The Naming Guidebook

[shauna_marie]

i like Michiko better, i dont know why but i do.


me and my friends came up with names and bio's for characters in our story and they are (for the most part) different

Verity Cherie Hollender

Ian Jude Rockwend

Jaedynn Raleigh Hallman

Alexis Elizabeth Jones

[Vietanh]

WoW

[Noriaka Kyousuke]

A great site for naming and a good writer's tool in general is Seventh Sanctum full of generators for almost everything! ^_^

[Princess Dustbunny]

I have a question about Japanese given names. Is it common practice to slap "ko" or "maru" or the ilk on a word and call it a name? Like, I know "ai" is "love" and "Midori" is "green," but I've seen the names "Aiko" and "Midorimi." Are these flukes, or is this common? If the latter, is it a current naming fad or has it always been this way?

[radioactive alchemist]

I don't know about "maru," but "ko" is generally a female suffix.

[Princess Dustbunny]

I know all (most?) of the suffixes. What I'm trying to find out is whether or not it's common to stick a suffix at the end of a word and call it a name, or if there are certain words/ kanji set aside to be used for names. For example, might someone name a daughter Shirokuroko or Kawaiimi?

[Venom3001]

Princess Dustbunny

I know all (most?) of the suffixes. What I'm trying to find out is whether or not it's common to stick a suffix at the end of a word and call it a name, or if there are certain words/ kanji set aside to be used for names. For example, might someone name a daughter Shirokuroko or Kawaiimi?

I dunno, but I'd probably avoid Kawaiimi just on principle. xd

[Princess Dustbunny]

Venom3001

Princess Dustbunny

I know all (most?) of the suffixes. What I'm trying to find out is whether or not it's common to stick a suffix at the end of a word and call it a name, or if there are certain words/ kanji set aside to be used for names. For example, might someone name a daughter Shirokuroko or Kawaiimi?

I dunno, but I'd probably avoid Kawaiimi just on principle. xd

As would I, rest assured xp

[Ruingaraf]

Princess Dustbunny

Venom3001

Princess Dustbunny

I know all (most?) of the suffixes. What I'm trying to find out is whether or not it's common to stick a suffix at the end of a word and call it a name, or if there are certain words/ kanji set aside to be used for names. For example, might someone name a daughter Shirokuroko or Kawaiimi?

I dunno, but I'd probably avoid Kawaiimi just on principle. xd

As would I, rest assured xp

Too simmilar to Kawarimi no jutsu

*is shot*

Thank God this thread was made. Honesly. I have a character named Yasu ["Calm"] but she's a bit dim and ADHD, and has the mentality of a child. I have a character named "Kai", written as 魁, meaning "leader". He's a slacker.

I even have a werewolf character named Ena, which means something regarding faeries, I forgot exactly what. xd

But I also have a character named "Keisho", ('One who knows his own mind') whos name fits him very well. His older brother is named Dai, ('to shine') which also fits, but only in a general sense. It doesn't fit with his background at all, though, just some aspects of his personality. Their little sister is Myo ("Princess" wink ... which fits only because she is about ten years younger than Keisho, and thus the 'baby' of the family.

Anyway... I name characters by sound, generally, not as much by meaning. The sound has to fit their personality. It's kind of hard to explain. I usually play around with different sounds and find a combination that fits, then I look up the name to make sure the origin is believable, if it exists at all. xd

If anyone has played Prince of Persia games, I am convinced that the Prince's real name is Kajik. It just fits. Can't explain why.

Well... The 'ka' is a good strong first syllable, and it implies a sense of justice to me, at least here. The 'ji' (it's a soft J, almost a 'shi' sound) is soft and seems to imply kindness, but when combined with the final 'k' to form 'jik', sounds like a sword being sheathed. So I ended up with something between ka-JIK and ka-SHIK for the pronounciation, with it being closer to the first one.

And it's a good Arabic name.

Okay... you all think I'm crazy now, don't you? xd

[Venom3001]

Ruingaraf

Princess Dustbunny

Venom3001

Princess Dustbunny

I know all (most?) of the suffixes. What I'm trying to find out is whether or not it's common to stick a suffix at the end of a word and call it a name, or if there are certain words/ kanji set aside to be used for names. For example, might someone name a daughter Shirokuroko or Kawaiimi?

I dunno, but I'd probably avoid Kawaiimi just on principle. xd

As would I, rest assured xp

Too simmilar to Kawarimi no jutsu

*is shot*

Thank God this thread was made. Honesly. I have a character named Yasu ["Calm"] but she's a bit dim and ADHD, and has the mentality of a child. I have a character named "Kai", written as 魁, meaning "leader". He's a slacker.

I even have a werewolf character named Ena, which means something regarding faeries, I forgot exactly what. xd

But I also have a character named "Keisho", ('One who knows his own mind') whos name fits him very well. His older brother is named Dai, ('to shine') which also fits, but only in a general sense. It doesn't fit with his background at all, though, just some aspects of his personality. Their little sister is Myo ("Princess" wink ... which fits only because she is about ten years younger than Keisho, and thus the 'baby' of the family.

Anyway... I name characters by sound, generally, not as much by meaning. The sound has to fit their personality. It's kind of hard to explain. I usually play around with different sounds and find a combination that fits, then I look up the name to make sure the origin is believable, if it exists at all. xd

If anyone has played Prince of Persia games, I am convinced that the Prince's real name is Kajik. It just fits. Can't explain why.

Well... The 'ka' is a good strong first syllable, and it implies a sense of justice to me, at least here. The 'ji' (it's a soft J, almost a 'shi' sound) is soft and seems to imply kindness, but when combined with the final 'k' to form 'jik', sounds like a sword being sheathed. So I ended up with something between ka-JIK and ka-SHIK for the pronounciation, with it being closer to the first one.

And it's a good Arabic name.

Okay... you all think I'm crazy now, don't you? xd

Actually, I think your logic on the Prince of Persia thing fits rather well...

[VilandraMae]

I think this forum is really helpful, and I'd like to say I put as much research into names as many of you do. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be totally honest. I don't really have a system of naming characters, but I do like to make up names. Sometimes I have a name, but no character, so occasionally I use the same name a few times until I write a character and think, "Ah, this character is most deserving of this name!" Kinda crazy I know, but not everything has to make sense XD

The most recent name I've conjured up is Avery Colson...too bad I don't know who Avery is yet. Infact, I haven't even decided what gender Avery is...it could be the name of a really cute guy, or a girl possessing a lot of inner strength. I guess I mostly pick names that I think sound cool. Oh, and a lot of times last names come from the names of buildings, haha. Colson is an example--it's the name of a building at my school.

I do like researching cool names though...I've given a lot of thought to what I want to name my 8 kids, haha...storybook fantasy though...I'll never meet a man who will let me name my kids the ones I've chosen...lol. A lot of them are named after friends though, so they retain some sentimental value. Just for kicks, here they are, haha:

Joslyn Celeste
Serenity Rose (Rose after my mother)
Alexandria Lenae (Lenae, a variation of my friend Lynea)
Astasia Rachelle (Rachelle, a variation of my friend Rachel)
Vilandra Mae (haha, my username--Mae, a variation of my friend Evelyn's middle name May)
Johnathan Lee (After my friend Johnathan, and Lee after my friend Jena's middle name
Donovan Elliot (who is also a character in a story I wrote that won a scholarship)
and...the last one is left up to fate... *My Husband, Jr*

I know, crazy. 8 kids...crazy names. Crazy mother, lol.

[Kara Darkholm]

So...I have the names of my characters, is there a surname site I can look at?

[chasing_angels]

wow this was really helpful thank you!!! biggrin

[Miu Sakura]

Wow!........ I always have issues with names. I keep them simple. But just figuring out A name is hard for me..... I make a pretty good plot for a stroy, character backgrounds, and so forth. But names are a whole other deal for me..... sweatdrop But I am working on it.