I'm in the middle of researching for a sci-fi and a lot of my characters are anthros. They are all the types of animals people list as evil such as stoats, boars, snakes, crows, etc, except I'll be having two red pandas who are pyromaniacs. What I'm having trouble with is names, and some of the characters personalities. Since a lot of them are known for stealing things. (I have tried to make some changes such as the racoon having really bad taste so everything he steals is unprofitable, compared to the magpie who steals valuable items that are shiny.) Is there any advice of how I can get good names that can relate to the characters well?
I'm not sure how "human-like" you're going for in a name with these characters, but one strategy I've used with non-human characters in the past is to first imagine what their voice/speech sounds like. Does the snake emphasize his "s"s and "h"s, does the crow speak in short, loud bursts, do the pandas constantly mutter to themselves/each other like some of the pyromaniacs I've seen in fiction before, etc.? Then, thinking "in his/her voice", I start to makeup a list of names which seem to fit that speech and are easy to pronounce by the character. It's basically like thinking in French to come up with french names, no?
Another way to think about it is where is that animal located geographically. Then give him names that correspond. For example, Pandas might have more asain sounding names meanwhile cobra's may have more south east africa/south asain name.
Most of the anthropomorphic animal stories I've read, the characters have human names that suit their personalities. Some cartoons go the cute route - Kissyfur a bear, Beehonie a bear , Toot a beaver , Floyd and Jolene a couple of hillbilly alligators. Sir Hiss - a snake, Toadwart a toadying ogre. Foofur a dog. I guess it all depends on the image you want to present - sometimes the cute name stagnates the character in it's one trait but a more human name allows you some creative leverage. Bunnicula's characters - with the exception of the title bunny , are Harold - a dog, and Chester - a cat , two dachshunds named Heather and Howard. You could however look to some sinister namesakes for inspiration - a crow named Vladimir or Poe.
I would like to give them quite sinister names, especially the wild boar because I'm making him the softy (a bit like Little John who wasn't little at all) The two pandas were already given first names but I managed to find a surname that is common in Hong Kong (since that's where they come from) The advice on how they sound and where they come from will help a lot Thank you for the advice!
