Behind the name could be fungi
by Amanda Miller 
Nov 1st 2007 at 5:34PM
Character names in World of Warcraft are very personal, even if you started out trying to be nonchalant. For some players, their character names are the only handle they will ever be known by with their Azerothian friends. I for one am about 75% certain that I would answer to my main's nickname "IRL".For many, this naming decision, which used to be permanent, and now is potentially too changeable, is a way to express one's interests outside of gaming. Although staying within the boundaries of Blizzard's naming policy requires some extra creativity, the effort is worth it in the end. Mythological figures is a very popular choice, and our very own Elizabeth Wachowski chooses medical terminology when naming her toons. Amanda Rivera has varying logic behind her character names, although by times she takes inspiration from her own works as a writer.
Names can work to bring characters with similar, even obscure, interests together in WoW. Any of you who have ever encountered a character and done a double take, realizing that their name is some obscure 18th Century poet or minor figure in Romanian history, will be able to identify with Jeremy Bruno of The Voltage Gate.
Jeremy has recently become quite interested in WoW characters named after an organism's genus name. He has begun to feature such characters, along with photographic representations of the actual organism and tidbits of interesting facts. As he points out, these organisms are important enough to people to name their characters, which they might have for years, after them; and he wants to help honor them. If you have such a toon, shoot him a message, because he's accepting reader submissions. We're all interested to see what types of animals, bacteria, plants, and fungi will turn up on our realms.
Do you have a theme or an interest that is reflected in the names of your characters? Have you ever stumbled across a character with such an obscure name that you were taken aback?
Filed under: Virtual selves, Odds and ends
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Tim Small Nov 1st 2007 5:48PM
My warlock and priest are both named Mmrmm and Mmrrmm, this is the sound that zombies make when looking for more brains.
Prometheus Nov 1st 2007 5:53PM
My characters are all based on Prometheus. Ive been using Prometheus since CS, DoD, CSS, Guild Wars, BF2, BF2142 etc etc....pretty much any multi player game i play I either use Prometheus or Prom.
My hunter is Promethues, my mage Prom and my current main and first allie, a druid, Prom.
Sadly I have yet to reserve the name Prometheus on any of my servers. :(
Tuberon Nov 1st 2007 5:53PM
@Tim
... brains, in WoW? Must be awfully hungry.
yashin Nov 1st 2007 5:56PM
I've lifted my character names from Libyan oil field names.
Perrins Nov 1st 2007 6:03PM
Lol this is actually amusing
All my toons are named after The Wheel of Time book series by Robert Jordan.
Perrins- 70 warrior named after Perrin Ayabara, a warrior
Failes- 70 hunter named after Failes ayabara she has a whit wolf as a pet named Goldeneyes
Mats- 28 rogue
Rands- 35 warlock
Nynaeve al'Meara- 09 priest
Ragnaron Nov 2nd 2007 9:13PM
My original (and main) Ragnaron, is based off Ragnarök (the Norse apocalypse). I created it at the same time as a friend of mine, Fenrir (a world eating wolf, character in Ragnarök).
Other than that, I've based all my names off The Old Language in the Wheel of Time novels by Robert Jordan.
xGeneric Nov 1st 2007 6:11PM
Well, Generic was taken on my realm, so I went with Generik. I started using Generic in Counter-Strike cause that was about my skill level... not good, but not bad. Well, I got a lot better, and I liked the irony of a guy named Generic having the best score & K/D in the match, so I just kept it. I also like the vagueness of it... focus on the skills, not the name :)
Zuty Nov 1st 2007 6:13PM
My one friend in game (Blackstone) wanted a name for her new Ghost Saber, I suggested Izusa (Native American for White Stone) and she loves it.
My hunter alts pet names follow a myth/lore theme. So far I have a Windserpent named Ouroboros, which is a serpent like dragon that is wrapped in a circle eating its own tail. (It represents Infinity or Unlimited, Some time Immortality)
My current owls name is Strix, Its the genus for the owl family and also the name of a roman mythological bird that was like a vampire.
I want my next pet to be a black owl so I can name it Wanshitong (Its suppose to be written as Wan Shi Tong) which is Chinese for "He who knows ten thousand things." It is also the owl spirit of knowledge as represent in Avatar.
So I stick with a theme for my pets. My alts and mains don't follow a theme, but I try and put some thought into the name. (My 29 twink Orc shamans name is Evatar, A mix of Eva and Avatar)
~Zuty
PS. (Zuty doesn't mean anything as far as I know)
Nyctanessa Nov 1st 2007 6:13PM
My blood elf warlock is named Nyctanessa, after the genus name of the yellow-crested night heron. Granted, I've seen the name spelled two different ways (Nyctanessa and Nyctanassa), and I went with the one that flowed better.
Most of my toons are from other languages (the scientific Latin name mentioned, and another in Italian) or from books (courtesy of Marion Zimmer Bradley).
Khanmora Nov 1st 2007 6:20PM
My characters don't have a theme but one of my friends has one. All of his characters are named after elements in the periodic table Ytterbium, Ruthenium, etc. You always know when Ytter is around :)
Madjap Nov 1st 2007 6:15PM
Been called Madjap since HS for my play on the soccer field.
Mad = Crazy
Jap = japanese
However, blizzard found that i could not call myself a jap, because it would be offensive to me.
So i had to chg names. :(
Urthona Nov 1st 2007 6:17PM
Urthona is the primordial avatar of imagination in William Blake's epic mythology. I'd intended to have all my avatars named for players in different myth, but by the time I got serious about alts, I was using Vent, and responding to "Urth!" more often than not.
Rather than make things awkward for my team, I got creative. So now in addition to Urthona, night elf druid...
Aertho, draenei protection paladin
Erthas, human arms warrior
Irthalomew, gnome frost mage
Each name has its personality, while also shortening to my Vent nickname.
crusherkid Nov 1st 2007 6:17PM
my main is crusherkid which i pretty much name everything at least a variation of it
Juneau Nov 1st 2007 6:17PM
I mostly name my characters after my favourite bands or songs (Juneau, Deathcar, Flyleaf for example), though on pretty much each realm I play on I have at least one "Redscum", that's the name I've used in pretty much every situation that needs a name since way back in my Runescape days. I don't even know where I got the name from, but it's kinda catchy.
Freija Nov 1st 2007 6:23PM
My characters are Freija, Nifleheim, Jotunheim. Why I went with that theme...I dunno. I just did.
Magnetite2 Nov 1st 2007 6:34PM
Well, as a former geologist, all my characters are named after rocks or minerals - Magnetite, Rhodium, Schist, Wolframite, Chrysolite and so on. However, my favorite is Haematite for my Blood Elf Blood Knight (Paladin) - named after the Blood Rock!
Heraclea Nov 1st 2007 6:34PM
I put a fair amount of effort into names and concepts for characters. Without this, I lose interest in them.
Heraclea is actually the name of a number of towns, but I've used it since my City of Heroes days to suggest a female version of Heracles a/k/a Hercules.
I also have a druid alt named Colberta. She will be feral. I have a blood elf rogue Chohani, after an old Balkan word for a vampire or witch; but my orc hunter is Snoosnoo. My Draenei shaman is Uggabugga. And I have a Draenei priest named Santamuerte.
Heraclea Nov 1st 2007 6:34PM
I put a fair amount of effort into names and concepts for characters. Without this, I lose interest in them.
Heraclea is actually the name of a number of towns, but I've used it since my City of Heroes days to suggest a female version of Heracles a/k/a Hercules.
I also have a druid alt named Colberta. She will be feral. I have a blood elf rogue Chohani, after an old Balkan word for a vampire or witch; but my orc hunter is Snoosnoo. My Draenei shaman is Uggabugga. And I have a Draenei priest named Santamuerte.
Tarbh Nov 1st 2007 6:35PM
My naming structure goes a little like this:
For Players I go to http://www.englishirishdictionary.com/ and look up words and such that have some relation to the class/race. I'm not able to speak Irish (never really clicked in school), but the sounds and structures can work out nicely for the game.
My Tauren hunter, Tarbh, is the Irish for bull (I was going to go for Adharc, which means horn, but it also means erection... :P)
I have an alt druid called Talmhú, which means touchdown (as in landing, which might make more sense once I get flight form :P). Also have a WIP twink mage called éirim, meaning aptitude or intellect, which seems fitting for a female blood elf.
For Pets on my hunter, I name them after members of the Bovinae subfamily (thank you wikipedia), Bison (orignal lv 10 I still have) and Saola (raid kitty). (I also have a pvp pet named after myself for the advantages it brings)
Magnetite2 Nov 1st 2007 6:36PM
Oh, I'm sure that I'd answer to 'Mag' in real life too - in fact I did at Blizzcon... Sad but true.