# Names.



## elly (Feb 22, 2011)

I'm having trouble thinking of character names, any advise of how i can get some good ones? any helpful websites? All the ones i can think of at the moment are ones I've used before and I can't think of any different, abstract names I'd like to use :O


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## Behelit (Feb 22, 2011)

In my mind it really depends on the setting, time, the character you're attributing the name to, your style, etc. Not having much of this information limits my ability to assist. 

At a minimum I would try to make the name/s easily pronounceable for any reader. I suppose the only case I would create a "difficult" name is when it is my intention to cast a foreign or ancient character.

I like your Totoro avatar, by the way.


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## Meg the Healer (Feb 23, 2011)

Hey Elly. I think it depends on what you're going for really. The names I've generally been using "mean" something. Like my main character, Thomas - his name means "twin." And Braedan means "Man of the Dark Valley", Nirvelli means "water goddess." So since so many of my character personalities or magical abilites are attributed to what their name means - I googled....what does xxxx name mean? Or just the opposite. I also researched a lot of the pagan names/religion for college essays that I was writing and some of the eventually made their way into my creation.

I bought a book years ago entitled The New Book of Magical Names by Phoenix McFarland and I also have the book called The Hidden Truth of Your Name. The book gives the Kabbalistic Synopsis, The Runic Interpretation, and The Numerological Interpretation. It also gives the derviation of the name, the colors, gemstone, and botanicals associated with the name. I basically used it for unique spellings and "related to names." For example, Alexis can be spelled as "Alexice" "Alyxice" or "Alyxis." And the name is related to Aleka, Alessa, Alessandra, Alessia, Alexandra, Alexia, Allexina, and Lexi.

Just something to consider.


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## elly (Feb 23, 2011)

great! thanks thats helped a lot,, I might look up these books you've told me about Meg, I was also thinking of looking up different names in different languages, hopefully I can find something through that as well


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## elly (Feb 23, 2011)

Behelit said:


> I like your Totoro avatar, by the way.


haha thanks, I'm a big fan of anime


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## Meg the Healer (Feb 23, 2011)

I think the Magical Names book I have as names broken up into different languages as well, but I'd have to look at it tonight when I get home to be sure. If it does - then I'll edit this post and if it doesn't....I'll still edit the post.


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## Kelise (Feb 24, 2011)

I do what Meg does, but sometimes I also take two meanings and combine those names somehow - if the names I want to use don't really fit in the specific era or location I'm writing for. Don't be afraid to do that  

Most baby name sites will give you a list of related names also. This way you can often find the 'old' way of spelling a name, which has also been helpful. Hope that helps. Good luck! Picking names is the hardest part for me at times.


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## Parqstu (Feb 24, 2011)

There's random name genrators. You can't always be sure that the name hasn't already been used ofcourse, but it can give you an idea and you can slight change the name you've generated. Theres also things like names including xyz or long, short, medium names so on to select. 

I usually make my names from bricks. That way i enjoy them and know there original. I've got about 12 i love because of it


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## elly (Feb 24, 2011)

Thanks guys, I've managed to get some good names now!


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## Meg the Healer (Feb 24, 2011)

elly said:


> Thanks guys, I've managed to get some good names now!


 
Glad we could help. I did take a look a the Magical Names book and it did have names from Exotic Locales, from Mythos, and from Other Cultures.


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## Ravana (Feb 25, 2011)

You can also see my (somewhat lengthy) post under "Fantasy languages" for another approach: work up the basic sound-patterns for a language (you _don't_ need to create the complete language itself!); these will give you sets of sounds that are allowed or disallowed, so that whenever you put together a new name, it will at least sound as if it came from the same language all the others did. You could even create a random generator this way: as long as it obeyed the rules you'd set up for individual sounds (letters) and sound combinations, you'd never get unpronounceable mishmash out of it. I can't point you to a particular random generator with this kind of functionality on the market–I don't use them–but I'm sure they exist.

Another approach is one that Glen Cook uses in his _Black Company_ novels. Insofar as names are all derived from common words, he simply reversed this: most of his names for people and places, especially in the earlier books of the series, are "translated" back into their meanings. (Part of the reason this works is because none of the focal characters in the early books use their real names anyway: either they've all enlisted in the company under assumed ones or are known by nicknames, or else they're all wizards trying to hide their "true" names. Or both.)

[P.S. I need to add part two to that fantasy language thread, as I said I would. Maybe I'll be able to work that up today.]


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## JediKnightMuse (Feb 26, 2011)

My main resources for finding names (for fantasy characters) are:

-NaNoWriMo's adoptables section
-behindthename.com
-2000-names.com (it may or may not need another 0 in that, I can never remember how many there are XD)

They've all been great resources for me when I've looked for character (and place) names.


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## Mdnight Falling (Mar 7, 2011)

I have that same problem ALOT! I have issues thinking of new and different names. I get so tired of reading books with chars having common normal names LMAO... And I refuse to write anything with an elf in it simply because.. really there are guidelines to how they have to named and I'm just not that imaginative LMAO


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## Dagzar (Mar 7, 2011)

I usually choose my names based on how they sound rather than spelling and meaning and the like. Which sometimes causes problems for me when I find out I’ve been pronouncing a name wrong, like pronouncing Leah as ‘Lay-ah’ instead of ‘Lee-ah’ (in my defense, that’s how a classmate of mine pronounced it so I thought that’s how it sounded).

When I’m having trouble finding a name, I usually use this baby name site because it lets me toggle the beginning and ending letters of a name. However, I also like this site since it has a larger compile of names overall and more backgrounds.


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## Mdnight Rising (Mar 7, 2011)

I personally  never had a problems with  coming up with names for characters.. i use what  comes right off the top of my head and  generaslly  find a away to make it work.  Sometrimes if you have to really think about a name it  never really fits in


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## Mdnight Falling (Mar 7, 2011)

Mdnight Rising said:


> I personally  never had a problems with  coming up with names for characters.. i use what  comes right off the top of my head and  generaslly  find a away to make it work.  Sometrimes if you have to really think about a name it  never really fits in


 
Good point... But yeah it took me like five years to name Katalina so I'm not all that good when it comes to names LMAO

And Elly... Love the avatar.. My Neighbor Totoro is one of my favorite Miyazaki movies LMAO


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## Mdnight Rising (Mar 7, 2011)

oh great you go her going on anime  meg.......LOL......  i think names come easily to me because of my tabletop rpg  experiences


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## Ophiucha (Mar 8, 2011)

My tactic for naming characters is basically: "which characters are from the same age/region?" *groups them together, then picks up as many Victorian or Edwardian fantasy books [immortals or particularly old characters get Edwardian names, and younger characters get Victorian names/people from one town get Spanish books, another get English, etc.] as there are groups, opens them to random pages, plugs in the names* Tada. Names picked. I might change them at some point, but for now, they serve their purpose.


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## Mdnight Falling (Mar 9, 2011)

Ophiucha said:


> My tactic for naming characters is basically: "which characters are from the same age/region?" *groups them together, then picks up as many Victorian or Edwardian fantasy books [immortals or particularly old characters get Edwardian names, and younger characters get Victorian names/people from one town get Spanish books, another get English, etc.] as there are groups, opens them to random pages, plugs in the names* Tada. Names picked. I might change them at some point, but for now, they serve their purpose.


 
That is BRILLIANT!!!! I really need to try that some time O.O


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## Mdnight Rising (Mar 9, 2011)

that does work  i have found as well  but then again like i said  names is something i have never really had a problem with. You might try to add  Race as well region and age tho  you might find it helps a little bit more as well


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## Ophiucha (Mar 9, 2011)

I do consider all these factors, and indeed tend to cut it down to families, but that was just a general scope to get the idea. As an example: Ambrosio and Antonia are named for characters in _The Monk_, the immortals are named for characters in _The Faerie Queene_ save the one tied to the dragons, who is named for a character in a Lovecraft story (as are her descendants; different stories for different generations), the human character is named after Dolores Haze, and the other two families are named from _The King of Elfland's Daughter_ and _The House on the Borderland_.


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## Ravana (Mar 10, 2011)

Ophiucha said:


> …the immortals are named for characters in _The Faerie Queene_ save the one tied to the dragons… and the other two families are named from _The King of Elfland's Daughter_ and _The House on the Borderland_.



Dunsany? Hodgson? I'm impressed. Next you're going to tell me you've borrowed names from _The Wood Beyond the World_ or _The House of the Wolfings_.… 

And I didn't think _anybody_ read Spenser any more.…


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## Ophiucha (Mar 10, 2011)

Ravana said:


> Dunsany? Hodgson? I'm impressed. Next you're going to tell me you've borrowed names from _The Wood Beyond the World_ or _The House of the Wolfings_.…
> 
> And I didn't think _anybody_ read Spenser any more.…


 
I've yet to read _The House of the Wolflings_, but it is in my 'to read' folder of Project Gutenberg madness. I've read a few other Morris works, though, including _The Wood Beyond the World_ and _The Well at World's End_ (a good friend of mine bought me a book that came with both stories in it). And yeah, I have a bit of a thing for pre-/contemporaneous with Tolkien fantasy (and, to some degree, science fiction and horror as well).  It's dreadful how many shelves in my house those take up, but they're often pretty cheap for such nice copies, since nearly all of them are in the public domain. How can I resist a $12, gold leaf, hardcover copy of a fantasy book?

My favorite is still Eddison, though. I know most people don't like him too much - very wordy - but I dunno, I'm fond of his style. I also call the world my story takes place in Mercury as a nod to The Worm Ouroboros.


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## Mdnight Falling (Mar 10, 2011)

I swear I'm going to make a list of all the authors you guys name that I do't know and just go set up a tent in Book worm >.<


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## Ravana (Mar 12, 2011)

Ophiucha said:


> My favorite is still Eddison, though. I know most people don't like him too much - very wordy - but I dunno, I'm fond of his style. I also call the world my story takes place in Mercury as a nod to The Worm Ouroboros.


 
Hmm. You'll notice that name has yet to come up in any of my posts… though I had put considerable thought into what I'd say when it did arise. I think I'll take the high (and polite) road here, and agree to disagree on that one… given that we otherwise have such an extensive overlap in tastes.


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## Kelise (May 22, 2011)

Okay, I'm utterly stuck and have been for over two months now. I find it hard to write without the right names as I don't feel the characters that well... so I'd rather have the names sorted before June so I can do the 'write 50,000 words in a month' thread with Kate and Fodwocket and everyone else who joins us 

Basically... I usually create names by blending names together based on their meanings, or names associated with the character or person the character is based on. 

So the name related is 'Topher'. 
Wealthy: Fu, Dara
Greatness: Jalal
Hero: Akio, Bile, Herod, Heron, Wira.

He would have been named for greatness. He's basically going to inherit a huge name full of prestige and wealth.. destined for the history books. The 'hero' part is a bit of a joke, as he's the villain, eventually.

The novel is set in the future, hence why it can't be a name we use now, really... and he'd have a weird name - one that's to be remembered.

As I said, I've been stuck on this for months. I just can't name this character because basically, he's too important for the likes of me XD If anyone has any suggestions I'd be so thankful.


ETA: Oh, all that info is just an attempt to have SOME direction to go in. If there's a good name that doesn't include any of that, that works too  I just need a name for my ferocious little death-bringer.


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## Derin (May 22, 2011)

If you need a lot of names, it sometimes helps to construct a crude language purely for name construction. It's much like other posters have suggested, if you're paranoid about judgemental linguists in your readership. The language shouldn't be overused for much else, because if it becomes obvious that your hero is actually named "Hero" and your antagonist is called "evil shadow" then your readers might be put off, but I find it a helpful cheat if I need to name more than five characters quickly. (I just use the same pseudolanguage for every story; if its only purpose is name generation then constructing a new one each time isn't necessary.)


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## Kelise (May 24, 2011)

I only need two or three, the rest will fall under a naming system from the work setting they're in. 

Luckily it's fallen into place for two characters, so yay  Some days naming is easy. Other days it's a struggle. Just need to learn to not be impatient. I knew as soon as I posted here it would sort out one way or another.


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