This post was created as part of NEXON PEAK activities.

Hello, everyone! I’m 이호, an adventurer living in Erinn!

I imagine quite a few of you get stuck choosing a nickname before you even start a game, right?

Honestly, I spent a lot of time thinking about mine when I started playing RPGs, too.

Knowing it would be the name other people called me by made it surprisingly hard to settle on one.

That’s why I recommend finding inspiration in things you love, then choosing a name you like the sound of when you say it out loud! That’s how I came up with my current nickname, "이호", too.

The story behind my nickname, ‘이호’, starts back when the meme about calling leopard cats “kudzu” was making the rounds.

I wanted a name that hinted at the cats I love, including those “kudzu” cats.

Something subtle, rather than anything quite as obvious as OO-meow!

So...

I took inspiration from the Korean words for cat and tiger, then combined them to get 이호.

For another of my alternate characters, I borrowed the name of my favorite character from a novel.

If you’re new to the game and still puzzling over a nickname, today I’ll share how I chose mine, along with a few approaches you can try when no names come to mind!

As you might have gathered from the story behind my nickname, I really love cats.

They were my starting point when I was choosing a name, and that’s how I ended up with ‘이호’.

You don’t have to give your nickname an impressive meaning or dream up an elaborate backstory before you choose it.

Starting with something you’re naturally drawn to, like a favorite animal, is easier than trying to find a pretty name with nothing much to go on. Besides, there’s something nice about being called by a name inspired by an animal you love!

(This is an alt I’m very fond of)

For my characters, including my main, I use names that share the pattern ‘surname+이호’.

I keep the shared part and just change the surname at the front.

That’s even led to people asking me:

“Is that your real name, by any chance?”

With a surname attached, I can see why they’d think so! 😆

If you’re trying to name several characters, you could do what I did and choose one part for them all to share.

That way, whenever you make an alt, you can put a little twist on a name you already like rather than come up with something completely new.

It also makes it easier for my friends to recognize me on their friends list.

I like this approach, though not many people I know keep their character names consistent the way I do.

I haven’t named every character 이호, though.

I also borrowed '테르하', the protagonist’s name from a web novel I love, 『여기 게임속 아닌가요』.

This gives you an easy starting point, since you already have a name you like!

Think about a favorite story and see which character comes to mind first, or whether there was someone whose name you liked the sound of as you read.

The idea here is simply to find a nickname in a story you love.

That said, I didn’t get this nickname right away.

In Mabinogi Mobile, nicknames are reset if their owners haven’t logged in for a long time.

So it took me a whole year to finally get this nickname!

Even after you’ve settled on a name, keep in mind that it might not be available in a game with so many players.

If you know what you love but can’t quite turn it into a nickname, or no characters come to mind,

try looking around you!

For example, if you see a light in front of you, you could pair it with a color to make a name like ‘WhiteLight’.

Adding a color can turn even an everyday object into a name that paints a little picture in your mind. It makes a pretty nice name, doesn’t it?

I’ve put together a few examples.

Starting Point	Example Combination	Feeling It Evokes
White+Light	WhiteLight	Something bright and shining
Blue+Cup	BlueCup	A fresh feel for an everyday object
Silver+Bell	SilverBell	A sense of both color and sound
Pink+Umbrella	PinkUmbrella	A vivid picture of the color

These names are just examples to show what I mean, and they may already be in use.

Even the same object can feel different depending on the color you pair it with.

Just read ‘WhiteLight’ and ‘RedLight’ side by side and notice how different the pictures in your mind are!

You can also work the other way around: choose a color you like first, then try different objects, as in ‘BlueCup’ and ‘BlueUmbrella’.

Changing one word at a time is a nice way to find a nickname with just the feeling you’re looking for!

Personally, I find nicknames with two or three Korean syllables pretty and easy to say.

‘이호’ and ‘테르하’ have two and three syllables respectively, too. Of course, that’s just my own preference.

Once you have a few possibilities, try saying them out loud with the polite suffix ‘-nim’, as in ‘○○님’.

A name that looks pretty written down isn’t always the one you’ll enjoy hearing when someone calls you by it.

Even if you find a short name you like, though, there’s a good chance it’ll already be taken.

I wanted to use just ‘이호’ without a surname myself, but I never managed to get it.

I guess someone else liked my favorite name, too… 흑흑

Still, I’ve grown used to my nicknames now, and I’ve come to like them!

Of course, you might discover a name you like better after you’ve already created your character.

Mabinogi Mobile has a [Character Name Change Ticket] for that!

You can buy it for 100 Deca under [Menu(≡)] → [Cash Shop] → [Item Shop] → [Deca].

Just keep in mind that there’s a purchase limit of 1 per server, so it isn’t something you can keep buying with Deca.

Each character can change their name once a week.

Your new name must either be available across all servers or be a unique character name you already use on another server with the same account.

A ‘unique character name’ means that, across all servers, you’re the only one using it.

The notice also says that once you confirm the change, you can’t undo your use of the ticket or have your old name restored!

• If there’s something you know you love, start there!

• If nothing comes to mind, start with the objects and colors around you.

• Once you have a few possibilities, say them out loud and choose the one you’re drawn to.

That’s how I found ‘이호’ in the animals I love, and ‘테르하’ in a novel I love.

I hope you find a nickname that lets a little of your own taste shine through every time you say it!