1. ITBA01

    ITBA01 Active Member

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    Coming up with names for countries

    Discussion in 'Setting Development' started by ITBA01, Apr 24, 2019.

    To all the people who design fictional worlds, how do you come up with names for nations, empires, continents, planets, and everything else? One of the main empires in my world is based off the Roman Empire, but I wanted to come up with another name for it (mostly because my writing isn't very historically accurate).
     
  2. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    Well, look at how nations are named in reality.

    Rome was named after Romulus, one of the two brothers (Romulus and Remus) rumored to have started the city. Australia was named after Terra Australis, or Southern Land. The United States of America is named as they are states united under a common Federation, and America comes from the Latinized version of Ameriga Vespucci, an Italian that mapped much of the South American coast.

    So if it's based on the Roman empire, and has similar sounding words and names, find a Roman name you like and change it to sound like a place name.
     
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  3. Necronox

    Necronox Contributor Contributor

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    I name two of my kingdoms after it's main city since that is what they originated from. a bit like the "athenian empire" or the "roman empire" was named after athens and rome -- the primary power centre in each of these respectivly.

    I also sometime name them after the people or defining features or that country (like culture, religion or otherwise) that inhabit there.

    If I am really out of ideas, randomly whacking my keyboard and making it look nicer and more "english-y" sometimes gives me ideas. like "ctfrv" gives me the idea of "ovs" in slavic names. Cs could be K so it could be something like Koforov or Kotforov. then you can you that to make a country name. the above could become the "kingdom of Kotforov". or the "Kotforian Empire". Or, dropping the last syllable you could make "United Provinces of Kotfor". Kotfor could be the geographic area or something.

    Also, as stated above, look at how countries today are named. some are name after geographical places, or people(s) or famous legends. Some could be named after a cultural ideology or the likes or religious ideology. Naming a country usually stemms in my opinion for a reason. find that reason and you got your name -- is it named after a mountain range, a lake/river or some great bearded dude with a giant rocket powered battle-axe?
     
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2019
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  4. halisme

    halisme Contributor Contributor

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    England->Angloland-> Land of The Angles
    Scotland-> Land of The Scotts
    Deutchland->...
    Every country that ends in -stan->Land of...
    Even China is named for its first unifier.

    Humans are historically not all that creative when it comes to nations, I tend to come up with a word for the dominant ethnic group that sounds plausible, conveys some quality in the sound, and sometimes relates to a real-world culture. E.G There's a country in my world called Tumonte, with the main group that runs it is the Tumons. The "onte" sounds vaguely French, and the country itself is a mixture of Medieval France, low-fantasy druidism, with a big of Ancient Egypt throne on top/
     
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  5. Stormburn

    Stormburn Contributor Contributor

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    I dealt with this issue in my WIP where I'm naming place after place. I can say that my solution wasn't so much in coming up with names, as it was coming up with a process.
    I usually pick a place or places as the inspiration for the country I'm creating. I learn the inspiration for the name/names of that country. Then, I sort of reverse engineer a new name using the same language but a different inspiration.
    Now, as the story develops I might replace the names as the world develops within the story.
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2019
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  6. John-Wayne

    John-Wayne Madman Extradinor Contributor

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    I have a county in one of my nation's called Inglyngard (england)

    Tirvuk, is named after a desert town here in California,

    Vharion is Baron

    Seraph is basically another way of saying angel

    The Royal capital of Shanda, is named after a cleric character in order of the Griffon, who I regularly took on my Adventures because she was really good.

    Recently, I created a new city that's named after the wife and queen of one of my characters ancestors, who's the king of course
     
  7. EstherMayRose

    EstherMayRose Gay Souffle Contributor

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    How was your country founded? Is there an important identifying feature? These can be factors in the naming of a country, in addition to the ones already mentioned. For example, if your country is very mountainous, you could call it "The Land of Mountains" in your country's language. You might want to play with the translation a bit until you get something you're happy with. For example, I went the founding route. My country was founded by a knight, and they speak French there, so I came up with "Chevalia" from the French chevalier, for "knight". Then there was confusion between chevalier and cheval, meaning "horse", and additionally French hadn't really developed yet when my country was founded, so I used the Latin "caballus", meaning "mounted soldier" or something like that, so caballus --> Caballia --> Cavallia.

    For a better explanation than this mess, here's an article. It's technically about naming towns and cities, but it still mostly works for countries:
    https://springhole.net/writing/i-need-a-name-for-my-town.htm
     
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  8. Infel

    Infel Contributor Contributor

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    Man I'm gonna' be straight with you, sometimes you just string together letters until you get something that sounds cool...
     
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  9. J. J. Wilding

    J. J. Wilding Member

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    I sometimes name a city because it sounds cool, but other times I'm describing some important feature, something that makes that city unique. I have a country that is stuck in winter all year round and the vast majority of the country is woodland... it's called Winterwood. Ynaea and Lyuna came from a historical, massive country called Lynaea. Talos was named for the fish (Black Tal) abundant in their oceans.

    But every now and then I'll check out fantasy name generators and see if I can't mess around with the results to create something new, or check out arabic or latin names for things that the city is known for, then manipulate the word until it looks and sounds original. When you hit on something cool, you'll instantly know. My favourite country in my novels is Baeliy (Bay-Lie), purely because it looks really odd on the page but once you know it, it's super easy to say. I would say avoid weird spellings that are also difficult to say because it will only serve to break up the flow of your short story/novella/novel and frustrate the reader. Happy writing friend!
     
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