Naming crisis

Delotyis

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So I've been reading a lot of chinese novels, jp novels, korean novels and novels here and so I'm a bit confused on how to name the characters for something I'm writing. Should I stick to european names or just name them heavily inspired by east asian ones?
 

CadmarLegend

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So I've been reading a lot of chinese novels, jp novels, korean novels and novels here and so I'm a bit confused on how to name the characters for something I'm writing. Should I stick to european names or just name them heavily inspired by east asian ones?
You don't need some specific name.... you are the author. I just search up "Names that mean____" and use that for my characters.
 
D

Deleted member 45782

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So I've been reading a lot of chinese novels, jp novels, korean novels and novels here and so I'm a bit confused on how to name the characters for something I'm writing. Should I stick to european names or just name them heavily inspired by east asian ones?
You could do that too. It all depends how you do it.

I can't read Chinese, but some of my character ideas are based on Chinese myths and fantasy. So I try looking it up on naming sites.

When finding names, I go search through baby naming sites.

This site I feel also pretty useful:
Behind the Name (First Names)
Behind the Name (Surnames)

Idk how accurate it is per say, since its all spelled in English for me. And I have limited knowledge where to go to find more about these names since its not written in their native language. Though I try to dig around the internet for names when I can. This is just personally for me. Idk how others do it cause their style and what they want to write may be so different. So it really depends on the authors and how they write it.
 
D

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My style in naming is usually what sticks into my mind while I'm writing the manuscript. I don't search for names and their meaning because I think:

1) It sounds unnatural, like stories/mangas with an MC named Inu Inukai and is actually about dogs.
2) It's an unnecessary bother.

But well, if you're aiming for the 'authentic feel' of your story's setting, get names that sounds like that culture. Or if you want a different way of doing it, by all means, mix and match.
 

Discount_Blade

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So I've been reading a lot of chinese novels, jp novels, korean novels and novels here and so I'm a bit confused on how to name the characters for something I'm writing. Should I stick to european names or just name them heavily inspired by east asian ones?
Stick to European if thats what you are comfortable with. If the world in your story requires something else, then do something else. Never write a story and deliberately try to be "authentic" unless it is absolutely necessary, and even then, the names don't have to be perfect. They can just "sound kinda real."

IF you're writing a story where the setting is in Japan....then sure use Japanese names. Just look up a random Japanese name generator. Who the hell cares if the names actually mean anything? I can guarantee you no one's going to stop reading just to research a name's meaning and then get pissy if it actually doesn't. And if on the absurd chance that they do, then fuck them.

If it's written in a made-up world, name it whatever-the-hell-you-want. You can have a mixture of East Asia and European or just completely random fantasy names.


This site has "real" names from over a hundred different current and ancient/extinct nationalities/ethnicities. This is under the "Real Names" tab. Then it has many, many more names under various different kinds of criteria, all fantasy. This is of course, under the "Fantasy Names" tab.

It also has some miscellaneous stuff under "Other Names" that can be useful depending on what you're writing.

Then, lastly, it has names based off of countless Pop Culture things. It won't generate names already used, but it WILL generate names simila to what is used in these Pop Culture references. I really like this tab specifically even though I hardly ever use it. The creator of this site really pulled info from so much stuff.

If this site doesn't help you with naming, then you're just not trying.

Then there is this site that I actually use more than any others, but its strictly Western European fantasy names, so it's a bit more resttrictive. I've never given this site name out but I've also noticed no one else has ever referenced it so here:

 
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Ai-chan

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So I've been reading a lot of chinese novels, jp novels, korean novels and novels here and so I'm a bit confused on how to name the characters for something I'm writing. Should I stick to european names or just name them heavily inspired by east asian ones?
Why would you want to use east asian names? Are your stories set in east asia? See, there's this strange culture being around of being a westerners pretending like they're east asians. Yes Ai-chan knows that east asian girls are hot (Ai-chan is one) and anime culture is still hot stuff so you want to be a part of it.

But you gotta fit it into the setting, man. Otherwise people will just think that you're a weaboo and that's kinda cringe for other people, especially actual east asians. For you, it's probably unpleasant. Why? Because you'd likely choose a cringe name due to not understanding the culture.

For example: You think the name Shou Yun is awesome, so you use it for the male protagonist. What you didn't know is that in Mandarin, shou yun means 'becoming pregnant'. Not so awesome now, right?

Another example is : Ji Bai sounds like a great name in Mandarin, right? But in Hokkien, it means 'cunt' or 'pussy' or 'vagina'. Yes, there is a manhua where the male protagonist is called Ji Bai, but it fits the theme. He's a guy who gets turned into an unpleasant girl, so being named Ji Bai (Cunt in Hokkien) is a joke that fits.

Some years ago there was an American guy who gave his Japanese protagonist in a Japanese setting some strange name along the line of Akira Mitsushima Kotaro. Ai-chan was like, "Dude, at least know the naming scheme! No Japanese name has three words in it and why is the surname in the middle?"

So instead of trying to conform to what is popular, stick to what you know, it will definitely save you the embarrassment later.
 
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