If I'm using human characters, I use names of my students. If I'm naming people of other worlds, I watch Hell's Kitchen until I hear a neat name and modify it. Also, this website is awesome for fantasy names: http://rinkworks.com/namegen/
I always have a horrible time creating names for my characters, but since I've only written short stories with a dark tone, I've been able to get away with not naming them. Poe often didn't name his characters. I've always felt that anonymity added to the creepy tone of his writing. It's as if to suggest the character could be anyone--a neighbor, a friend, even yourself.
If the story is going well, I don't create names, I "remember" them. As in, "Hey, what was the name of those friends my MC borrowed that vacation house from? Oh, yeah, it was . . . " And there ya go.
Typically it's a name I guess from the area where that character was born but it's usually a name that has to do with that character's personality.
Yes yes yes Behind The Name and Seventh Sanctum are great! I will also search "popular girls names in 1880" and stuff like that. Google translate... such a great idea!
Another source of (real) names I've just discovered - never previously gave it any thought: Facebook. All those mugshots labelled 1 mutual friend - people you'll probably never know. Some crackers in there.
The age and gender of the character and the decade and century in which my story take place have a lot to do with the names I choose. Stacy and Scott for example were popular several decades ago. But the sound of a name is important to me, too. Alex, for example, has a different ring to it than Mark or Steve, and I like the sound of Emily and Linda. Can't identify any criteria, though. Interesting thread. Glad I found it.
Is there any reason not to surnames from sites like the seventh sactum? It just seems kind of rude to grab someone random persons last name like that. The other sites didn't seem to have surname lists. Or common surname lists?
No, no. Seventh sanctum is based on census data. It's not actually spitting peoples names out at users.
Wait, so seventh sanctum is just making up names? What is it doing with census data then? Sorry if I sound stupid.
Basically it's mixing up random names based on names provided by the U.S. census. So while there's might be a census result for "Jack Asher", seventh sanctum might spit out John Asher or Jacob Asher. They do hit on peoples actual names, but only because the algorithm will naturally spit back real names.
Oh well going back to what I was originally saying. Is it rude to use names this way? Like if there is a John Asher is using the name Asher rude? Even if seven sactum shows it to be as Brandon Asher. I am still using a real persons real name? Right?
Well yes that is someone's name, but no it's not rude. There are real people named John Smith but none of them are going to be offended if you use their names. The boiler-plate is the phrase "any resemblance to people living or dead is entirely coincidental. Making up a random name, and using the same name from a generator would net the same result. There are 300 million people in America, even if you had a brilliant capacity for random name generation, you're probably going to land on someone's real name.
Fair enough. Thanks. In my case my story has magic and stuff so I suppose that line is kind of implied even had I not said it. When I have more time and energy definitely going to go looking though there for surnames. Thanks again.
If I pick out some surnames for my characters and want to get feedback from you guys on how they sound is there a place for that? Or is it just make a thread?
Just go ahead and make a new thread for that one. This is just a conglomeration of methods, not a way of choosing which one is best.
I've never heard of Seventh Sanctum until now. I tend to use http://fantasynamegenerators.com/ to generate names and use them for inspiration (ie, change them slightly to suit my needs). It seems to have a much better variety, plus some of the generators do have last names.
I need to try some of these methods, because this has always been a struggle for me. I come up with part of their names, either last or first, but the whole name evades me for a long time before I'm satisfied. This might help, especially for my fantasy novel.
I choose names by reading the obituary section, figuring out which ones don't have living relatives, which names look regular and blend in more, which names fit my gender and ethnicity, what social security numbers are easier to write, all the standard stuff.
Sometime I relate the names to someone actually real. I would look at a character and actually have a character creation page on my docs that I use. Sometimes I go through the whole entire five or so pages of the creation doc and do the name last. If there is someone in your life that has the same characteristics, you could use a name of theirs or something similar. Hope it helps
This is probably the hardest part about writing for me. I can write pages and pages and not have a name for the main character. In 8th grade, my English teacher gave us a character creation sheet that was approximately five pages. 3/4 of the time, I answered all of the question etc, without even coming up with a name. After filling out the pages, I would look over what I had just created and usually a name would pop in mind. If not, I would also think about the personality of my friends or family. If any of them replied, I would use their name or something close to it. This would also allow me to have something to go off of and have an idea instead of a blank slate. If all else fails, ask someone. nine out of 10 times would someone give you a name that is usable. Hope this helps
the last thought of asking is something ive seen a lot, and once i was able to help the person struggling find a suitable name, which in this case happened to be simply Gideon
