Names, I want names

[JoanDrake]

This almost certainly has come up someplace in the last 14 pages but what's another thread among friends...(ok, it's a waste of bandwidth, and I'm sorry, but this probably could stand repeating)

Names, I'm really awful at names ( and punctuation, structure, spacing, several other things,but let's just talk about Names for now)

I know there are name generators, and they have some use but the names aren't...well...very good.

I remember Roger Zelazny had a Hellhound named Bortan, WHERE did he get such a perfect name for a 500 lb Doberman? Where can I find good names that FIT unique characters?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I read the spines of books and nick them unashamedly. For any fairy tale lovers I have a Perrault and a Carter in another story. I mix them and match them until something works. And if it doesn't stick, I change it until it does.

 

[Abernovo]

I nick names off the news, then play mix and match. There's the wonderfully named Gigi Ibrahim, an Egyptian blogger during the Egyptian uprisings (presumably she still is). Like Springs, I also take authors' monickers. Sometimes, I change things - Alison to Aläison, for instance.

For fantasy, I'd also look at the old legend cycles. You can get some good results. I used to have a boss called Hilda. Her name, more usually as Hilde or Hildegard, features as a prominent Valkyrie in Norse sagas. So, if you had an Urban Fantasy going on, you could have a woman named Hilda with a secret former life as a warrior woman. Come to think of it, Hildy was a lovely boss, but not a woman to cross.

 

[mohk]

I don't write, but my usernames on forums/boards come from a text file in which I save the most impressively far-flung typo's I've made.

"mohk" is what came out once very late one night when trying to type "more".
I use "aener" quite a lot, which came out of trying to type "near".

Takes a long time to get cool(ish) ones as they only happen by accident, but it's a fun method, I think.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

This almost certainly has come up someplace in the last 14 pages but what's another thread among friends...(ok, it's a waste of bandwidth, and I'm sorry, but this probably could stand repeating)

Names, I'm really awful at names ( and punctuation, structure, spacing, several other things,but let's just talk about Names for now)

I know there are name generators, and they have some use but the names aren't...well...very good.

I remember Roger Zelazny had a Hellhound named Bortan, WHERE did he get such a perfect name for a 500 lb Doberman? Where can I find good names that FIT unique characters?

It's really not that hard to come up with names. As I've said elsewhere, try tweaking real world names a bit. Or consider what kind of region your work is taking place at and think up names in the real world of the same sort of area. For instance, if you have a culture that strongly resembles the Japanese, then try a Japanese-sounding name. There's been a few name threads along the way.


Oh, and I suggest to avoid name generators like muggings. They are terrible, especially for fantasy. Ugh. Unless you're writing a new D&D book series, a name generator for fantasy will never give you what you want.

 

[JoanDrake]

Thank you all, very helpful as usual, and please dont be shy if you know of anything else.

 

[DthenB]

Baby-naming websites

 

[AnyaKimlin]

I read baby name books of all descriptions, over and over again. Understanding meanings and origins. This I find makes naming easy now and helps me use the random renamers and tweak the names. Having said that my other worldly fantasy uses names like Angus, Jack, Tom, Lorenzo etc

 

[mohk]

I guess you could just mash the keyboard a bit, and tweak the output into something comprehensible.

senruion
ebu
liebpi
zsebu
zegilu
eijs
sigbur
wigno

Haha.
It's fun, too!

 

[Vertigo]

I liked the method mentioned elsewhere that uses characters from two or more words and occasionally switching letters. So from that sentence I could get (and many other combinations):

Kedthem
Nedel(se)
Retha
Hatus(es)
Atus
Seschar
Romt
Ormo
Sando
Llyws
Chinglet

Ths possibilities are endless.

 

[The Judge]

I've just noticed this is in Workshop -- which is really meant for Workshoppy things where everyone can take part -- so I'll move this over to GWD.

 

[Grimbear]

I've tried (which I know is a known and much-used standby for scifi writers) when writing scifi, to just use ordinary names but write them as if I were a simplified spelling zealot. Gives you some weird-looking names.

I have had:

Hiu (Hugh/Huw)
Sera (Sarah)
Alis (Alice)
Maik (Mike)

I've done all the things mentioned above at different times: Name generators, baby-name websites, spines of books etc. Never tried Vertigo's suggestion - might use that.

For some things, where I've created a culture with world-building I'll limit the names of people from an area/country/species or whatever to a strict set of phonetic rules so that all the names sound as if they are from the same culture. I've seen authors do this - things like putting hyphens or apostrophes in names and even exclamation marks. I don't like extra punctuation so I don't do that, but I do try to structure the names.

 

[Brian G Turner]

If you're writing fantasy, then you can looked at the most similar cultures historically, and then either copy names directly, or else corrupt them in a specific (preferably consistent) way.

 

[MstrTal]

I love looking through old historical references for the names of towns that have disappeared and stores that are no more. Granted these often net me naught but sir names or character names for less than human beings but in truth the searching is the fun. Also as I have mentioned in the past I often take a word and write it in reverse.

 

[Vertigo]

I've tried (which I know is a known and much-used standby for scifi writers) when writing scifi, to just use ordinary names but write them as if I were a simplified spelling zealot. Gives you some weird-looking names.

I have had:

Hiu (Hugh/Huw)
Sera (Sarah)
Alis (Alice)
Maik (Mike)

I like that one Grimbear and, I'm embarrassed to say, I haven't come across it before. It has the added advantage for me (you may have seen my posts on the subject elsewhere) that they inevitably lead to easily pronounceable names.

 

[Arkose]

Names are everywhere. Depends on what your story is. Some just use name simulators, just write down all you like even for a later story. I know some that use baby-names or error specific names. Hard to say without the context of the story. I do know what you mean in general, I'm just calling them by one name until I find something better.

I use a mixture of myth and cultures for most of mine.

I am having an issue though, I'm not sure the name Teddic Mund for a gnome that shapshifts into a giant otter really fits yet.

 

[Denise Tanaka]

I start with thinking about the sound of syllables. The effect of starting with a strong consonant (B, G, J, etc.) or a vowel. Longer flowery names for women, if appropriate. Use familiar names and spell them weird or chop them up. Use foreign words and scramble them, or fiddle around. One name I thought up but never found a chance to use is from the French word noir (night) and re-spelled Niarr. Or recently I came up with a name Qiessa pulled from the word acquiesce for a girl's name.

 

[Jake Reynolds]

I liked the method mentioned elsewhere that uses characters from two or more words and occasionally switching letters. So from that sentence I could get (and many other combinations):

Hee hee, that was me! It really works!

On a different note, I think characters grow to suit their names, which is why so many authors throw in a 'working title' name and then find that it sticks (such as Neil Gaiman with Shadow in American Gods).

I've had to rename some major characters lately, which I found extremely difficult. However, their names did not suit the cultures they had come from, and I'm a stickler for that. As someone said baby naming sites are great if the culture has an earth parallel. Just watch the Tiffany effect!