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Tvtyrant
2013-10-03, 12:28 AM
What makes for a good dwarven name? I suck at naming things, and dwarves are especially hard because I waffle between "Bigrock/Deepwater" type names and LotR naming conventions.

Anyone got any good suggestions for the names of dwarven cities, towns, and people?

Deffers
2013-10-03, 12:51 AM
Strong. Gold. Fire. Hammer.

Strongold Firehammer. Bam! Dwarven name.

Frost. Beard. Swift. Pick.

Frostbeard Swiftpick. Bam! 'Nother Dwarven name.

Wanna get more bang for your buck? Add in Nordic names.

Hjel Firehammer and Ymir Stronggold. Jurgen Frostbeard (Is Jurgen even a Nordic name? It is now). Sven Swiftpick.

Am I creative namer of dwarves? Hell no. Are you ever going to forget the time Hjel Firehammer covered his warhammer in pitch, put it in a nearby brazier, and charged a horde of zombies? Probably not. :smallamused:

EDIT: For Dwarven names, just mash a bunch of "flheims", j's, and umlauts. Yjngflheim- City of a Thousand Anvils! It's that easy, and the "j" is silent.

Tvtyrant
2013-10-03, 01:13 AM
Norse first names and english last names? I suppose that works pretty well.

MirddinEmris
2013-10-03, 02:25 AM
Try Races of the Stone - this book has name constructor and a list of couple of phrases in Dwarven.

Altair_the_Vexed
2013-10-03, 04:10 AM
Well, the naming convention in the Hobbit and LotR is for Dwarves to have a Nordic style - so a bit of background on that convention:

The given names of the dwarf characters are said to be human names, adopted by the dwarves because their true names are secret.
Most of the dwarves have only their given name, plus a description of their lineage. This is the same as the convention for Scandinavia for centuries - it's still in operation in Iceland. (When Bjork is called Bjork Gottmundsdottir, that's not be cause Gotmundsdottir is her family name, it's because she's Gottmund's daughter. She is properly called Bjork - just a mononym.) The lineage name is called a patronymic.
Some people earn a nickname - they "make a name for themselves" - and leave behind their patronymic. They have become more important than their family - it's a big event to gain a nickname.
(Thorin Oakenshield is called Oakenshield because of that moment when he used an oak bough as a shield in the battle against the orcs.)

Now - to mix it up a bit, you can use other regional names, but the same conventions, instead of obvious Norse names.
I like to use Scottish names for dwarves: Connor MacIron may make a name for himself later, and become Connor the Blackaxe.

So the English surnames and nicknames are given because they're translations to the Common language of your setting. Given names are the ones that'll be most dwarvish.

If you want to get away from Scottish and Norse clichés, then try looking up Mongolian or Russian names - or whatever else you think sounds about right.

http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/pages-browse-by-origin.html

nedz
2013-10-03, 04:18 AM
Just add -"in" or -"or" or maybe -"li" to the end of suitable words.

This is a first approximation to what Tolkien did :smalltongue:

erikun
2013-10-03, 05:08 AM
Try Races of the Stone - this book has name constructor and a list of couple of phrases in Dwarven.
Yes, the D&D3e Races of Stone is one of my favorite books, even when not using D&D. Lots of very useable lore on dwarves and gnomes, name generators, society information, and so on.

Other than that, I don't know how much to help out. I tend just to just take two items associated with dwarves and put them together for last names (assuming that they are translated into common doing so) and maybe something punny for a first name. My last dwarf was Mikaelah Stoneshield the cleric. That's "Mc-Healer" with an accent, and the last name could be Azgal (or Gengal, or anything I want) when spoken in dwarven.

TuggyNE
2013-10-03, 06:24 AM
Just add -"in" or -"or" or maybe -"li" to the end of suitable words.

This is a first approximation to what Tolkien did :smalltongue:

Well, actually many (most?) of his dwarf names were borrowed straight from the Elder Eddas. Gandalf too, for that matter.

DefKab
2013-10-03, 08:25 AM
I suggest Behind the Name for you. behindthename.com is a name randomizer that has an extensive list of names that you can filter using cultural presets... For my dwarves, for example, I simply check Russian and German (I'm thinking of spreading to other nordic languages), and bam, a name with every click.

nedz
2013-10-03, 09:38 AM
Well, actually many (most?) of his dwarf names were borrowed straight from the Elder Eddas. Gandalf too, for that matter.

Yes, I suppose you could take them from there too.


Motsognir, Durin, Nyi, Nithi, Northri, Suthri, Austri, Vestri, Althjof, Dvalin, Nar, Nain, Niping, Dain, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Nori, An, Onar, Ai, Mjothvitnir, Vigg, Gandalf, Vindalf, Thrain, Thekk, Thorin, Thror, Vit, Lit, Nyr, Nyrath, Regin, Rathsvith, Fili, Kili, Fundin, Nali, Heptifili, Hannar, Sviur, Frar, Hornbori, Fræg, Loni, Aurvang, Jari, Eikinskjaldi, Draupnir, Dolgthrasir, Hor, Haugspori, Hlevang, Gloin, Dori, Ori, Duf, Andvari, Skirfir, Virfir, Skafith, Ai, Alf, Yngvi, Eikinskjaldi, Fjalar, Frosti, Fith and Ginnar.

Though alf means ælf or elf.

Jay R
2013-10-03, 10:00 AM
I've been using this list from the Elder Edda (circa 1000-12000) since the 1970s, and haven't run out yet:


Then sought the gods their assembly-seats,
The holy ones, and council held,
To find who should raise the race of dwarfs
Out of Brimir's blood and the legs of Blain.

There was Motsognir the mightiest made
Of all the dwarfs, and Durin next;
Many a likeness of men they made,
The dwarfs in the earth, as Durin said.

Nyi and Nithi, Northri and Suthri,
Austri and Vestri, Althjof, Dvalin,
Nar and Nain, Niping, Dain,
Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Nori,
An and Onar, Ai, Mjothvitnir.

Vigg and Gandalf, Vindalf, Thrain,
Thekk and Thorin, Thror, Vit and Lit,
Nyr and Nyrath, -- now have I told--
Regin and Rathsvith-- the list aright.

Fili, Kili, Fundin, Nali,
Heptifili, Hannar, Sviur,
Frar, Hornbori, FrÆg and Loni,
Aurvang, Jari, Eikinskjaldi.

The race of the dwarfs in Dvalin's throng
Down to Lofar the list must I tell;
The rocks they left, and through wet lands
They sought a home in the fields of sand.

There were Draupnir and Dolgthrasir,
Hor, Haugspori, Hlevang, Gloin,
Dori, Ori, Duf, Andvari,
Skirfir, Virfir, Skafith, Ai.

Alf and Yngvi, Eikinskjaldi,
Fjalar and Frosti, Fith and Ginnar;
So for all time shall the tale be known,
The list of all the forbears of Lofar.

Sunfall
2013-10-03, 10:06 AM
Lookit here (http://fantasynamegenerators.com/dwarf_names.php) :smallbiggrin:

And here (http://dwarf.namegeneratorfun.com) :smallcool:

Clawhound
2013-10-03, 11:53 AM
German anything.

Hilflos Häschen is "helpless bunny", and don't it sound good?

We can get tough, too. "Steelheart Forgemaster" is Stahlherz Schmiedemeister.

Yuki Akuma
2013-10-03, 11:56 AM
I like to make dwarves with "deed names" and "clan names".

So, Hjel Firehammer of Clan Frostpass. Or something.

Tiktik Ironclaw
2013-10-03, 02:27 PM
Urist McMiner.:smallbiggrin: Though Dwarf Fortress could be used for generation. Dagger Boatmurdered would be a pretty cool name.