How do you name a character when you can't think of a name?

I'm curious what people use for inspiration for their character names. I've been kind of stuck since Going Rogue went live - there is a particular powerset/costume I'd like to use, but I can't think of a name that fits the character/costume/backstory. And frankly it's becoming a bit of a problem, like some horrible kind of writer's block or just flat out obsession. I haven't been able to make any other characters, because I keep fixating on that one. And it's reaching the point that thinking about the Character That Refuses To Be Named leaves me feeling physically ill. And I'm not asking people to name the character for me - a friend already suggested several names, some of which were probably fairly good. I rejected them all because of some vague sense that if I don't pick the name, the character isn't really mine somehow. To the extent that any character in this game "belongs" to the player.

What I'm looking for, I guess, is how other people get past being blocked on a name. Either because they've got the perfect costume/powerset and can't think of one, or their perfect name turns out to be taken.

I have more names than characters.

I don't make a new toon until I have a name. I have several toons created who are waiting on me to give them some time.

How can you decide to make a toon without having a name?

I pick a few descriptive words, then go to a thesaurus for more ideas.

Sometimes I'll take a word or two and anagram a name:
incinerator = Anni Terrico

Or make a new name from another similar name:
Electrino = Elle C. Trino

Sometimes nothing seems to work, so I'll just go in a completely random direction:
Thystia (derivative of amethyst)

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If you Google super hero name generator, there are numerous results

http://www.google.com/search?q=super...abce9a6511c6db

Most of my character names are puns -- some of which I repeat on other servers. The pun usually has some kind of link to the powersets, but might be something else that I found amusing.

My latest pun inpiration has been the electric sets. My Electric/Rad controller is dressed in a simple orange vest with a white short-sleeve shirt and khaki pants, with work-style gloves -- his name is "Ohm Depot." (I have gotten a LOT of positive tells on that name.) I used the same name on another server for an Elec/Shield scrapper, and then made a Plant/Elec Dominator with the name "Ohm and Garden." Then I made an Elec/Fire and named him "Ohm Cooking."

Mostly, I look for variations on the name of the powerset that most folks wouldn't think of. Then I try to put it together with a common phrase.

I find a thesaurus to be quite useful.

Or just opening a phone book to a random page.

It also helps to make up your own military/secret organization. For example, I have two such organizations, the Seekers and the Hyren, and if I'm pressed for a name, then *poof* into the team the character goes. That's how Icepick got renamed into Seeker Icepick when I transferred him to Virtue.

Playing in a large SG means my lazy method of naming half my toons has been reinforced and become an asset. Easier for everyone to remember who I am if I'm on a toon with "Shinobu" in the name. ^_^ So three of my recent new toons have followed that pattern.

I'll cast another vote for: Thesaurus.

Think about what you want your character to be, what it looks like, or what powers s/he has, and use those words in your search. Once you find a few insteresting descriptive words, you can start adding names to them, or changing them any way you see fit to make them work.

The concept/back story of any character I create typically dictates her/his/it's name. The more obvious/plain/common names will likely already be taken.

That's when I dive into my thesaurus. Sometimes what I want is on the tip of my tongue but not clearly defined enough to point me in the correct direction in my Roget's. When that happens I crack open my Religions & Mythology Encyclopedia, Signs & Symbols, or one of several other books i keep on my desk. Sometimes, depending on the character, even my Technical Dictionary and my Illustrated Architectural Encyclopedia get opened.

While 'Brick Wall' will likely not be available for a Stone Tank, 'Bulwark', 'Stockade', 'Bastion', 'Cinder Block', or any other number of names may be out there. (It's likely that any or all of these would not pass the EULA, I just put them up as an example.)

As a history buff, I tend to use a connection to names of places, people, battles, etc. from history.

It may seem a bit easier for me as I come from a Canadian perspective. I have no doubt that names like Gettysburg or Iwo Jima are probably taken.

I usually tend to tack on one of 3 "family" last names to char's or a variation of my global name.

It really depends on the character.

Mages, mystics, and nonhumans can use random names, so I'll pull up a random name generator and look for one that a) sounds good, b) is available, and c) doesn't get very many Google hits.

Natural characters (martial artists and the like) can use real-world names. I'll look at a list of common names for the culture in question, and pick one that sounds good and doesn't have any embarassing Google hits on the first few pages of results.

Other characters are harder. I'll usually have a "working name" in mind while figuring out the character concept -- and odds are, it's already taken. If it's based around something like history, mythology, or geography, I'll bring up the working name in Wikipedia and spend a few hours wandering around looking for a name I like. If it's an adjective-noun name, I'll use a thesarus instead.

I tend to go with what seems funny to me at the time. My most recent is Bunny From Da Hood.

I haven't actually tried to come up with a more traditional superhero name in a while. I'm so clever when I come up with one but I am so sad when I discover someone was just as clever but earlier. Oh well.

The Thesaurus is a good option though.

I think I got this tool from somewhere else on these forums, if you want anagrams I found it very helpful.

"Name" names. Though I try to have them hint at something about the character.
Name+Description/place names - see "Memphis Bil," though that came around because of Memphis Belle.
Anagrams. (Rosy of the Ice = anagram of City of Heroes.)
Puns. (Mu mystic from an alternate world of felines - Mew mystics. Not really a "pun," but close enough.)
"Something-vaguely-related-and-changed." (Radianne - Radiation based defender named Anne. Chlorostorm = Plant/Storm Controller.)

Sometimes I have continuations and alts of a character, for instance -
- One of my first characters, an Elec/Elec blaster. Feminized Thor to Therra, wanted an "electric-related" last name... so Arcson.
- Became a Peacebringer on a mission. Which brought paladins to mind. Therra Paladina.
- COV came out. COT made a copy of her to frame her or trap her, but that didn't work out. Malevolent purpose. Therra Malevola. And so forth.

Thugs/Dark brute. Looking for a "dark" name that spoke of emptiness, of him being a hint of something worse to come. Abyssal Echo.

Nin/TA Masterind. Spirit that calls other spirits. Went to Swahili - Kizimwi. (All his minions take Swahili spirit types, too.)

Warshade whose name comes from RPing her origin, seeing that her powers made her look like a "violet flame."

I have a series of "borrowed" Crey experimental power armors, usually CT(somthing) (name.) Such as CTI Dreamer, "I" = Illusion, and "Dreamer" relating to that. Or just CTX - something, with X = eXperimental.

See my Guides and Tutorials

If a name you want is taken, remember that you have other alternatives than just a thesaurus or internet name generator.

You can, if the name you want is short enough, try adding something to the front or back of it to distinguish it from everyone else. For example, I created a magical AR/Mental Manip. blaster with a nostalgic 30's "man of mystery" style (fedora & trenchcoat) and wanted to use the name Arcanum. Arcanum was taken, so it was time to see what I could take on without losing the the theme I wanted.

* Captain Arcanum? Nah, too heroic sounding and I want someone who might better fall into the category of vigilante.
* Mr. Arcanum? Definitely has possibilities.
* Prof. Arcanum? Nah, sounds too bookish.

Eventually, I wound up with Agent Arcanum and I'm quite happy with it. "Operative" and "Arbiter" are popular ones amongst people making Arachnos-themed characters, but I find that Agent works well for just about any organization.

You could also look at tacking on "-Man" or "-Boy" at the end (if male)... and "-Woman" or "-Girl" if female. In my case, if I was going for a more spandexy hero type, I could have named him Arcanum-man. Doesn't sound as smooth as I'd like, though.

Another idea I often use is to look at my powers (and powers to come) for descriptive adjectives. Colors also work... but the more basic ones are probably taken in combination with what you want, too. I was surprised when I got Red-Volt for my electric/electric brute back when we got the electric melee and electric armor power sets. Because he was a villain, his electric was red and Volt just made sense because of the nature of his powers. I deleted that character and am pretty sure that name is gone on Virtue, so if I ever wanted to recreate, I might need to either delve into color synonyms (Crimson-Volt or something like that) or maybe recolor the name of my electricity and find another color that isn't taken.

Phrontistery & Thesaurus.

Google

I look up meanings for stuff then try different languages. If something is really got me but is taken I'll toss something in front or behind it.

Latin ... so many good names can come from basic words used in Latin.

Baby name lists.

For some characters the Name over there head is not the name they use so it is just a place holder or title. Like L1-ND4 is a clockwork the name is her model number and not much what people call her.

hmmm what else... Sometimes I'll look up myths and plunder there meanings. But most of these are already taken unless you throw something else into it. Like Thor totally taken but 'Thor Scene' the male ex super model recovering drug addict with the power of lightning? probably not.

Puns ... Puns work good sometimes as does alternate spellings.

Also IMDB can sometimes come in handy just poke around there for interesting character names sometimes.

That is about it I think.

As others have stated, a thesaurus is a huge boon to naming. Many of my toons were named using the thesaurus that I keep on my desk next to me at all times. It's fun finding archaic/underused terms that describe the character without initially sounding like they do (like my Sonic/Kin defender, Dulcet).

Other times, I just play around with free association and word amalgamation (which is how I ended up with my new KM/WP Scrapper, Enigmatech and my fire/SR Scrapper, Cinderotic).

And sometimes, I want a name that isn't entirely heroic but still has a good ring to it and relates to the character. For those characters, I use http://www.20000-names.com/ (where I got the name for my Night Widow, Kaliska; which is a Miwok name meaning coyote chasing deer. And also my Dark/Shield Scrapper, Dougal; which is an English name meaning Black Stranger). The site has some annoying pop-ups, but it's worth it for the quantity and quality of names it contains.

And then other times, I take inspiration from music, literature, or theatre. (while making sure to not steal anything directly and cite the inspiration when necessary; Wendy O and Amelia van Diemen both have their roots in music for example).

Good luck to you coming up with a name.