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23Apr 12

Help With a Name

So I'm writing a new story and I could use some help with coming up with names of characters. Anyone have any suggestions? And no I'm not telling you what the story is going to be about.
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Yagr_Zero
Yagr_Zero moderator moderator

@FrozenLiquid: Haha. What's wrong with a little audience feedback? Anyway, regardless of that, I do appreciate your response. I do agree that for regional/genre issues that a name really does matter. Considering you are from New Zealand, I can imagine that most names would be British/Scottish in nature depending on which island the person is from (I imagine most with Scottish names would be from the South Island hailing from Dunedin mostly, I could be wrong). It's a little different for what I'm trying to write, considering that it's set in the United States and I really don't have a huge problem with names seeing as though the US is such a melting pot of cultures. @Allicrombie: You would say that. How's your story going? :P

osdawaya16
osdawaya16

Male or female? Have you tried using behindthename.com? You can search by meaning or name or origin. I rely on that site when naming characters xD

FrozenLiquid
FrozenLiquid

I'm not sure this is the way to do it, Yagr_Zero. When people send me film scripts based in New Zealand, sometimes I see names such as 'Joy Black', 'Roy Tanner', and 'Ronnie Dasher'. I ask them 'Where and how did you get these names?', and they reply 'I dunno, they just came out of nowhere'. The problem is, you will not find those names common in New Zealand at all. If you research birth names, you will find that they trend a lot in different places around the world. There are cultural influences on the choices of names, and so it seems very odd whenever a random bunch of names come together in a story. This is just as true in fantasy fiction. To make names sound authentic, JRR Tolkien used his knowledge of linguistics to create languages spoken in Middle-Earth, and so even if you aren't too familiar with the lore of Tolkien fantasy, you can get a sense that Frodo Baggins, Boromir, Galadriel, Morgoth and Sauron come from different backgrounds. So the best thing is to find out when and where your characters are located. If it takes place in the real world, find out what names most people take in that area. If fantasy/sci-fi, aside from creating a new language, put a spin on names you know, and have a guess if those fantasy cultures would have used them!

gbrading
gbrading moderator moderator

Will Rogers. Clint Eastwood. Douglas Fairbanks. Audrey Hepburn. Yes I know these are the names of actors, but I always think it would be interesting to have a story where the main character has the same name as somebody famous. ;)

Teenaged
Teenaged

Malakopitouras Spassarchidis Tsaperdonokolosphiriktra Klania

BlindBluMonstah
BlindBluMonstah

Yacob, kinza, nile, Benjamin button, ayrah, ikram, zade, jibran :P your always starting new books.

OmegaAxl
OmegaAxl

The strongest man alive, Chris Randell.

NightFox313
NightFox313

Ever heard of the name "Skye"? Coolest name ever. Another cool name is "Zion".

Eclipse-015
Eclipse-015

Ryllen, William, Isaac, Tiberius, or Chuck Harrington

Feryraiser
Feryraiser

Apollo, Odiepius Rex, Thor, Thor, hmmm did i say Thor yet, Thor. Olaf, Julian, Beatrix, Lloyd, Grey/Gray. What bout Mercury, Drak, Denizu, Raganchi, Skylark.

Allicrombie
Allicrombie moderator moderator

you wish, noob! =P

shadowchronicle
shadowchronicle ranger

Jerui, Penelope, Camille, Douglas, Weldon. Tried to pick names that aren't commonly used or just don't seem boring. Not sure if you'll like though. This is a mix between girls and boys names btw.

s_h_a_d_o
s_h_a_d_o

Hmmm... I'd suggest the name for the evil villain! :P A brief outline of the genre and/or setting would make it easier for us to suggest appropriate names.

Yagr_Zero
Yagr_Zero moderator moderator

@Xandoom: So. I could still use them. :P @ExoticAnimal: Thank you.

Xandoom
Xandoom

Then how can we know the characters? For instance ,Vork the warrior couldn't work with a modern-day romance novel, and Nancy wouldn't work with a medieval fantasy

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