Writing I need to create names and I am drawing blanks, any tips?

[wisePinapples]

I have been struggling with names, and while I can manage naming people I can't seem to figure out any satisfying names for the world itself or the kingdoms in it. Tips, tricks or inspiration? Thank you!

 

[Snusmumriken]

imo there are hundreds of name generators out there so for some names I simply generate until something clicks.

Another approach (especially for my main characters) I head out to sites like https://www.behindthename.com/ and look at the original meanings of a name and possibly choose based on a character. Which imo makes sense in fantasy settings since they are more likely to name someone based on some virtue or quality rather than a standard name.

 

[wisePinapples]

Thank you and I'll try it out but usually, name generators feel like they are against me with the names I get.

 

[Kazesenken]

I scroll around in Google Maps in a region where it sounds like the names would be from.

 

[wisePinapples]

I scroll around in Google Maps in a region where it sounds like the names would be from.

I like the idea I'll use this to get area/kingdom names, still need a world name though. Thank you!

 

[Biggest-Kusa-Out-There]

Mix real names, flowers, precious stones, elements, animals, objects, tastes, fruits, vegetables, words in languages that don't exist in your fictional world, nicknames.

Examples

Kingdom:
Rose + England = Rosland.
Salt + France = Salrance.
Silver + Humans = Silman Kingdom.

World = Platinum + Turtle + Banana = Platurna (Weirdly sounds like Saturn)

Some may sound weak, but you can play around with it for a bit, mixing and matching words you would like the world/kindgom to represent and come up with a neat sounding word.

You can also name them with words you come up with, like Ra'za Maln or slap your keyboard and add vowels between consonants until something good comes out.

Qawefku (just slapped my keyboard lol) sounds like a city either in a desert or populated by a specific species/race in your world that would have a similar sounding language.

Wish it helps a little.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Take a shower and think about it there!

 

[Snusmumriken]

for world name take the earth for example:
middle english Erthe
Proteowestgermanic Erthu
Protogermanic Erthou
Old high german Ero
Proto-Indo-European H`èr
Old Armenian Erkir
Proto-Semitic `Ars
Egyptian Retjenu

All these things have exact same meaning but you can easily play around with pronunciation

Or take a different language family - not PIE and do the same.

 

[wisePinapples]

Mix real names, flowers, precious stones, elements, animals, objects, tastes, fruits, vegetables, words in languages that don't exist in your fictional world, nicknames.

Examples

Kingdom:
Rose + England = Rosland.
Salt + France = Salrance.
Silver + Humans = Silman Kingdom.

World = Platinum + Turtle + Banana = Platurna (Weirdly sounds like Saturn)

Some may sound weak, but you can play around with it for a bit, mixing and matching words you would like the world/kindgom to represent and come up with a neat sounding word.

You can also name them with words you come up with, like Ra'za Maln or slap your keyboard and add vowels between consonants until something good comes out.

Qawefku (just slapped my keyboard lol) sounds like a city either in a desert or populated by a specific species/race in your world that would have a similar sounding language.

Wish it helps a little.

These are really good examples, I'll try to mix it up a little to get some nice names, your approach really freshened up this method for me. Thank you! :)

Take a shower and think about it there!

Showers help me figure out the story or think about life, less about specific names or ideas, although the number of times I have seen someone suggest taking a shower for writing, inspiration, or other problems shows just how effective showers are. Somebody needs to write a book about showers in some form. Thank you! Afterthought; are showers a form of meditation?

for world name take the earth for example:
middle english Erthe
Proteowestgermanic Erthu
Protogermanic Erthou
Old high german Ero
Proto-Indo-European H`èr
Old Armenian Erkir
Proto-Semitic `Ars
Egyptian Retjenu

All these things have exact same meaning but you can easily play around with pronunciation

Or take a different language family - not PIE and do the same.

I do like the approach, although I'd probably still change the names. Thank you again!

 

[Yairy]

I have been struggling with names, and while I can manage naming people I can't seem to figure out any satisfying names for the world itself or the kingdoms in it. Tips, tricks or inspiration? Thank you!

Random name generator my friend.

 

[LordJoyde]

I highly recommend using the English to Latin translator and then making abbreviations of the words.

 

[wisePinapples]

I highly recommend using the English to Latin translator and then making abbreviations of the words.

oooh, I like that. Thank you!

Random name generator my friend.

I declare that the generators have conspired against me! Still thank you!

 

[Deleted member 45782]

Depends on how you build your story. Like for example, if its set in american pioneer days, I looked up what are some typical names then.

As someone mentioned, Behind the Name is great, they also have a Behind the Surname too if interested. I use it for characters that are important to the story, so I want to pick names that are meaningful or at least relate to the character.

Lastly, I look up baby names for that specific culture/religion. Sometimes when combining names it could come out sounding like a different meaning altogether in that cultural context (i dont want to choose a name supposed mean brave and it actually sounds like the slang for stupid lol). I use baby name lists to help me find out, cause names and any name combos are probably more carefully selected there esp. since I'm assuming most parents probably would be looking and picking more carefully the name and the meaning of name for their kid. I don't really use a random name generator, I just feel not too sure if it generates a good name with good meaning or when combined together the meaning is laughable in certain contexts. I take certain naming sites with a grain of salt thu esp if there are no reviews/comments on those names, since some sites only have english pronnunication of those translated names and some names don't look like it origins (a lot of my story ideas are set in ancient china so yeah).

That being said good luck with your name hunting. I feel like I can find more chinese girl names on behind the name than boys so if I have bunch of character lists piling up soon, I probably gonna explore more naming sites.

 

[ConTroll]

I usually take a singular word and manipulate it into a name.

Example: Establish -> Estelle Baelish

 

[Alkareel]

Mix real names, flowers, precious stones, elements, animals, objects, tastes, fruits, vegetables, words in languages that don't exist in your fictional world, nicknames.

Examples

Kingdom:
Rose + England = Rosland.
Salt + France = Salrance.
Silver + Humans = Silman Kingdom.

World = Platinum + Turtle + Banana = Platurna (Weirdly sounds like Saturn)

Some may sound weak, but you can play around with it for a bit, mixing and matching words you would like the world/kindgom to represent and come up with a neat sounding word.

You can also name them with words you come up with, like Ra'za Maln or slap your keyboard and add vowels between consonants until something good comes out.

Qawefku (just slapped my keyboard lol) sounds like a city either in a desert or populated by a specific species/race in your world that would have a similar sounding language.

Wish it helps a little.

Platurna was amazing.

 

[TheTrinary]

Character Name Generator

Automatic character name generator tool. Choose some keywords and we will automatically create a character name in seconds.

www.name-generator.org.uk

 

[ElliePorter]

I use generators for fictional city/town names and characters names too!

But i mostly just write their name on the fly.