What are some good names for siblings that sound good together? Hansel and Gretel sound good to hear in the same sentence because they have the rhyming aspect, but what others have that sort of punch to them that make them sound good to be said/read one after the other? My original quick-note names for my main characters are starting to lose their appeal, partially because the tone of the story has changed to be lighter. Probably going to try to keep the names of English/German origin, or fairly English-sounding Japanese names. (These names are for the main characters, and their family). Are there certain kinds of names to avoid? (list examples if you could)
I would simply suggest looking up name-meanings and sounding them out as most parents name their children based on either someone they know (or were/are close to) or based on the name's meaning. Males (Germanic): Albert (Noble Bright) Alfons Arend (Eagle) Arnfried (Eagle's Peace) Bruno Detlef (People Heritage) Dieter (People Army) Dietfried (People Peace) Diethelm (People Helm) Elmar (Famous Edge) Elmo ( ) Emil (Adversary) Emmerich (Universal Power) Friedhold (Peaceful World) Friedrich (Peaceful Ruler) Gerald (Spear Rule/World) Gereon (Old Man) Gerfried (Spear of Peace) Gerhild (Spear Battle) Gernot (Spear Crush) (And many more; see the link) https://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/german/2 For clans (like siblings, parents, ancestors, etc.) you might want to keep a consistent naming them. Like "-ger" refers to spears in German; therefore a warrior family might have a Roger, a Rutger, Gerald, Gerfried, etc. while rulers may have names like Friedrich, Emmerich, Arnfried, Siegfried, etc. There's also female names in that list as well; I suggest you use ones that "sound right" combined with their meanings. Like "Ingeborg" may mean "God Will Save" but it sounds rather barbarous when said aloud; therefore I suggest you either give that character a nickname (like Inga) or apply it to someone who is from a warrior family. Meanwhile Irene (0.0), a pleasant sounding name (pronounced "E-ree-na", not "Eye-reen") that happens to mean "Peaceful". I might be biased about its usage, however... Overall I simply suggest you use names that have cool meanings and aren't too difficult to pronounce from an English-speaking perspective, while perhaps using common particles (like "-ger" or "-ric/rich") within the same family to establish an underlying trend. Ultimately the value of any name you give will be made by the character, not your character being made by the name. I don't think there are any Japanese names that sound Germanic (which I use broadly to include English, Dutch, etc. names) but there are Germanic names that sound Japanese (such as Oda). I wouldn't recommend splicing naming cultures as that simply confuses the heritage of given characters (as well as the reader's ability to use the real-world as a compass, like in the case of naming conventions). If you wish to have Japanese-like characters, simply embrace the Japanese names/naming convention and come up with a good reason why such a vastly different naming/language group could be near-enough to communicate with the Germanics while also being distant enough to remain distinct. I think the video game Valkyrie Profile did this wonderfully; most of the world is Germanic (as it's based in Norse Mythology) but there's a Japan-like archipelago which is culturally, ethnically, etc. distinct from the other races of Midgard. Visually, it's probably because it's fairly distant from the main continent and the major nations are in a bitter war with one another (with Yamato, the in-game name for the Japan-like, also suffering similar issues) and thus communications and trade between the Yamatai and the Germanic-inspire peoples are quite thin--although thick enough for there to be a "Yamato-style" restaurant in a city in the middle of the big central continent. EDIT: Considering the scope of the world (in intending to have both a Germanic side and a Japanese side) I highly suggest you see Valkyrie Profile if only for the lore just because the makers of that wonderful game did a great job having a slice of their own world in an otherwise Germanic-based game (note the game was made by Tri-Ace, a Japanese company, in the 90's).
Cool, I'll take a look at that. I was asking about the Japanese-sounding names because I thought about Attack on Titan with Eren and Mikasa and Jean. I mean, the scope of the "world" is probably just going to be dedicated to the characters' hometown, so I just wanted to have some sort of library of names to go off of for siblings and then the rest kind of fall into place.
In general, it doesn't make sense for a given location to have names that aren't either native to that location or intruduced by neighbors; therefore, in world-building, it'll help to have a good explanation for a Japanese-inspired minority. I never watched Attack on Titan therefore I cannot comment, but an anime I did watch that was contained to a single city was Gungrave, interestingly inspired by a video game of the same name. Basically it's an Italian-style city with mostly English-sounding names, but there's a conspicuous "Black Samurai" guy who is very out of place. Now, given it was originally a video game, it's understandable strange things like this would be placed in an otherwise Sicilian-style city ruled by mafias. Although no explanation was ever given for this strange character, it could be supposed by the fact it's a port city that entrepreneurs seeking to make their fortune in a foreign land might come from abroad and thus give rise to a handful of foreign families. However these kinds of cities are not the historical/realistic norm, and most foreigners are neighbors who aren't so different that they cannot speak a common language and understand one another. Therefore a straight-up Afro-Samurai makes no sense (however it didn't harm the show because it was oh so very good and his character was actually very likable, although he was definitely far more Japanese than African in spite of his physical appearance). However still, with creative fiction, it's possible to leave clues to explain something that would be implausible in the real world. Like maybe the city Gungrave takes place in is facing an Africa-like continent and unlike historical Africa it was/is possible for Sub-saharan-like Africans to make their way to a Sicilian-style city. It's very unusual but not so implausible as to be like a female-warrior-badass-doctor-painter-artist-philosopher who also happens to be young, very pretty, and motherly. Therefore I think you can have your "main people" and "friendly side people" co-exist rather naturally if you consider how it worked in the real world and perhaps take a lot at the most beloved fiction who tried and succeeded with it (like maybe Final Fantasy, for example, as it often has animal-like humanoids and some of them can be found in human cities, usually not far from where they natively come from).
Pick names that sound like they're from similar time periods like you wouldn't name sisters Louise and Stephanie because one's more modern the other is more old fashioned. Skip names that begin with the same letter or rhyme or echo each other and if you use nick names like Charlie than the sibling should have a similar effect like Becca. Don't create gender confusion. Don't name one girl Dylan and the next Alice. Or one boy Shelley and the other Rex. You want names that harmonize each other. If you pick an offbeat name for one pick an offbeat name for the other.
Without knowing the background it's hard to list names - but my suggestion is that rather than that, you look fair and square at who the parents are, because the reason a sibset's names do work together is surely simply because they all came from the same tastes and values. My rather large group of siblings don't have names that are obviously 'matched', but they all have a similar, slightly old-fashioned but not quite classic feel, and quite a few are from minor celebrities in the UK when my mother was young. Someone else I know gave her kids 'kre8tive' names (which, on reaching the age to legally do so, several promptly changed back to the standard forms. I know someone else who borrowed names from several cultures, but they all have a similar slightly ditzy feel.
@raine_d Thanks, I didn't think about it like that. Might be a little troublesome since I thought of the children before the parents lol. I'll figure it out though, I changed around some stuff (again) but I bet I can make use of these suggestions somewhere else Haha, which names were they blessed with?
The eldest boy was named Jace - and his mum complained LOUD and LONG when he changed it (on leaving school and following his own path straight into an accounting job, which didn't please her either) to Jason. One of the girls IIRC was Harmonii.
Well those aren't too bad, alternate spelling is kind of tame. Besides, I'm planning on naming my future theoretical son Hades or Alphonse, so....
As for Japanese names that sound almost or potentially English, there are a lot of half-Japanese boys with some variant of "Ken" in their name: Kenji Kentaro Kenichiro Kenta and such. They're perfectly normal Japanese names that just happen to shorten naturally into Ken, in case Mom and Dad move the family back to gaikoku. Off the top of my head for girls names, there's Chiaki (almost "Jacqui" if you say it quickly) Naomi (tennis champion Naomi Osaka, yes, that is a Japanese name as well) Mari (long "a") Maria (not sure if there are kanji for that, but I've met a number of young ladies with that name) Marie (mah ree ay) Emi (Emmy) Hope this helps, that's all I can come up with at the moment but if I think of any more I'll pop back in.
