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Yes there are ways, although it's more proper to find the Common Eldarin root of the Quenya word if possible, and then work from that root to formulate a Sindarin word.

If you don't mind using synonyms such as thand (thann), 'shield', I think they would generate pleasant and short-sounding names.

Bloody Ford: Iaros is attested in The Lost Road as a name for a river with reddish water ..... "iar" meaning "blood". An alternative form to "iar" was penned in later as "iûr", so perhaps this name should be "Iúros". Another name could be Carathrad (meaning Red Ford).

Son of Ruy: Son of "Famous Power" > Beldorion [from bell (strong) + taur (mighty) + ion (son of)].

For Nilda, if you use Fíriel's suggestion, you could use "Shield-maiden" which implies all the things you wrote about (protector in battle with shield) ..... Thanwen [from thand (shield) + gwend (maiden)

I don't think that they have to. I notable example of an adjective preceding a noun would be_Gondor_. Also_Arwen_Arnor_Morgoth_Legolas_Thingol_Menegroth_.

You could probably model this after "heledir" (fish-watcher) and combine this as "Taundir" also.

Well, it's grammatically correct, just as you said, a bit of a mouthful. I don't think though that every word that should be an adjective needs to take on such a suffix though (in the formation of compound names, anyway).

I like Thanwen, but your construction's good too, although I believe NC > NG in compounds, hence Rengothiel.

Really? So instead of "bloody ford", you could say, "blood ford" (e.g. Agarathrad)?

Here's a link to the Mutation Chart here on COE that Naneth created.

Well, if you combined them you'd get "araduiathrad" - in this case... not too bad, really.

Well yes, you could. I don't think it's too common, but it does happen. Examples of words/names constructed in this way are Hithaeglir (supposed to be 'misty mountains', actually mist + mountain peaks) and angwedh (iron + bond = chain). Lena's published an excellent list analysing Sindarin compounds, which might aid you in constructing names.

At the end of compounds, most times the last consonant in a cluster of two is dropped. A quick example is Arwen.
Ar + gwend > Argwend > Arwend > Arwen

Umm - lol, when one gets 'fingeritis' and makes 'typos'.

For what it's worth...I also chose an Elvish name that translates the meaning of my real-life one: Ingeborg (Ing's protection) became Inguveriad, considering that some Tolkienists connect the "Ingwë" character in his books with the Ing/Yngvi of Norse lore. And Nordén (north) became Forodwen (northern-lady); I ended up inverting the Elvish version because the second half sounded better as a first name. :blush:

Although I may not have the Oxford doctorate to match Tolkien's, I do have enough background in historical linguistics and in Old Norse to say that the BTN information may not be accurate. the real meaning of the Germanic Ing-name has been disputed so widely that a phonetic approximation seems like a better solution than the "foremost" one.

I was referring to ends of words, although "illegal consonant clusters" in the middle of words need to be dealt with also. "Thr" is not an illegal medial cluster though. Referring to your constructed name "Mainben" (from stem MIN).... it would probably need to be something like "Mindir" or "Minon", as "ai" isn't usually seen in non-final syllables and "pen" is usually used with generic associations such as "rochben, orodben" horseman, mountaineer .... instead of individual names.

I was going to wait until I had time to sit down and write out a huge lesson on compounds, but I've realized that, with work and other nagging "boulders in my path", I need to start with a small lesson and just add to it as I have time. Hopefully within the week I will have at least a "starter" compound lesson up.

For an easy hint about acceptable nasal clusters, think in terms of the témar. Téma 1 is the dental series (t, d, th, dh), and therefore the only nasal consonant that can precede them is n. Téma II is the labial series (p, b, f, v), so the nasal that precedes them is m. Téma III, or téma IV, depending on which mode you're using, is the velar series (c, g, ch), and the nasal sound that precedes velars is ñ, which is represented by n in Latin transcription. In other words, the consonants of tyellë 5 combine with the consonants in their respective témar to make legal clusters.

beautiful-person[/i] = cosmetologist?

I can't emphasize enough that "ai" in non-final syllables is not a usual Sindarin construction. "Banwen" (beautiful maiden) is attested in LR under BAN.

Well, we have "Morben" (dark one) and "Calben" (any elf other than an Avari) so I think it's more "descriptive" than "agentive".

It could but it doesn't really sound as pretty as Banwen.