How do you name your characters?

[Kaori]

Forgive me if this has already been asked; I performed a few cursory searches but did not see any existing threads on this topic.

For all of you writers, I am wondering how you choose/create you character names: do you use existing names or invent them, and if you create your own names, do you have a systematic process or just choose any pleasing arrangement of sounds?

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I find this task quite difficult too. I sometimes borrow more obscure names from the Bible and insert or take out a letter or two, here or there. I sometimes just get a brainwave for a name (that's the best way). I also look through books on animals, birds, reptiles, stones etc and sometimes you can get name inspirations from them. I aim for a name that sounds good, isn't too ordinary and isn't a task to pronounce *cough* Lord of the Rings *cough* parts of the Bible. *cough* A name that defines the character well is always good and something that suits the culture of the person. Maybe look through your favourite books to gather ideas?

I struggle a fair bit in this area too. Anyone got more tips to share?
Hope this helps a little!

[K. Ayato]

Are you referring to fantasy names or contemporary names, 'cause for the latter, I just pick a first name, and find a last name I've come across or read that fits with the first name. For fantasy names, I tend to just make them up.

[true_noir_chloe]

I never haphazardly pick a name. I have a very good reference book on the meaning of names and what cultural background the surname comes from. It is a book which is no longer in print, but one of the best references I've found. I also have a book on Gaelic and many fantasy names come from that original language.

I prefer to have the name match the character, just as in, The Little Princess the main character was named "Sarah" which means, "a princess." I always match my character name with the meaning of the name. It's probably my writing pet peeve. :p

[uc pseudonym]

My first priority in choosing names for my characters is always finding one that I believe seems to "fit." This is generally highly subjective, but a name is an important part of a character. Finding such names, however, isn't always easy. I do not have a defined process I use for naming, but I do use a number of different strategies:

Use real names based on meaning. There are many books or websites that have thousands of real names, along with their cultural origin and meaning. Searching "baby names" finds many of these.

Derive names. For a distinctly "fantasy" sound, it is interesting to construct names from Tolkein's many languages or similar works. Also, I occasionally use names that play upon other names.

Invent names. I will do this on occasion when the character is one that does not matter to the story. On the other hand, sometimes characters with small roles are opportunities to use interesting names that might not work for a main character.

[Ssjjvash]

Goooood question.... Well, I usually start with visualizing how I want the character to look. Then I name them from there. Should I use a common name or an uncommon name? If the story is like a fantasy, I ask myself if I should make up a name or try and use a variation of a name I've heard before.

Once I come up with a name I think about whether it fits the character or not. If they don't look like their name, then I skip that and try another one.

How can someone look like their name? Uh, another good question. I don't know the answer to it, I just know that's what I've been doing ever since I named my dolls when I was younger.

[starwarsboy90]

Well, I usually invnet. Some of the time, I just look up meanings of names and choose one. Other then that, most everything else is in my head somewhere, some universe or so...

[Ryoko]

When Ilook at names I also look at the meaning. I will choose a name for how the meanings of the names fit with my stories. I play a game of irony with my characters' names. For instance, Kayura means light, but the character herself is shrouded with darknessand mystery. This insinuates that she has missed her destiny and is on the search for "the light" so to speak. Kamlyn means Lord. Eolanda means warrior. They all fit into my story. If you are interested in reading it you can look at the topic entitled "the battle within" ( I had to throw that out there)*big grin*

[Esoteric]

Hmm, yes I would think name choosing is a different process for everyone. Sometimes I'll go through a baby name book that has zillions of entries, both western and eastern, with meanings of names. Other times I make up names, but I always try to pick a name which matches a character's personality to some degree. I'm also careful not to have too many names that start with the same letter, sound very similar or have the same number of syllables.

[Kawaiikneko]

I make most of my names up. Same with my cities ^^ its just so much fun! Sometimes I make up names for my friend's story too if she can't think of any. Basically I just combine sounds.. But if I'm using a conventional name as apposed to a fantasy one, I'll run through baby name websites until I find a name that sounds like it fits my character. But I don't always want a character with a name that fits their attitudes and such just right, b/c in real life parents don't know what their children will be like when they're older and the name they give the child may be completely opposite their personality. On the other hand, that sort of thing, does kinda bug me ^^; So I guess I go more with the sound of the name than the actual meaning.

[Debitt]

Most of the characters I randomly roleplay have names picked out from baby name books, or just names with meanings that I think fit their personalities. ^_^

However every character that I really like to go in depth with - everyone that I plan to write a real story/book about all by my lonesome has names created for them. Sometimes I find out that they're real names (example: Torres; Raiyuu, which happens to be Japanese for...traveler or visitor, which I find rather appropriate; Kaika) and I'm bummed for a little while, but I'm right back up after that.

[Kaori]

Maybe look through your favourite books to gather ideas?...I struggle a fair bit in this area too. Anyone got more tips to share?
Hope this helps a little!

I appreciate the sentiment, but perhaps I should clarify my reason for creating this thread: I was motivated primarily by curiosity, since I already have several resources available to me and am not worried about finding more should I need them.

Are you referring to fantasy names or contemporary names, 'cause for the latter, I just pick a first name, and find a last name I've come across or read that fits with the first name. For fantasy names, I tend to just make them up.

The question assumes some sort of fantastic or unrealistic genre, since (as you stated) one generally uses real names for realistic fiction.

In my own stories, I use a mixture of real names (generally antiquated, foreign, or otherwise obscure) and created names. When I do use existing names, I am among those who pay attention to the meaning of the name and try to match it to the character's personality. I have considered attempting to form a more systematic way of naming characters, but it is unlikely that I will have time for any such endeavor in the near future.

[bigsleepj]

I first determine what nationality my character is then work from there. I either give him then the name that fits (more or less) the nationality. Sometimes I pick a name from a favourite author. For instance, a character from Poland I gave the surname Korzeniowski which is the real surname of author Joseph Conrad.

Sometimes, in order to tribute a favourite author or director I choose a name of one of their characters. For instance I gave one character the name Doctor Bull which is a direct reference to "The Man who was Thursday" or Luzhin, a character from Dostoevseky's "Crime and Punishment".

Sometimes I work their names into the story itself. One of my favourite characters I ever created was named Akira Shimura, but his real name was something else. He disliked his original names but he really loved the movies by Akira Kurosawa so he made his new name Akira (from Kurosawa) Shimura (one of Kurosawa's favourite actors from his early movies).

Creating names, once you get the hang of it, can be incredibly fun! Especially if you love cross-referencing like I obviously do!

[bigsleepj]

Confession: Also like to (occasionally) give a character a surname that I know people who don't speak Dutch of Afrikaans are going to have a bad time pronouncing correctly. Howabout James van Helsdingen? Jan Skropgraaf? Sorry, but I suppose its some kind of rebelious-mindset thingie.

[ShiroiHikari]

I used to search for names that fit the character in meaning, but that got too difficult so I often pick names that are the opposite. like, my character Adrian was named because I liked the sound of the name, and then I found out it means "dark"...which is kinda the opposite of his personality XD

I have this problem with always wanting to pick first names that end in -an or -en. I decided to just go with it as a goofy kind of theme. and I thought I made up the name Arian, but I've seen it showing up on name sites and stuff. :\

[Yeshua-Knight]

well, i actually asked a published author named L B Graham a similar question, he told me that it was basically a conglomeration of things,

personally, i went the route of john bunyan, but with a twist, John Bunyan would name a character in such a way so that you could tell something immediate about that character just by knowing the name, i took it one step further, yes the name is directly related to some trait about the character, but i looked up the word or words in other languages so that if i combined them it would make a foreign sounding name,

ex. i have a character named Stratiotes Paraiesous, sounds pretty out there, right, well stratiotes is greek for soldier, para mean of (or from) and iesous is the greek word that is used in the Bible for Jesus, so he name literaly translates to Solder of Jesus, it works pretty well for other languages too

[mechana2015]

I use a lot of random or contrived names, especially for last names. Most of my first names are altered versions of normal names or are normal names.
Some of my names have meanings within the story, but not often.

[K. Ayato]

I don't really go for meaning in the fantasy story I'm working on.