I named my Nord 'Ruvaak' because it was Draconic for 'Raven' given the nature of my stealth ranger style of play.

Having done that I think it's safe to say I was very satisfied when I first met Nocturnal.

My Breton (and my new character in Fallout 3) is named Athena, mostly because I really like the sound of the name.

Andorl, Altmer
Otheral Lordiril, Dunmer
Antoni Perrick, Breton

My three main characters I named them something that I thought fit within the confines of TES names and I chose the names because I picked them and liked the names, simple really.

A name is the first part of your characters identity.

I use the names that UESP gives for each race and just pick from the list. I'm currently sporting a Breton called Beric Dolbanitte.