Sticky: The Naming Guidebook

[radioactive alchemist]

First post~
I get thanks? whee heart

Quote:

Try to avoid overused words and cliches. Especially with some genre works, it's easy to get caught up in stereotypical names. Things like fantasy books with Legend/Saga/Quest/ItemName in the title, or Vampire stories with Blood/Crimson/Dark/Night. This doesn't mean you can't use them, but keep in mind they have been used many times before, and certain words may stereotype your story.

I have this list saved on my computer called "What NOT to name your game" (although I can't for the life of me find the forums/post I got it from) that would also apply to titles of the mostly-fantasy variety.

A link~

And if you'd like I can make it a pretty page with sections for different genres and update it accordingly and such.





Also of potential titular interest, the 2006 NaNo Adopt-A-Title thread.

[Buldozer]

I have nothing to contribute.

Save myself, to the second post. surprised

[Opossumbly]

It's about time we got a sticky like this. Thanks! It's fantastic. I only hope it helps.

[Eve Ill Zeeb Ra]

radioactive alchemist

I get thanks? whee heart

Yep. 90% of our name sites came from you. heart

[Cyan_Icewolf]

I have to say that I have always liked this site for naming:

http://www.zoope.com/

It gives you alternative names (typically spelling wise) and their definitions.

[LordOink]

you can use a baby name book to find names too ^^

[Tasho]

Seventh Sanctum http://www.seventhsanctum.com/
and the Forge http://www.thewingless.com/forge/
Are two of my favorite generators. Seventh Sanctum has generators for everything from H.P. Lovecraft style names to Elf style names, to Wrestler namers! Even a silly super hero generator, dragon generators, generators for inn/tavern names, country names, spells, skills, abilities...okay, so it's not all JUST names, but it's a wonderful generator home all the same!
The Forge has fantasy sounding names, like one of my (soon to be) main characters, Ebon Moon. Her alias being Day Summoner. Yes, they're common words put together, and anyone can do that, but the generator makes it easier to see several different names at once, to think and ponder, and you can save one name while you generate others.

The Seventh Sanctum also has links to several other generators.

[SquidRoxMSox]

Quote:

Mashing keys or giving your character a name like Magdln'iavra might look cool, but can you even pronounce it?

Easy. Mag-delen'-eye-av-rah

[Kelocena]

Dev Kimiko

A rose by any other name..."

I know it's rude to correct people but... Every time I see this mistake I have to. It's "A rose by any other word / would smell as sweet." It kind of makes the Shakespeare fans, like myself, reading this thread scoff.

In any case, your thread is very helpful, unlike the Gaian Name Bank. For Stephen Colbert's sake I found Akuma on that list! I thought, "Someone's gonna blindly use that name for their main hero and not know what it means." It means demon!

Thank you very much to everyone for taking the time to make this.

[Dev Kimiko]

Kelocena

Dev Kimiko

A rose by any other name..."

I know it's rude to correct people but... Every time I see this mistake I have to. It's "A rose by any other word / would smell as sweet." It kind of makes the Shakespeare fans, like myself, reading this thread scoff.

In any case, your thread is very helpful, unlike the Gaian Name Bank. For Stephen Colbert's sake I found Akuma on that list! I thought, "Someone's gonna blindly use that name for their main hero and not know what it means." It means demon!

Thank you very much to everyone for taking the time to make this.

Wiki quotes has both version sweatdrop . I was kind of ad-hoc paraphrasing so I know it's not exact.

Quote:

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Variant: What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.

Though 'word' is more likely the correct version.

I'm glad you find this thread helpful though xd . We'll be sure to update it with some of these new sites and suggestions.

[griffin_dancer]

Thanks for posting this! I have always had a really hard time coming up with good names/titles. Also another good resource is your friends. One of my friends was having alot of trouble with what to title her next story and we sat down together and she gave me a really breif summary and then the names of a couple of stort stories that she had written with the same character/setting. Between the two of us we managed to get a really nice title. Sometimes it might just take a pair of fresh eyes to find the right name/title!

[PAnZuRiEL]

I'd just like to point out that Akira can also be a girl's name. For example, in the anime/manga School Rumble, there is a female character named Takano Akira.

It's often very hard for foreigners to tell whether Japanese names are male or female; the distinction isn't related to the sounds of the names, but probably to their meaning. For example, names ending in "ko" (the kanji for "child" wink are most often female names. Names containing things like "tora" (tiger) and "tetsu" (iron) are likely to be masculine.

[Dev Kimiko]

PAnZuRiEL

I'd just like to point out that Akira can also be a girl's name. For example, in the anime/manga School Rumble, there is a female character named Takano Akira.

It's often very hard for foreigners to tell whether Japanese names are male or female; the distinction isn't related to the sounds of the names, but probably to their meaning. For example, names ending in "ko" (the kanji for "child" wink are most often female names. Names containing things like "tora" (tiger) and "tetsu" (iron) are likely to be masculine.

Oh, yes xd . The reason the name 'Akira' comes to me is because it's mentioned in Shadow Star, where one of the main female characters is called Akira. However, it's noted that the name is very unusual to be given to a girl. So I always seem to remember than as an example.

Maybe some foreign language name site digging is in order...

[Fire Flower Sakura]

Thanks For the Info ='-'= *hugs all who made this possible*

PS: since most names are from manga/anime, you should make a list of strictly japanese names ='-'=

[Wiffle-o]

That's very useful o_o

I always have a hard time choosing a name -_- Then i come up with somthing stupid.