Kingdoms and Countries

[MedievalMan]

So I had a question for the other GM's here. How do you come up with names for poltical bodies, especially kingdoms and countries? Do you try and follow a pattern or do you just make them up on the fly. I need to come up with 2 or 3 for this game I am working on.

[Maliki]

I steal them , from books, movies, TV, video games, online forums/blogs, etc. I do try to use names that fit together.

[SmootRK]

I don't think I ever struggled when making new kingdoms, towns, etc. Seems like as I am doing any such development, something always has popped into mind... sometimes the names are copies or close to something else i have heard or thought sounded nice... but it is always there when I write.

[MedievalMan]

I have names pop into my head, but inevitably I had read them somewhere else then forgot where they were from. Oh well stealing has worked in the past.

[Joe the Rat]

Steal and spindle. Use what you know of language and history to put together names that reflect the feel you want the culture to have - and how they will be perceived by the players.

Common and familiar names (using the players' native language, ideally) will feel more familiar and home-like. Using odd combinations and other languages - or approximating the sound of them - will impart a more foreign feel - and the less familiar it sounds to the players, the more foreign - and unknown - it will be for the characters.

It doesn't mean that different languages are used in the differing nations, it just reflects different heritages.