Naming NPCs

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    Learning more about historical realities can have some surprising applications for RPGs. For example, it is often a semi-intuitive fact that people in the past didn't tend to have secondary/family/last names. In Europe at least, if you needed one you would just go with a profession (John Smith), a physical trait (John Tallman), or even where they lived (John Hill). 

    That as a fact is a bit overlooked, but doesn't seem unreasonable. I would wager many people would have a moment of realization about hearing about something like that before. In terms of RPGs, this means that for most people, you shouldn't bother coming up with a last name for them. If you need one, go with what pops into your head first.

    (On a secondary note, people were sometimes very opposed to the idea of having a set secondary name, due to how it was perceived as a tool of authority to make taxation, enforcing laws, and so on easier. People didn't lack family names because they were reserved for nobles, they often chose not to have them.)

    While on the topic of names, here is a fun fact I recently came across: There was a time when 90% of men shared one of 6 names from the bible. I recommend taking any insane statistics like that with a grain of salt, but it is an interesting thought. So, lets put it into practice as a part of DM prep.

    Select a group of people (species, ethnic, kingdom, etc) and devise a list of 20 names for them (10 male, 10 female) and use this whenever you need a name for that group. Ideally, you should do this once and stick with this list of names for the entire campaign. 

    I know I had a pretty visceral reaction to hearing this, but just mull it over a bit. Obviously not everyone would pull their names from this list, but if 9 out of 10 NPCs use this, you just saved yourself a huge amount of work. That isn't to say you only ever need 20 names. I would also recommend also producing a secondary set of 20 names for a different group in your setting (a competing kingdom, different species, etc.) or producing a small list of "exotic" names that don't get repeated. The first option can be very effective at cementing cultural differences with people. If every NPC you meet has one of a few names, suddenly meeting people with different names will set them apart in a way that doesn't even require description! Setting up a new minority or group can be as simple as coming up with 20 names that "fit" them. 

    As for the "exotic" names, you can use those for the random foreigner, extra-planar being, historical name, or person who has renamed themselves. Things like that always come up in sessions so having some names in your back pocket will always come in handy.

    This advice may not seem revolutionary, but let me sum this idea up in two points:

  • Assume people only have a first/personal name
  • Assumes names are repeated often and that unique/uncommon names are the exception
Both are very different from how things work in the modern world, but that only helps to set setting where you apply them from reality. Further, they also reduce the amount of work that you need to do as a DM. 

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