1. vintage_fairy

    vintage_fairy Member

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2021
    Messages:
    25
    Likes Received:
    5

    Fantasy Modern City Names?

    Discussion in 'Setting Development' started by vintage_fairy, Oct 27, 2021.

    I've decided to retire the name I have for my modern, fantasy, kingdom, Xanthus, into something else. But, I can't describe it no matter how many times I look up some naming ideas/inspiration. This is rather frustrating for me since I haven't started on chapter two of my story yet, and I was wondering if you guys have any suggestions?
     
  2. Travalgar

    Travalgar Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2021
    Messages:
    129
    Likes Received:
    141
    First of all, you can always come back to name something later after you finish writing your manuscript! Just put a placeholder text like <KINGDOM A> or something.
    Secondly, it would help if you could tell us why Xanthus didn't work for you. It didn't evoke a particular feeling you're striving for? It didn't "roll off the tongue smoothly" when you say it?

    As a wild suggestion, try focusing on a number of syllables. Xanthus which had 2 syllables; try looking for names with 1, 3, or 4 syllables. Try to modify Xanthus itself into other numbers of syllables! Xanth, Xanthia, Xanthania, maybe?

    If you'd like a name reflecting real-life country naming conventions, try ending it in -ia.
     
  3. Opalized

    Opalized Member

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2021
    Messages:
    65
    Likes Received:
    14
    Location:
    USA
    Before I give any suggestions, I'd first like to ask some questions about this city. Does it reflect any real-world cultures? Does the fantasy aspect take inspiration from existing mythology? What is it known for?

    Having these questions in mind should help you come up with a name if you can't find one here.
     
    vintage_fairy likes this.
  4. peachalulu

    peachalulu Member Reviewer Contributor

    Joined:
    May 20, 2012
    Messages:
    4,620
    Likes Received:
    3,807
    Location:
    occasionally Oz , mainly Canada
    Like Opalized said - it's hard to make suggestions without knowing the culture or tone of your city. Whether you're going for something Lord of the Rings-ish, or mythology based, or futuristic with talk of AI and space travel. Sometimes when I'm stumped I pay homage to something or someone.

    In my WIP my 14 year old character goes to Edgar G Ulmer Jr High which I named after the b-movie director. Or you could find something that sound good in another language - Utopia means ideal place in Latin.
     
  5. vintage_fairy

    vintage_fairy Member

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2021
    Messages:
    25
    Likes Received:
    5
    Yes, it does, actually. It's mostly got modern-day inspiration from America and Europe, especially around New York and Great Britain merged into one, with beautiful castles and tall, skyscrapers made of metal and other materials such as steel and tungsten. It's very diverse with other cultures and the city takes inspiration from existing mythology. And, it's known for the infamous Spring Festival hosted after winter and famous dancers.
     
  6. evild4ve

    evild4ve Critique is stranger than fiction Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2021
    Messages:
    1,022
    Likes Received:
    1,145
    In the UK we have ancient, oddly-named villages every few miles, filling the whole landscape. If one sticks a pin in the map and looks at the nearby place-names there will be something plagiarizable. It's not just one culture+language or era of history either - but it of course works anywhere else.

    Sticking the pin into a country needs research to find out what the name means and why it means it, and it will want tweaking to sound natural, not be a particular place, and not mean 'Latrine-of-many-Cattle'.

    Truly naming a fantasy kingdom originally is arguably impossible, since any kingdom name encapsulates a backstory that would take lifetimes to tell, and which has a gravitational pull on the local language. (E.g. in the English-speaking world the word "land" 's meaning is stretched by the kingdom name "England", even though the vast majority of 350m 1st-language + 400m other English speakers will never see the place). Even the syllables chosen for a fantasy kingdom end up locating it in our milieu, if not our own kingdom.
     
    Cohen likes this.
  7. Le Panda Du Mal

    Le Panda Du Mal Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2020
    Messages:
    588
    Likes Received:
    623
    Usually modern country names combine some age-old name for the territory (e.g. China, Germany, Russia) with ponderous political descriptors ("democratic," "republic," "federated", "people's"/"popular", etc).
     
    evild4ve likes this.
  8. Catriona Grace

    Catriona Grace Mind the thorns Contributor Contest Winner 2022

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2021
    Messages:
    6,260
    Likes Received:
    5,506
    Albion Moderni. Albionovus. Novusalbion.
     
  9. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2010
    Messages:
    13,984
    Likes Received:
    8,557
    Location:
    California, US
    There's an entire, long, series of fantasy books set in a mythical kingdom of "Xanth." I'd avoid that for legal reasons, if not for reasons relating to reader perceptions.
     
  10. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

    Joined:
    Dec 24, 2019
    Messages:
    12,455
    Likes Received:
    13,500
    Location:
    Way, way out there
    I give you permission to use any permutation on Xoic you want to. :supercool:
     
  11. Storysmith

    Storysmith Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2014
    Messages:
    338
    Likes Received:
    340
    If the country was colonised fairly recently, you could go for "New ...", where ... is the name of aEuropean country or city. New York, New Orleans, New Amsterdam, New Zealand, New South Wales, New Brunswick, New England, Nova Scottia (you can convert to Latin). Countries often end in "land" in English: England, Scotland, Ireland, Greenland, Iceland, Holland, Switzerland.
     
    Chromewriter likes this.
  12. GraceLikePain

    GraceLikePain Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2020
    Messages:
    490
    Likes Received:
    506
    Definitely don't go with Xanthus. That's just two letters away from Xanth, Piers Anthony's fantasy setting.
     
  13. ruskaya

    ruskaya Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 17, 2020
    Messages:
    571
    Likes Received:
    582
    Location:
    not a pro, yet very curious
    I could suggest to substitute a couple of the letters?
    XanThus becomes:
    >> VanDhus
    >> LanMhus
    >> YanShus
    >> TanLhus

    if you find anything you like you can perhaps take the word and transform it a little further, depending on whether there is a naming system in your world-building.


    PS: as I was writing the list out with a tab (the tab doesn't display in the post, only in its edit), I had an endearing feeling for a couple of the names, as if something was happening in the action of writing them out along with the visual configuration of the editing . . . hope this makes sense to at least some of you, but it sparked a feeling of wonder . . . hope it is not too cheesy, but that is why I spend a reasonable amount of time in creating fictional names.
     
    Last edited: Nov 2, 2021
  14. Opalized

    Opalized Member

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2021
    Messages:
    65
    Likes Received:
    14
    Location:
    USA
    Whoops, forgot about this thread for a while. Here are my suggestions:

    -Names from mythology. If this city is partially based off of Great Britain and draws inspiration from many mythologies, you could name it after something/someone from the folklore of Great Britain.

    Examples: Aos Sìth/Daoine Sìth (Scottish faeries), Annwn/Avalon/Tír na nÓg (Variations of paradise or the Otherworld in different folkore)

    -Gemstone names. The names of gemstones and crystals definitely have a unique flare to them, and there are tons that I hardly ever see used in fiction. If you liked the futuristic sound of Xanthus, these names should be to your liking.

    Examples: Chrysoprase, Azurite, Larimar, Rubellite, Covellite, Chalcanthite, Kunzite, Selenite, Serpentine, Axinite (If you choose to base the name after one of these I recommend researching it first)

    -Words from different languages. This one has a lot of things you could do with it. Many others here have discussed town/city names in the UK, but I would also take inspiration from a language like Welsh or Scottish Gaelic, which both have nice fantasy looks to them. Once you have your chosen language(s), you could jumble up the words a bit, rearrange the spelling, anything that works for you.

    Examples: Urbs ferro (Latin for "city of steel"), Hudolus (Welsh for "magical"), Caisteal mòr (Scottish Gaelic for "grand castle")
     
  15. Chromewriter

    Chromewriter Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2021
    Messages:
    728
    Likes Received:
    521
    Location:
    Australia
    New York just means NEW York. So if it's a combination of USA and UK it'd be self plagiarising and isn't going to sound interesting because most names in USA already come from UK.

    But if I had to think of names I like: Mercia (could be Mercia from old England or America).

    Normandy (loosely related to the history of UK and I just sort of like the name for coastal cities).

    Anglocity (problem could be that this is considered racist so maybe Angel City).

    Sunset (sun sets on the west).

    I deliberately left out any futuristic names because it could be anything. But if you wanted some story to use behind the name those are the few I can think of in relation to UK + USA name.
     

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice