I usually go to seventh sanctum. Their quick name generator uses US census data, and can generate up to 50 first and last names at a time. I usually set it to 10 names, then go through a couple of pages and mix an match what I like. But there are lots of different ways, what are yours?
I just make up the names. I stare into space for a few minutes, imagining the character, and eventually something appropriate comes to me. It's not a big part of my process, actually.
Behindthename & nymbler are my go-to sites for help if nothing just shows itself. I usually go for something culturally tied to the character or that has a specific meaning that relates in some way to them, even if I'm the only one that knows what it is. Nymbler is nice because if you have names you like but aren't right, it suggests others in a similar style to what you list.
Heroes: Names I like that sound unique. Villains: Same as above, but if nothing pops to mind I use people I hate for various reasons. The exception was an action script where heroes and villains alike were all named after people I knew in the Army. Naming characters is one of the joys of creating, so I'd never use a generator or tool.
In my current novel there are three main religious factions. Mostly i use Biblical and historical names mixed and matched, like the high chancellor's name is Chancellor Rockwell. named after Joseph smiths body guard Porter Rockwell. Then there is Admiral Brigham
If it's a fantasy I'll normally go to google translate. My best find was Effereniel, which is beacon in Latin - that was perfect for a city I had come up with. Also there was Mauris, which is s**t in Latin...
I usually use the first or last name of one of my family members when it comes to last names 9 times out of 10 I will use my grandma's maiden name or her married name for a characters last name, and I some times consult my bible for names as well.
Google translate combined with it's language recognition feature can (better say should) be used to verify if a name has any meaning in a language. I'm terrible sorry for this example : Mitsubishi sells a car called Pajero. Check what the Spanish word "pajero" means in English. It's a total marketing catastrophe from them. To create names I already suggested this in another thread here : choose a word which sounds the way you want the name to sound (soft or hard, or in a specific language) and change the order of the letters until you get something useful. You can change one or two letters, add or remove a few to get a better result (or choose another word and start again).
I usually browse baby-name websites, whichever happens to be the first to pop up. Or I'll just type the kind of name I am looking for, like if I'm looking for a biblical name. Or I'll type "how common was this" if I need census data. (Baby name wizard was the one I most recently used.)
I quite enjoy names that don't sound like they're written, like Beau or Aisling, but there's no real way do search for those.
I think about where my character was born/brought up and also the year he/she was born then I look up the top 100 names for that timeframe and area. I pick a bunch and then divide them up into ones I like and ones that have interesting nicknames. I was recently stuck for a name so I posted a question on my FB book page. Got over 100 suggestions which I managed to whittle down to two, forming a first and middle name which fits the character like a glove. I love exploring where names come from almost as much as people-watching!
I have several name books - my fave is Beyond Jennifer and Jason because they put the names into lists with headings like trendy, artistic, sexy, handsome. Usually though a name just comes to me ( probably from reading so many name books ) - when I was writing the Worms of Wicher Woo I chose Tetty right away cause it sounded like an old fashion maid name. When I was writing my huge book as a teen though, I wanted really unique names cause I had just read Lolita. And I started culling things from the dictionary - I wound up with an older man named Quay, a child named Picnic, a teenager named Thistle, and a boy named Honey Dante - those were some of the milder ones.
They either don't get names, or I've had a name for them all along. Making one up just sounds so... artificial. Most of my work revolves around anonymity, anyways. It would be strange for the people present to go by anything real or solid.
Staring into space usually works for me. And for some unknown reason, I seem to love names with alliteration. So all my characters initials are SS or something
staring into space or like the OP Seventh Sanctum... Isake Dresden is a stare into space one, Xanthir Dogtooth is an edit of a Seventh Sanctum one
I'll be very disappointed if Xanthir isn't an intergalactic bounty hunter with a chip on his shoulder and a score to settle.
he is an elf, young by standards who tries to murder the elven king, kidnap his daughter and threaten her life and that of Isake Dresden of my current project... there is more to it, but id spoil the whole thing, but he is quite heavily twined in with another couple of characters and BTW my current project is the one in my signature.
I usually start by just staring into space, ransacking my mind for a fitting name and if I can't seen to find a good one I usually turn to Scrivener's built-in name generator (where you can choose which nationality you want) or a website I cannot remember the name of. And of course, sometimes the perfect name just pops up, like in my current short. The name "Edward" just appeared out of nowhere.
