Seeking the best place name generator and the best character name generator

[ZhuPeng]

I need a good name generator for the alien world created in my sci-fi novel.

 

[zmunkz]

I use this one:
Fantasy Name Generator

 

[picklematrix]

I use this one:
Fantasy Name Generator

Seconded, that one makes some really cool names.

 

[ZhuPeng]

I use this one:
Fantasy Name Generator

I like old latin place names.

 

[sknox]

How will you know if the name it generates is a good one?

 

[picklematrix]

How will you know if the name it generates is a good one?

It will sound nice if you say it aloud, and if you drop it into conversation people will think you have the best words.

 

[Venusian Broon]

How will you know if the name it generates is a good one?

I don't use name generators as suggested above (won't you then have a chance that you'd be using the same names as other people?) but use a simple mind technique, that just brings names forth...

...but I'd say a good name has to 'feel' right - in that you can write it down and leave it months and when you come back, it fits with the world you've built (Which is difficult to really pin down, as it's 'feels') but also that it is 'layered': that (usually a long time after you've started using it) you realise it has meanings in it's depths that connect to the plot and character.

At least that's how I like to do it.

 

[Juliana]

For character names, I prefer using baby name sites; I'll google stuff like 'unusual boys names' and then give them a twist if I have to.

At the moment, one of my wip's is set in a land with a matrilineal monarchy as well as a goddess-centric religion, so most place names are derived from women's names (X's Bay, etc...). Do you have any cultural aspects of your world that might guide your place names like in mine?

Other fantasy place names I've used before are often derived from — yup — those same baby name lists as before. Weird baby names (and yes, there are a lot!) make great bases for creating place names.

 

[scholar-in-distress]

How will you know if the name it generates is a good one?

<3
Probably each has their own criteria for that decision, which is is exactly what made me do research on it

 

[jd73]

Soybomb Nonsense Generator - I never use anything else. Actually, no, that's a lie. I use a fantasy name generator my daughter coded in scratch too...

 

[therapist]

Scrivener has a great inbuilt name generator. You can chose from almost 100 different origins - from Aboriginal (Mogo Stokley) to Yiddish (Lantz Perzan). Or you can search a meaning eg 'love' spits out hundreds of different names (Amadee, Grania, Hayam). 'Blood'—(Agana, Bjolf, Numan). 'Stapler' —(No names found).

 

[Flaviosky]

I use this one:

donjon; Fantasy Name Generator

A collection of random generators for Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop role-playing games

donjon.bin.sh

Specially for the option of having a name with german/english/french base, if you want more exotic combinations.

It has a Sci-Fi menu too