Pen Freak

Names are extremely important in fiction. You want to choose a name that is memorable and appropriate for the character. Sometimes the names come easily, but more often you have to work at it. There are many ways to find names. I'll be sharing a few with you that have worked for me or others I know. But whatever your method, there are also a few guidelines to keep in mind.

Names with Meaning


This is one of my preferred methods. Pick a trait about your character and search through a dictionary, a thesaurus, encyclopedia, language dictionaries, or resources with name meanings. For a bard character I searched for names on Behind the Name that dealt with songs and storytelling: bard, song, story, tale… The latter came up with "Satu" which means "fairy tale, fable" in Finnish. I liked the sound and meaning, so that's what I named her.

Language or Culture


Another way to look at names is to keep all of your characters within the same type of culture. You could have Japanese names, African names, German names… many possibilities. The fantasy culture doesn't have to resemble the real world culture in any way except the naming system, but it does add to the unity of the created world. For example, Sara Douglass' book Threshold is in a very Egyptian like culture, and she names her characters appropriately. She took many of the names from the Bible and books on Egyptology.

Sounds


Different letter sounds imply different types of characters. Harsh sounding names work well for evil characters – Sark, Cain, Graxis. Softer sounds for good characters – Jaren, Harry, Rohan.

Historical, Modern, or Otherworldly


If you are writing a historical fantasy, you'll want to research what names were common in the time period and location of your story. If it's magic realism or takes place in the modern world, you have a lot more leeway. You can find just about any name in any part of the world, though different names will be more common some places than others. Now if your story takes place in a different realm, anywhere that's not Earth, you can make a name any way you want. DO NOT make them unpronounceable. If some demon must have a name like Jktlomnps (or equally hideous to read) then please give them a nickname that's more pleasant to the eyes (like Jek) or some other way for the characters and readers to refer to them.

Tricks with Words


Here are three tricks to create whole new words which may spark a character name:


1. This one is from Writing.com user jezzilin. "take common phrases and say them really fast and drop a few letters. ie... bird in a tree... birdinatree... bidantre... Bidantre." Great for place or character names.


2. Spell words backwards. Take a regular word or a name and flip it around. You will find some awful combinations this way, but there is a chance for gems. The name Canderyn, for instance, turns out Nyrednac (Nac for short).


3. Keyboard mashing. This tends to be a last resort. Pound some random keys, then try to make sense of it. It takes creativity to turn al;sdiufaoei into Alsifa (real time example).

A few things to remember:


* Make names readable.


* Don't have too many similar names. If two character names sound/look alike (Jaren and Jaiden) then your reader may get confused. You don't want them backtracking or looking for clues to figure out which one you're talking about.


* Keep some consistency. Don't have K'latho'ras and Selena from the same region. If you have multiple countries/realms/cultures in your world then give them some general naming guidelines.

Resources:


Real Life. Be observant! If you work with people, you have a great resource for names. My husband enrolls college students, so he'll make note of any interesting names he comes across and pass them along. Also use phone books, spam, cemeteries, etc.

Random Name Generators. If you search online there are tons out there. One of my favorites is Seventh Sanctum.

Name Meaning Sites. A good one is BehindtheName.com.

Baby Naming Sites. Search online, you can find most popular names, common names by year, country, lots of options.

There are plenty of books on naming as well. Check your local library.