Hi! I've been struggling for weeks trying to come up with names for two characters. One is inspired by the Giant in the story Jack and the Beanstalk. In my story, the 'Giant' is actually the older brother to the main character, Jack. I have been trying to find a giant-themed name that isn't too on the nose or Nordic, but I can't. The other character is based on the legend of Faust, the man who sold his soul. I was going to simply use the name Faust, but I find that might be a bit on the nose. Does anyone have a name that resembles Faust or evokes the same feeling? I would really appreciate the help! I've been ripping my hair out for a while about these two!!
We have a legendary giant around these parts: Finn McCool. I always thought it was a suitable name for a giant.
Nothing brings out insanity as well as trying to find meaningful names! Hopefully German names aren't too on the nose for you. -Falke -Felix -Gunther -Karl -Jarem -Fiske -Hans -Ray (I worked with a hulking, stoic man named Ray, so now I associate the name with giants like him. Great guy once you learned he just looked intimidating!) * *continuing on from that spiel, I've given many of my characters names that didn't quite fit, but I was impatient to write and tired of calling them "X" and yatta, yatta...anyway, the longer I kept the name, the more it seemed to fit. So many of our favorite names we like simply because we associate them with certain people, not just because we just like how they sound or look. If you write a strong, vivid character, by the end of your story they will define their name, not the other way around. ...and that is how you save face when you have to admit that all of those articles of baby names have finally overwhelmed you into submission and if you have to read another damn list of names you're going to have a cow.
The "Second Faust" is a difficult one... What about Euphorion? He's the ill-fated son of Faust and Helena in Faust II. Not too well known, I admit. As you may know "Faust" is also the German word for "fist". I always wondered if this strange re-use of a common word as name is a good choice. But asking this question is probably close to blasphemy considering that Goethe regarded it as good one, obviously. Maybe you can do a similar trick in English. Use a common word with some bold meaning as name for your character.
