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What's In A Name?

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Deafening the Silence

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 4:39 pm


I freaking hate coming up with names for my characters. I either think it's too cliche, too common, or too hard to pronounce. I was so sick of trying to come up with names for one story, that I just left them completely out.

How do you come up with good names?
PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 5:05 pm


Name generators.

0drizzt0

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 6:01 pm


It depends. I just give them a random name like Fred or Paul if it's in a real world setting. Often, I will read articles and pull names from random places.
I also research names and base them on regions so characters from one area will get Roman, Egyptian, or other names to show they share a common culture. I can also give them names that play off their personality gave a woman with a leadership role the name Bucco which means fool, despite the fact that she is very dependable and gave an impetuous man the name Pullo which I believe means young animal.
If they are from a more metropolitan area, I will give them random names but still make them names I would enjoy. Names like Anna, Renee, Evi for women and names like Victor, Jamis or Hector for men.

Like real people, sometimes there is reason behind a person's name but sometimes it's completely random. Most of the time, the name still fits the person. I recently met a woman named Lisette and her name fit her perfectly but I don't know completely why. She is the first Lisette I have ever met.
PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:04 pm


I stick things that sound cool together (like my user name)

Also if you want your character's name to have a meaning, go to google translator, translate the word into multiple languages and merge those together or just use one of those words as the character's name.

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Alexis Devoncroix

PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:13 pm


My friends and I will get together and brainstorm names, which is really cool since we're from all over. It's really helpful to hear what everyone has to say, because then you can mix and match.

Another thing we do is go through baby name sites. Lots of really interesting names there, and some even give you meanings for the name, where it originated, and if there are any related names.
PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:03 pm


I do like giving them some kind of meaning, but I also don't write alot of fantasy anymore. It's almost all realistic fiction or YA.

I do like the idea of baby name sites, that's a clever way to get them.

Sometime when I'm really stuck... I just post on facebook "Need a name. Male. Skater. GO!" And... sometimes get reasonable feedback.

Deafening the Silence

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Kasi Karra
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 8:01 pm


lol sometimes
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 2:38 pm


I just wait for a name to come to me. watching tv and reading is usually where i find names. if im really desperate, ill type in what im looking for, "like name meaning fire" or "tough guy name".

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Jessie-the-Foodie

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 5:50 pm


Well, my inspiration for names comes from a lot of things. I have characters with a wide range of names. Sometimes I find the name by looking up their meaning, or thinking of or hearing a name and looking up its meaning to confirm whether or not I want to use it. The names don't always fit the personality or appearance of the character either. Some are just names---to be names, others are names to fit them, and others are names that don't fit them, or that have certain meanings that either go against the character or say what he or she is, et cetera. Some of my characters even have nicknames, or names that they're called instead of their real names, etc.

I also take into consideration where my character's from, his or her race, the type of story he or she is in, etc when thinking of names. For example, I have a lot of Characters that are Japanese or part Japanese, and while many of them have Japanese names, not all do. There are also some that aren't really Japanese, but do have a Japanese name, XD. For example, I have a Japanese character named Joey, and a blond girl named Ai, but in her original story, she was from Japan...

Hm...

Sometimes I use names of people I really know too, and other times I take a name from another person's character, and see how often it's used on other characters. If it's used enough, I'll use it too (like the name Hiroshi for example, or Hiro, or Hiroshima. Hiro seems to be very popular in Japanese names). Other times I'll take a name that I see that I like and I'll modify it, etc...hm..,
PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 11:33 pm


I just make one up, and evade the ones I dislike, and just go with the ones I came up with, even if I change my mind later. If it gets to me too much, I just chang it.

And I come up with names that are suiting towards the characters and the whole plot.

Cloom

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 2:09 am


I steal names of characters from books and games. Like Morwen.
PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2010 10:51 am


i sometimes use my friends names or sometimes the first names of celebrities. like one of my friends names is Safari-Lace and her bro's name is Justin-Storm. my best friends name is Breeze. another one is and belive it or not her name is actualy Stormy Raines. i also look in my yearbooks for names.
i also get the names out of the books iv read and the shows i watch

the_kill_from_yesterday

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 4:12 pm


I flip through the nearest books and see what kind of names are in there. Then, I find a name that's probab;y never used.

Or, I think of a language I like, and look up words that fit my character, like "kind", "strange", or "evil". Then I derive the name from that.

I also look up names from different nationalities. I most commonly use French, Native American, and Hawaiian. They have some pretty awesome and unique names.
PostPosted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 6:18 pm


I used to stress out a lot about names, spending hours on name sites and whatnot. I even asked for naming advice on the chatterbox on this site about a year ago and got some very negative feedback and was afraid of Gaia for a few months after that xD.
But anyway, apart from my personal experience with that, I used to determine a name by just choosing one or going with it. Or sometimes, and this generally isn't recommended but I still do it, name them after a character you like, or maybe a version of a name of a character you like. For example, one of my characters is named Tybalt, like the character in Romeo and Juliet.
For males, just stay away from the name Max. It's cute but radically overused in literature. I sound like a hypocrite right now because one of my current characters is named Jack, which is also overused.
Nowadays when I write, I just improvise the names from something I learned in school that day (or something of the sort) and go with it, and by the time I'm done, the name fits like a glove.
I do apologize for the rant, I tend to go off on tangents when discussing topics like this.

inactive23847

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The "I'm soooo stuck" unstickifier

 
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