Basic Fantasy RPG Forums

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.

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

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.

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.

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.