Your process of naming?

*NOT CHARACTER NAMES* :3 (and this doesn't have to be JUST for writing, it can be anything in general)

I'm curious on how people name things. It seems to me most writers (including myself), feel they suck at naming stuff. So I'm just asking here "what's your process?" For example, I tried to start a colab writing thing at my school, and for a name, me and my teacher just brainstormed different words until we put together something we liked.

For my current project, it's pretty easing naming things, simply because I get to make up words, and I'm pretty darn good at that. Galex wa ayf oya kleip anyone? Forja galon moi kokanoi? When I make up this random gibberish (okay, galex wa ayf oya kleip isn't quite gibberish... ), I generally know the patterns and sounds I want. But for things that need comprehensible, English names (preferably just English here), I just can't.

So, I'm asking here: What's your process of naming something(a country, a language, a corporation)? But not people, that's different. And these names don't just have to be for literary purposes.

I just sit there staring into space till something hits me. Or I go ask my friend who can just pull names out of thin air. Ones she named a character in ten seconds, and I don't think I would have picked a name that good given ten days and a phone book!

Some names just fit, for me. At other times, I get a collection of names that I think would go and ask a friend. For me, I just brainstorm and I tend to know when I've found the treasure.

For a country or a language... in the past, I have taken pretty words and twisted them, or strung together syllables. More recently, though, I've been trying to actually create the languages themselves - so naming countries is done in the language, and the name has a meaning and an etymology.

(Conlanging is cool, yo.)

Corporations don't seem to crop up much for me, but if I had to name one, I'd probably think of a fun backronym or something. Or, say, there was this corporation name that cropped up out of a conversation with my friend that I might use if I ever think of a plot to go with it.

(I don't tend to agonise over character names, either, to be honest. I just hit up my favourite name website and scroll down an appropriate list until one looks okay.)

For me, it all depends on the terms/situation in wich I am doing the naming.
If it's an English name, I usually go with what seems to feel right, even though it may be slightly obscure (e.g. Andraea). For fantasy worlds, I gor for names that fit in with the language. Sometimes these names mean something. Othertimes, they're like some English names that don't mean anything.
But otherwise, the names usually just come naturally.

I never really had a problem with naming my work, it sort of just... Comes to me I guess.

Well! I tend to struggle with names. xD

I usually stay away from making up names for countries, languages, etc. When I did (which was, like, six years ago), it always sounded artificial and never quite connected. To name those things, you have to understand the culture you're writing and the history/background of its people. Think of how people today think of other countries, and use that kind of method when going about those in your story. So I've stayed away from that kind of story. At least for now!

Corporations, however, I find easier to do (and I do more often). You consider the CEO and the mission of the company. That's really it. xD Same goes for shops, restaurants, etc. It could also be their name, depending on the CEO/founder of the business. Tie in a bit of advertisement, and voila. It's conditional, but it makes for an easy naming process in my mind.

Street names and city names have been treated differently for me. The name is either catchy or easy to remember. Sometimes, the name may reflect the story itself or its plot. Kind of like a little foreshadowing. Or it would be treated like a corporation/country -- the founder's name, or the founder's queen, or whatever its history.

For me, it's not about geetting stuck, but finding the right name which suits the character. I sometimes have unnamed character and when a name doesn't *feel* right, I leave that character unnamed for a while.
Character+naming is a big deal for me.

Well I have a tip, it may not be a good one, but I find that when naming a drama piece, when all else fails use the main characters name.
Dunno if that's helpful or not...so, um, ya.

I always go to google translate and find out the word of a certain english one in a different language. I then do the same with another language and then bam! I mix 'em together. It always ends up kind of amusing.

Like I have one place in my book called Ruysseulac. That is like a combination of a bunch of water related french words.

For normal names though, non fantasy, I tend to choose the most normal and uncreative names ever. Like Tom, Vincent, Joshua, or William.

When in doubt, get Will out! xD

For real-world stuff, I go to baby-naming websites and look for names to fit some kind of meaning, usually a character trait or one of their values or something like that. Occasionally, though, a name pops into my head that sounds English-ish, like Trest or Rayanna, which is the kind I like to use in sci-fi/alternate reality type things. For fantasy I just find a good name generator and click over and over until I get something close to the sound I want, and modify it slightly.

For a generic-type name but still relatively interesting, I simply think of a name that sounds good and that readers wouldn't feel a certain inclination towards. I normally do this in short stories where the actions of the short piece is more important than the other details that could have existed within the story.

Example: If I'm writing a novel/novella about a girl who nearly drowns in a lake, I may take more time in deciding a name. I like to think of what name would suit the character, as well as their background/personality or even something that would suit the theme or other elements of the story.

For a longer project, the name Aqua or something related to or has a meaning symbolizing water. In a short story however, I would pick out a generically agreeable name like Tiffany that simply sounds decent.

I really like the idea of going to Google Translate! I never thought of that...

For me, what I usually do in naming characters in a modern-ish, realistic setting is go to babynames.com. I pick out a letter that sounds nice and look at a long list of names, and just pick one out.

For fantasy-naming, I usually just brainstorm things that sound like they'd fit. Also, after naming the main character in a certain group, sometimes I'll base all the names for that group on rules derived from the original name. Like- once I had a group who only had short, vowel-heavy names; Kaey, Maio, Roue, Shoia, and so on.

Also, sometimes I'll think of the name before I really think of the character/thing/place- like, I'll come up with a name, and just save it for later when I'm writing a story that fits with it.

I like how this thread turned into character naming anyway. xD