I have personally found that naming a character is a rather challenging task. But I think the main thing is that the name has to suit the character and his/her personallity, because for some reason it just helps give a more realistic effect.

What are some of the methods you use to choose your character's names? Do you just choose a name at random, or rather give some thought into the names?

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Character names are important. All names are important to me, and for some reason I have to have the name solid and deffinate in my mind before I progress. This goes for character names, book titles, locations, et cetera. I don't like it, but that's just the way I am.

I typically "come up with a name" but it is rarely one I find fitting to the character.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Character names are important. All names are important to me, and for some reason I have to have the name solid and deffinate in my mind before I progress. This goes for character names, book titles, locations, et cetera. I don't like it, but that's just the way I am.
Same here, general routine is: See one or two things that sparks an idea, write the idea down in my comp book so I don't forget it (hate it when that happens), think about how the plot could work out (if needed), create characters personalities and names, begin writing. Always in that order.

I typically "come up with a name" but it is rarely one I find fitting to the character.
Really? I always found a name for my characters that if I somehow met them in real life, I could say, "Yeah, he looks like a (insert name here)". So that he/she ins't one of those people who don't fit their name. For example, one of my best friends, when I first met him, I honestly was thinking to myself "You're a Kameron? You don't look like a Kameron."

There are names, and there are names. I've been looking for an article that I recently read that was talking about names that are particularly descriptive of the character.

There's a specific word for it, I thought, but my memory may be playing tricks on me.

The specific sort of thing that I'm talking about is when you read a story and the main character is named "Everyman" or "Hiro," and the antagonist is named "Lord Foul" or "The Dark One."

That doesn't make much sense in today's world, where most people use their birth names.

Granted, I've been tempted to do that. Name a character with a cold demeanor that lives in iceland "Frost," but so far I've managed to suppress it.

One thing I might suggest, if there's a character that has a name filled with meaning, such as "Frost," perhaps you could add into the story that they chose it themself. In societies where people can choose their own names, you're much more likely to run into a "Raven Darkmind Nightwing."

I search for names on babynames.com. I search for a meaning that goes along with the story, and normally I find a name that perfectly suits my character.

Okay, seriously, does a character's name actually matter in your first draft? No one is going to see it but yourself.

I know names are important, vital even, but spending a month mulling over a handle or moniker is just another excuse not to write. Worry about names after the first draft, that is my advice. Well, that's what I do, anyway.

Meh...it normally takes me half hour to find a great name. Babynames.com is very organized. They even have it organized by origin, so if say your character is irish you can search for a meaning and then look only at the irish names.

I also use Babynames.com. I love it, and it normally only takes me a little while to have a perfect name for a character. (Ex, I was looking up a name for a chara, and I found Travis, which, while it does suit the character, it doen't sound the way I would like it, so I shortened it down to Trav, which is one of my friends nicknames).
I also use friends names, nicknames, animals names, or anything else that is close to me.

The 'net is great for this - there's no reason to ever get stuck for names. For example, I was writing a short story set in ancient Greece, and just googled 'ancient greek names', and found a site full of them straightaway! How cool is that?

thank God for Google

I use parenthood.com for baby names. It is interesting to find that I am not the only one who finds names this way. Its a great way to make the name fit the character's personality, or completely conflict with it if that is what your into.

It depends on the story but with most I'll pick a name see if it flows and if it doesn't think of another. I sometimes go on random name generators if I'm really stuck however I generally prefer to think of the names myself.

I have the same trouble finding names for my character. One problem I'm having with writing my current piece of work is the name of the main character. I'm having trouble with that, but the best thing I can think of doing is going on Google and typing in some name sites and see which one can fit the character.

But part of your character can somewhat come from your name. If you want the character to have a strong, demanding personality, then you shouldn't have a name like "Wally", because that just seems too lanky for a strong character. You have to give the character a name that will live up to his personality.

I can deffinately relate to what most of you have already said (and as I've already mentioned). For me, it's rather frustrating.

Usually I just listen to music when I think of names. I take the first letter of each word and I jumble them to make something i like dropping the rest of the letters, a weird method I know :p

for first drafts I generally use Jeff and Bob if a name hasn't hit me already. It'll come with time.. But as you have a feel for the character then I look for the meaning in babynames.com or parenthood.com and if I'm still stuck as sometimes the meaning comes up with a crappy name.. I flick through my baby name book to see what jumps out.

Since Kalibantre reminded me, the article I mentioned back on the last page about using meaningful names is from the Slactivist blog, here (http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2006/07/lb_episode_iv.html).

When I'm writing a story I try not to worry about the names of the characters. Since I don't outline I don't know who those characters are 'till I pretty far into the story. What I do is give the frist character that makes an appearence a name starting with the letter A; second character B; and so on. As I get into the story I start to figure out who they are and just do a "find/replace" search in Word and replace their name with what fits. This helps me keep my inner editor out of the writing process until I put him to work when the first draft is done.

thank God for Google

Hear hear!

Well, naming modern day characters is simple, just use names of people you know or something similar. If your using a fiction story, use typical names. If its medieval style then really stupid names like "whitewall" (naming a white wall) work really well.
Here are a couple of names for inspiration:

Nexus
Beowulf
Balthasar
Erethran
Elias
Sindri
Alphus

here are more inspirational names..

Argoth
Mirari
Deveraeux
Katan
Thellas
Laquatis
Kush
Cronus
Venex

Choosing names is hard, no doubt.

All the name sites listed are helpful for sure!

One method I use regularly is a Seattle phone book..tons of names.

Often times, I use names of people I know or variations of their names. Mostly I do this with antagonists because its my secret little form of retribution to name a despicable character after someone I dislike in real life >:)

Well -- character names are very important in that the way that they sound will help develop the feel of your book. If they don't like the way your character's name sounds, then they'll have trouble identifying with the character and have difficulty getting used to the feel of the book.

I also look up the meaning of the Character's Name with a Google Search.

DADA's Little Baby Namer (http://www.doctornerve.org/nerve/pages/interact/dadababy.shtml)

I love this site for finding fantasy names.

Ha, I guess a lot of writers go through this. I was getting irritated with this on my last story, so I went through credits on a bunch of movies and wrote down all the ones I liked.

So now my story contains, Mel Gibson the dark and disturbed Man of the house, Vin Diesel and Ethan Hawke, the psychotic brothers, Cameraon Diaz the horrid, haggard wife, Ice-T, the tall and haggard butler, and Jessica Alba, the succubus of the house.

Just joking, but that would be funny.

I look at the credits in the booklets/covers of music CDs. Some interesting names there:

"John Aguto"
"Wesey Mamea"

I usually ask someone in the room to shout names at me until I hear one I like. I usually give them a short description of the character first. Sometimes I look up films that have similar characters in and steal there names. Sometimes I find names in very peculiar places!

The name of one of the main characters in my current story, I got from a can of fly spray! I just added an 'e' on the end to name it seem original. xD

Other times, I think of names really easily because they just happen to fit into the character well.

I just use people I know, or put blanks until I come up with some good ones.

I look at the credits in the booklets/covers of music CDs. Some interesting names there:

"John Aguto"
"Wesey Mamea"

Interesting. Unique... and maybe effective. I might try it. :p

The names I choose for my stories usually depend on the story itself. In one of mine, all the characters are named for Greek, Roman and Norse mythlogical beings, but with the names changed just enough so they aren't noticable as mythological names.

For example, 5 of my characters are named Marshall, Aren, Lockie, Diana and Cybil, after Mars, Ares, Loki, Diana and Cybele respectively.

Their behaviour and attitude also reflect their names. Mars is the god of war. Marshal likes to fight. Lockie is cheeky and mischevous, and Diana is a predatory girl, like her namesake, the virgin huntress.

In other stories of mine, the characters are named after people I know and/or respect. I tend not to use the names of people close to me, because they might not like what I do to the character.

Sometimes, I don't give the characters any names at all.

I go through the oxford english names book, or I think of a person I know similar to the character and use that name, and sometimes there're just names that fit personalities perfectly. eg.James=troublemaker Lily=innocent Natalie=beautiful person

I suffer from extreme laziness so my character names are very short like Eli, Ila etc. That way my typing time is reduced (I'm slow in typing anyway) :p

Seriously though,in general fiction, I just use names that seem most believable and sound like the character. Point is to make the names belong to the character and not let them sound too ... contrived.

In fantasy, since my stories have a strong base in Indian mythology, the names tend to have origins in Sanskrit, or just random jumbled up names.

What I find challenging is naming a character with both a forename and surname. Sometimes I find a great first name that befits exacly the character's personality but after looking for surnames, there doesn't seem to be any that compliments the first name. And don't even get me started on middle names...

I suffer from extreme laziness so my character names are very short like Eli, Ila etc. That way my typing time is reduced (I'm slow in typing anyway) :p

Seriously though,in general fiction, I just use names that seem most believable and sound like the character. Point is to make the names belong to the character and not let them sound too ... contrived.

In fantasy, since my stories have a strong base in Indian mythology, the names tend to have origins in Sanskrit, or just random jumbled up names.

I type X, Y, Z or something then do a global search and replace--- talk about lazy. Although sometimes I'll use a longer name, I usually stick to short names or nick-names, like Mike Smith, names like that. I also like using nicknames, because some people actually don't even use their real names except for signing their checks. Everyone knows them as Bird, Mojo, Spider or something like that My old writing professor said I should avoid giving people unusual names, but I persist. It is like an addiction.

I prefer to come up with my own names. It helps me to be able to create a unique character that has many different traits. I find that when you go with common names you end up creating a character that is generally like every Sam or Bob that has ever been created imo.
If you go with something different, unique, it gives your character that unique, different feel to them.

@anastasiastarz - James means troublemaker? I was going to post on how difficult it is to come up with names for my main characters (everyone else seems to come to me intact) and how my current chracter was still lacking one but you solved the problem for me. I was already fiddling with that name but the meaning is perfect. :D

I let my character's choose their names. It seems weird, but it works. I write down a bunch of names, that I like or think would suit their personality, on a sheet of paper and then read them over a few times. After that I set the paper a side for a few hours then come back to it and find the name that screams out to me. Almost all of my characters have been named this way, save a few that were just named by me finding a super cool name that just fit.

Ahhhh i just hate choosing names!!! it is sooo anoying, like doing a crossword you just cant finish. but when i'm done it's pure joy. everything falls into place. the name fitsperfectly (or i would have rejected it) and i move on to the next guy.

James? James as a trubblemaker is a bit overused. it fits well, but i just see it too many times.

I read a book called Characters & Viewpoints by Orson Scott Card (the author of Ender's Game), and he wrote a passage about how he had a complete story in mind, yet he didn't know what names to put for each character, including the main one. So he just named each character with X's and O's and when he finished he claimed that the names just came together after the story had been completed.

Orson Scott Card is one of my favorite authors in the world. Not only can he write fantasticly deep philosophical books, but he can write them as sci-fis, and incredibly easy to read ones at that.
But i have to disagree with the Xs and Os thing. I dont think i could do that. I think names realy humanises the characters. and the writing phase of the book is when you put the "HUMAN" part into them. If they were labeled instead of named then i dont think i could relate ehough with them.
But anyway, we all have our methods, and as i said, he writes some fantastic stuff. so maybe it works a charm for him. :)

Is James that common? The only thing that springs to my mind is that one guy from Harry Potter...
Ah well, if I reject it my main character will be nameless again and I won't be able to start this thing. Kind of annoys me to know it's common though...

nah. it's probly only to me. I've just read a few books with james as a mischevious trouble maker.
it just reminds me of the boy-theif jimmy the hand from one of Ramond E Feist's books, he later changed his name to James when he became some sort of king thingo. There was also another james i read about and there's harrry potter's dad.
But it might be just me. Dont change your character if James suits him.

I think it would be easier for me. As im writin about the jewish revolt, Ive picked a handfull of jewish names.
Research the culture if it exists, or create your own!

nah. it's probly only to me. I've just read a few books with james as a mischevious trouble maker.
it just reminds me of the boy-theif jimmy the hand from one of Ramond E Feist's books, he later changed his name to James when he became some sort of king thingo. There was also another james i read about and there's harrry potter's dad.
But it might be just me. Dont change your character if James suits him.

Might your perception of the name James be at all colored by your choice of avatar?:)

I like names from other langauages. I luv the fact that most people in the western world have hebrew names- except for me. I feel left out

Might your perception of the name James be at all colored by your choice of avatar?:)

What? You mean Milamber??
I dont know what youre talking about!:rolleyes:

I've got 20000-names.com (http://www.20000-names.com) bookmarked. It's great. You've got your average every day names, and then if you're doing fantasy like I do, you've got names from different countries. That's great because I've got a big world and can give people regional names, as well as the meaning of the name.

admittedly, actually choosing a name is the hard part... I like to say them out loud (or at least, in my head) though some things sound better than they look, in my opinion, like a lot of Arabic and Irish names. Then again, for things like Irish and Arabic names, if you don't know the pronouniation you're kind of screwed anyway. Like Soibhan. It's pronounced Shivawn

that sounds good. should i use that or babynames.com? is one better than the other?

What helps me, is I pick a name I like, then create a character for that name. If it does not work for the current piece I am writing, then I tuck it away for a later date. Basically, having a file system of characters ^.^

I spend ages trying to find the perfect names for characters on baby name websites. It can be quite frustrating when you have a fully formed character ready to be written but you can't find the right name or them.

In that case, Tori, why not just use any "name" that you can keep track o while you are writing. You can change it later when you "know" the character better, and realize, "She seems like a Sharon to me!" Or you'll =have the news on, and hear the perfect name for one of your characters.

Don't let it be an excuse not to dive into the writing. With Find and Replace, there is no reason not to defer naming!

Okay, seriously, does a character's name actually matter in your first draft? No one is going to see it but yourself.

I know names are important, vital even, but spending a month mulling over a handle or moniker is just another excuse not to write. Worry about names after the first draft, that is my advice. Well, that's what I do, anyway.

I start writing, and by the time I figure out what the character's personality will be like, the perfect names comes soon after.

With Find and Replace, there is no reason not to defer naming!
Assuming you're referring to the tool in Microsoft Word - you've just solved a major problem for me. I never actually realised such a helpful tool existed. :)

Here's what I do:

Consider the main or most important aspect of the character, and try to think of one word which could describe that. This will be the character's last name. Second, just find a first name that sounds good with it by searching online and such.

For example:

In my novel, the main character is a rich and powerful man. This led me to give him the last name "Sterling", which symbolizes... I guess you could say, perfection? Anyways, I found that the typical American name "Michael" went perfectly with it, and Michael Sterling was born!

I just think up a random name and go with that. Or if I'm really stumped, I go to babynames.com

I go to babynames.com as well to get names.

But other times I just go for a random name. I love creating my own names. I think it gives the story more flavor when the characters have their own names. Not like Micheal or nick

I name characters first, then along with that comes, personality, and I love creating original names, they are so right......also I love bringing out the uniqueness in names by altering them a little, for example, Michael and Mikael, Fannie and Phannie, if you get what I mean!!

Whilst names are important, I am always cautious about giving a hero a name like "Maximus Dragonhacker". I mean seriously, who names their kids that?

The important thing is to distinguish between a person's Name, and their persona. Typcially, I will try and pick a name that sounds right, but rarely will it be an unusual name, unless I want one for a specific purpose.

To give examples from my Evernight series; There are two characters with very unusual names. First is Mittens, an ex-slave turned sociopathic killer, and Innit Vexin, whose name is a deliberate joke. Everyone else, by the standards of the fictional universe, have pretty normal names.

I search for them on babynames.com and look up the meaning of the name I want it to have (this can also describe the character's personality), and decide which one I like best.

I usually go with normal names and I rarely bother with their meanings since I find it odd and annoying to have the prophesied hero have some name that conveniently means "light-bringer" or something else of that nature. Plus it's somehow fun finding out later that I named my sociopathic murderer a name that means "gift of god".

Speaking of names, does anyone know where I could find a list of Inupiaq names? Specifically ones beginning with 'K'?

I search for them on babynames.com and look up the meaning of the name I want it to have (this can also describe the character's personality), and decide which one I like best.


haha, i use that site alllll the time
but yes, finding the perfect name for a character is hard, especially the main characters. But with like little extra characters I just give them any old name I like.

Fedora, just run a yahoo search!

I did, they have Eskimo names and a few Inuit names but nothing specifically for the Inupiat branch let alone ones beginning specifically with K...

try 27,000 Baby Names, Meanings and Origins at Baby Names World (www.babynamesworld.com)

*double post*

triple post

That site doesn't have Eskimo names at all.
Though, I did find "Kirima" on a site for naming Alaskan sled dogs...it means "a hill" so it might work for a person.

try this:
Eskimo Baby Names - Eskimo Names (www.babynamebox.com/eskimo-baby-names.html)

That's a dodgy link. They only had one name listed and when I went to click on another letter it said 'the page doesn't exist'.

I got that message repeatedly when trying out all the other types of names. Probably verify the site is good before posting the link in future.

I've got American, Japanese, French and German name websites bookmarked, so I can just go there and search out a name for any of my characters.

I usually make up names for some of my more unusual characters, and half the time I use normal names as well (like Eric, Devin, Henry, etc.). I've also used normal words for names that usually wouldn't be names at all (like Zephyr, Swift, Tonguelick, etc.). I've also used a few Spanish words as names for some of my characters (like Orin, which means "rust" in Spanish). There's so many sources for names, from your brain to your family members ^^

Tonguelick? I can't decide if that's somewhat redundant or somewhat pervy. Maybe both? XD

Tonguelick? I can't decide if that's somewhat redundant or somewhat pervy. Maybe both? XD

It was a name for a non-human character, just to let ya know XD

I don't know if anybody has posted it here, but I find this site rather helpful when thinking of names. http://seventhsanctum.com/ Other than that. It could be fun.

About naming, I usually don't really give meanings to the names unless the story calls for it (when I was just starting on writing, I was pretty obsessed about this too). I figured people aren't going to go all over the place researching 'Ecanusia' is an angel of writing (I did research this... guilty as charged, D'oh).

I typically think of a name that 'sounds' good when I reread the story.

I've found that a lot of my characters come with a name.

The last short story I wrote only had five characters--three 'central' characters and two to make it seem more realistic (ie, people don't communicate usually with only one other person on a daily basis). One of the characters, Ruben, sort of popped into my head fully formed, exactly how I wrote him down, and he came with the name Ruben. I couldn't very well change that once he'd sort of appointed himself that. The other characters--Abigail, Louise, Astile, and Oyu, were somewhat different. Ruben and Abigail are siblings and I loved the cadence of "ROO-ben and ah-BIH-gail". Ruben is often called Roo throughout the story, so I called Abigail Abi to give them both a nickname. Louise was Lou originally, because I liked the idea of having Roo and Lou. Astile was a name I lifted from Pete Doherty's son (:redface:)--I like it a lot, but I don't think I would ever use it for a real child. Oyu is the name of one of my roleplay characters' children. I borrowed him for the story. I didn't name him.

My latest story's character's names happened in much the same way. I knew I wanted the female protagonist to be called Alice, and the male protagonist didn't have a name until page two, when I wrote, almost unconsciously, "You look nice, Jarvis". So Jarvis he became.

I name most of my characters in the manner that Roo and Jarvis were named. It just...happens.

I go to the 1990 U.S. Census list of most common names, and then close my eyes, scroll a ways, and pick one out of whatever comes onto the screen. It works really well.

*sings the praises of behindthename.com*

*Ahem* Anyway. My characters can come prenamed, prepackaged, fully-assembled, and paid shipping, or I might have to get them in pieces, whenever I find them or they become available and doing a few things custom. Or anything in between.

For instance, a couple of my characters (from separate stories) popped into my head as if when I thought the name, I called them from some abyss. And they're like, "You called?" Jack, I was musing on things like the jack of all trades, master of none sort of thing, and suddenly there was my baby Jack Master, who's now quickly growing into something amazing, like some demented plant.

Alfie, well, I was bored. Came across a website that if you put your name in, it'll give you your "vampire name". I wanted to see how it worked. Stick my name in and set my gender as a male, and up pops Aelfric. And in much the same way, he pops into my mind. Scholarly, writerly, religous, far-set too-blue eyes, long black hair, ancient wardrobe, petite, short figure, leadership skills, genius, and all, all popped up at once. He's gone through some minor renovations, but he's about 78% the same as when he started. (he's also, apparently, an early-1200s religious scholar/teacher/writer reincarnate of Aelfric of Eynsham, but that's beside the point. O.o)

Then others, like Symphony and Angel, appeared, then festered for a while before suddenly they had names like they had had them all along. Still others, I thought long and hard about. Bavol, for instance, and his cast, have all gone through crazy renovations. Ciel was Zak was Edward, Bavol was Farouri, Evelyn was Evelle... Heavens, they all started out as Sonic-style animals! Ciel/Zak/Edward was based on my boredom during a 4h dog show, wanting to draw, humanizing the dog in the only style I knew, and suddenly my longest-lasting story ever. Still haven't written it, but, still.

Sometimes they mean something, other times, they just fit. My Misha's a guy named Michel who was once Michael before I found the French version of the name. Really, the entire naming process has always been one of my favorite things. It's like embarking on some project, tying a neat bow, finally unlocking something--when things just click, it's such a rush. I love it. :p

I'd put thought into it, but don't base names on characters personalities. That's like saying to someone: "You look like a Jessica," when their actual name is Nicole.
I just chose a nice name at random, just make sure it isn't anything that sounds annoying (like Chester. I HATE that name!).
If you need more help then just look in baby books and stuff like that! :)

I usualy think of famous people, or people I know, and pick a name from them.
Then make the rest up.

I've always had difficulties choosing a good name for unusual characters. I go crazy for weeks, trying to figure out a name!! I just hate it when the protagonist's name is normal! I once used "Searoar" for a dead king. It worked and people liked it! Searoar was supposed to be a someone who ran from our world to a goblin-island by sea.

A name is something precious and special to each individual character you write.
So what I do to find that name is I describe the character perfectly to myself. I write it all on Microsoft Word, every singly minute detail of that character, appearance and personality. Then I picture that character in my mind. Since I have a perfect description of the guy/girl, the name just comes to me. =]
I think there's been one time that the name ended up being unable to fit. In my entire life. =]

In dramas its a lot more difficult coming up with names than in fantasy. Fantasy you can just put random things together to get something vaguely cool sounding and makes sense to the general personality of a newly developed creature. Its using real names that bothers me, and I tend to always choose a similar one.

And how the heff do you decide what to call your book? I've got countless projects but I haven't got one good sounding name. I always feel the title has a massive effect.

For a book title, That's really more of a finishing touch after all else is done. It's also the most likely thing to be changed by a publisher, because it's more of a marketing issue.

That's true, and I've heard that before- but if you just want a story to have a satisfactory title for yourself, are there any tips? I also find it ridiculously hard to think of good titles for my longer stories.

Is anyone else as neurotic about names as I am? I don't just mean in a story, I mean as in, everything has to have a name. If I'm playing Pokemon and I catch something, I've got to sit there for about ten minutes or so until I come up with a good name. And after about ten of them all the Tom Dick and Harry's are gone and you have to start using Lawrence, Horton, Carlita, and such...

And some things I'll have to give a name, like my cat is named Mew. We were watching the first Pokemon movie. All my Drives and devices have names (Robot Slave, Data, Robot Slave Jr.). If it can have a name it needs a name.

Is anyone else as neurotic about names as I am?

Nope, you're insane. :-p

Yeah, I get that soemtimes too, Edward.

I can spend ages coming up with a name for something, like a character, until it sounds exactly right. And I can't seem to be able to carry on with doing any other work until I come up with that name. It's sort of fun, on one hand, but on the other, rather annoying ;)

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

If you're really stuck, just choose a placeholder name. By the time your story is complete, you'll probably have found a name you're happy with, and you can do a global replace (aren't word processors great?). If your placeholder name is at all reasonable, you may have become sufficiently accustomed to it that it no longer feels imperfect to you. After all, in real life, we don't really get to rename our friends (nicknames don't count).

Don't let name selection become an excuse to procrastinate!

I always agonise over what to call my characters. At the moment, I've got a Wilma who was this close to being Olive. I've also got a Eugenia, and I'm still thinking maybe she should be called Gertrude. Henry's name seems to fit him well, and I couldn't imagine him with any other name. Fraumgarst I just put together like that, and I still really like it. I was looking for the ultimate bad-guy rebel name when I thought of Zak Chillie.

Why, no, of course I'm not crazy! Why do you ask?