Coming up with names

Titan_Egg

The King of Eggs
So how do you do it? I find every time I come up with a name for a character, I get a seriously painful case of writer's block and end up with a boring name like....Bob. Either that or I end up stealing a name I heard somewhere.
 
Good question, it is something that isn't brought up seriously all that often. I used to suffer from this a lot as well in my novice-er times, but there are ways to find fancy or unique names.

I personally swear loyalty to the Latin naming schemes and styles, such as Cornelius for male and Cornelia for female. Are these too common or not intriguing? Well, try something like Corneliae or Conilius perhaps, distorting (or bastardizing) the original spelling into something more appealing. I also use names from books I have read, such as Scipio, Septemus (Which means Seventh in Latin), Mortimer, etc. These are just a couple of my personal styles for choosing names, others might work better for you (I hate random name generators, personally. I get one decent name per 100 others).
 
I favor common names for my characters. It makes a good juxtaposition with richer, unique personalities. And for more depraved characters it gives them a grounding, human element. However, I also have a penchant for older, unfashionable, and less used names like Elmer, Algernon, Mildred, Agatha, etc. Typically I'll make a list of names and then pick one that feels a touch unfitting.

When it comes to surnames, places, or even chapter titles, though, I wholly agree with a Latin approach. I'll slap Latin, Greek and sometimes french roots and suffixes together. If John Milton can get away with it, so can I. Though, he didn't have spellcheck to contend with.
On the topic of Latin, if I may be digressive, learning the nuances to words really adds another dimension to writing, and even a bit of cheeky wit if one can work it in. For instance, punctilious and meticulous are synonyms, but one's root means point and the other, metus, means fear. Such can subtly shed light on the reasons behind a character's action. Or for fun one can just name a nurse Morticia.

If all else fails, taking the Latin route is perhaps the most entertaining.
 
I honestly look at the generators, but not to use the names, just their format, like you don't want to name a character something stupid from one of them but if you change some things around, you can make a really cool name
 
eehh,

I typically use simple (one to two syllables) names. Such as:

Hal
Sem
Brof

Sometimes I use actual names (mostly for human characters) Such as:

Elizabeth
Madison
John
Luke (always a good middle ground name)

Other times, well, I just wait for inspiration to backslap me across the face.
 
I'm a perfectionist when it comes to names. Names have power, man; and if you mess that up, you're going to ruin the character. Anyway, I usually bastardize and mix some historical names and add in my own stuff. It's sometimes time-consuming, but I'm generally happy with this execution and its results.
 
I don't encounter this dilemma quite often because I let my characters rot away for a long time (at least about a year or so) before I begin doing anything with them. I often run into a suitable name during that interim. I don't know how to describe this, but when I see the right name it just kinda clicks to me. I don't do so well when I am coming up with these names myself.

Most of the names that clicks to me are the ones that reflect a certain aspect about my character. For example, one of my dragon-esque character is named Avarion because she likes to pillage and hoard stuff (avarice). My snow owl anthro is named Eira because the name is associated with snow. The character name of my profile is taken from a classic story of Abel and Cain (his backstory is something like "he killed his innocence and banished himself into the darkness").

Sometimes, though, they don't have any deep meaning at all - they just sound appropriate. I had a regal character named Dimitri. The name itself means "follower of Demetrius", which doesn't reflect my character at all, but eh, it sounds right to me, so that's what I'm going to go with.

I think Bob can be a nice name, if the character in question happens to be sales clerk #427 who does nothing but scan items for every day, every month, of every year. I guess it depends on the context.
 
Steal, Translate, and Generate.

Steal: Take names from another character you know, slap it on. Though steal your first and last name from different characters, preferably from different franchises.

Translate: Take a name, and translate to another language. For example I had one D&D character name Petrus Huurder. Where my inspiration for the character was Kilgrave and Tyrion Lanister. So I took the actors named of Peter and David, made the name Peter David, and then translated it into another language (I forget which now... I think dutch?).

Generate: Use a Generator to get ideas, steal, edit and adapt names from it as you wish.
 
Picking first names isn't a very complicated process for me.

Most of my characters have first names that fit their personality.
Dana is pragmatic, so I gave her a simple, unisex name.

I have a lot more fun with surnames.

I like taking them from TV shows, games, and literature, or finding the equivalent in a different language, or making anagrams, sometimes taking out letters.
Cleaver (Leave It To Beaver) becomes Revael, Fox becomes Fuchs, and so on.
 
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I mash the keyboard for random letters, and then add or remove vowels as needed.
Or I use sound logic. If it's a rough and tumble OR savage person, I use more cacophony (Ketch, Nurrock, Helk). Someone mysterious or mystical? Two-to-four syllables with L's, SH's, and/or N's, bonus points for using a Y or U in there (Nilura, Allunan, Ylmanen, Kasyru). Pragmatic characters? Short names but avoid dipthongs (Ryn, Sar, Kull, Pon, Tena).
Sometimes I will create a portmanteau of two names I am familiar with (Kenneth + Benedict = Kenedict) or just change one letter (Seth becomes Zeth). There is also using a hybrid of a word and a name, like Chimeredith (Chimera + Meredith) although I cannot take credit for the awesomeness that is Chimeredith. Blame Banished for that.

Sometimes if I created a race, I will sit down and make my own 'baby names' list. That way if I make a new character of that race, I just scan it for a name I already created and stored for further use. In some cases, these lists include real world names mixed with ones I made up.

If I am coming up with a name for someone in an Earth setting I just go with a name that sounds good to me. I don't worry too much about the meaning unless invoking the power of names is a thing in that setting. I have certain favourite first names. Like Cedric. I will use different spellings. Sedric. Cedrych. Sedgewick. They will reappear.
 
I usually take obscure names from books/games I've played/read, or simply come up with them off the top of my head
 
Though it is in no way the method that I use all of the time when I get stuck for a name I often end up searching up names or even just words with meanings that I associate with a character. An example would be that I have a character with a fiery personality. There are names that are more obvious to sounding like fire, like Blaize (Blaze) or Ignatius (Ignite) and there are names that just outright mean fire without sounding like it, like Aiden (Fire) Seraphine (Burning fire). Then of course you can turn to ancient gods and goddesses, Hestia and Apollo (Greek) are good ones for fire if we continue with my example. This is also just a good way to explore different types of names which I always find to be pretty fun.

(Edit; I just thought of this but another good example and tbh a name that I love is Corvo (Dishonored I and II) which takes it's roots from the Latin Corvoid of which the definition is 'resembling a crow or other member of the Corvidae'. It's just a very interesting way to create a unique and interesting name without being too literal about it.)

Name generators are alright, though as someone above has already said I tend to only find one every so many generated names that I actually like. It is a good way to discover names though, and there are a shocking amount of generators out there, even for things I would have thought to be too obscure. I also have a (very lengthy) Google Doc list of names (including surnames) that I've compiled/am always expanding on which is almost always my go-to first.

Most of the time though I usually build a character around their name, it's rare for me to name a character for the first time after I create them. I find that it makes it harder to name them after creating them because it feels less like the character is their name and more like I'm trying to fit them into the box the name provides. That's just my two cents. :)
 
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Boop.

In all seriousness, I just figure out what culture a person is from. (Or, what the closest approximation to that culture would be. For example, some of the elves in my fantasy setting are French.) Then, I look up a list of common names for that culture, or a name generator for that culture. That way, I can get a name that feels appropriate to a setting. Like, say, Pierre Varmont, or Elana Troy.

... Rather than, say, "Sylvan Moonbeam", or a name that means something oddly and suspiciously specific. Parents don't name their kids for their future destiny as a hero, they give them names that either have personal meaning, or simply sound nice to them.

At the end of the day, a name doesn't make a character, a character makes a name. "Bilbo Baggins" will forever be remembered not because of catchy nomenclature, but because of the things that Bilbo Baggins did.
 
Boop.


... Parents don't name their kids for their future destiny as a hero, they give them names that either have personal meaning, or simply sound nice to them.

At the end of the day, a name doesn't make a character, a character makes a name. "Bilbo Baggins" will forever be remembered not because of catchy nomenclature, but because of the things that Bilbo Baggins did.

I can not agree more about this. When I posted, I was under the understanding of creating new names for characters in a fantastical setting. But when it comes to naming a character that is supposed to fit into a certain culture, particularly modern cultures here on Earth, just go with that culture's naming convention.

However, name meaning was often used in literature for certain effect. Foreshadowing, irony, you name it. So as role-players, sometimes we use these devices for an artistic flair. ALSO, some cultures give their children a 'childhood' name, but upon reaching a certain age, they may be given a new name. And the meaning of that name may very well reflect behaviour, appearance, deeds, etc. But these are exceptions to the rule that it's best to just go with a name appropriate to the character's culture, as Nilum said.

For the most part I agree that the character makes the name.
 
I can not agree more about this. When I posted, I was under the understanding of creating new names for characters in a fantastical setting. But when it comes to naming a character that is supposed to fit into a certain culture, particularly modern cultures here on Earth, just go with that culture's naming convention.

However, name meaning was often used in literature for certain effect. Foreshadowing, irony, you name it. So as role-players, sometimes we use these devices for an artistic flair. ALSO, some cultures give their children a 'childhood' name, but upon reaching a certain age, they may be given a new name. And the meaning of that name may very well reflect behaviour, appearance, deeds, etc. But these are exceptions to the rule that it's best to just go with a name appropriate to the character's culture, as Nilum said.

For the most part I agree that the character makes the name.
Name meaning is often used in literature for a certain effect, yes, but it's typically a cliché for a reason. If you can find a way to do it in a way that can be reasonably explained in-universe, then you're clever. If it's just there because you wanted to put meaning into it without logical reason, then it's not clever--it's contrived.

Example: A town named Rivervale. It was built by a river, in a valley. Voila. Name with meaning that makes sense.

It's also important to note that any item overused becomes expected, and by extension, dull. If everyone has a special name, nobody does.
 
I use a lot of uncommon names, or change their spelling slightly. Sometimes both. My username is an example of this.

I also like to use a lot of old Germanic/European names, Spanish names, and Greek or Latin phrases. Guillaume instead of William, Duana instead of Diana, etc.
 
It depends on the setting of where I'd like the character to be put. Most recently, I've taken names from the Poetic Edda of the less well known characters (instead of the gods and goddesses that would be obvious). I've used name lists when I wanted to look for a name that was Welsh or Gaelic. I've made up names which sounded good when spoken aloud, I've mixed and matched names from dinosaurs and other creatures. I've used generators for inspiration. Sometimes I know a character's name when I have an idea for the character, other times I don't. I probably use directories and lists more than I did in the past, because then I was more 'creative' with them. If I read a name in literature or came across one in RL that was unusual or strange and wouldn't be weird for a character I'd use it. These days, I probably focus more on the meaning of a name, rather than how it sounds. I think the strangest name I ever came up with was one I found while looking through some biology notes for a character and to make it a little less obvious, messed around with the spelling of it.
 
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