Wanted: Names, names and more names!

[Chin Rey]

I've bitten over more than I can chew again and got myself involved in a rather over-ambitious project, buiding a grid with sims representing (eventually) all nations in RL - multiple sims for each nation even (except for some microstates).

Now I've run into an unexpected snag: What do I call all these sims ... and parcels and prominent landmarks and streets and roads and fictional stores and institutions.

Right now I'm working my way down the western European coast and I've pretty much finished the landscaping for the sims representing Norway, Denmark, the western parts of Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Next are Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. So names for those countries are the most urgent but any good suggestions are highly appreciated.

• Puns, easter eggs and such are great but only as long as they form reasonably credible and realistic names.
  • Names from song lyrics, novels etc. are great easter eggs as long as they don't cause IP issues. There's definitely going to be a Route 66 in the US section, hopefully a Ventura Boulevard and a Highway 61 too. Not sure about Tuxedo Junction - it may be a bit too tacky.
• Actual RL names are ok...ish. I'd rather not use too specific or well known ones unless they're for sims that actually represent their RL namesakes.
• I'd love to honour the people who made SL and opensim possible so there will be a Rosedale, a Downe, a Meadows and a Frisbye in the English or the US sim cluster, an Altberg in Sweden or Germany and I'm trying to make up my mind whether Ondrejka is an appropriate name for a Polish sim and Bar-Zev for a middle esatern ones. Who else did I miss?
• I love to use historical names. There's already a Kaupang in the Norwegian section and a Hedeby in the Danish. Oh, and not only one but two Doggerland sims (North and South). That's not a historical name of course but you get the idea.
• Names with letters other than the 26 in the simplified English alphabet are a bit problematic but hard to avoid. They work just fine in most ways but the map search only does exact string comparasion so it's hard for example for a non-Norwegian user to find a sim named Værøy.

 

[Soen Eber]

Soen (yes there's an umlaut somewhere) is the longest fjord and the name of a town and university at the very tip of it, and where a certain well known member's Norwegian grandmother came from in the late 19th century.

Not that I'm advocating or anything

Also, the Sami are the native people of Norway / Sweden / Finland before SOME PEOPLE decided Denmark was getting too crowded in the 5th century C.E. They ... Got the "native people's" special ..

My last name is German ..for swine. Not a lot of options for that language re SL last names

 

[Free]

Freedonia

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

You should name Ukrainian sims, at least two of them, Sunflower and Viburnum

 

[Chin Rey]

Soen (yes there's an umlaut somewhere) is the longest fjord and the name of a town and university at the very tip of it, and where a certain well known member's Norwegian grandmother came from in the late 19th century.

Umm, you mean Sogn? That's one of those names that are a bit too well known in RL and not generic enough. It's actually one of those places I tried to make a replica of but it would take too much space. I can't make a full scale model of any location of course but the longest fjord I've managed to make room for is only 4 km (four 4x4 sims) long and Sgnerfjorden is 205.

Also, the Sami are the native people of Norway / Sweden / Finland before SOME PEOPLE decided Denmark was getting too crowded in the 5th century C.E. They ... Got the "native people's" special ..

Oh yes! Unfortunately I had to put that part of the world on hold for now. I have some special plans for it that requires a river and I haven't figured out how to make those well enough yet. It's definitely part of the future plans though.

My last name is German ..for swine.

Not just any pig, Eber is the German name for the European wild boar; a statuesque animal indeed! It doesn't work on its own of course but how about Eberwald - the Boar Forest. ^_^

Freedonia

First impression: Nah!
Second impression: It would actually work very well translated into a Germanic language, Freiland for example.
Third impression: Come to think of it, it would be a great name for a hippie community, maybe somewhere in California.

You should name Ukrainian sims, at least two of them, Sunflower and Viburnum

Oh yes, great idea! Of course, ideally those names should be written in the cyrillic alphabet but I suppose sims named Соняшник and калина would be too hard to find. Sonyashnyk and Kalyne will have to do.

 

[bubblesort]

I always liked the name Berzerkistan, from Doonesbury. It was code for Iraq, and Afghanistan.

 

[WolfEyes]

Umm, you mean Sogn? That's one of those names that are a bit too well known in RL and not generic enough.

I gotta start getting out more. I've never heard of it.

 

[Soen Eber]

I gotta start getting out more. I've never heard of it.

It's a Scandinavian thing.

 

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

Midnight City....I'll show myself out.

 

[WolfEyes]

It's a Scandinavian thing.

It was a joke.

 

[Soen Eber]

It was a joke.

Scandinavian humor is also subtle.

 

[WolfEyes]

New Jack City!

Scandinavian humor is also subtle.

 

[Govi]

Ruritania for any of the central European principalities.

 

[Chin Rey]

Ruritania for any of the central European principalities.

But that's the name of Xi's lovely sim and she is my bestest friend!

 

[Plurabelle Laszlo]

How about food related names... Wurststadt, Nudel, Schweinebraten, Kuchen, Porridgehill, Haggistown, Puddingville, Bouillabaise, Bitterballen, Poffertje, Minestrone, Tiramisu, Smørrebrød, Frikadeller... endless options.

 

[Chin Rey]

How about food related names... Wurststadt, Nudel, Schweinebraten, Kuchen, Porridgehill, Haggistown, Puddingville, Bouillabaise, Bitterballen, Poffertje, Minestrone, Tiramisu, Smørrebrød, Frikadeller... endless options.

That's a good idea. I can't use such names directly of course since they're not credible RL place names but they could work well for street names and there are several places with names referring to various kinds of food, like Keswick ("Cheese-wik) and Buttermere in England and of course Martha's Vineyard in USA. My favourite "food named place" is Brødløs ("Bread less") in Norway, apparently named after an old military base where the soldiers were not to happy about the food (or rather lack of such) they were provided.

 

[WolfEyes]

MArtha's Wineyard

Psst... that's Martha's Vineyard, not Wineyard.

Martha's Vineyard Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center

Plan your trip to the Island of Martha's Vineyard! Everything you need to know: how to get to Martha's Vineyard, ferries, where to stay, tours, restaurants, lighthouses, things to do, biking, beaches, arts and entertainment & more!

www.mvy.com

 

[Soen Eber]

For Greece and Italy, how about some of the lesser known figures from ancient myth and history, such as Anacreon (a poet known for his fondness of food and wine, after whom a song was named in the 18th century which became the tune for the U.S. national anthem). It seems fitting that a song played at sports events was inspired by a drunken poet

Also Melanthius, Oddyseus's loyal goat herder whom he first trusted on his return to Ithica, Telemachus, his son, and Antinous, the leader of the suiters he slew.

 

[Chin Rey]

Psst... that's Martha's Vineyard, not Wineyard.

Woops! I know, that was a typo - or maybe my subconciousness was acting up.

 

[Plurabelle Laszlo]

I don't think you have to worry much about credibility - I just found out that "Kuchen" (cake) is a real existing town in Germany, located next to "Süßen" (Sweeten). There is also "Linsengericht" (lentil dish) or Apfeldorf (apple village). Or in Austria: Rinderschinken (beef ham) or Fleischessen (meat dish or 'to eat meat').