Alright, let’s talk about how I went about digging up some Game of Thrones team names recently. Had this work thing, a friendly competition, you know, and everyone wanted a theme. GoT won the vote, so suddenly I needed to brainstorm some solid names.
First thing I did, grabbed a notepad. Just started dumping everything GoT-related onto the page. Didn’t filter anything at this stage, just let it flow. Houses were the obvious starting point: Stark, Lannister, Targaryen, Greyjoy, Baratheon, Tyrell… got all the big ones down.
But just house names felt a bit plain. So, I started thinking about tweaking them. Maybe something like Stark Realists or Lannister Lions (a bit on the nose, maybe). Winterfell Wolves sounded okay. Dragonstone Riders. Stuff like that.
Then I moved onto characters and groups. This opened things up quite a bit.
Brainstorming Groups and Characters
I jotted down things like:
- The Night’s Watch
- The Unsullied
- Dothraki Horde
- Faceless Men
- Kingsguard
- Wildlings
- White Walkers
Some of these felt strong. The Unsullied sounds tough, right? White Walkers is pretty intimidating too.
Then I thought about specific character references. Maybe Hodor’s Heroes? Or Tyrion’s Tankards because, you know, he drinks and knows things. Arya’s List? A bit dark maybe. Jon Snow’s Knows Nothings could be funny, self-deprecating.
Next, I considered places and objects. The Iron Throne Contenders. Winterfell Survivors. Beyond the Wall. Dragon Glass Shards. Valyrian Steel.
Refining the List
Okay, so now I had a big messy list. Time to cut it down. I crossed off names that were too long or hard to pronounce. Some just didn’t have the right ring for a team name. Others felt a bit too obscure, needed something most people in the group would get without a history lesson.
Tried to aim for names that were either cool, funny, or intimidating. We Drink and We Know Things was definitely a contender for the funny category. The North Remembers felt classic and strong.
Here are some that made the final cut for consideration:
- Winter is Coming
- The Lions of Lannister
- Hear Me Roar
- Fire and Blood
- The Dragons
- The Direwolves
- The Night’s Watch
- White Walkers
- We Drink and We Know Things
- The North Remembers
- The Unsullied
- Wildlings
In the end, we actually put a few of the top choices to a team vote. Made it democratic. I think we landed on The North Remembers, felt like it had a good mix of being recognizable and sounding determined.
So yeah, that was my process. Started broad, dumped ideas, thought about different angles like houses, people, places, quotes, then just whittled it down until we had a few good options. Worked out pretty well.
