Last Names Hey everybody! I always have problems coming up with last names for my sims and almost always end up with two families in the same neighborhood with the same last name, so I thought we could all post some last names here since I am sure other people have this same problem ^.^
I love coming up with names!! I use a lot of typical names, like: Richardson, Patterson, Wilson, Wilcox, Troy, Taylor. Then I have some that are descriptive. "Hicks" for the family of po' white trailer-trash, " "Fae" for a witch I created after I got MM, "Deere" and "Brown" for two farming families (The Patriarchs are of course, John Deere and Ted Brown). I also went through a period where I was trying to copy historical buildings in my area and then the families that go with them. I was working as a tour-guide during the winter at the time, and I did a lot of reading because no one wants to tour old houses in the cold! LOL So, I have the Burgess family, the Smith Family, and the Davie family. (William R. Davie was the founder of the University of NC. and you should see his house!! I want to move in. LOL)
Wow I didn't have a lot of the names you suggested lol. I am not very creative at the names....usually just the Shaffer family and the Gray family are what I do most ^.^
I get my last names from anywhere(mostly sports stars last names). I like using Low because its short and sweet, Martin, Rose, Philips, and when I get stuck I just go through my old hs yearbook!
Lol I never thought about using a yearbook!! Maybe when I get mine from last year this fall I can go through it. I just hope it gets here soon and I remember ^.^
A phone book works really well too. I.E. just opened to h and found bill and lisa hummel, simon and shan chun hung and lewis & melody hunsberger.
Or for that case, a random name generator in general? hehe. I usually make sort of room mate families, but with the Sims 2, ill actually have to get last names. Perhaps something like destructovich, or jerganson. Out of the darkest depths of my mind I pull these names....
Here are a couple of random name generators: http://www.kleimo.com/random/name.cfm http://www.geocities.com/simthingd2/ I also use telephone books and geneology/name history books.
I use the contents pages of medical journals, but then, I spent the last few years working with them. Magazines would also work. A lot of magazines have their contents pages online.
I too am uncreative with names. But I wanted a variation of Smith without actually using the name. So I have a few families with the last name smyth or smythe either spelling.
I love all the creative ways you guys are coming up with names! I hadn't thought of going the historic route, or flipping through the phone book! I mostly tend to make up names on the spot, or base names on literary characters. I might try the random name generator, thanks for the links!
I pick a category for each neighborhood. The more absurd the better the names. I've used trees and flowers. You can quickly name 10 off the top of your head with those...Oak, Poplar, Mimosa, Pine, Hemlock, Willow, etc...or Iris, Fern, Rose, Daffodil, Carnation...but can get exotic as well. There are a ton of those and easy to look up. My favorites are candy bars and dog breeds. I particularly liked my M&M, Zero, Butterfinger, Snicker, Pez, and Twix families. The Zero's were my "po white trash" and KitKat was my old lady with a ton of cats. I thought the Poodle, Schnauzer, Collie, Beagle, Rottweiler, etc worked beautifully. Spices are a great category for good names, too. I personally like my sims to have a little off the wall names..I never pick names I would use in real life! It adds to the fun element and adds something to their personalities for some unknown reason. Picking a category narrows the world of choice down so you have parameters. It gets overwhelming otherwise. Pick something you are knowledgeable in..like brands of beer to car models or types of fabric! lol I can invision a Heineken, Jeep, or Chintz family easily. I then pick first names that alliterate with their new last name. Using Jeep as a family name I might have Jungle, Jingo, and Jello. (I'm gonna have to use that example..I like it! lol)
I pull names out of nearby sources like books, online sites, and out of my ***, both literally and figuratively. Sometimes I just fart, and name the family or person after the noise that results. It works well with alien children.
At the moment most of the Sims I create are people I know anyway, so I dont really have a problem... But in general I work in a Helpdesk, so I see hundreds of names every day... but remember a surname generally tells you something about a family's origins, so think a bit before naming! The thing that gets me is when you're making a flat / hostel / dorm you have to have one generic name for all the occupants... well either that or create masses of families and move them all in, which is a waste of time if u ask me... I'd like to have the option to give different occupants different surnames..
This is when you end up with familes that with Maxis, are often given a last name like "Roomies", or "Singles". In your case, these are often gen-0 Sims, and as such, have no recorded family backgrounds. With no family background, when you marry these people off, there will be no record of what their original last name was anyway. That, or they die alone and forgotten, and nobody remembers them OR their name.
... That is what I did.. I have 'College', 'Tech' and 'Idol' families with various characters from my hometown enclosed... My issue is that the town I'm creating is designed to be my local soccer team, and will tie in with the same team that I have made in Fifa 99... This is essentially a stuck in time idea where we live out our glory years! So... I have thought of creating each different family and having family trees left right and centre, but ... you lose some of the sense of the 'team' as it's harder to get people to one lot... Plus when you have 8 of the team in one place then throw a party inviting the rest there's organised chaos and a large party without too much hassle. Bah ... don't mind me, I've not yet got to the point where I knuckle down and take a family through multiple generations, so this problem is still quite big for me, but i can handle
I dunno, immortality is only 2000 ASP/day. You don't have to pass on, if you do even marginally well, considering that getting laid in a timely manner will net you 9K ASP, or about 4 days. Just for getting laid. Given that it generally doesn't take 4 days to accomplish this, well, you figure it out. The old goat could very likely still be alive and kicking when his Great-Great-Great-Great Grandchildren are born. "When 900 years old YOU reach, look as good YOU will not, hmm?"