Character names

I like to distill an idea related to the character into a single word or 2-3 word phrase, then use google translate to put it in a bunch of different languages and see if any of them seem appealing. Other times, they might be named after famous historical figures of the setting, or after common items where appropriate or fitting.

I pick random items on my desk, write the words down, mix them up, and then extract a handful of letters as they form new combinations that sound like a name.

Oh god, have people really been doing animes??

Typically, my names are inspired by other real or fictional characters. I had a world history & philosophy class at one point several years ago and I've gotten so many epic names from there, or inspired from there. (Obscure ones, mind you. I never made a Ghengis.)

Another good route - if you own a copy, flip open the 80+ page character index in the back of any A Song of Ice and Fire novel and have at it. Plenty of good ones to be inspired by in there, especially from the free cities.

I've done Amanda's method, or something similar, a handful of times. Finding native American adjective/noun dictionaries can be a very cool way to get tribal and d-elf names.

Finally, if all else fails, Google a fantasy name generator. Either take one of the suggestions, or cherry pick syllables from a few good sources. This is probably the method I do the most.

I feel the need to make a character named Richard Sharpe. Too bad I don't have the patience to play in any of the military clans.

Wild plants are one of my interests. I used to pick a plant I fancied, find the common name in the original language and take it from there.
I spend weeks.....months...even years plotting my rinthers and their starting name is a major challenge. It becomes easier to pick up a new alias for them once they start Living.
I didn't know what I was doing in naming delfs , I need more experience there.
One PC started as a few lines in notepad which sat on my computer for a year or so. I haven't a clue where I got that name from. I stuck with what I'd  written, just hoping I hadn't noticeably stolen that name.

I keep my names short. From my times in the byn, where the shorter the keyword targetted under pressure the better. Bless those that do provide short nicknames.

There was this one tuluki assassin bard who used an anime/manga character's name.

The thing that was most jarring wasn't only that they used their name, it was they copied the character completely:

-The name
-The exact description of the character
-The fact that their name wasn't their real name
-The behavior of the character.

It wasn't just a mere adaptation it was practically a carbon copy of the character and ugh it was terrible. The manga/anime character might not be as popular as say dragon ball's goku but its still a popular and well liked character for anyone who is into manga/anime. For someone like me who actually read the manga and was a fan of the character, seeing this player trying to play this character in Armageddon made me gag. They should have at least had the decency to make them a drovian or something.

This, but I translate into the Dwarf Fortress languages. There's just about every character concept you can think of in the DF vocabulary.

Half of my characters are inspired off memes anyway. My favorite was the tall, slender man named Viktor.