How do you name your characters?

[NiQuinn]

I am stuck in a rut. Naming characters can be fun but there's a point in naming them that gets frustrating for me. Case in point, the main characters. I'm stuck with the rule: Do not name your characters with the same starting initial. The point of this is so that readers get to remember individual characters easier.

Now, I just returned my MC's name to my first choice and stuck finding a different name for my main guy lead. I've put a limit to myself and really try my best to stick close to names that would both fit the genre of the novel PLUS the fictitious country they're in. It makes them more alive in my eyes if I take those things into consideration.

I remember one time I was reading a wattpad novel and it just downright frustrated coz it was a fantasy setting but the names would jump all over the place. They'd be English one moment, Chinese the next, and even Korean for another and they were all in the same family -_- It just turned me off from reading more.

How about you all? How do you name your characters?

 

[FriendlyDragon]

I honestly just put the first name that appears in my mind. Some names I think hard but I normally just put something I like. This led to all of my main characters having their names end with an A sound. But what you can do is just go online and find common names. If you want a name with more meaning then look up what certain names mean or names that relate to a certain word. But good names is subjective and varies from person to person.

 

[Scribbler]

Okay, you know how some words sound sharp and edgy, and how some other words sound round and wavy? Apply the same principle.
The name Olivia sounds like someone who is calm and collected.
While a name like Hannah sounds more wild and energetic.

 

[ars]

https://www.behindthename.com/ has named all of my children characters

 

[Lukha]

http://www.20000-names.com basically lmao.

But most of my characters are Chinese, so I just use some Chinese sounding names and switch around stuff. Also google is helpful because I searched basic Chinese surnames.

 

[ars]

http://www.20000-names.com basically lmao.

But most of my characters are Chinese, so I just use some Chinese sounding names and switch around stuff. Also google is helpful because I searched basic Chinese surnames.

Right!! 20000 names is great!!
Behindthename sucks for Asian names... there aren't enough there...
Uh, I admit that when it comes to picking Chinese names, I go on wikipedia and search for random Chinese people's names... Or I go on the front page of novelupdates and click on random novels until I find names that I like........

 

[jinxs2011]

It depends on the character, for me. At the start I just picked random names, they were alright but nothing special. Now I'm thinking more about my characters, their backstories, goals and motivations... Sometimes (pretty rarely though) when i'm making a character now, a name just comes to me. Other times, i'll go on one of those name meaning sites and try to find a name that fits them. Generally get something pretty good.
If i'm really desperate, I use a random name generator. Or ask friends.

 

[NiQuinn]

Or I go on the front page of novelupdates and click on random novels until I find names that I like........

This made me laugh for some reason. Not in a bad way, mind you.

 

[Khiricastares]

Poorly.

 

[Deleted member 5560]

Okay, you know how some words sound sharp and edgy, and how some other words sound round and wavy? Apply the same principle.
The name Olivia sounds like someone who is calm and collected.
While a name like Hannah sounds more wild and energetic.

Thanks for putting this into words, I thought I was a weirdo who only felt this way so it's nice to see other people express that same feeling.

Some of the time I use random name generators, but a lot of the time I just kind of roll with whatever jumps out at me first. Of course, sometimes this results in me having characters named "Pancake", in which case I bullshit a reason they have that as a nickname. But you know, sometimes you just have to follow your heart. It's about the vibe of the thing.

 

[Linodo]

It really depends on the character. Sometimes, if it's a central character or there's a secret behind the character's motivation, I would find meaningful names that would reflect what I want to convey with said character. If it's a nobody character, such as Mob A or Mob B, I would use a name generator site like the one I link below.

https://www.fantasynamegen.com/

Also, a tip for naming characters that would be recurring in your story. Try to limit their names to one to three syllable. As authors, we will be writing their names a lot, so it'll be easier for us to write Bob a hundred times then it would be to write a more complicated name like Richardson.

 

[FemmeFatale]

the cutest little literary fairies blow bubbles in my ear that pop and herald a characters name. It's all very mystical and cute.

 

[Ai-chan]

I am stuck in a rut. Naming characters can be fun but there's a point in naming them that gets frustrating for me. Case in point, the main characters. I'm stuck with the rule: Do not name your characters with the same starting initial. The point of this is so that readers get to remember individual characters easier.

Now, I just returned my MC's name to my first choice and stuck finding a different name for my main guy lead. I've put a limit to myself and really try my best to stick close to names that would both fit the genre of the novel PLUS the fictitious country they're in. It makes them more alive in my eyes if I take those things into consideration.

I remember one time I was reading a wattpad novel and it just downright frustrated coz it was a fantasy setting but the names would jump all over the place. They'd be English one moment, Chinese the next, and even Korean for another and they were all in the same family -_- It just turned me off from reading more.

How about you all? How do you name your characters?

Ai-chan used to use whatever names that Ai-chan felt sounded nice. But then the names Ai-chan could think of ended up becoming kind of repetitive due to the many titles Ai-chan has. So Ai-chan wrote a program in HTML5 to randomly generate unique names. Here it is https://forum.scribblehub.com/threads/author-tools.22/ (Syllable-based Name Generator). Ai-chan then choose whichever name sounds unique and then break them up or modify them slightly to make real-sounding names. It significantly reduces Ai-chan's workload by removing the work of finding a unique them from Ai-chan. In just a few seconds, Ai-chan can have access to 205,962,976 potential unique names for 5-syllable names.

Using it, Ai-chan managed to get the name Hefumefu Garutaka. In order to make it fit Ai-chan's story, Ai-chan changed it slightly into Hefumefu Galtaca. Ai-chan's keeping Hefumefu because it sounds cute.

 

[Mack_Frantz]

For me, I mostly pick names that are easy to remember: Susan, Morgan, etc. That aren't completely cliche , but not entirely stupid and WTF, as well.

For example, if you were writing a fantasy and you wanted to name someone, don't name him Kuachakatamal. Better name him Kuacha. It's shorter, easily remembered and people like to read it :)

 

[sak-chii]

My naming sucks. Just use a name generator found online or just use simple name.

 

[Sabruness]

With my first two stories, i originally used bits of names from books or games but now i use various name generators (sometimes themed) and then pick names based on how they sound. Usually i'll pick a first name and then i'll go through and try to find a name that fits well as a surname.

 

[queenofthefuzzybugs]

I'm terrible at naming things. Like... really bad. So I have to cheat... a lot. For Western naming, or fantasy names, I just use a generator until I get a combination I like. When I first found that name generator I was like "THANK GOD, I'M SAVED". Because up until then I'd think up a name and think I was so clever, only to go "Wait, isn't this name in XYZ book?" and realize I'd totally ripped it off without meaning to. Not only that, it generators names for countries, continents, etc. Great for people who have no naming imagination. Like me.

The story I'm writing now is Ancient China/East Asian. So... mostly Chinese names. To show how bad I am at naming, I had a character that looked like a leaf so I named him Ye. Which literally means leaf in Chinese. Or so Google Translate claims.

Chinese names are way way trickier than European style names. I talked to someone from a Chinese family and after having it explained to me, I almost cried. Like, did you know, they don't do "Junior" style names in China? That means, they don't name a kid after a grandparent or ancestor or famous figure. Why? Because that's disrespecting the grandparent/ancestor/whoever.

But that's not all!

There's also the character strokes, and how if you have too many that's bad and if it's a certain amount that's unlucky. I looked into this aspect of names and got intimidated, so I just pretend it's a rule/tradition that doesn't exist. I don't know a lick of Chinese so character strokes are far too advanced for my pee-sized brain to handle.

You can also accidentally having a name that sounds like something else. While you gotta pray it doesn't sound dirty, you could also do something totally innocent and make it sound like, I dunno, 'Fish'. I named a character Mei Hua. Her pet/nickname is MeiMei, which also sounds like the word for 'Little Sister'. Luckily I figured this out really early on, and was able to use it for fun. But if I hadn't known.... well.. that'd be a little embarrassing...

With Chinese names, I go for meaning, how they sound 'sound' (smooth, hard, whatever), and then cross check to make sure no other characters have similar sounding names. It's a common problem in Chinese novels that two characters have very similar sounding names (which is because the characters are different while the name sounds the same, which translates poorly into English).

To find the meaning of a Chinese name I just look up "Chines name for girls/boys" and use whatever pops up. The website farther above mentioned is one I commonly use too.

 

[Chaaruzu_Corner]

I use Google Translate to look for names that for the character. Example I look for a plant-based name for my elf so I write in tree and translate it into German or Italian or something and when I find the right translated word, I tweak it for a bit to make it more name like and bwalah! You got yourself a name :)

And another method is just find a common name like Maria and change it to Marina. So tweak and change a part of a name!

So yeah :D how this'll help you out

 

[Chaaruzu_Corner]

Oh yeah! You can search for google for "Old English Names" and you'll find a treasure trove of stuff to look at! :)

 

[tak]

: Do not name your characters with the same starting initial. The point of this is so that readers get to remember individual characters easier.

same, but i have an exception if they have different length and sound

For example, Jill and Jonathan. Short J is character A, long J is character B

Another example, let's say, twins. Mimi and Momo (cause for me, ie and o sounds like opposites) or Momo and Toto (for me M sounds soft and T sounds bolder)