How do you find names for your characters?

[Kpt._Rob]

I used to want to be an author back in the day, and recently the thought of writing has again been on my mind, inspired in part by another aspiring author here on the Escapist who I have been providing editorial comments for.

Anyways, the point I was getting to, in the slow and roundabout way that I usually get to points, is that one of the hardest parts of writing a story for me has always been picking a name. I will become bogged down from anywhere from a couple hours to days just trying to pick a name, brainstorming, picking over massive websites full of baby names, mythological names, details on the etymology of names... everything. When I get really desperate sometimes I even pick up the copy of the Simon Necronomicon I have sitting on my shelf of strange religious books and flip through until I find an interesting name (I did this when I was playing Viva Pinata too, and almost accidentially summoned Cthulu). I have no idea how many of the stories I've thought of working on over the years have been killed just because I couldn't find a name I liked for my characters.

So, I thought I'd ask you, good peoples of the Escapist, how do you name characters? Maybe just to share, though if you've got a good method for picking names I might have to steal it from you. I guess preferably I'd be asking for how you name characters in stories or other works of yours, if you don't write stories but still give your game characters interesting names that could work too I suppose (though just telling me that you name your game characters after yourself probably won't help me too much.)

TLR - Discuss ways to name characters, towns, and anything else in a fictional story.

 

[Sanguinius- The Angel]

Over the years of playing RPGs and RPing, I've come up with a few solid names that I like to use, so I generally have a good amount to choose from. I'm told I could become a great author if I put my mind to it, yet people never seem to understand that to write a story, one must have a muse.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

I dunno.
I give characters names I think fit them & that I like.

I wish it were that easy for me. I agonize over finding the right name, and I always have such a hard time finding one I feel fits perfectly.

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[madcap2112]

Sometimes I mix names that are from people I know, or in the case of places I'll use real town names I'm familiar with. Other times they just come to me and sound right. I don't really have a good formula for creating things like that.

 

[Pielikey]

whatever's on your desk, with something added on. I once named an Inn "The Gatoradan" because there was a gatorade bottle on my desk.

EDIT: Randomly bashing keys on the keyboard until something cool comes out, adding vowels where needed.

 

[blankedboy]

http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/index.php?p=modding_data/ngen

I've used it thrice now.

 

[LongAndShort]

I take the first name from one author and the last name of another and put them together. It gives you a wide variety from all the countries and cultures. Usually its just a random search on Amazon, but on occasion its my way of honoring an author I like.

 

[unoleian]

There's no real formula, just use inspiration from places/people you've known in life. Or, just get creative with it.

One of my most interesting characters ever (according to a creative writing class) was a hoarding, agoraphobic, paranoid known only by the moniker "Jeebus."

I based a character in a story on a description my old room-mate gave me of himself in high-school and named him after another room-mate. Hence, James the long-haired, pet-store working guy with a desperate need to make more money by any means necessary was born. His setting and circumstance was born largely by what was around me at the time. I pictured my apartment describing his life, and used me as inspiration for his room-mate. Worked quite well, actually.

Or, take a name, and bastardize it. Know a Geoffrey Demgarden? Make it Jeff Dimeharten. (btw, I just made those up )

For medieval based fantasy stuff, it's easy to start vocationally, and slowly evolve it from there.

A blacksmith?

Hammerman Ironhand.
Herman Irnhond.

or something like that.

Towns are actually easy. Most places get names from historical inspiration, or from geographical details. Lots of mountains? Summit. Big lake? Aquaran. Sandy, dry, but with an oasis? Re'leahf. Big, important war? Lastandton. (Last Stand Town)

It's easy. Don't overthink it, just fly by the seat of your pants, follow your instincts, and once you establish a convention or a cultural norm, keep it consistent.

 

[The Procrastinated End]

Just take things you see everyday and turn them into parts of a story.

 

[Blobpie]

Well i have three ways of doing this

think of a name with significance like what the name means, etc.

A name that seams fitting to the character

Or i use name generator on the internet.... what? It works!

 

[InnerRebellion]

I try to come up with simple, but deep names. For example, the villain of my novel, Hurtlas, pronounced Hert-Lass, is a misleading name. She disguises herself as an injured girl and infects the minds of people trying to help her.

 

[Gigaguy64]

Hard to say.
Many names i like come to me spur of the moment.

Though if im really in a bind i like to choose names based off my characters Personality(First name) and then powers(last name)
I come up with some interesting Results when i look for names that mean things about my Character and it usually turns out good.
Sometimes i replace Power with Personality or with their interests.

 

[RootbeerJello]

This is for roleplay, since I don't really write. But I just go to a name randomizer, randomize names in sets of five, and mix and match first and last till I find something I like. I'll often throw in names I've just heard that stick out in my mind, like a guy my dad works with who has the last name Metaxes, or a dude I caddied with named Waino.

 

[spartan231490]

I used to want to be an author back in the day, and recently the thought of writing has again been on my mind, inspired in part by another aspiring author here on the Escapist who I have been providing editorial comments for.

Anyways, the point I was getting to, in the slow and roundabout way that I usually get to points, is that one of the hardest parts of writing a story for me has always been picking a name. I will become bogged down from anywhere from a couple hours to days just trying to pick a name, brainstorming, picking over massive websites full of baby names, mythological names, details on the etymology of names... everything. When I get really desperate sometimes I even pick up the copy of the Simon Necronomicon I have sitting on my shelf of strange religious books and flip through until I find an interesting name (I did this when I was playing Viva Pinata too, and almost accidentially summoned Cthulu). I have no idea how many of the stories I've thought of working on over the years have been killed just because I couldn't find a name I liked for my characters.

So, I thought I'd ask you, good peoples of the Escapist, how do you name characters? Maybe just to share, though if you've got a good method for picking names I might have to steal it from you. I guess preferably I'd be asking for how you name characters in stories or other works of yours, if you don't write stories but still give your game characters interesting names that could work too I suppose (though just telling me that you name your game characters after yourself probably won't help me too much.)

TLR - Discuss ways to name characters, towns, and anything else in a fictional story.

I can't do it. I have only come up with one original name in my 20 years of existance, and i got it by sticking one letter into my own name, cuz the character is based heavily on myself. So i tend to steal names from other books/games whatever. That said, i have noticed that a lot of authors make person names by adding a letter to common names in real life. or changing to a really screwed up spelling. Hope this helps. ON a side note, i am in the midst of writing a book and i plan to write an epic fantasy series when i finish it. The likelyhood that either gets published is small, but my goal is to make them good enough for my friends to enjoy, and i think i'll hit that mark. I have really good concepts, mediocre to average plots, and terrible grammar/spelling. I need a good editor, luckily enough, i have one. That is, if my grammar/spelling doesnt disgust him so much he tries to kill me before i finish.

 

[Zap Rowsdower]

My friend likes to use food names. He had a story he wrote called Liver and Onions, and he also had a character called Alfredo Marinara. But then again, he is a silly guy.

 

[Wuvlycuddles]

All depends on what i did that day tbh, if i just watched a film, tv or read a book then most likely i'd end up naming a character after someone or something to do with those things.

Also, the other week i got shouted at by my boss and the guy has a huge nosehair problem, so i promptly made an alt on WoW called "nosehair"

And there is a good chance i'll name characters after some joke between me and my friends or just something i personally find funny, such as my current name here on the escapist. Back when Wrath of the Lich King was launched there was no shortage of tards rolling death knights with names like "Defnite" and "Frostknight", ya know, all the unimaginative crappy "evil" sounding names possible and i thought naming my death knight Wuvlycuddles would be the perfect antidote to that and that character and the name stuck.

 

[MgR]

I hardly passed English exams due to this.

Given time, it would all be easy.

The times were I make up a character, it takes ages thinking of a good name, recently I came up with an idea of a character with a big ol' niche, and couldn't think of a name, then browsing facebook pictures of people who I don't know that appear on my frontpage, I see someone tagged who's last name could be to do with the niche, so I named my character after him.

Other times, I think of a really good name, and can't come up with the perfect vessel to fit it with, e.g. I know I want a character to have a sister, and have her name, but I can't make the character fit the name and look similar to the related.

Didn't give any names away, sorry. My ideas! /Paranoid