I'm usually the Games Master and names are the hardest part of being a player – let alone the Games Master. I have an inordinate fondness for puns, which I have to keep in check or every game would be reduced to a laughing stock. Typically if I'm stuck for a name I find a random online name generator of approximately the right culture or leaf through a book and combine a couple of names from people who worked on the book (or backed it on Kickstarter).
Perhaps the most memorable recent name was 'Gimothy Stickfinger' (pronounced Jimothy, his parents couldn't spell). A 'loveable street starfish' from my Iron Kingdoms game, who was about to get hung from the gallows for severing a fishmongers John Thomas when the PCs stepped in.
Certain themes for names stick in my head, though I haven't used them... yet.
Places, or other things, that sound like names: Like... Leon Solent, Avon Calling, Stirling Silver, Accrington Stanley, Armitage Shanks or Winterbourne Bassett.
Group Themes: Slim and Nunn. Worth, Erst and Mean – the While Brothers. Aunties Climax, Matter, Disestablishmentarism and Pasto.
There are also some unspeakably fabulous names from the Puritans from the English Civil War period. These include such gems as: Praise-God Barebones, If-Christ-had-not-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned, Fear-Not Helly, Humiliation Hynde and Sorry-for-Sin Coupard.
Perhaps one of my most favourite fictional names, ever, has to be Carl Heinz Pilchards-in-Tomato-Sauce Clayderman, a 'genius' musician from Mega City One who abused weather control technology in one of his productions, leading to many deaths. His previous great work 'Twelve Robotic Chickens Locked inside a Piano' was only marginally more successful.
Hey, thanks for stopping by. I'm an independent RPG (and other games) designer and author. You can check out my stuff via the links at the side of postmortemstudios.wordpress.com. If you feel so inclined, after a look around, you can support me at patreon.com/grimachu, Minds.com/grimachu or steemit.com/@grimjim. Questions and queries are welcome, remember, 'Nullius in verba'!