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Charon
Being named "Slamm-O" or "Wedge " might have some style, but it's not something you can call out in a respectable public area without raising an eyebrow. It's worse for people with handle like "Blood snake" or "Man-o-war."

Obviously these guys would simply use a normal first name (real or not) for these situations. John, Mark...

But it's kind of cool to be able to use a name that is both a meaningful codename and is usable in public at the same time.

Charon, my current alias, was designed with this objective in mind. Charon is a fairly common last name (at least in french speaking area). It is also the ferryman on the river styx that carries the dead into Hades in exchange for payment. I thought it was a fairly clever code name for an Assassin NPC.

Anyone can think up similar codenames? I'm looking for some inspiration for NPCs in my upcoming campaign.
Arethusa
Sue.

"What's that guy's name, again? Sue?"
"Sue. Yeah, his dad was a big Johnny Cash fan, from what I understand."
"Oh, right, right, right, with the song."
"Yeah, boy named Sue, right. So I figured that's why he's such a mean cat."
"That guy?"
"Oh, he's a bad guy. He don't look it. He's, no, he's mean, man. I see him in a fight once, he just got a guy, was just fucking smacking his fucking head into the curb, like his mouth, just fucking smash, his teeth came out, just fucking like whack whack whack, just fucking blood came out of his fucking mouth. It was nasty, man. Nice guy, though. That guy's cool."
FrostyNSO
Archer?
Kagetenshi
Heh, I use Archer as a pseudonym IRL.

A lot of my characters go by their first names. They're just the kind of people that don't have last names, as far as anyone that knows them is concerned.

~J
Fortune
Bubba?!?
Critias
Most street names are either horribly contrived, or just nicknames (that have nothing to do with how badass a cold, hard, killer, your character is). Anyone that's considering a horribly contrived one, just use your first name, instead. Please.
Fortune
90% of my characters either go by their first name or a nickname derived from their real name.
FrostyNSO
In our group, most characters go by their first names (as far as anyone knows). Anyone who tries to use a "cool" nickname usually just sounds like an idiot. They are then usually referred to as "Hey, you."
Grinder
Most of my chars are using a normal name like jason, gonzo biggrin.gif or jack. Besides jason everyone also has a street name, using it when dealing with shadowy folk.
nezumi
Generally, I figure out the image I want to project, pick letters that go well with that image, and keep forcing them together until I get something interesting. I personally like a lot of K sounds, especially for females, so I've gotten, Kit, Kay and, of course, Cat. R's and T's are good for male bruisers, especially with a u for the vowel.. Truck, Rut, Turd.

So yeah, pick letters and sounds that you think communicate the character, and hit them together until they fit. If you have to drop or add a few letters to make it work, that's fine.

Hmm... I'm thinking of awarding my PCs bonus karma if they come up with GOOD nick names for each other. That might help.
DexRiley
You could do worse than to take a quick look at the names of the forum members, some have some pretty good street names. Though I would ask before using.
Pthgar
One of my players named his decker "The Real Napster." After he botched a simple logon test, he became "Numb-Nuts."
Smiley
All the best nicknames I've heard haven't been self-applied. If you try to give yourself a bad-ass name, you just sound like a 'tard. This isn't to say that nicknames other people stick on you area all cool, but at least they're genuine.
kevyn668
QUOTE (Arethusa)
Sue.

"What's that guy's name, again? Sue?"
"Sue. Yeah, his dad was a big Johnny Cash fan, from what I understand."
"Oh, right, right, right, with the song."
"Yeah, boy named Sue, right. So I figured that's why he's such a mean cat."
"That guy?"
"Oh, he's a bad guy. He don't look it. He's, no, he's mean, man. I see him in a fight once, he just got a guy, was just fucking smacking his fucking head into the curb, like his mouth, just fucking smash, his teeth came out, just fucking like whack whack whack, just fucking blood came out of his fucking mouth. It was nasty, man. Nice guy, though. That guy's cool."

Heh. I actually made that character once.
Mugzy
Lets See.

In my group, currently we have:

Jim Barrick (Rigger)
Nick Brandt (Street Face)
Bill Swanson (Corp Face)
Babalooie (Haitian Houngan.. we think his name is a conglomeration of his first and last name, like Bubba Lewis or something. Who knows, we picked him up in an extraction from San Quentin)
Jason Anders (Street Sam)


Everyone goes by either theri first or last name. Most of them are SINless anyway, so names dont really matter if they are shouted.

We have in the past had those with "Street Names" but they usually get laughed at. I mean after all, its hard to take a guy named "DEATHWING" or some such noise seriously.
Charon
Archer isn't bad but every player will think about Spycraft whenever they hear it.

Sue might be good but I really don't get the reference, sorry!

---

To every one just using/suggesting a common name ; that's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for names that can pass for a real name and yet be as meaningful of what the character is than a more colorful street name. Like Charon = Assassin.

Using last names from historical characters that aren't too well known can be an alternative even if it's hardly original.

For example, Vincent Lagardčre might be a good name for a french physads who uses swords a lot. Lagardčre is a swashbuckler hero from some old tale known for being particularly loyal and vindicative while Vincent comes from the latin words for Winner or Victor. So the name says something about the PC and how he perceives himself without being gaudy and obvious.
lord_cack
Onstaad (on-stahd), It doesn't mean anything just thought it sounded bad ass.
Arethusa
QUOTE (Charon)
Sue might be good but I really don't get the reference, sorry!

Rent/download/acquire/watch Swingers.
DrJest
QUOTE
Sue might be good but I really don't get the reference, sorry!


It's a classic song by Johnny Cash. Most common version I hear is from the prison gig he did.
ES_Riddle
QUOTE (Charon)
To every one just using/suggesting a common name ; that's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for names that can pass for a real name and yet be as meaningful of what the character is than a more colorful street name. Like Charon = Assassin.

Riddle is my personal favorite in that category. It is not a common name by any means, but it could easily be someone's last name. And of course, as a pistol adept...

Rid•dle (vt) to damage something by making a large number of small holes in it

Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Lantzer
Well, _my_ favorite street name was "Shadowblade Nightstalker..." Just kidding.

Actually, I liked having a character who was called "Goose" for a simple reason. His name was Julio Guzman.

But yeah, in general, most attempts to make a 'cool'-sounding street name just backfire and make the player/character look like a twit.
nezumi
In response to Charon's post, when I want a name that has a meaning, I go to babycenter.com, look up their baby names and use my handy search feature to find different meanings I like. You're unlikely to find 'assassin', but 'dark flower' or 'wraith of God' and the like do occur.
Arethusa
QUOTE (Lantzer)
But yeah, in general, most attempts to make a 'cool'-sounding street name just backfire and make the player/character look like a twit.

Yes they do.

I played with a guy once who took himself very seriously and took his roleplaying very seriously as well.

The team was split in two in terms of background, and I and another player were the only people who knew eachother (old timers on a team that now needed replacements). With dead seriousness, he introduced himself as Nightblade.

Hilarity ensued. He didn't really take it well.
Sharaloth
My groups have always used contrived streetnames as if they were, well, normal. I lack what could be defined as 'creativity' when naming my characters, so I generally have the most cliche streetname I can think of for my characters, and a slightly less bland real name. The rest of them ran the gamut from the japanese-sounding/ripoff (Dagashi) to the just plain weird (Arm). It never bothered us, though, we just kinda took the implausible and rediculous streetnames in stride.
FrostyNSO
Thor wouldn't sound too horrible. I know a dude named Thor IRL.

Dumb-sounding, cliche, nicknames are easier to believe if you picture SR in the 80's-esque fashion that it was when I was introduced to it.
psykotisk_overlegen
Actully Tor is a common Norwegian name, and not too uncommon in Denmark or Sweden either (I think).

A PC (elf mage) in my group introduced himself to my character in the following way: "I'm known as Fairy, but please call me something else." neadless to say, that nickname stuck.
Cynic project
Justen Case
Jack Chance
Sue Be She
Hiro.....
Pthgar
With tribute to Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell you could go with Ashley/Ash.
With tribute to Orson Scott Card there is Andrew/Ender (the name of my vamp-hunter.)
Historical there is Brutus, Victor, Augustus (a nosferatu in our game), Belesarius (a supurb general), or Magnus.
Mythology is a great source, someone said Thor(vald). There is also Ossian and Lugh (Irish). Zeus, Apollo, Athena, or Hermes.

Don't forget that the Shadowrunners of 206x are our kids and grandkids. Our popular culture will be reflected. I know a Griffan my buddy named his son Justice. I expect Elvis will still be popular. Maybe even Han or Lando.
FrostyNSO
My newborn's name is Halen.

Yeah, I like 80's Shadowrun cool.gif
Arethusa
You are a horrible, horrible man.
Pthgar
I forgot to add my buddy Taveo named his daughter Atari, no joke. His wife thought it was better than whatever he was likley to come up with next.
Cougaar
I see "cheesy" street names as part of the game.. it's fun! In the groups I've played with you can be as extravagant or plain as you want to be. Some nicknames have come up during gameplay and they seem to stick if they appeal to most of us and some names were changed due to problems with authorities and/or other groups that want to hurt the char.

Lemme see what chars have been/are called in my SR experiance..
(alphabetically..)

Albert Blümsli
Black Cat - originally:"Carmen", now AKA "Manx" AKA "Lady Helen"
Fox
Gellain
Gnaarf
Gombo - once a char into voodoo decided to call him "Gumbo", 'twas a female troll and she thought he looked tasty wink.gif
Hitman
Igor - originally: "Ivan", now AKA "Mud" or "Target No. 1"
Moonknight - AKA "Jay" AKA "Moony" by friends
Noa - "noa" is Polynesian for "week" a little misunderstanding between one of her contacts and herself resulted in her adopting the street name AKA "Harmony" AKA "Keiki me na ele la hula en aka aka en me pukana la" (Polynesian for "child with the dancing black eyes and the laughter like sunshine".. I think)
Ransom - now AKA "Target No. 2"
Ronin - there was a point last gaming session where I was cheering him on singing "Ronin, ronin, ronin.. rawhide!" I think there is a potential for him being called "Tex" soon ^^
Sam
Shrink - originally: "Tomodachi" (Japanese for "friend")
Stick - originally: "John Doe"
Tank - AKA "Daddy" by his kids AKA "Scumbag" by his wife
Triple K - AKA King Kain Khan


Charon
Eh, of that list I like Sam the most.

A street Sam who has his team calling him Sam in public is displaying a certain quirky humor that I like.

Same for Justen Case suggested by Cynic (didn't think I'd like one of yours, did you? wink.gif )

On a fake ID, Justen Case is just wrong. But as a street name, you can have your friends call you Justen in public, knowing that it stands for Justen Case. For a preparation freak, this both says something about how the character thinks and shows he doesn't take himself too seriously at the same time. Nice.

---

Thanata : A cool assassin type character had that name in a cartoon. It sounds exotic and it is a feminization of Thanatos, greek god of Death.

For a man, Shortening it to Than would work too.

---

Took the advice to look at a baby's name generator.

Bacia : Family deaths ruined the home (ugandan). Isn't it just great for a female PC bent on revenge?

Reynard : A fox

Todd, Crevan and Russel also come from the word Fox in various language.

Rhian means magic power. Probably so does Rhianna.

It's fun and good inspiration.
Edward
We once had a player with the street name twitch, in reference to his trigger finger.

It worked well mostly because it was the rest of the party that gave it to him and he hated it. We started referring to him as twitch when talking to other shadow types and it wasn’t long before twitch was worth more money than the self applied street name.

We use the contrived names however but then we tend to have more names than is typical. Each character will usually have at least 3 names. The name there mother called them, the street name (contrived), the common cover name. the advantage of the street name is it says something about what you do in a world where letting go of your secrets is risky. For example my current character Seeker specialises in finding things, I work with a character named Smoke he specialises in stealth. The fact that I use magic and he uses cyber is not stated but it lets a potential employer know the broadest strokes of the people he is hiring.

Edward
Crimson Jack
One of my players has a mage with a geas of wearing all white, all the time, named appropriately Mr. White. Another character has a Speaker's Way Adept named Chance (the character has a casino contact and spends quite a bit of time gambling and conducting business there). Last one I can think of is my first character, Reese. He was a cat burglar.
lorthazar
Now you can of course get the best of both world by using a little creative nicknaming.

QuickDraw is also QD
ShadowJack can be Shady
The Terror is T-man
Steelmachine is Sheen
Nemisis is Frenchi
WhisperDeath is the D-man

Doen't take much
Pthgar
Don't forget old favourites like; Knuckles, Lefty, The Greek, Deucy, Pretty Boy, The Kid, Slim, and Baby Face.

Also there are the various place names. Reno, Indiana, Chicago, Nevada, and Yukon.

You can combine them: Chicago Slim or The Reno Kid.

One of my favourites is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer: William the Bloody, because his poetry was bloody awful. AKA Spike (another cool name if you can back it up.)
ES_Riddle
QUOTE (Charon)
Eh, of that list I like Sam the most.

A street Sam who has his team calling him Sam in public is displaying a certain quirky humor that I like.

We have a Sam in our group. He is a covert ops/James Bond type, so he is a Secret Agent Man rather than a Street Samurai
Cougaar
QUOTE (ES_Riddle)
QUOTE (Charon @ Apr 14 2005, 07:15 PM)
Eh, of that list I like Sam the most.

A street Sam who has his team calling him Sam in public is displaying a certain quirky humor that I like.

We have a Sam in our group. He is a covert ops/James Bond type, so he is a Secret Agent Man rather than a Street Samurai

the Sam I was talking af above isa dwarven Ki-Ad.. a stealthy one.. not a bit of chrome in him anywhere cool.gif
pragma
The Sam Riddle refers to had his name derived from Mr. Fisher of Splinter Cell fame, though I am not certain of it. However, given the stealth focus and the night vision goggles and the utility launcher he had the group tech cook up on a cruise to Brazil, I would say its a safe bet.
mfb
i view the nickname thing as stemming from, and being maintained by, a number of disparate factors.

the first would probably be the media. cool codenames make for great news and great trideo, therefore any runner who achieves any notoriety and lacks a cool name is given one by someone, somewhere. n00b johnsons take this and run with it; any runner who says his handle is Alex will probably get an odd look, at least, from any mid-level corporate managers who hire them.

another would be the connected nature of SR. it hadn't really been emphasized in SR until SSG came out, but everyone is online, in SR. if you prefer anonymity--and most runners do--then using your online handle in real life is a convenient way to maintain that. a lot of it is probably also ironic. "hi," the cybered Amerind across from you says, "i'm Nightwolf." (shared snicker)

but, yeah. most of my runners' handles are either versions of their own names (Race for an adept named Racine), or nicknames that are so painfully obvious that nobody could possibly not call them that (the ex-Ranger called Danger, the blind greek mage called Enyo).

the only major exception is my main character, a black ex-mafia hitman called Italy. i figure that even in 2050, the mafia's still full of moderately racist people (in the "some of my best friends are negros!" sense). if you've got a guy who's one of O'Malley's better hitmen, who's married to a mafia princess, who speaks fluent italian, it's going to draw some "friendly" jibes. so, they called him "Italy" for the same reason people sometimes call well-spoken black people "Whitey" (or "Snowball" or whatever).
ElFenrir
We just sorta sometimes made something up, but tried to somewhat tie it to the character. One fellow played a mage who liked fire, nicknamed Raze. The other guy was a human with the nickname of Elf, cos it was derived from his last name (Elvendor). One of my character's nicks is Skald, cos he's half Norwgian, born and raised in Norway and likes the history, likes music, and writes music software under one of his false Ids. So Skald just seemed to fit. But in a group that knows each other, we just tend to use first names of the characters, Stian being my guy's name, and in actual meetings, he'll use that. Or one of his false ID's, depending.
Kagetenshi
Thief
Black Mage
White Mage
Red Mage
Fighter
Black Belt

~J
Charon
QUOTE (Pthgar @ Apr 15 2005, 12:40 AM)
Also there are the various place names.  Reno, Indiana, Chicago, Nevada, and Yukon.

Reno is an actual family name so it could be used.

All the other would raise an eyebrow, but using places to name a character is a good idea.

There's a young actress named Dakota for example. And obviously there is Paris. And isn't Cleveland a family name? Wasn't a president named like that?

Anyone can think of other places that can be used as normal name? Remember I'm looking for names that can be used in polite company without looking weird yet still mean something to the character using it. I'm reiterating because I suspect at this point some people jump in without reading the first post and suggest names that really don't fit the bill.

---

That Mr. White thing could work too, though I would chop the "Mr." most of the time.
Pthgar
Places: York, DeGaul, Wasnington, Cheyenne, Bismark, Roscommon, Kerry, Kilkenny, Cardiff, Angus

Occupations/Descripters: Smith, Hooper, Starman, Black, Chandler

Historical: Cinncinatus was a Roman general. Fitzroy was the bastard son of a king (Fitz=illegitimate, roy=king[rex]).
Juggernaut125
In my recent campaign a couple of the guys playing have decided to play young asian magically active girls. With street names like 'Jet' and 'Glimmer'. So I decided to make my own young hot asian female physical adept character and named her Anna May.
LinaInverse
In our current group, we've had many...

Angel
Gentleman Jim
Boom
Dirk
Noid
Dasher
Thrax
Johnny Chang (actually his real name!)
Mountain
Mist
Leroy
Seeker
Chazz
Lazarus
Nikoli
I've got a phys-ad with a 9 or 10 body (as a human) named Jude. He's Catholic and wants to make the world a decent place to live again. (Jude being the patron saint of lost causes)
Smiley
Of hospitals and hospital workers, too. Appropriate for a shadowrunner, I'd say.
Nikoli
Well, that's the lost cause aspect. The character's mom passed away standing in line at a corp financed clinic/dispensary for some random disease that is easily treatable for the have's, just not the have-nots
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