Naming characters in fantasy

[rune]

I dont like long complicated names for characters, short and sweet is better for me to remember

 

[Peter Graham]

For example, Gandalf's name from the Lord of the Rings means 'wand elf' in Germanic. Although Gandalf is not an elf in the book, he seems to have certain traits of one due to his lore and wisdom regarding Middle Earth

He used a lot of Germanic and Brythonic etymology - Dunharrow, Dol Amroth, Westfold, Shire, Rivendell, Mordor (to name but a few) all have roots which you can see on a modern map of the UK.

This would imply that a fictional language might be necessarily in order to make the fantasy setting more believable to readers. Am I mistaken?

Good news - you're massively mistaken. Creating Elven languages was what JRRT did for a hobby. So, unless you are an Oxford linguistics don, don't go there. At best, it'll sound like pastiche and at worst, like a particularly bad RPG adventure.

Even better news - with the Graham Universal Fantasy Name Generator (pat pending), you can save yourself a massive amount of bother. Here's how it works:-

1. Are you naming the good guys? If so, go to 2. If not, use two or more of the following component parts for each personal name:-

Dark
Black
Lord
Mort
Vile
Blood
Death
Bane
Night
Anything where the letters k,z,r and g are repeated to the detriment of passing vowels
Apostrophes in odd places

This gives you exciting names such as Lord Deathbane or Mort G'rx'xkk


2. Good guys are more complex. Remember the Golden Rule - WWTD (What would Tolkien Do?).

For Elves, favour soft pairs of letters (th and sh) and use "in" or "dar" at least once in every name.

For Dwarves, use harsh, four letter names like Grud and Thob.

For hero humans, use very long names which denote their beauty, strength or other admirable attributes - Lady Tressarmoire Pertbreast or Sir Cleavebone Mightily.

For all other humans, use Gareth, Thomas or Molly.

Regards,

Peter

 

[Toby Frost]

Peter, while I like your technique, you left out the simple method of using bizarre and vaguely foreign names for baddies, and one-syllable familiar ones for the good guys: D'harkboth el-Ezarkin vs Dave and Susan, for instance.

I did once read a book like this, where the good guys had not just short names but modern short names. Reading about Kevin and Lyndie fighting K'Zaarh''k was just ridiculous.

 

[HareBrain]

I was always perplexed by High Lord Kevin in Stephen Donaldson's Covenent books. But due to the seriousness of the rest of his world, you had in the end to just accept it, and get over the fact that this heroic figure shared a name with the checkout guy at Tesco. Strangely, it almost gave his world a greater sense of reality because it gave the impression he hadn't invented that name (because after all, who would?)

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

I was always perplexed by High Lord Kevin in Stephen Donaldson's Covenent books. But due to the seriousness of the rest of his world, you had in the end to just accept it, and get over the fact that this heroic figure shared a name with the checkout guy at Tesco. Strangely, it almost gave his world a greater sense of reality because it gave the impression he hadn't invented that name (because after all, who would?)

Yeah, see, I never really understood that one either. Obviously it worked for him but honestly, who can really take a "Kevin" seriously as a fantasy hero?


The only thing worse would be trying to take a "Kevin" serious as a fantasy villain. It's like, "Oh, uh, Watch out for KEVIN!"

 

[Peter Graham]

I think Marion Zimmer Bradley has a Kevin (or perhaps a Kevan) in Mists of Avalon. Perhaps our pals across the Atlantic see it is a more distinguished name than we do. I suppose the equivalent would be a British author introducing his readership to the dread Lord Randy and his wicked paramour, Candi-Lynn.

Regards,

Peter

 

[Jake Reynolds]

This always annoys me, as a writer. There are so many names that could be used, but they sound too modern. There are so many 'modern' names that are thousands of years old, but rendered useless because of celebrities or chavs.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Check out Page 99 Favourites on my blog for more SF name hilarity...

http://stephenpalmersf.wordpress.com/2011/06/

 

[Stephen Palmer]

PS - here's one for you to consider. I've got a character in a rather surreal book I just finished called Murchison Volume. Obviously, that name isn't meant to be taken seriously, but what kind of man do you reckon he is? Will be interesting to see if anybody makes a close guess...

Same for: Sheremy Pantomile

 

[HareBrain]

Same for: Sheremy Pantomile

The first name sounds like a slurred Jeremy, and also sounds like sherry. For some reason "pantomile" gives me a Victorian/Edwardian check suit. Might be pantomime + pan-tile. Overall I get a slightly tipsy con-artist in outdated clobber, perhaps someone originally from a good family who's fallen on hard times.

Murchison Volume = scientist of dubious ethics.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Murchison Volume - he has to be a villain that is stealing children's hearing by holding hypnotic raves from village to village in the regency era. They come away stone deaf.

Sheremy Pantomile - a luvvy who used to be Robin Hood, Aladdin etc These days he is Widow Twanky. He lives with his civil partner and a couple chihuhuas.

Hmm I am thinking Kevin Smith could be a fantastic name for a villain. In one of my stories my matriach of evil goes by Lucy to her friends.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Hmm I am thinking Kevin Smith could be a fantastic name for a villain. In one of my stories my matriach of evil goes by Lucy to her friends.

Now "Lucy" can actually work for a villain. It has that tie to Lucifer, and the vowel pronunciations can bring up a dark feel when used correctly.


I still say Kevin is a villain name that still just can't be taken seriously, at least in fantasy. But I don't think it's the worst choice, either. At least you didn't mention Herb or Keith.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

The whole Lucy/Lucifer thing wasn't deliberate but kind of nifty - she was a school secretary for four stories until I realised she was the only one who it could be.

I still say Kevin is a villain name that still just can't be taken seriously, at least in fantasy. But I don't think it's the worst choice, either. At least you didn't mention Herb or Keith.

Well I do have a whole assassin race to name. Right now they are Qing, Ignatio, Luis, Horatio and Fernando however Kevin, Clive, Herb, Vivian, and Keith has a Young Ones/Roland Rat kind of feel to it

 

[Phoenixthewriter]

What I find the most difficult is naming your main character a tough name, that hasn't been overused and is common in american society, or is just a plain tough name in a high-fantasy setting. I have a particular soul who finds himself gaining power and overcoming large creatures, but starts off as your average Video Game/Beer Drinking slacker.

I named him David. I'm trying hard to convince myself that David is a tough name, and not go back to the thinking chair to think think think about a new name.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

The whole Lucy/Lucifer thing wasn't deliberate but kind of nifty - she was a school secretary for four stories until I realised she was the only one who it could be.



Well I do have a whole assassin race to name. Right now they are Qing, Ignatio, Luis, Horatio and Fernando however Kevin, Clive, Herb, Vivian, and Keith has a Young Ones/Roland Rat kind of feel to it

Again, Vivian can possibly work, I think. It sort of has that tough, guttural Russian feel to it.


Still, just try going over your chosen names in your mind, try to picture them into tough characters, see what reaction you might get out of it.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Hmm something like this ...?

Kev pulls himself upto his full six-foot-eleven and takes a step towards his opponent. 'Prepare to pay.' He grabs the puny Beowulf by the scruff of the neck propelling him towards the wall and pins him in place. 'What do you have to say for youself?' Balling his fist he lifts it preparing to smash the snivelling wretch in the face.

'Um ... Err . I'm so sorry I meant to tidy that lego piece away.' Wulfie bites his lip and screws his face up in fear. Hoping the combination of tears and the thought of getting snot on his fist might put Kevin off. 'Please, don't hit me.'

Kev lets go, Wulfie crashes to the floor and curls up in a ball protecting his head.

Kev hollers, 'Just Don't Ever Do That Again or I'll let you know exactly how I feel.' He turns and marches out of the house slamming the door.

I'd probably get away with it because even my straight heroes are camp lol My villains have tendancy to be more so. Kev probably went home to his partner and their toy poodle afterwards.

 

[sabolich]

So many theories about names, so little time. A language is an integral part of any world. That is what drives names. If you are writing urban fantasy you have no problem. You can pick up the phone book and choose a name you think fits your character. "Doris" has entirely different connotations than "Brittany" or "Julie". But if you are writing fantasy that is not set on any version of Earth we know, you'd better have names that match your world and don't yank the reader straight off the page going Huh??? And if you have more than one ethnic group, it is doubtful they evolved speaking the same language, in exactly the same way, and their names will accordingly be different as in "Jacques" and "Jack". "Vladimir" bears no relation in sight or sound to "Robert" because they are drawn from different languages.

I try really hard to create character names that instantly evoke the race they belong to. In Firedancer the Stone Delvers are huge, slow-moving people with names that evoke stone and mountains: Rununn, Nuurn, Anual. The Firedancers themselves have names like the crackle and whoosh of flame: Settak, Jetta, Farahk. The Windriders have names like wind: Wyth, Sheshan, Theff.

One should try to avoid having them all start with the same letter, as a ton of names starting with S or J will simply confuse the eye and lead to mistaking the speaker or forgetting what city they're in. Maps, however, being drawn by a speaker of one language, will have all the names of countries as his people know them. English maps of Europe say Germany, not Deutschland, so even if your folk have different languages, I would stick to a common set of place names to avoid confusing the snorg out of your poor readers.

Does that help at all?

 

[Phoenixthewriter]

Heh, snorg.

Indeed, I am actually anxious to go back to a novel I had written back in high school. I canned the whole thing and restarted it because my talent for writing was well beneath my imagination. However, starting bare bones from the ground up, and creating every aspect of the world before starting?

I wish I'd thought of that before I got 80k deep into my current novel. I bet it would have helped clean up a lot. Live and learn though. Great post sabolich.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Use the name of your pet for their first name and your mother's maiden name for a surname. Easy!

 

[hopewrites]

I read a series, I forget which one now, where all the villains names started with a B and all the really important heroes started with an A. There were a few non-villainous B names but by the time I got a third of the way through the story I was suspecting everyone with a B name to be a bad.