WOW Names

How many people spent an hour trying to decide on their first character’s name only to delete it a few minutes later?

Regardless of what type of server you play, the name of your toon is one of the very first impressions you make in the game. It’s the first thing that other players will judge you by, and you want to make a good impression, right?

Character names are a lot like fourth meal. While you may be starving at 4A.M. and think that Grande Double Fried Cheesy Nacho Burrito sounds great–you probably won’t be feeling so good about it the next morning.

And let’s face it.. there’s a lot of people playing WoW.

This means that many of your “first picks” will already be taken. The higher the population, the more difficult finding just the right name becomes.

Naming Resources

For those of us who aren’t as creative, there’s hope! Fortunately, not everyone is as stunted as us.

Name Generators

Don’t get me wrong–the Blizzard name generator is actually a pretty good feature as-is. There’s not a lot of use for it on larger servers, sadly, since other uncreative people have already swiped most of the list.

Here are some great ways to generate your own name lists:

• Rinkwork’s name generator is one of the best generators available. While it seems pretty plain at first glimpse, the real power is in the advanced interface.
• Behind the Name’s generator will help you generate names based on their country of origin.
• Serendepity’s name generator is a great place to find names that work well in a lore context. Unfortunately, they no longer allow you to generate multiple names at once so there’s a lot of clicking involved. However, it’s still one of the only resources out there that generates completely readable (and pronouncable!) names reliably.

Characterization

It’s time to take a look at your character. What type of person is he?

Maybe you’ve created a clever rogue or a wise mage–or perhaps you’ve just made the world’s most cowardly tank.

Giving your character a little bit of personality can help you decide on a better name. This is a process that Blizzard itself uses to name NPCs (i.e., Nefarian from Nefarious)!

Once you have a few descriptive adjectives for your toon, it’s time to start brainstorming.

Adjective	Name 1	Name 2	Name 3
Stalwart	Stagglewart	Stallort	Wartstol
Wrathful	Routh	Rathel	Wranthel
Sacred	Sakren	Sadrec	Sacril

Word Association

Want a name that lets people know who you are without feeling like you just stepped out of a dimestore fantasy novel?

This method is a lot like playing a game of word association except with traits about your character. It can be physical or esoteric, but you should try to think of as many iconic references as you can.

Let’s jump into an example and then we’ll see how we can turn it into propper names!

Race	Association 1	Association 2	Association 3	Association 4
Blood Elf	Grace	Eyes	Cats	Tall
Gnome	Gear	Steam	Cog	Mechanic
Undead	Bones	Nightmare	Lingering	Under
Dwarf	Brew	Merry	Ale	Beard

The basic idea is to take some of these ideas and throw them together. Sometimes magic happens, sometimes shame happens.

Not all of these will make great names. It’s OK. No one expects you to name your new bloodelf CatEyesGrace or anything (please don’t).

On the other hand, a name like Cogsnatcher or Gearwinder could be pretty cool for a new Gnome.

Don’t Rush It

It can be tough not to run through the character building process when you’re excited or frustrated. Taking your time and deciding on a name that you like now will save you time and money!