens, who wrote for Dragon Magazine. Among other things, he wrote an article suggesting an Elven Name Generator in Dragon 251 3. In fact, he wrote also the Dwarven names for 261, as he tells us in a blogpost, and seems to be responsible for several entries in the "By any other name" series of articles, such as Gnomes (#262) and the Underdark (#267).
The Player's Handbook gives example names for each race, so you could start there. If you don't like any of those, there are lots of sources to take names form. You can borrow a character name from your favorite fantasy novel, maybe modify it somewhat or chose something similar to it. Coming up with a name used to be the hardest part of character creation for me when I first started playing, but it doesn't have to be. One resource which came out in the 3.0 days and my friend gifted me after seeing me struggle with names is Gary Gygax's Big Book of Names. This made a big difference for me.
Nowadays things are much simpler. If you can't come up with a name, simply use a random name generator. For example https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/ has all sorts of name generators. You can generate a generic medieval name, or generate a name based on a specific race, or a specific genre (pirate names, for example). The great thing is that it gives you several different ones, and if you don't like any, you can click generator again and get a bunch more until you find one you like. You can even mix and match if you see a first and last name you like together.
@ interfaces with SE posts =)
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There are no character name restrictions within 5e itself, though there are two basic situations where you might run into some.
Your DM might have come up with some character naming rules of their own, in which case you should ask them.
Depending on how roleplaying-oriented the group is, you may need some sort of explanation as to why your character has whatever name you come up with. An Elf named John Smith, for example, would probably only work a backstory about how their father was saved by a Human once and vowed to name one of his children after the guy (or something like that). Note that this isn't usually a restriction on what names you can pick, you just might need an in-game reason for your character to have a particular name.
There are a few different methods you might want to try, and none of them are more "correct" than the others. In no particular order, they are:
One of the few methods that I would advise against is using the name of a different character from some show/book/whatever that you like. Even if no one else involved in the game is familiar with it, it's likely to put you in the mindset to play that character instead of one of your own, which isn't really conducive to having a fun time.
There are lots of methods, probably including a few I didn't think of. Just figure out which one(s) work best for you and you should be fine.
