Hello all! I'm planning out my next playable character for Skyrim and I could really use some help with coming up with a good first name. When I create characters, I usually spend a large amount of time creating them, and almost twice as much time coming up with a good name. (unless I have it already planned out, which is very rare) My last character was actually the inspiration for my name on this site! I based my character, a 2-handed Nord Warrior after Bodvar Bjarki, naming him Bodvar the Bear. I may/may not use him for character building for a "Nord Hero Build", but only time will tell.
Anyway, my new character will again be a Nord male, and will be the very definition of dragonborn. He will use shouts as they were meant to be, and will use 2-handed/ sword and shiled as well as archery to take out his enemies. I thought up "Storm-Caller" as a good surname and was seriously considering using Tyr (God of War and the Sky) or Thor/Torr (God of Thunder) as a first name, but I did not like the sound of it when it was read together. If any of you awesome people can help me think of a good name that fits my character and is lore-friendly, that would be amazing. I look forward to seeing what you guys can come up with!
~Bodvar Bjarki
This is quite the coincidence really. I'm planning a pretty similar type of character (Nord Hero, Heavy Armor, 1H/Block) and I'm also searching for a name as well. I do got some in mind though. My favorites that I've gotten so far have been Filwulf, Thoralf, Thorleif, Kusthar, Alfbrand, Alfstar & Wulfgeir. They don't have any particular meaning, it's just inspiration from both already existing Nord names in TES and random Nord name generators. I'm still not particularly sold in any though, but you're free to take one if you like.
I second what Xavier said, plus you can check the UESP for canon Nord names.
Personally, I like Thorek and Yngvar. Or Fjolgard, but that one's made up.
What about Vignar Storm-Caller? Rolls off the tongue pretty well.
You guys are awesome. I ended up sleeping on the idea so when I have the time I can actually start doing some serious research. The thing with Skyrim is that many characters do not share the same name, which makes it very annoying when you find a good one online only to see that it is already being used by a random NPC who has no actual significance. (Sigurd, Belethor's assistant at Belethor's shop in Whiterun originates from a norse legendary hero) I'm gonna keep looking, maybe take into consideration another surname that I thought up (Wolfclaw or Wolf-Claw) and see how that works out!
I've been checking out the lists and random name generators, and it's quite a process sifting through all of the different names. Since most of those names are already being used, I probably will not use them (with respect to the characters) but I will look at that one you created yourself and keep on searching. Maybe I can change the surname to Deathclaw or Death-Claw and see how that works out :)
When making names I refer to existing names of that type in Skyrim, then use a random generator to help, assigning nos 1-26 for the alphabet, plus 1-6 for vowels. I then accept or reject what comes up until I have what looks like the sort of name I'm looking for. The Nord names I've produced so far are 'Yudiel Oaken-Born" and "Myvesig Idlewild".
I don't know if this will help but when making names for my characters I always look at UESP (insert race here) names and move around/add letters to my real name until I'm satisfied with it. My real name is Gean so when I made a dark elf I ended up naming him Geraan which is lore-friendly since there's a dark elf named Garan. It adds a bit to the immersion when letters include a name similar to mine and not something like Ruthgard Riverstain
OK, you got me: I lied! She's a vile Nord.
There's no shame in that. You're liking but not 'Liking'? That makes no sense.
Seriously though if you do like something just click: I do it all the time. I enjoy writing but it's still good to know that someone's actually reading my crap masterpiece