1. Clo

    Clo New Member

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    Names.I need names.

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by Clo, Feb 12, 2019.

    I'm writing a fantasy novel about a girl named Morrigan who lives in a war camp and travels to nearby kingdom to compete in a tournament.She has 3 older brothers and she only has a good relationship with one of them. These brothers currently don't have any names.I'm open to suggestions.Thx :)
     
  2. Kaitlin Gil

    Kaitlin Gil Member

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    Well, are you writing in a fantasy world or using this world and just inserting fictional people and events? If you are in a fantasy world, what culture are you basing this region of your world on? Morrigan is Irish, so do you want the other names to have similar roots?
     
  3. Iain Sparrow

    Iain Sparrow Banned Contributor

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    Keegan, Pryce, and Gil.
     
  4. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    What, you don't know about all the name generating sites? :superagree:
     
  5. Friedrich Kugelschreiber

    Friedrich Kugelschreiber marshmallow Contributor

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    You stole my comment
     
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  6. EvenIfItIsForTheGRU

    EvenIfItIsForTheGRU New Member

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    Decide on their three characters and look for names that fit.

    Or if you have their characters already decided describe them and you'll get better suggestions.
     
  7. The Piper

    The Piper Contributor Contributor

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    Phil, Bryan and McNugget.
     
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  8. Kalisto

    Kalisto Senior Member

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    I just use Babynames.com. Yes, even for my fantasy novel. Because I'm lazy like that. I honestly, no doubt, just slap a name on there. Because I learned a long time ago, no one actually cares that much about a character's name.
     
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  9. Veltman

    Veltman Active Member

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    Just my two cents: Ever feel like your character's name feels wrong or forced when you at first name them?

    I feel that, but then when I keep going and writing, then I find that the names start to "stick" and then I can't imagine them being called anything else.
     
  10. Thundair

    Thundair Contributor Contributor

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    Take a name you are familiar with and add or delete the spelling.
    Mike would become Miko, George would become Gerice, or Alice would become Alal.
     
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  11. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    I don't like crutches like name sites. I'd much rather develop the characters so I can recognize them in a crowd, then "ask" them their names. I don't literally mean ask them, but rather wait for a name to suggest itself to me that seems to fit them. Also, what kind of parents gave the main character her name? Who was the first born of the siblings? Who was the last?

    And there's nothing wrong with starting off with placeholder names, like Alfred, Ben, and Charlie while you let them reveal their true names.
     
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  12. Rzero

    Rzero Reluctant voice of his generation Contributor

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    I would suggest two things:

    1. Play with existing names. Add and subtract and mix up letters until you find something that suits your character and your setting. Depending on your sensibilities when it comes to names, it should yield names more natural than Gemlax, Zarthon and Ellowyn. It would go something like this:
    Eric Leryc Fleryc Ferilyc Eflyric Efler Efil
    Tamara Tarmyra Tamrica Trimneca Tamernica Tamyrna Tyrna Antyrna
    etc.

    2. You already have an Arthurian name. Find names from the same language (Welsh, I think?") and era on behindthename.com or somewhere. Do a Google or Bing search for name meanings or name origins. There are several good sites.

    Make a long list of everything you like from each option, and you'll have a name bank to jump to every time you need one. Some will sound like people, some like places, some like part of a spell or other bit of lost or foreign language. It's super handy. Remember that each realm or region would have certain characteristics to their names just as they do on Earth, and don't fall into the Tolkien name trap. Use more consonants than just "L", "W" and "N", avoid apostrophes and don't make any of the names too similar. It's confusing when the name of a guy, the name of a place and the name of a sword all have two-thirds their letters in common. There's also the mid-century sci-fi/barbarian fantasy name trap. Use "Z" and "X" extremely sparingly. Also remember that there are short and long names. It will help you maintain diversity if there are one, two and three syllable names. Limit longer names. There are few names on earth with as many syllables as Ellerokerrennon. It's fine for the name of a place, like the Ellerrokerrennon Mountains, or to split up into first and last names, as in Ellero Kerrennon, but you don't want a character's first name to be so tiresome. That's not the best name anyway, of course, but you can't have my good ones. :)
     
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  13. Thundair

    Thundair Contributor Contributor

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    I agree. The character should define the name, as you will never see a rough and tumble guy named Biff. Well maybe never.

    When I go to choose a name from a historical point of view, I will often do a 'replace all' and change it as the character grows.
     
  14. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    You never read the Hardy Boys growing up? Biff Hooper was one of their buddies, a football player who was valuable if there was a fight.
     
  15. newjerseyrunner

    newjerseyrunner Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2022

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    I very much like to put patterns in my names. I'm personally horrible with names, both in real life and when I read. I'll often forget who is who.

    I like to have create names by using real people's names who I think feel like my characters. I'll have scientists name Richard Sagan or Carl Feynman for example. A neurotic OCD woman I might name Monica Simpson or Lisa Gellar... Things like that.


    I'm sorry what? Who do you imagine when you hear "Biff?" I think of this guy:
    [​IMG]
     
  16. J.D. Ray

    J.D. Ray Member Supporter Contributor

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    Avoid having commonly-referenced characters with similar-sounding names. Tolkien's Sauron and Saruman confused the hell out of me.
     
  17. newjerseyrunner

    newjerseyrunner Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2022

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    Within reason, I actually prefer similar names for two characters who are similar to each other. Aka tweedle dee and tweedle dum. I will also often have couples or siblings have names that start with the same letter.
     
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  18. J.D. Ray

    J.D. Ray Member Supporter Contributor

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    Just remember that the readers aren't as familiar with the characters as you are, and are learning about them as they read. When they get a new fact, they need to stick it on a construct that has a name. If the names are too similar, they may stick the fact on the wrong one.
     
  19. Thundair

    Thundair Contributor Contributor

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    Looks like I was wrong about Biff, so I won't mention Buffy as in The Vampire Slayer.


    I saw Biff at a tennis club with a blue pastel sweater tied around his neck (Not that there is anything wrong with that).
     

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