The only one I'd object to is Anana. Seriously, it's far too tempting to pronounce it Ananas. If you didn't know, ananas is a pretty common name for pineapple - I think it's the latin name, and definitely ananas is Czech for pineapple. I don't remember which other language uses that now, but it's definitely common. I'd stay away. I know "ananas" isn't English and you're likely writing for an English audience, but the more educated lot might find something to giggle about, and it wouldn't translate well into foreign languages (that's probably running before walking, but hey, can't hurt to plan ahead). If nothing else, it's also very similar to Banana. Whichever way you look at it, Anana is a bad name, imo. How about just Anna? Or Ainna? Or Anayna? Anyna? Aaliyah? One of my students is called Aine, pronounce "Ay-nair" and that's kinda pretty, though you'll have to play with the spelling a bit as Japanese names don't translate well for English pronounciation. It means love and music. And I know you'e got rid of Echo, but for what it's worth, personally I like the name. My friend wrote a book where one of her characters is called Essence, which I also think is very pretty.
Love the names, I especially like Oran & Oeric. I never noticed the Eragon thing...I always figured he changed Aragorn up a bit. Seeing how Tolkien seems to have been a huge influence on that series. Also I'm pretty sure Ananas is pineapple in nearly every language other than English, you know because English is dumb.
What fantasy series doesn't have Tolkien influences these days? But yeah, do any of these names have meaning or are you just making something that "sounds cool"? I prefer my character's names to be well thought out and clever.
Again, I greatly appreciate all the input. I understand the concern with Anana, but I think I'm going to keep it. Its resemblance to Inanna (a Sumerian goddess) has a lot of appeal for me, and I really like the multiple meanings of Anana. When I first chose names for all my characters, I had made them up. But I chose them so long ago that my naming style has since change. I like my character names to have meaning relating to the character, which is why it's so hard for me to pick names. All of these new names have some kind of special meaning relating to their character. Thanks again.
I'm sorry to be boring, but I'm sure any of those names could work. Like David said above, what matters is what the characters do. Of course certain names evoke a certain atmosphere and if they have known origins, you might want to check what they mean so you don't end up with some name that doesn't "belong" to your world. You can also google the crap out of them and this way eliminate names, like, if one of them is already in too-known usage and you don't want that connotation. Some might also have other meanings in other languages, like so... This means "to f*ck" in Finnish. And this, again in Finnish, means 'anal', with a strong reference to 'having anal'.
That's funny, because at first, I considered one 'a' in the middle for Anali, but it looked too much like "anally" so I made it Anaali to give it a low drawn out sound. Figures somewhere in the world, it would still mean anal.
Hunger Games got away with Peeta. Your names aren't bad at all. @KaTrian: Changing names with translation is a thing. Though I agree with you, it's a better idea not to use them if it means something obscene in another language.
You could always use Inanna? Well, anyway, at least in English Anana doesn't mean anything, so maybe you're all right I'd personally double check how many of your friends know of the pineapple meaning. Cus like, if only a handful of people would pick up on the resemblense with ananas, then keeping Anana would be fine. If 9 out of 10 people would pick up on it though, then you'd really have to change it.
Since ananas is 'pineapple' also in French, and quite a few people in addition to the French speak it, it's possible more reader make the connection, but maybe it's too early to say anyway. If you get a publishing contract, you can always change the name(s) at that point. It's pretty easy to end up with a name that in another language means something completely different (eg. Aine means 'matter' or 'subject' in Finnish and 'groin' in French) when coming up with fantasy names, but like @Man in the Box said, it's probably more relevant if the name means something obscene. I think I could read about a character called Naida with a straight face, but Anaali would keep me giggling. You can always use the Google Translate to see if it recognizes the word you're planning to use as a name. E.g. naida seems to also mean 'hate' in Latvian... Also, if it's a rare language, I wouldn't worry about it.
Nooooooooooooo!!! You realise that's my little 3rd grade student's name!? I'm never gonna be able to look at her name and NOT think of this now Well, at least in actual Japanese it's not so bad, it looks like this: 愛音 Or in hiragana: あいね
Aine doesn't mean groin in french? Looked it up, no one's said that word in about 400 years. It's like speaking middle english.
I've actually known a guy called Dante, he was italian of course, but even so, it was quite an ambitious name, Imo.
Not only french... I think many european languages has that word. Swedish has it. Italian too, just to name a few. It's kind of like telefon/telephone.
Oh how I hated that name Peeta. I don't even like regular Peter - Peeta is way worse. He's still an awesome character though
It's still French (or maybe something else originally?), that's why I looked it up cos I thought I had seen it somewhere, though turned out I was thinking of another word still . But thanks for specifying However, it is common usage in Finnish, the meaning's just different. Ananas means pineapple in Finnish, as well.
You remind me I really need to read the Hunger Games to see what it's all about. In Brazil Portuguese Ananás is a regional name for pineapple.
@Mckk Ah, now I get the name, Peeta... or do I? The pronunciation in the UK/Australia would be [piː.tə ] so it's like a funky variation of Peter. *face palm* Lol, it has the word 'pee' in it... *giggle* I kind of like the female name 'Fanni', but I feel it'd be a terrible name for a character, and I wouldn't be able to resist writing in dirty (and really bad) jokes.
Anana is a terrible name. Terrible. Nana would be a perfectly fine nickname but seriously dude, don't make the full name Anana. I mean, my name is Alanna, and that's bad enough. But if you're going to have two soft As so close together, they should either have differing consonants to set them apart or a stronger vowel sound to detract (like the I in Inanna), otherwise it just sounds silly. Like Lala in the teletubbies or something. That's just my opinion though, and you did ask for it.
@Man in the Box - you should *totally* read Hunger Games! Best book I read in years, and I adored the writing. Didn't want the series to finish - I read all 3 in under 2 weeks. @KaTrian - So the funky version would be Pita or Paita? Not familiar with the thingy squiggles alphabet And I blame you - I'm never gonna be able to unsee "Pee" in Peeta!!! @outsider - I'm sorryyyy!! Nothing wrong with the name Peter at all. It's a solid, stand-up name and it's the name of a very significant apostle/saint
