Name Generation in Older FMs

[TheWestender]

Wonder if anyone who tinkered with the editor back in the day - specifically FM08 - can help me out here.

Is name generation for future players based on nationality, language or a mix of the two? If the first, does adding large numbers of names of non-players or the like add to the name pool for future regens? It's a bit odd having nations from sub-Saharan Africa filled with quintessentially English names, or minor European nations having four or five players in the national team with the same surname.

[Fredrik]

AFAIR language(or specifically the language nation) is the primary selection method unless it's been coded that a country has its own name pool. I don't recall which year it was but this has been changed for African nations to have their own name pool these days. 

Check if regens exclusively get English names or a mixture. If it's the latter it suggests that nation also matters. You should also check if there are African languages in the database that you could set for countries. The African language needs to be the primary language. 

[TheWestender]

9 hours ago, Fredrik said:

AFAIR language(or specifically the language nation) is the primary selection method unless it's been coded that a country has its own name pool. I don't recall which year it was but this has been changed for African nations to have their own name pool these days. 

Check if regens exclusively get English names or a mixture. If it's the latter it suggests that nation also matters. You should also check if there are African languages in the database that you could set for countries. The African language needs to be the primary language. 

Damn - that's a shame. As far as I can see in the FM2008 editor, there's no way to add any new languages. The names are pretty exclusively English - or in some cases French - so it must be determined on language, which is a shame because I've read other threads suggesting that expanding the name pool affects regens.