Young Writers Society

I hate choosing names so much, so I just use filler names, then go back and find good name after

I love making up names--I write fantasy, so I get to come up with them all on my lonesome--so new characters are incredibly exciting to me just for that reason alone.

For any Earth-based stories I do, I usually troll around babynamesworld.com for a while trying to find one that fits if I can't think up one off the top of my head.

But I've never had a trouble with names that I can remember. Character names, at least. Novel titles, and names of cities, names of horses--those are hard for me.

I looove names. Not just making up, but I like names, different spellings, meaning and all that.
Like my current faves would be Stannika, Hrishid, Tauseef, Miriam, Keiah, Leslie.

And for me, the name is very crucial while creating a character. It has to fit, it has to sound good when I write. I spend pretty much an entire day coming up with names. Even for minor chars, I plan names.

However, like Rachael, I have trouble with place names. Titles are hard too, but character names are easy. I just take a long while to pick one that suits it in my head.

Place names are pretty easy for me, and that's because places are almost always named after a defining trait of the region, the people who live there, or a person/place/concept that the people hold important. For instance, a town near where I live is called Tannersville because it used to be a village of tanners, while the village I live in is named after the reeds you find everywhere (since it's so swampy). Settlements founded by immigrants tend to be named after locations from the land the people immigrated from (New Amsterdam, which later became New York), or in honor of important people there (such as Virginia).

So basically, when naming a place, think of its history and geography. Place names describe(d) the place, even more than personal or object names describe the person/object.

http://www.seventhsanctum.com/

Has many, many generators with names being one of them.

AquaMarine wrote:http://www.seventhsanctum.com/

Has many, many generators with names being one of them.

I always use seventh sanctum. I either go with the first name that shows up and change it later or just keep pressing the generate button until I find one I like. It comes up with some common names and some more interesting names, so there's a good variety.

I also use baby name lists sometimes. Picking a name is hard though, and much more important than many people think it is. It it's fantasy, though, I like to make the names up and try to make the sound of the name fit the character.

I enjoy thinking up names. It's one of my favorite parts! I do end up changing the name a lot, though. Sometimes when I'm writing the character they'll start off "looking" like for Ex. Ann but as I continue writing she's more of a Taylor. But I do have trouble coming up with last names. Sometimes I have such trouble, that some characters in my book don't have last names!

I hate making up names! Sometimes it's so difficult but for some characters...the name is already there!

But for some minor characters who need names...I glance about my room and find something for inspiration. Perhaps part of an authors name or some product name. That goes the same for province/town/country names. Or else I hop, skip and jump to the globe and take a peek at that.

And generally, names don't suit a place for me. They are usually whatever. I couldn't think of a name for one MC so I asked my mom [who always gives me awesome names] and she offered Ren. And it so suited the character, although is was a major change from all the other's names. And sometimes, with my once group of people, they all all have nicknames. They're like gypsies so...

But some names are so terribly difficult whilst others seem to be there. Like Talandor, Delpho and Dovair. Where did they come from xD

Names by far are one of the perks with this form of art. I've been known to spend an absurd amount of time deciding the correct names for MC's especially. I love it! Sooo much fun!

making names is my favorite part of writing, but it's also the hardest. a system that works for me (I don't know if it will work for you) is constanly collecting names. sometimes I actually name a character after the person they're based on, for instance, in my last story, Caleb is actually a real person, I just don't know him that well, which gave me plenty of room for creativity. if you don't wan't to loosely base your character on someone, even though you probably will without knowing it, then you can constantly collect names. for example, I met my step-second cousin the other day, and he was named Ducan. I thought he was a pretty chill kid, so Duncan is next in my que of male main characters. that is how I decide main charecters. for the other ones, I either look up names that either mean something when translated, or just sound cool. the internet is a great tool. hope I was helpfull,
---Psudiname

When picking a name make sure it fits the setting.
Sometimes you might want to have an allusion in your name (like naming a modern day disciple Jesse 'cause it's similar to Jesus)
Letters matter - k, x and v are very harsh and therefore Korvax is not thought of as a reporter. L, C, S and the like are softer, so you expect to tune in to Lucillia every Friday night on channel MilkyWay18.

I'm with most again, I think making names is strangely awesome, why? Probably because I can use the names that wouldn't really be acceptable to call, say my own child if I were to have one.

But on a more arrogant note, I'm one of these people that creates names for everything within the story, even if I won't use it (just for my satisfaction I guess). For example I created 248 names for the list of students within a school for one project I started doing. I find it relatively easy now than I did when I first started writing, along with dialogue, I used to struggle greatly within but I think I've got a bit better at least.

Enough of me (I hate talking about what I think I might be good at). I bought this book a while ago now --baby naming book-- for about a quid which is great (mind, it gained me an annoying mum as I had to explain I didn't have a kid, though I do recall telling her I had imaginary ones just to freak her out a bit... that's me for ya ). Depending on what kind of names I need though if I need more realistic ones then there's always credits on films and games which I've had the patience (occasionally) to sit through and pick out names and throw a few together.

I just choose a name that suits the character and their setting.

In general I try not to make names up- in one fantasy setting my three MCs were called Ben, Ellie and Kal- but Kal was actually short for Kalara which was an acronym of her six already-existing names (Kendra Adelaide Lucinda Artemis Regina Antoinette. Yeah, she was a princess). In another fantasy setting, however, I had twelve princesses with already existing names (Charlotte, Flora, Melanie, etc.] as did everybody in their story- I tend to make last names up though. A rule of thumb for me is that if I'm using pre-existing names in a fantasy environment, I avoid Biblical names. That's just me.

Of course, sometimes I choose a name and let the character grow into it- like, in my current project, Finn. It's usually a boy's name, but Finn as a character makes it her own. Her other half (my other protagonist), however, was first created without a name and then it attached itself to him- Luke.

Then in Tower Girls (my other current project that's just on hiatus), I made the names up completely- that's Mirzi and Punzi. Apart from my two princes in it. Mainly because Henry got named at the very beginning before I decided to make names up, and then Jason joined him. They also have a sister called Zoey. But then they have friends with all sorts of names. What I try to do is even within the story come up with reasons why they're called these things. For instance, Mirzi is named after Lady Mirzia, a hero of her mother's, while two of her friends, Baz and Pey, are really called Bassier and Peyer, after two figures who feature in Lady Mirzia's story. Putting together names like that can be a lot of fun- in that world, in my names, z features a lot, but I think it works well. Just, if you're making names up, try to make them sound as if they're living in the same place. For instance, don't have a Khrychiveshx living next door to a Pell. Make the culture your own through your names.

-Stella x

It can be fun at times but also annoying. For three years I've been writing a trilogy and finally finished it. I've had to come up with nearly a hundred names for people. I have so many characters. At first it was fun but I hate it when I come up with a character at the last minute and can't think of a name for him/her so I sit there forever trying to come up with one.

I read somewhere that Scott Fitz-Gerald had a notebooks full of names, that he would jot down whenever they came to him. So I think that may be a useful technique.

Gracie