Here are the top 9 rules I would enforce if I were in charge of fantasy names.

1. No more names that start in "K".

Never was there a letter more overused and abused than the letter K. Typically found at the start of faux-Japanese and elf sorceress monikers, K is usually paired with the letters "a" and "i" to form some horrid blobular circle-jerk of a feminine name that sounds neither beautiful nor graceful. Nor does K give off the tough-gal mystique you're going for. What it sounds like, honestly, is a newbie signing onto World of Warcraft, making a night elf with the long white hair, and clicking "randomize" on the name bar again and again until something with too many i's shows up. K is the hardest-working letter in the alphabet when it comes to fantasy, but to use it just shows laziness on your part.

This brings me to my second point:

2. No more names that end in I.

Unless you're from Hawaii, Honshu or H'Africa, names that end in "i" inevitably sound like valley girl names. "Hee hee! My name is Kiki and I work at a car wash!" She probably dots her i's with hearts and smiley faces.

It is impossible for me to take a character seriously if their last name ends in I, because every time I look at their name I think about hookers and strippers, fast food clerks and the girls who wore makeup at age 8 in my middle school.

3. Oh my god, stop using the suffix "or."
Gondor, Galfor, Thrandor, Maltor, Drendor...stop! Please stop! Why do all these fantasy names end in OR??

You know what it sounds like? It sounds like your character is a big dumb lug that stole his name off a Magic: The Gathering deck. Bravery, decisiveness and rippling pecs don't come to mind - it's clear you're a skinny geek hiding behind a fakey Tolkien name and you have NO imagination. Gah!

4. Y and then two L's is a recipe for FAYLL.

Yeah, Tolkien did it because he took all his cues from folk legends written about people whose names you can't pronounce or remember. Don't follow his lead. Yllillian does not look awesome. Threndyll sounds like a cream you rub on your junk. Shalyllyllyll... if I see another "yll" I wyll flyyp myy shyyt.

For that matter, just stop using the letter "y" period. Fantasy geeks go moist for this letter. Hey, ever heard that whole "A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y" thing? It's because Y isn't a real vowel. It's not interchangeable with E, A or I. Stop using it.

5. Real names spelled slightly different are not original.

I saw the name "Ylyvia" on a game once. Seriously. Ylyvia. Apparently Olivia was taken. But there's no excuse for this in fantasy literature.

Names spelled "clever" remind me of those soccer moms that name their brats Brandique and Tommas and Kathrynn (if I see another spelling of Catherine, I will murder a bitch) and Alizabith and Ofeelya and Jawn and Moh-N'qe and the like. Uhg. Pass the vomit bucket.

6. "AE" should be used sparingly.

AE is another sin of the soccer-mom generation. Apparently getting their inspiration from the Encyclopaedia Britannica, moms have brought a whole horde of children with "ae" in their names into the gene pool.

I wouldn't even name an abortion "Braedynn."

This can OCCASIONALLY look OK, but only if used correctly. "Ae" is pronounced like "ee." It's not pronounced like "ay" or "eye" or "eh."

7. Names with "Q" and no "U" are only okay if you're in the Middle East, dipshit.

Nothing pisses me off more than this sentiment that it's all right to forgo the "U", even in primarily European settings. There's a reason that U is there. If you want to make the sound that goes into "QUACK" you need a U - otherwise you're spelling CACK, which is the sound I make when I see this crime committed.

We have TWO letters to make the C sound - C, and, as I mentioned before, K. We don't need yet a third letter. This is why Q only exists as an opening act for U.

8. Seriously, stop with the apostrophes.

Very little is uglier than a name with a bunch of apostrophes thrown in for no fucking reason.

This became a trend after Tolkien (on whose head I lay down the majority of the blame for this list) and has been picking up speed ever since. First of all, there's no reason to do it at all, except to make the name look "exotic" and "foreign" and "elfy." Secondly, it slows down the reading of the name and looks awkward.

9. Don't double up unless absolutely necessary.

Boy, am I sick and tired of seeing names with two a's or i's or n's, when one would do. Raalyn, is it? Is that pronounced "Rahh-linn" or "Ray-ay-lin"? You know what it really reminds me of? Baaaaaaah! I'm a goddamn sheep, just like you.

edit:
10. Random nouns for first names.

Someone mentioned Raven. I know Raven is a real name, but please, don't name your character Raven. Really, don't. I'd rather you kick me directly in the face than name your character Raven.

Raaaaaant oooooover.

(I don't mean to offend anyone if they have a character who falls into one of these categories...I probably do, myself. It's more about the fact that people do it WAY too much.)