What I usually do is take a simple name, and keep mixing it up until I find something fancy. For example, Sarah- Sara- Sahra- Sahira- Sachira. See? I turned Sarah into Sachira. Granted that's a terrible example but still.
The only problem I have is finding last names that match first names =x
"Love is the name for our pursuit of wholeness, for our desire to be complete."
For characters- Think about what the parents would name the child. Names are often debated during pregnancy, or only chosen after the child is born. If the character named themselves, think about when they did and what they were trying to accomplish with the name.
For places- Who founded the city? Were they trying to honour something in the past? Examples: "New England", "Virginia" (Named after the virgin queen, aka, Elizabeth I), "Alexandria" (Alexander the Great founded 16 cities named Alexandria; one in every territory he conquered)
Or, were they nomads who named the city because of a landmark or some trait about the place in their language? Iceland was named by a monk from somewhere in the UK who found it freezing. Crocodilicus in Egypt was renamed by the Greeks because of how many crocodiles lived there.
In general: Consider language. If it's a modern setting, you've got a lot more freedom than if you're in a historical or fantasy setting. When people are limited by distance and no easy modes of transportation between villages, then you'll get dialects. Each village will have names that are slightly different, and when you travel long distances, these differences will become noticeable. For cities that have a lot of travellers or people moving there, the names will be a hodgepodge but will reflect where the person comes from.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo
Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
I usually pick a name and build the title and story around that ... and when I'm not using that tactic I just don't seem to having any trouble choosing names! xD Of course, I really love names and read baby naming books on my free time. Which is an excellent activity by the way. You should try it!
Names are so complex >.< The key advice I always give is to go for a name you normally wouldn't, something that you have no attachment to, and that gives your character a good chance to develop outside your own prejudice. There are a few techniques you can use though.
People:
~ Think of where they grew up and what their parents would have named them. ~ What nickname have they been given / given themselves? ~ Nouns can make powerful names, Howl (with the moving castle) and Cloud Strife are the first two that come to mind. ~ You can do the same with verbs and adjectives too, just be aware of your genre and what would be the norm. Hiccup and his pet dragon Toothless are two examples.
Places:
~ You can call it what it is, like the Nam Yensa Sandsea (a desert belonging to the Nam Yensa) or the Mountains of Chaos. ~ Use themes when there are a lot of places, like calling all the notable cities in a desert country after types of sand, and those of a fruitful country after types of raincloud. ~ Keep it simple. If you've got a street chase running through several streets that will never be seen again, just call them 9th and 10th street, or 'the one with the donut shop on the corner.'
Objects:
~ Take a noun and verb that vaguely relate to the object and stick them together, like firemaker, or roadsmasher. ~ Just for kicks, choose a scientific work that few people would have heard of and use it to name a completely unrelated object.
Other stuff to note:
~ Try not to make things to complex. Familiar is good because it's recognisable. Giving all of your countries and cities and characters and races a unique and bizzare name will get confusing and tiresome.
~ And of course the ageless advice. Always, always! Type the name into google. You don't want to accidentally call a race of people after a word that is already used in a racist context, or name your character after a famous porn star.
I tend to just pick names at random based on places I visit and street signs I see. My main character in one of my books, Edward Julius Mayfair, was named after driving one of my brother's friends home one weekend. He lived in an apartment complex called Mayfair Terrace, and thus the name stuck. Julius as a middle name simply because Julius was his father, and Edward because I like The Riddler (Edward Nigma) from the Batman series. Pick a few things, jumble them up, and there you go. Name.
But as for other characters in the series, there's a lot of unspoken biblical reference. Any member that I name after a Biblical character in that same book is affiliated with the church in that world (even if they don't appear to be). Which name I give them doesn't really matter. Grab a hand full of biblical names, pick one at random.
The thing about names is that if you don't have a theme, or a reason why you NEED a specific name except "it just doesn't FEEL right" then all naming things becomes is a great waste of time. A fellow writer told me once that "names are a great tool for procrastination" and he was right. The longer you concentrate on a name rather than writing your story, the less you write.
But then again there's always the alternate route. Pick a character, find his most obvious characteristic, and name him after it until you're DONE writing (or have finally come up with a name that you appreciate) and THEN worry about changing it.
Edward, Isaac, Sergeant Sillypants, and General Dominatrix can still get through a story without having serious names BEFORE you finally change their names to Edward, Isaac, Sergeant Ralph Hammermeister and General Jilliana Nina just as easily
As for locations, street names always seem to do it to me. Ravenel Street becomes Edward's home town of Ravenel. Caldalia sounds exotic, maybe a desert or an ice village. Ok so now it's a desert city. McEiver Road sounds like a last name, so use it as a last name, or turn it into McEiversville.
Objects are a bit more difficult as naming them usually involves more choice given to legend, the characters, or general usefulness surrounding the object. I'd be more prone to agree with Tenyo with smashing an adjective and a noun together and going with it, or thinking of a 'what does it do? It's electronic' then cracking the ole thesaurus, finding a synonym that's workable for electronic or electric, then running with that.
I usually look up names online. There are lots of websites that list names from different countries. I just read through them and choose one that is best suited for my character.
There are great name generators all over. Me personally, I generate a list of ten or fifteen and tweak because nothing is good enough without a little tweaking. It can get a little tiresome because it can take quite a few times to find the perfect name, but it makes things easier.
My favorite is http://www.seventhsanctum.com It has a generator for things that aren't even names and more name generators then you'll ever need.
From my personal experience, I believe that names are not of great importance. very often, when I misread some name from the very first page of the book, I continue to read it so up to the end. Here's my point. =)
Gender:
Points: 1832
Reviews: 121