Chaos_Overlord
Acolyte
I am currently trying to create the settings for a story that I am writing. I plan on the world being in a medieval time period, so any ideas for names that sound like there from that time period.
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Towns and Cities
- Thread starter Chaos_Overlord
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Philster401
Scribal Lord
Name generators?
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- #3
Chaos_Overlord
Acolyte
No I would prefer if they weren't generated names, or if they don't sound like generated names.
Philster401
Scribal Lord
That makes sense have u looked through forums for a thread on town names?
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- #5
Chaos_Overlord
Acolyte
No, thanks for the advice, but I want the name to be for my story, not based on someone else's.
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- #6
Chaos_Overlord
Acolyte
The countries in my story are going to be based of European countries from the medieval times. So i would like for the names to sound like they are old European city names
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Tom
Istari
Europe is a big place. There are hundreds of languages crammed into it. What specific type of name are you thinking? German names like Nuremberg? Polish names like Warsaw? English names like Greenwich?
[By the way, for any moderators who might be reading, should this thread be moved to Worldbuilding?]
[By the way, for any moderators who might be reading, should this thread be moved to Worldbuilding?]
CupofJoe
Istari
Google Earth/Maps [other systems are available] may be helpful here.
So... if you really want a Swedish sort of sounding name for your town, zoom in on Sweden [and environs] and see what sort of names there are... or possible what sort of names aren't there...
It will change from area to area, as others have said Europe is big [and old].
In the UK you can have lots of style/rooted names [Danish, Saxon, Norman, Roman, Viking and older] with a few miles. It can help give a sense of deep history too.
I'm old-school I have a huge world atlas and just start at the full colour plates drinking in the way the lands look, and how it all fits together.
So... if you really want a Swedish sort of sounding name for your town, zoom in on Sweden [and environs] and see what sort of names there are... or possible what sort of names aren't there...
It will change from area to area, as others have said Europe is big [and old].
In the UK you can have lots of style/rooted names [Danish, Saxon, Norman, Roman, Viking and older] with a few miles. It can help give a sense of deep history too.
I'm old-school I have a huge world atlas and just start at the full colour plates drinking in the way the lands look, and how it all fits together.
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- #9
Chaos_Overlord
Acolyte
Thanks, I think I will look at google maps. But I also want some originality in the names, so that they don't look like the names for cities in real life. Any language that is European is ok for the names.
cupiscent
Mystagogue
What I usually do is pick a language/naming system that I want to use for my country (say: Armenian) and then tweak names from that system. So my example - Armenian - has a lot of place names that end with -an (Yerevan, Kapan, Hrazdan, Sevan) so perhaps I'll take another syllable and put an -an on the end. I try to make that syllable something with significance for the city, because that's how places are named - for the ruling family or a local feature. So if there's a mountain nearby, the mountain and the town should probably have a similar name, and if the mountain is named after the god who lives there, then there we go. Call the god "Gurd", and the town is now called Gurdan.
The important thing is systems. Towns from the same society should feel like they are related in their names.
The important thing is systems. Towns from the same society should feel like they are related in their names.
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- #11
Chaos_Overlord
Acolyte
I see what you mean, thanks for the advice.
This is easier than you think it is. Wikipedia. Look up any existing European city. Better yet, look up a smaller town.
Right at the top of the article you will find alternate names for that place. Not just alternate spellings, but older versions, including (if appropriate) the Latin name. Pick and choose as you please.
This works also for rivers, mountains and anything that has place names.
Right at the top of the article you will find alternate names for that place. Not just alternate spellings, but older versions, including (if appropriate) the Latin name. Pick and choose as you please.
This works also for rivers, mountains and anything that has place names.
BronzeOracle
Mystagogue
I've used this technique too, I find pouring over geography - political and physical - a great inspiration. It may also be worth looking at old work maps of Europe during early middle ages, Britain during Roman occupation etc (eg names of Celtic tribes / towns). Knowing what language/culture you are targeting, as suggested by Cupiscent, will help with honing in on a specific area/time period of maps.
Saigonnus
Dark Lord
Often times towns and villages are named after geographic or aesthetic features. Ashwood might be a place with lots of Ash trees. Shining Plains could be named after the way the moonlight seems to reflect off the pale grass... I think you get the picture. Others might be named after events or people. Torven's Mill might be the oldest place in area, used by miners for the timbers and a village built up around it.
Overall, the names of villages or even towns are important in the scheme of things, especially if the characters in the story spend a significant amount of time there. If it is one they simply pass through on the way to somewhere else, the name just has to sound vaguely like it could be in the same geographic area.
After all, you don't want to have Izgendorf be next to Green Path...
Overall, the names of villages or even towns are important in the scheme of things, especially if the characters in the story spend a significant amount of time there. If it is one they simply pass through on the way to somewhere else, the name just has to sound vaguely like it could be in the same geographic area.
After all, you don't want to have Izgendorf be next to Green Path...
Bruce McKnight
Lore Master
I like Saigonnus's idea because I name a lot of places in a similar manner: Deerfield, Redbrook, Greenview, etc. However, I also like the ironic names (Clearwater for a city in the middle of a desert) - I was always inspired by whoever decided to name Greenland!
CupofJoe
Istari
I've always feared/hoped that it was the first places named for its advertising potential...
"Come to GREENland - not quite as cold or white as ICEland"
K.S. Crooks
Grandmaster
What I like to do is look up abandoned villages and towns in Canada, England, New Zealand, Nigeria, Zaire, Australia and various other places to find what I think suits my setting.
Saigonnus
Dark Lord
Perhaps it wasn't always a desert... they just didn't bother to rename it once it became so. Could be a good backstory for the region.
wordwalker
Dark Lord
Clearwater may well be the proper name for an oasis in a desert-- or it might have been a real estate scam like Erik the Red did with Greenland.
The more I think about it, the more I think the best way to pick names is to look at samples. Researching some of the facts and patterns that have gone into it can help, but mainly it's just too subtle an art to learn from anything but other names.
The more I think about it, the more I think the best way to pick names is to look at samples. Researching some of the facts and patterns that have gone into it can help, but mainly it's just too subtle an art to learn from anything but other names.
AllegedObserver
Apprentice
I think everyone has some great suggestions. I have personally gone through most of these processes to locate names of cities and towns. Another tool that I have used is Google Translate. You might think "why google translate"? Well, most place names began as "Tree on the hill" or "green [or whatever colour you'd like] valley" and so on - but in whatever language the place is. Using google translate you can compile a list of simple words such as hill, vale, marsh, red, green, blue, and so on - but in what ever language you want to use [say Czech, or slavic, russian, german, etc etc]. After that you can mash stuff together to suit your world. Good Luck!