At what point does naming countries, cities, places become too clichéd/cheesy?

[Jabrosky]

Names for Fantasy Counterpart Cultures are actually a lot harder to think up than you would expect. You want to give them names that are different and yet evocative of the original cultures. Such names would come easily if you knew the original cultures' languages, but dictionaries for those languages aren't easy to find. Things get even worse if you're combining multiple unrelated cultures into one, as you have to devise a name that does justice to the whole mixture.

I like the idea of using descriptive English words and phrases for place names, but worry that they may give the local culture an Anglo-Saxon flavor that I don't always want.

 

[Saigonnus]

I tend to work with fictitious places, ones with an "archetype" but not really based on any one culture in world history and truthfully most are "loosely" based. I can however imagine how hard it would be with the constraints you have to work under for sake of realism for the story.

 

[Jabrosky]

I've pretty much solved the naming issue for my current WIP, which used to be sci-fi but is now more traditional fantasy. I'm using English descriptors for place and culture names now.

 

[Saigonnus]

I tend to give it lots of thought before I name something, usually before I even think of a name I have a general idea of the archetype I want to have, a layout of the land and most of the world building aspects in place. That gives it a certain "flavor" in my head and makes the job of deciding on a name easier. Truthfully though, I haven't really ever had a problem thinking of names for those aspects given enough time and preparation.

Glad to hear though that you've solved the naming issue you were having.