Because I’m Sam
All my fantasy elves use variations of my middle name (Mary) , all my fantasy humans or orcs use variations of my first name (Rachel). The one time I made up a name from scratch it ended up lewd, only I didn’t realize it until the campaign was over. From that day forward I stopped making up names.
((My fist D&D character was named for Coca-Cola backwards 
.))
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lol, seriously I laughed, good one.
Never use Coca-Cola never say it backwards.
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its not like op asked if it was my name…
its a name i use for my character.
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Real question is “why not?”
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Because I can.
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Possibly because so many fantasy names are rip offs of trademarked chracters, are used up on their realm, or because they want some variety, so they look at baby name lists etc.
It’s a version of my own name, and it suits her.
All names are made-up.
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Because one of the hardest things in the whole game is choosing a name for your character and some players are unoriginal.
My daughter plays and uses regular names like Wendy or Stacy. She’s autistic and usually has a hyper-focus on specific names. She has dolls she uses those types of names on and wanted to name characters after them.
ETA: I know someone named Aviela. It’s a Hebrew name and therefore a “real” name.
Because I want to?
Because I put a modicum of time into coming up with the names, instead of being the four-hundred-sixtieth dumbass that names their toon “Legolas”?
Out of twenty-ish toons, I have three that are names of actual people, and I can almost guarantee no one has any idea of who they are without Google:
- Billyshears*
- Tykwer
- Loefah
(*OK, he’s not “real,” per se, but he is a real-world fictional character.)
The older folks here, or the music buffs, might know Billy. Turn-of-the-century foreign film buffs might know Tykwer. South Londoners that listened to dubstep as it was evolving in the early 2000s will know Loefah.
To me, naming a character something like “Loefah” is as immersive as naming a toon something fantasy-ish, like “Krumag” or “Coarseshield.”
It’s a different story when you pass the eighty-sixth “Tyrionlannister” of the day. To me, that’s lame, unimaginative, and commonplace.
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I’ll admit, I have quite a few characters that use variations of my name (Alexander) because I wish I looked like them 
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I like simple names for the most part 
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I was just playing, but yes that is what most do [except me…my name is really applebear, and I live in a tree].
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explains everytime i tried to visit, it pointed me to a tree…
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There’s a Gith in CR named Bob. And at least one continent in Exandria is now D&D canon.
And you can’t tell me there are no fantasy characters named Robert.
Ha, what kind of lame-o uses their real name as their character’s name? I mean seriously.
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