English names in a fantasy novel

[Naruzeldamaster]

Not everyone can be a Tyrion or a Daenerys. Some are called Jon and it's fine.

Yeah, even fantasy cultures run out of names eventually, so they might just call their kid sarah or wayne.

 

[Finchbearer]

I just love the fact that in Dune, epic sprawling cerebral sci-fi, the chosen one is called Paul. There’s also Duncan Idaho.

 

[pmmg]

Phonetically, I dont think its a stretch to think a far away culture might come up with sounds like Sam and Tom, and use them for names. But...fantasy names don't run out. No need to be lazy.

Using real world names in some places can pull one out of the story. For the most part, they are unlikely in far away cultures.

 

[D. Gray Warrior]

I think some resemblance to English names are inevitable since humans can only produce so many sounds and arrange syllables is so many ways.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a character named "Ben", since /b/, /e/, and /n/ are pretty common sounds in many languages, and the consonant+vowel+consonant arrangement is pretty common for syllables.

So, that doesn't necessarily mean it's short for "Benjamin," in that world.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Phonetically, I dont think its a stretch to think a far away culture might come up with sounds like Sam and Tom, and use them for names. But...fantasy names don't run out. No need to be lazy.

Using real world names in some places can pull one out of the story. For the most part, they are unlikely in far away cultures.

I think it's more of a setting thing personally, and a culture thing, in universe I mean. Never mind how long the cultures have been around (in universe) and how modernized it is both in setting and culture.

I'm not sure what setting OP is writing in, but in something like 'fantasy steam punk Europe with magic and dragons' I wouldn't be THAT thrown to see some modern European names thrown in.

Names to me are like Swears, though they have a different use than them. I won't be writing a Zelda or Skyrim story and having a 'bob' or 'jill' because it doesn't fit the setting. But in something like Harry Potter a character who was born/raised in the non magic world would have a 'regular' name and it wouldn't throw me.

 

[pmmg]

Great, says the muse for Jill, Guess I'm not needed here.

 

[xena]

I won't care at all if the story is good.

 

[The_BestX]

What would you think if you encountered a woman named Elaine or a man named Edward in a fantasy novel? Would that turn you off or would you not care as long as the novel were good?

I've pondered this issue for a while now.

In the series I'm working on my characters have made up, but hopefully easy to pronounce names like Davian or Adalia, but some of my older fantasy stories still have characters with real world names, and I'm wondering if I should change them (provided that I start working on those stories again).

What do you all think?

I think names are not a problem in any case, as long as they are not long and complicated to read.