how to change starting generals name

[Baska]

I would like to change one of the starting generals names and have been unsucseful in my previous attemps

the faction would be RK
Earnur is the only starting general

[Aradan]

There are 3 instances of the character's name in descr_strat. The line wher he and his army are defined, the line where his father's family line is defined and the line where his own family is defined. You need to replace all 3 of these with a name that you pick from the empire_east/male section of descr_names.txt.

[Baska]

generals are in the relative tree?

[Aradan]

If by "generals" you mean the named characters that have a portrait, then yes. Just ctrl+f "Cemendur" (for example), and you will see where the name appears in the file.