I normally just download several baby names and last name apps . I also look on the census website for popular names for certain time periods.
Generally, I don't give people 'appropriate' first or last names for their role in the story (like a 'shadowy' name indicating a villain, for example). I do so because a person develops into a villain long after being born and named. The name could indicate something about the character's family or their ambitions for the character. A person named 'Clytemnestra' might have parents who put on airs or a mother who studies Greek/Roman mythology. A person named Jack or Sam but with a 'wealthy' last name (Penton, Ford, Rockefeller) would come from a patrician family(read Paul Fussel's book 'Class'; patrician families often are unconcerned about giving the child a 'unique' name as they are confident that his accomplishments will make him 'unique'). One character in another story had a name given to Buddha. His mother was deranged and thought he was a Boddhisattva (reincarnation of God, sort of). In a story I'm currently working on, the three children in one family have markedly different names, because they are each by a different father/husband with different ambitions. The daughter receives a very plain, forgettable name, as she was not regarded as important or significant by her father. In no case was the mother given any choice in the names of her children. Sometimes the names I pick are ironic, such as the unhappy woman with a cheerful name. Sometimes I use nick names or how the person writes his name, to indicate something about the person's adult development, but I don't use given names that way. For example, a person who became a criminal might have a 'tough' 'gang' nick name, but his mother may have given him a very stately, genteel or scholarly name, reflecting the mother's hopes for the person at the start of his life. For another example, a very pretentious character refers to herself as 'Dyannia' though her given name is Diane. Another pretentious character obsessively dislikes her first name, so gives herself a made-up middle name and goes by that, signing her name 'E. Arianna Clegg'. The character's name might not even be remembered, if, from the narrator's point of view, that person is unimportant, or the narrator is preoccupied with something else at that point. The story I'm working on right now is written completely from the viewpoint of one character. He is mentally challenged, and initially refers to a person who exploits him as 'uncle'. The exploiting character insisted (initially) that he was a relative. After he escapes 'uncle', he stops calling him 'uncle'.
If it's fantasy or sci-fi, I just make up shit. Or, as one critic of Paolini's Inheritance Cycle once put it, I “bang on the keyboards like a monkey” until I find a name that looks cool. Of course, I make sure to keep them as pronounceable as possible, imagining myself as a reader who has never seen the names before. If it's historical, I keep the names legit for the time period. If I have a character named Akira Yamamoto walking around 1880s New York, I'd better have a good background story to explain how he got there. Of course, there's the obvious of ensuring the names actually fit the setting. Robert Smith would look wholly out of place in a piece set in Ancient Egypt or Greece. That's when research comes in.
My YA dystopian WIP character is named Amara Dayo. The MC of my second novel for Nanowrimo (a totally unrelated project, the one I described recently in the character forum) is going to be named Bekah Koppler. I typically use baby naming sites when picking out main character names. The selection boils down to: - The "vibe" of the name, both spoken and in writing, fitting the "vibe" I get from the persona of the character. But not too closely. I wouldn't name a goth girl Raven or an uptight person Prudence, because people don't yet know what their kids' personalities will be like when they're naming their newborn children. - The name must fit the heritage and time period of the character's birth. Or if it's a future or fantasy novel, I'll use a name that's unusual enough to not be too familiar, but that also avoids the cliche fantasy name stereotypes. (No apostrophes, excessive Y's, etc) - If it's a nickname, what kind of nickname would my MC naturally have? For example, anyone can be called Elizabeth, but you can get different nicknames like Lizzi, Beth, Betty, Eli, etc and those nicknames all conjure up images of vastly different people. The type of nickname someone would choose (or be dubbed with) can speak to their personality and image.
I am kinda writing something now, a short story I suppose, and I want a unisex name for one of my characters. I was wondering, does the name Jaime (not Jamie, yet is pronounced Jamie) work for both males and females or does it sound feminine? Thanks in advance.
I read that as the Spanish Jaime, pronounced "High-may," and I don't know if that's ever used as a feminine name. I may just be ignorant, so get more feedback than that. If you want your character's name to sound like "Jamie," just spell it like that. That's unisex, no doubt.
I personaly feel that our names hold power and have a big impact on our lives. I like to get a character all sorted out, his personality first, and then I imagine what he should be called. For Example: If I make a character that has brown hair, and hazel eyes. I might choose Jack. Or a girl, who base blonde hair, likes the beach, and green eyes. I would do Samantha. That's what I do.
hmm depends on the story i guess like i have this story about the amish where i useed names from the bible with my urban fantasy i used names of family member and others that ive heard and liked i alos like names from mythology as well
There's nothing more jarring than reading something that is supposed to be set in contemporary Britain or America and the characters having daft, old fashioned or elaborate unlikely names. I enjoy tinkering with the mundane. My main character is called Zachary Preston. his first name is somewhat unusual for England, but offset by a bland surname. Gerald Hendricks is another main character. Realistic but most importantly, relate-able. He's a man who doesn't like rock music who shares a surname (albeit different spelling) with one of rock's biggest icons. Then again, I'm also calling a guy from an aristocratic background Timotheus so feel free to disregard me.
I'm more of an odd ball when i choose a characters name. For human and humanoid characters, I dive into the psychology of my character. Their name (IMO) HAS to fit their personality and experiences. For non-human characters, its more so based upon their culture, planet, or social stereotype mainly. But, I'm also a crazy jarhead. ~Tera
I tend to name characters intuitively: just sort of pull a name out of the air. At most I'll page through a name book or list and wait for one to jump out at me - usually there will be one or two that just feel right to me, or a combination that's just right. I find if I think too hard about it, the name will suck - it will sound wrong and clunky and affected, especially if I try to put meaning in there. Sometimes though, I'll end up picking a name that is relevant (for example, there's a character I want to use, a self-aggrandizing idealist with the surname Cadmus, which I found out means "One who excels"), but most of the time, there's little to no relevance.
There are a few ways I go about choosing names for my characters. I normally have a backlog of names that I think are cool/interesting. So before I even start my outline, I pick a name to start with. Other times I wait until I lock down the character's personality, development, etc. Sometimes a name just pops out to me by then. Other times when I'm really stumped I pick a random adjective that could describe my character, translate it into various languages (usually latin or greek) and pick the one I like the most.
I choose characters from tv shows or movies. That way I know what they look like and I can pick the character that has the appropriate mannerisms I can build on. The tv studios do more of the work for me If you want to try and publish you have to change the names obviously but by then you have a much better idea of you characters obviously.
I have this problem when choosing names for characters. You want something different yet not too different that it gives the impression that you've tried hard, to be funky (If you know what I mean.) It has to suit the character and it also has to standout at the same time. If your writing Sci-Fi or Fantasy stories then you can have more fun with names, I feel, than if you were writing about someone who was having family or relationship woes. (My opinion.) I do confess to using the name of a well known biscuit for one of my characters once
Read the book by James Jacob Friech ! I don't exactly remember the name but yeah it was a great book on names
I've always had difficulty thinking of names for my characters. They mostly end up being too generic or unbelievable as a result =/ I think I usually just make characters names that have cool words I like in the last name slot. Like Matthew Strife!
At the moment, I find myself naming them based on theme. My MC's name translates into "Spear of Black Water", so my villains tend to have names based around light.
I usually hit one of two sites, depending on my mood. Seventh Sanctum (It's okay if you're looking for "normal" names) Behind the Name (Their random name generator really makes you go sometimes, with the weirdness) I used to hit Kabalarians, when they had this EXTENSIVE name list, but they've since removed it.
i googled popular names in the era i was writing about. i chose several i liked, then had my spouse pick for me. she picked my least favorite lol...but now it has grown on me and i really like it.
Often I'm just really fond of that name, although I'll use it based on meaning or a historical/mythical individual In an old vampyr fiction, I had my main character named Judas because I love the name but it's not typical fair game due to one owner's bad rap. My current project has a Llia because I always felt bad about Biblical Leah being second string and second best, so unloved & never good enough. An older project of various creatures & supernatural entities I gave them all surnames relating to authors or directors, like a zombie as Jeremiah Romero, witchhunter Sal Blackwood, daughter of mad scientists Ringo Lovecraft, and seraphim Seth Alighieri, et cetera
Grab a random DVD from your shelf, write down the first Christian name you see on the cover. Then grab a different random DVD from your shelf and write down the first surname you see. Bingo! You got yourself a name. I'm going to do this right now and see what I end up with. Hold on.... Ian Geeson First DVD was The Sorcerers (Ian Ogilvy) Second DVD was Fear in the Night (Sally Geeson)
I use the names of friends or coworkers, but I mix and match first and last names. One of my main characters is named Ronald Rhodes. I chose his first name from one friend and the last name from another. The character is actually inspired by both of these people so every time I think of his name it reminds me of how he should act or react based on the real life people. And both of these people know each other so if they ever read the work it'll be a nice inside joke amongst a small group.
