Last Names

I just chose one of my character's surnames (Delamere) and I like it 'cause you could think of it as 'de la mer' (of the sea), plus I think it sounds pretty.

Poor Imp wrote:Though my fencing coach is Polish, and has a name shortened by his grandfather (not wanting to sound Polish) so that it sounds Italian. !_!

i know someone who's grandfather did that. she wishes she was still a staniswoski.

Pushca wrote:

Poor Imp wrote:Though my fencing coach is Polish, and has a name shortened by his grandfather (not wanting to sound Polish) so that it sounds Italian. !_!

i know someone who's grandfather did that. she wishes she was still a staniswoski.

I just wanna post something of a correction here :
a) If your friend is a she, then her surname would be staniswoska
b) In english such a letter does not exist, but in polish, insted of the 'w' in the last name, there would b an 'l' with a small line. (The 'l' has the same sound as the english 'w'.)
Hehe, polish is horrible. You have no idea how many spelling mistaked I get on reports and end up with a C, lol.

As to the thread, I just make up my own names and last names. I usually think of a some word, then play around with it. -Or, when I havent got any ideas, go beg to my friends and make them think of something . Another method is just using last names or names from other books.

I've started raiding street signs for last names. Alot of them are pretty unusual and quite interesting.

I find last names harder than first names to come up with. I sit and watch film credits too, although it's not good for my social life, it works!

How do people find first names?

I just take names from my friends, or make them up.

Roxy

Roxy wrote:
How do people find first names?

I just take names from my friends, or make them up.

Roxy

Exactly that Rozy, exactly that. Friends don;t like it, but do they have a say, lol. No. Muahahaha.

As to the making up... It's weird, but if I have a totally innocent word, e.g. orange. Yay, orange! Corange. torange, lorange. Ok, I like the sound of the last one. Lorange. I can either leave it like that or go farther, editing, It fin, lol.

go to this link. It is very very hlpful: http://surnames.behindthename.com/

Just click the origin you want.

Lately I've started making them up. I got one name I was really happy with, however, and then later saw it in the credits of a TV show. A very big WTF moment, let me tell you. The show wasn't even around when I was making up the name.

But I think they are sort of important. I mean, they are a big identy thing for people. You had your last name before you even had your first name. So I give my characters last names. I don't always put their last names in all the time, but I know they have them.