How do you choose names?

Discussion in 'Character Development' started by Jack Asher, May 12, 2014.

  1. Likas

    Likas New Member

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    Behind the Name is a really good website. I use it a lot. It has different categories you can choose, like Russian or German, and also ancient name categories like ancient Greece or ancient Rome.
     
  2. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    I wonder how many of you pull a Stan Lee, when it comes to names.
    Who is guilty of this? (Same letter both first and last names). :p
    Just being curio. :p
     
  3. halisme

    halisme Contributor Contributor

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    At the moment, I'm going in quite heavily on attaching a culture's naming convention to a certain group or culture. On top of that my character's name is "Corrin of Dubhlodd", which roughly translates into "Spear of Black Water", so all my villains names are associated with light.
     
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  4. froboy69

    froboy69 Member

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    I prefer using Latin as a main source for name; I don't know why, but Latin is very appealing to me. For example, I named a character in my story "Sosimo" because Sosimo means "One who survives; survivor" and the character named Sosimo has been through conflict throughout his life. Certain traits I've noticed in Japanese Manga whenever the creators name their characters.
     
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  5. Simpson17866

    Simpson17866 Contributor Contributor

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    And that is exactly why I try to skew in favor of the boring over the extravagant (unless an extravagant person is coming up with a pseudonym): names tend grow on you until you can't imagine the characters being anybody else.

    Was the Milwaukee Cannibal terrifying because his name was Jeffrey Dahmer, or did the name Jeffrey Dahmer become terrifying after being associated with the Milwaukee Cannibal? The same applies to fiction: without thinking of the stories that the names are attached to, would you say that "Harry Potter" and "Walter White" sound like particularly exciting names?
     
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  6. AgentBen

    AgentBen Member

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    I'm working on a Greek Mythology story so I pick names based on that. Or if the characters don't enter the GM world I pick their names based on whether or not they are a good or bad character.
     
  7. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    I just want to name all my characters Bob and call it a day.
     
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  8. froboy69

    froboy69 Member

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    Huh, I never thought of that...
     
  9. DrtraumaTy

    DrtraumaTy New Member

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    I typically come up with names with just thought - any particular adjective that I know and would serve well as a particular character's name is what I utilize the most. However, there are always those characters where I become clueless on what to name - especially when dealing with newly-introduced antagonists. To bring resolution to the problem, I look up synonyms to any particular adjectives in my character's characterization- for the sake of symbolism. I do occasionally go through a list of root words as an aid in doing so; "learnthat dot org slash pages slash view shash roots dot HTML" is an excellent tool, should you want to give it a whirl.

    If all else fails, I utilize rudimentary American names such as "Phil" or "Sam."

    *Apologies for the weird quotation - for some reason I cannot post the tool on here.
     
  10. Correl Elnream

    Correl Elnream New Member

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    Reading through the credits at the end of a movie can sometimes throw up interesting name combinations. As others have already said, much depends on the story and unless I had a specific reason for doing so, I wouldn't cast a character with a name so obscure or unusual that it pulled the reader out of the story every time they read it.
     
  11. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    I think the only time I've ever give a lot of thought to naming was in a couple of stories I wrote about Nazi Germany. I didn't want it to be obvious from the get-got, so I spent quite a bit of time looking for German and Jewish names that didn't necessarily stand out as such. I ended up settling on Kurt, Gretchen, and Richard (Wagner) as names that would click once they should, but not give the show away in the first couple paragraphs.
     
  12. Maurice Colbert

    Maurice Colbert New Member

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    I'm currently developing characters for a fiction book I want to write and I find that using a combination of both imagination and name generators works for me. So far I have come up with Julian Evers for my main character using this process.
     
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  13. Simpson17866

    Simpson17866 Contributor Contributor

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    I like it
     
  14. Justin Berak

    Justin Berak Member

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    I just look for random word-play... similar sounds to match different aspects. A lawyer named Aidan Lawerenze, a demonic figure named Christopher Luther... etc
     
  15. GizmoEFG

    GizmoEFG New Member

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    I try to pick a name that isn't very common, but at the same time easy to remember. I don't want my character to have a name so weird/complicated that it's a struggle to read. I also like for the First and Last name of my character to have a good ring to it.
    I look on name sites, I think about people I know and sometimes if I am having a lot of trouble I take a break from thinking about it and sometimes I just come across a name that just fits out of nowhere
     
  16. Itachi1

    Itachi1 New Member

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    I'm having that trouble atm. I have my mind set on having a name with the letter 'S' but other than that I don't really know. I'm thinking of waiting for the name to come to me after I have written a bit more, maybe I will get a sense of how the character acts and her personality.
     
  17. Simpson17866

    Simpson17866 Contributor Contributor

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    What websites have you looked at for girl names starting with S?
     
  18. Evian

    Evian Banned

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    I find just keeping note page of interesting names helps with naming characters. Also just changing the spelling of a 'common' name can sometimes create interesting interpretations of a name. This I find is good for fantasy and sci-fi stories where you don't want to unpronounceable or readable names but you don't want everyday names either.
     
  19. Denegroth

    Denegroth Banned

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    My current work involves a freighter pilot whose character involves not having a very colorful life. He's "Acet" (asset, not a person, a thing) "Duant" (do want, which obviates itself). The setting isn't of this world, so the naming conventions are rather...lax.

    In more conventional settings I strive to avoid the commonplace, but more in the lines of current popularity. I have no problem naming someone Joe Smith. However, in so doing it's wise to comprehend what can of worms you've opened up. As many names are needed in one story, I try to use a hierarchy. (I don't want a bit player getting an epic name.)

    Then, of course, I'll research names, which with the internet has become quite easily done. If I can subtly match a name to a character's place in life, or function, without it being too obvious, I'll go for it. Capote's "Holly Golightly" was a bit of a push in that regard. Behind The Name is a decent site to poke around with that. Olivia may have been rooted in "olive" for instance (pardon the pun). And, looking at that site with the many variations you see a wealth of possibilities arise.

    It is said E. A. Poe drew up lists of words he wished to inject into a short story. I do the same with names. I'll have a good estimate of how many characters will be carrying the story and make it a project in a sense to draw up the list of names, hopefully during which I'll engage in arguments with myself about each one's suitability.

    Having made such decisions beforehand frees me up to argue with myself about more suitable matters...hopefully. That's the plan, anyway - and, having the names before me carries the atmosphere and color I'm creating for myself, as well as gives me a gauge to use when naming incidental characters (for contrast, or to make them inert in a sense.)

    I think the names are quite critical to the feel and texture of a work, and good time should be spent on this part of the creation.
     
  20. Sharnie93

    Sharnie93 New Member

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    My current piece of work the character name has come from a painter who's works the themes of the book are based around. But generally I just stare at a wall until a name pops in to my head that I like.
     
  21. antlad

    antlad Banned

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    I'll use an app if I want to see various names. I like it if I can filter by region/country.
    A lot of times names are people I know that I feel would fit that situation, or be glad that I put them there. I love to write short stories about people I know and put them in situations they would never be in in real life.
    A computer programmer gets a kick out of seeing their name attached to a bank heist or assassination. Everyone wants to be tough at some point. A secretary that brings up a fake Facebook page that is really a portal into a NSA terrorist database, and her 'real' job is tracking terrorists. Or the single housewife 2 doors down that was cheated on and divorced; she likes to be a vigilante that finds cheating husbands and humiliates them.
    For the novel I am outlining, I thought long and hard about the main character's name. I created a name that can be played off of in different ways. Mostly the ways guys play word games. So like in real life, he can have different nicknames depending on what group he is around.

    *I recently read a great tip for naming characters, it came from a screenwriting book, but applies to technology and how we use it.*
    The tip was to never name characters using the same letter of the alphabet. That way when using modern writing programs, when you hit a letter and a list of names drops down, there is only one name to choose from thus saving you time from having to find and select. They said it makes a world of difference when doing rewrites over and over.
     
  22. EnginEsq

    EnginEsq Member

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    We fit names to the sub-culture and personality of the character.

    So when you meet an overdressed man named "Napolean de Chambord" who insists on being addressed as "Your Lordship," you know a lot about him just from that. :)
     
  23. Seren

    Seren Writeaholic

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    I think about that character's personality and try to picture their physical appearance in my mind. Then I hop onto Nameberry and start looking through the day's most popular names, making a note of anything that catches my eye. After that, I look on some of their name lists. It's useful, because each name almost always has a definition with it, so you can easily check that you're not suggesting something about your character you don't want to. I consult the list I've made and am usually drawn to a name that feels "right" for the character. Then I find a surname generator and look for something that sounds great with my chosen first name.
     
  24. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    I generally either name them after friends, colleagues etc , or I just pick something that sounds good.

    Currently I'm writing a future military fiction thing and most of the characters have 'by names' rather than given names - Blade, Snake, Ghost, Robber, Demon, Tiger .. like that which saves a lot of naming angst.

    similarly in my recent short story entry with 'Duster' (more knuckle than feather he tells people) I started from the nick name and its explanation, and derived from there that he could have been 'Dusty' Miller in the army ( i never mentioned his first name)

    With Aidan Darcy who was my character in the celtic gods role play but who now has a short story and i'm contemplating a book .. the name means Dark Fire in Celtic , and i just picked it because it was dramatic and suited his character ( a mercenary/bounty hunter sworn to Agrona the goddess of carnage)
     
  25. JayKazoo

    JayKazoo New Member

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    Depends on the context, certainly. Sometimes I'll come up with a cool name before I even start sketching the character and build more around it, but I tend to decide based on what I think their parents would choose, without too much concern for the name's meaning; My cast of characters basically reads like a yearbook.

    For things like fairies, I like to come up with words relating to nature and screw with em (Swei, Fen, Hela...), and in one case (an idea for a light-hearted roadtrip in the zombie apocalypse) a hippie named Raindrop devises codenames for the crew without permission (Nile, Toad, Gemini, Leo...)

    Unsurprisingly, I love making halflings in D&D because of their tendency to take names that are made up and fun to say. Right now I'm Hennick 'The Prince' Bennity, but in high school I was Filomir Nut-Crusher, the Level 2 Halfling God of Groinshots.
     

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