I'm starting to create a character in Dungeons & Dragons. Is there a set of rules or standards, or any references or fashion, on creating a character's name?
For example, on D&D Beyond, it asks you to choose a username for your account, and the placeholder text is: "BruenorBattleHammer". How can I create something like this?
Best Answer
Let's cover a basic premise first: You can name your character whatever you want. Or perhaps more usefully, you can name your character anything your table/playgroup is ok with. I'll get back to that.
If you want consistency with existing lore, or just not have to come up with a name of your own, each race option has a list of example names (e.g. Elf Names) listed within the description of the race. Using one of those is totally ok. Appendix B to Xanathar's Guide to Everything also has tables of example names at the end of the book, including examples for every non-human PHB race and examples from a variety of real-world cultures.
To explain D&D Beyond's placeholder name: that's the name of one of the example characters from the Player's Handbook. You'll find both parts of that name in the Dwarf name section. (In fact, Bruenor Battlehammer is the name one of the main characters from R. A. Salvatore's The Legend of Drizzt series.)
Choosing a name, and setting tone and expectation for things like names, are a good thing to include in a Session 0. See the question What is a session 0? (and its linked questions and articles) for a starting point.
And as final advice for naming your character, I'll suggest trying for something memorable and pronounceable. And those are related; when I've made characters (be they PCs or NPCs) with an unpronounceable name, it's hard for anyone to remember and they end up being nicknamed with something that is pronounceable. And that isn't always what you're going for. Picking a name from the PHB is a simple and sure way to get something pronounceable, and it's gonna take a hot minute before you get repeats.
I'll also drop the suggestion to make the name evocative. For example, I have an artificer named Tink who's a tinkerer. I'll leave figuring out why my always-willing-to-be-helpful Warforged is called Alexa as an exercise to the reader.