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imperialus
One of the biggest pains I've found when GMing is coming up with names for NPC's on the fly. They usually end up sounding cheesy or increadably generic. Anything goes, former PC's former NPC's, streetnames, real names it doesn't matter. To start the ball rolling here are a couple of mine.

Tinman: a retired Street sam completely replaced with obvious cyber.
Elfin-Face: A hidiously ugly troll ganger.
Tarantula
Most names are generic.
FriendoftheDork
The good part about playing in setting that is close to ours is that you can use RL names without it sounding stupid.

Except the shadowrunner nicknames stuff, but they all sound stupid anyway... like "iceman", "killer", "jetblack".... oh wait that's taken wink.gif
Pendaric
We done on starting this thread. There are a few similiar in the SR3 forum for handles. This kind of thing is a great resource for the community.
Jezerel
My npc's are often called Bob
venenum
QUOTE (Jezerel)
My npc's are often called Bob

But bob is not just a name, it is a way of life, a way of comidic tradgy, and never ending laughs. Bob is more thane a name it is an ideal,... Of mass comic DEATH.
Zhan Shi
The following are all nicknames I've seen in book/movies/comics.

Laughing Jack (meant to be ironic, no sense of humor)

Two-Gun Corky (not because he has two guns, but because his, ah...member...is longer than most pistol barrels)

Hot Lips (obvious for anyone who has ever seen M*A*S*H)

Webster (no, not the tv show...the character has a habit of using fancy words, hence the name of the dictionary)
tisoz
Some I have gleened over the years:

11)Abel
12)Ace
13)Ace of Spades
14)Afterburn
15)Ai (Japanese for "love")
16)Akimbo
17)Akuma
18)Alabaster Underground
19)Alias
20)Anastasia
21)Angel
22)Anon
23)Aphrodite
24)Apoc
25)Apostle
26)Arachniphobia
27)Arael (Lion of God)
28)Arc Angel
29)Arclight
30)Artemis
31)Astria
32)Aurora
33)Axler [Streetsamurai]
34)Baby Boy
35)Badger
36)Ballistic Betty
37)Bambi
38)Bane
39)Banshee
40)Bard (or "the Bard")
41)Bark
42)Bear Paws
43)Beckett
44)Behemoth
45)Belladonna
46)Benegal
47)Big Z
48)Bishop
49)Bit
50)Blacklight
51)Black Pheonix
52)Blade
53)Blake
54)Blanc
55)Blaze
56)Blindsider (or Blindsided - useful for a blind runner)
57)Block
58)Bloody Mary
59)Blue
60)Blue Shinobi
61)Blur
62)BNI (Batteries Not Included)
63)Bodycount
64)Boomer
65)Born-on-the-Bayou
66)Bowzer [Ganger]
67)Brandt
68)Breeze
69)Brick
70)Bullseye
71)Burning Bright
72)Burnout [Cyberzombie]
73)Bushi
74)Butch
75)Caleb
76)Carrion
77)Carver
78)Cat
79)CC (Console Cowboy)
80)Chance
81)Charlie
82)Chase
83)Chew Toy
84)Chimera
85)Chrome
86)Chrome Phoenix
87)Claw
88)Clutch
89)C-Note
90)Commodore Jones
91)Cook
92)Cooter
93)Corpselight (the spookier the character the better)
94)Corrupt
95)Cosmo Grand
96)Countdown
97)Cricket
98)Crimson Scarlet
99)Cronos
100)Cross
101)Crow
102)Crunch
103)Crystal
104)Cyberella
105)Cyberlan
106)Cybert
107)Cygor
108)Cypher
109)Daemon Hunter Y
110)Dance-With-Fire-Elementals
111)Dante
112)Daredevil
113)Darkchylde
114)Data Deva
115)David
116)Deadend
117)Dead-Eye
118)Deadman Walking
119)Death from Above
120)Deathawk
121)Delphi
122)Deuce
123)Deva
124)Dharma
125)Diablo
126)Diesel
127)DMZ
128)Doc
129)Doc Holiday
130)Dodger
131)Domino
132)Double Dee
133)Double Echo
134)Dove
135)Downshift
136)Dracul
137)Dread Man
138)Dreamer
139)Dreamscaper
140)Drifter
141)Ebony
142)Eclipse
143)Edge
144)Ember
145)Euna (Hunger in Celtic)
146)Eve
147)Evo
148)Eyeball
149)Falcon-5
150)Family Man
151)Fei
152)Fenris
153)Feral
154)Finder-Keepers
155)Flatline
156)Fletch
157)Flex
158)Flower
159)Ford Fairlane
160)Foucas [Vampire Hunter]
161)Foxfire
162)Fringe
163)Frogtongue [Bouncer, Streetsamurai]
164)Frost
165)Frostfire
166)-G
167)Gabriel
168)Gallowglass
169)Gator
170)G-Force
171)Ghost
172)Ghost Dragon
173)Ghost Owl
174)Gilgamesh
175)Glimmer
Glitch
Gloom & Doom
Glory
Grace
180)Grasshopper
Gray Dawn
Grid
Griffin
Grimey
Grind
Gris-Gris (Vodoun)
Grog
Gun-Fu
Guttersnipe
190)Halfer in the Hood (Dwarf)
Hamfist J.
Hammer
Harbinger
Hardwire
Hat Trick
Hawk
Head Hunter
Hell-In-A-Barrel
Hero
200)Hollywood
Hood
Howler
Hunter
Hush Puppy
Icarus
Ice
Ice Angel
Ice Wire
Icebrand
210)Infiniti
Iris
Isabella
Jack
Jack of all Trades
Jäger (German for Hunter)
Jane-in-the-box
Jarman
Jasmine
Jehovah
220)Jezebel
Jezz
Jigsaw
Jimmy
Jimmy Jazz
Jin
Jitters
Joan
Johnny the Bull
Joy
230)Judas
Jude (Patron Saint of Lost Causes)
Juicer
Kane
Karma
Kawaii
Ken
Kensai (roughly "Sword Saint")
Kermit
King
240)King-Maker
Kingslayer
Kitsune
Koh
Laughing Crow
Leadfoot
Leggo
Leto
Leverage
Lightning
250)Lila
Lion
Little D
Little Mikey
Loki
Lone Sky
Long Feather (prob. best as amerind)
Lotus
Lucero
Lucifer
260)Lupin
Macabre
Macedon
Mad Dog <Insert name starting with “M� here>
Mad Mardigan
Mad Max
Mageslayer
Magnum
Magnum Force
Malachai
270)Mantis
Masamune
Maximilian
Meek Reaper
Messiah
Midnight
Mind's Eye
Minos
Mirage
Mirrorman
280)Mista Pain
Mojo Man
Mojojojo
Mole
Monk
Moonshine
Morpheus (before "The Matrix")
Morrigan
Mort
Mr Black
290)Mr. Darke
Mr. Fixit ("if it ain't broke, I fixit!")
Mr. Smith
Nameless
Neko
Nemesis
Nemo (No-name)
Neon
Neon-Antichrist
New Sight
300)Nick Nitro
Night Rider
Nightcrawler
Nightingale
Nightshade
Nightwatch
Nitro
No-Name
Nucleus
Obsidian
310)Old Growler
Omen
One-Eyed Jack
Osprey
Overlord
Padre
Papa Bear
Percival
Phantasmagoria
Phoenix
320)Phreaker
Pinball
Pipeline
Piston
Point Man
Preacher
Priest
Prime
Prometheus
Prophet
330)Proteus
Pyro
Quean (note spelling means shrew or hussy)
Queen Bee
Quicksilver
Radar
Ragnarock
Rain
Raine
Rajah
340)Rally-Cat
Ralphie
Ram
Ramjet
Raptor
Rat
Ratchet
Raven
Razor
Razorback
350)Razorwire
Reaper
Red
Red Baron
Red Dragon
Requiem
Re-Volt
Richter
Ricochet
Rictor
360)Rift Runner
Riv
Roadblock
Rock
Rogue
Rolf
Romeo
Ronin
Rook
Rubicon
370)Ruby
Rune
Sabbacatus
Saber
Sable
Sage
Saint
Saint Jude
Sam Sez
Sapphire
380)Saturn
Scar
Second Sight
Sellsword
Sensor Ghost
Seraphim (or serah)
Sergei
Seven
Sewer Jack
Shade
390)Shadow
Shear
Sher-Khan
Shoots-The-Moon
Shotgun James
Shyft
Sideburn
Sidesweep
Silence
Silver
400)Silverline
Sin
Sioux Standoff
Sister Mary
Six
Six Pack
Skid
Slammer
Slash
Slays-the-Rain
410)Sledge
Sleepy
Smiley
Smudge
Snake
Snakepit
Snoopy
Snowflake
Socrates
Sol
420)Soul Drinker
Soulfire
Sparrow
Spidey
Spike
Spiral
Squiggy
Stalker
Stargazer
Steel
430)Sticks
Sting(er)
Stitch
Stone
Straight Up
Sun-Hunter
Swan
Switch
Tabris (Angel of Free Will)
Talisman
440)Talon
Tank
Tare
Tarot
Tattoo
T-Bone
Team One
Tenshi (Jap - roughly Angel)
Tequila
Tetsuko (Japanese, roughly "Lady of Steel")
450)The Bodyguard
The Chef
The Chemist
The Concrete Warrior
The Doppleganger
The Drifter
The Goose
The Graveringer Poet
The Grifter
The Hour(s) (best for spooky characters)
460)The Hulk
The Jester
The Knife
The Swede
Thorn
Thorne
Three of Swords
Thumper
Thunder
Thunder Cloud
470)Thunderwyld
Thunk
Tito
Toecutter
Toe-fu
Torque
Toy Girl
Trace
Tradewind Rider
Travesty
480)Trip/Tripper
Troggeater
Twin Runners [Mercenaries]
Twitch
Tyr
Ugh
Uplink
Urban Twilight
Urgewyrm
Uriel
490)Velvet
Veneficus (Latin for wizard or poison)
Venerable One
Viper
Vizier
Walker
Warchild
Wave Man (has the same meanings as Ronin)
Weatherman
Wedge
500)Wheels
Whiplash
Whisper
Will O' Wisp
Willis
Willow
Windy
Wingnut
Woo (or Wu - for Gun-fu adepts)
Wotan
510)Wraith
Wren
Wyrm
Zato (good for blind swordsmen!)
Zero
Zero-G
Zero Hour
Ziggurat
518)Z-Zoner


I have been in groups where the handles were signs of the zodiac and another with classical composers, prompting someone to shout, "I'll be Bach!"

Aquarius
520)Aries
Cancer
Capricorn
Gemini
Leo
Libra
Pisces
Sagittarius
Scorpio
Taurus
530)Virgo
Dog
Dragon
Horse
Monkey
Ox
Pig
Rabbit
Rat
Rooster
540)Sheep
Snake
Tiger
Bach
Beethoven
Brahms
Chopin
Handel
Haydn
Mendelssohn
550)Monteverdi
551)Mozart
552)Paganini
553)Rossini
554)Scarlatti
555)Schubert
556)Verdi
557)Vivaldi
558)Wagner
559)Weber
560)Tchaikovsky

Well over half way to 1001.
TheMadDutchman
The Robot
TheMadDutchman (Dutch)
Blaise
Smooth Operator
Big Daddy
Laramie
Tight Curves
Catfish Verna
Tatsuo (Dragon Man)
Traveller
ValueRunner
ManicMachine
FalconFire
Firewall
Shaolin Robot
Funky Brown
Milkshake Jones
Jack Frost
Queen Mob
Shaelock
Whiskey Sam
Tex
El Cochino


Plus Cigar brands work great
Victgor Sinclair
Arturo Fuente
Macanudo Portofino
Sancho Panchez
Padron
hyzmarca
Iron Klaw
Dr. Claw
Sax Rohmer
Solitaire
Nugget
Scooter
Tombstone
Cy-Kill
Stoneheart
Crackpot
Crasher
Hornet
Klaws
Smallfoot
Small Foot
Small-Foot
Gamekeeper Kytani
The Ultimate
Roadblock
Shipwreck
Tomax and Xamot
Norin Radd
Evil Lyn
Beastman
Skeletor
Eyeclops
Manbeast
Man-Beast
Storm Shadow
Serpentor
Major Bludd
Snake Eyes
Snake-Eyes
Stalker
Flint
Lady Jaye
BAT
Bat
Flagg
Kamakura
The Black Major
Baron Ironblood
Baron Von Joy
Bugbite
Bug Bite
Bug-Bite
Tank
Turbo
Lock
Fitor
Leader-1
Cop-Tur
Lock
Crasher
Crusher
Dr. Mindbender
Jinx
Grandslam
Grand Slam
Grand-Slam
Golobulous
Zartan
Optimus Prime
Jose Quervo
Magnus
Ultra Magnus
Gimlock
Bumblebee
Megatron
Galvatron
Hot Rod
Arcee
Bi-Beast
Devil Dinosaur
Rusty
Skids
Panthro
Cheetara
Lion-O
Bengali
Quicksilver (Jonathan Quick)
Stargazer
Bluegrass
Steelheart & Steelwill
Moonstryker
Hotwing
Flashback
Condor
Moonboy
Darkseid
Michael Ironside
Hulk Hogan
Sting
Flash
Freddie Mercury (no relation to Ryan)
Hawkeye
Kingpin
The Mandarin
Connor Macleod
Wallhacker
Sentinel
The Sentinel
Tri-Sentinel
Dr. Giggles
Dr. Doom
Dr. Mercury
Dr. Baddass
Dr. McNinja
Dr. House
Dr. No
Dr. Evil
Dr. Carter
Dr. Greene
Goose
Maverick
Iceman
Ice-Man
Ice Man
Your Friendly Neighborhood Iceman
Milk Man
Milk-Man
Milkman
Milk Money
Funny Money
Funny Man
Mr. Man
Mr. McMahon
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Regular Steve Austin
Cyborg Steve Austin
Guitarist Steve Austin
Lee Majors
Lee Meriwether
Urtha Kitt
Irian
There's a name list here: http://www.eisparadies.org/fileadmin/shado...namensliste.pdf

(The text is in german, but the names are sorted by region)
Kyoto Kid
QUOTE (tisoz)
Bach
Beethoven
Brahms
Chopin
Handel
Haydn
Mendelssohn
550)Monteverdi
551)Mozart
552)Paganini
553)Rossini
554)Scarlatti
555)Schubert
556)Verdi
557)Vivaldi
558)Wagner
559)Weber
560)Tschaikovsky

...hey those guys are supposed to be in my RiS campaign...grinbig.gif

To add a bit to this list

François Couperin
César Franck
Franz Liszt
Gustav Mahler
Robert & Clara Schumann (yeah, Bob's better half was also renowned as a composer)
Johann Strauss (the Elder and Junior.)

...I won't even delve into the impressionists & moderns. biggrin.gif

...a few others I've used.

The Icewoman
Bob the Decker
Happy Nat
Herr Doktor Bob Müller
Big Jake
Jade Rose
The Amazing Bob (Hermetic Mage)
Smoker
Badger (badger, badger, badger...)
Sterling Steele
Chicago Joe
Samurai Bob
Dieter

Zolhex
Here are some names to use and yes I have used some of them in my games what can I say some of these are really cool.

Backgammon
BitBasher
bit_buckethead
Brother Justice
Cain
Casazil
Cochise
DarusGrey
Derek
Drain Brain
Ecclesiastes
Eyeless Blond
FlakJacket
FrostyNSO
GlassJaw
hahnsoo
jklst14
Kagetenshi
Kai
Kanada Ten
L.D
Lazygenius
Lindt
LoveMutt
Mintcar
MooCow
Necro Tech
NexusVoid
Nikoli
Nomad
OurTeam
Prospero
Raiko
Rakshasa
Ranma_Sao
Raygun
Req
Shadow
SirBedevere
Solstice
Sommers
Spetulhu
Swing Kid
Tanka
The Lost Coin
tisoz
Tony
torzzzzz
Zephania
Rob Boyle
Patrick Goodman
Synner
Caine Hazen
Dashifen
Eidolon
Adam
Bull

Now for some other nmaes I have used but then again I am a fan.

Teal'c
Samantha Carter
Daniel Jackson
Jack O'Neill
George Hammond
Walter Harriman
Janet Fraiser
Siler
Cameron Mitchell
Hank Landry
Vala Mal Doran
Jonas Quinn
Bra'tac
Selmak
Apophis
Bill Lee
Paul Davis
Ba'al
Robert Kinsey
Harry Maybourne
Anubis
Carolyn Lam
Chaka
Lantash
Rodney McKay
Richard Woolsey
Rya'c
Charles Kawalsky
Skaara
Sha're
Merlin
Gerak
Heru'ur
Oma Desala
Pete Shanahan
Hathor
Kasuf
Kerrigan
Narim
Nirrti
Cronus
Robert Rothman
Martin Lloyd
Tanith
Anise
Tomin
Freyr
Catherine Langford
Gairwyn
Cassandra
Charlie O'Neill
Jolinar of Malkshur
Shan'auc
Jennifer Hailey
Jay Felger
Ishta
Elizabeth Weir
Orlin
Anubis

Anyway I could keep going but then my post would be like a mile long.
Wounded Ronin
A recurring classic in my games is "Dirk Thunderbarrel". It's really the only NPC name you need.
swirler
its funny, I also use Bob as my generic every name
I had a rigger in my old 2ed campaign named
Maximum Bob
turns out its a book i must have seen the name for at some time.
also, borrowed froma friends D&D game you can have fun with the name
"Ballzout"
Oliver is great with that one of course
Had a decker npc named Kelvin
Kyoto Kid
QUOTE (Wounded Ronin)
A recurring classic in my games is "Dirk Thunderbarrel". It's really the only NPC name you need.

...my fave to use is Chief Headless Chicken.
eidolon
Pick a demon. Awesome names for NPCs (and PCs).

tisoz
The Bald Avenger. It sounds better spoken than read, especially if described as having a full head of hair. wink.gif
stevebugge
An infamous one from the early days of our game:
Jose Franklin

And everyone's favorite Triad Fixer:
Sammy Chang
Kronk2
Bones (An Man about town from Austriallia)

Skywyze
Arnold (the armorer)
Reggie (the Jamaican demo man. "Just Blow it all up man")
Guido "I know a guy" Marconi
Sen. A.J Robinson ® (Tex)
Kit Carson Douglas
Morgan Kamehameha-O'Day
White Lilly
Freddy "the Merlin" Mercury
Ben "HF" Johnson
Aristotle
I've never had much issue coming up with tough sounding aliases. Real names can throw me for a loop though, if I'm forced to provide an unexpected one on the spot.

I picked up an inexpensive, black and white, booklet at my local game store that provides lists of first and last names for various regions around the globe. They are numbered for random rolling, and note boxes offer tips on naming conventions for regions that use names differently or mixing regions to create more exotic "future" names. Probably one of my better buys. It has saved me from giving an NPC a name I would come to regret after the story takes a turn and that character becomes a more important aspect of the campaign. I've definately seen a few websites that offer the same sort of resource for free as well.
Dashifen
I just use names of friends. Steve, Jill, Jackson, Bob, Eric, etc. If they need a handle, then I usually fall back on weapons, mythology, or gangster movies. I'm also a big fan of ripping off of song titles or themes. For example, my current game has a smuggling crew of the following, all Billy Joel references: Captain Jack, Pianoman, Alexa, Stiletto, and Anthony.
Apathy
QUOTE (Dashifen)
I'm also a big fan of ripping off of song titles or themes.

"Unlike their friend Mac, mafia wanna-be's Tom 'the Fork', and Bob 'the Spoon' never made it out of the Sprawl into the big leagues..."
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