Advice/Help Naming your characters!

[grimmmy]

Fuck am I bad at naming characters. I started compiling a list of names that I like but I rarely end up using any of them because of how limited the list really is. I'm self-conscious of picking something that's too on the nose (Caleb Goodman, anyone?) or that someone's parents wouldn't pick while sober. What do you do to find a suitable name?

 

[Crow]

I have a few methods.

1. Name them after noteworthy concepts or famous people
2. Wing it

 

[TheAceInTheDeck]

I literally just surf the internet for popular names.

(EX: William, Liam, Oliver)

 

[Empress]

Internet, mostly. I browse websites for naming babies or threads for naming Sims. Sometimes I'll just default to naming my characters after nature or pick a popular name for one gender and give it to the opposite.

 

[RiverRainForest]

Baby naming websites are great, especially if you have a general kind of meaning you want for their name.

I like to write up a mini character profile before I even get to naming them; play around with ideas of what they look like, personality, etc and find it's a lot easier to name them once I have that picture in my head.

I also like using mythological names, or elements from nature/space.

 

[Idea]

My process:
1. Is there a specific origin to the name that would determine it? (like a robot being named from an acronym or a character being the embodiment of some concept or the character inheriting someone's name)
If Yes----> Use that
If Not---> Step 2

2. Do I want to put in the effort to come up with a character name, or is this the 20th NPC I am making that day and I just don't have the energy?
If Yes ---> Step 3
If No ---> Either use the first real name that comes to mind, use random gibberish, or avoid giving them a name altogether by just referencing them by their role/atributes (i.e. "The guard", "her mother", "the blond with an eyepatch", etc...)

3. Is this character tied to some culture or language that we are supposed to know IRL?
If Yes ----> Pick Real Name, searching for a fitting meaning in a website, or a fun combination of words belonging to real names (for instance, a british character I made recently named Angel Knight)
If No ----> Step 4

4. Is there something particularly core to the character concept?
If Yes ---> Use google translate to run that concept and put it into a language like latin or Japanese that you don't expect others to actually be able to understand, and use that as a name.
If No ---> Either use the first real name that comes to mind, use random gibberish, or avoid giving them a name altogether by just referencing them by their role/atributes (i.e. "The guard", "her mother", "the blond with an eyepatch", etc...)

 

[Zafocan]

Just name your characters what they look like. It might come to your head from movies/documentaries/videogames/idk bro..

An example being; A man in a kimono wielding his katana wouldn't be named "John William". Or you wouldn't name a dragon with 4 heads "Abdullah".

 

[Araellion]

I just go to random name generators and click refresh until I find something I like.

 

[diracdelta]

I just go to random name generators and click refresh until I find something I like.

Same! I don't know where I'd be without Springhole name generators; I get so many of my character names from that site.

 

[Crayons]

An example being; A man in a kimono wielding his katana wouldn't be named "John William".

No he's called William Adams but you were close. (History joke.)

 

[CecilDMMasters]

I go to some friends on Discord, complain the name is the last thing I seem able to decide on. Then toss out the ideas I can't settle on and let your friends help.

Names can be hard to settle on. I've kept baby name books for years and even once I had the internet for name lists still have trouble settling for some characters.

 

[SpazTheButcher]

I suggest the good old tactic of using TV shows and Movies. There are plenty of badass names in the show Generation Kill

 

[Windsock]

I use the process of pulling something out of my ass on the spot; but what that usually entails is looking up pertinent examples of similar real-life people or people from media, and then making a new name from taking parts of those names. E.G., I needed a mafioso character, so I looked up fictional and actual mafia people. It's efficient lmao

 

[HavocandBobo]

I just use names from TV shows and movies, and from real people, just names I like in general.

 

[Aoh]

Take a word, that is about the character be it something they're good at or about their personality, and put it into another language.

 

[NiteOwl]

Was fun to see everyone's advice. I can't add anything that hasn't already been said.

 

[Owlbear]

Take a word, that is about the character be it something they're good at or about their personality, and put it into another language.

I've seen people do that in languages I can understand and it always end up a bit silly. It can really ruin an otherwise decent character.

 

[Aoh]

I've seen people do that in languages I can understand and it always end up a bit silly. It can really ruin an otherwise decent character.

That's why research is important and not thinking something like muffin biscuit may seem like a cool name in another language.

 

[Crayons]

I've seen people do that in languages I can understand and it always end up a bit silly. It can really ruin an otherwise decent character.

I absolutely agree. But then people do name their daughters Desiree and Bella and that kind of thing...

Maybe it's better if it's a word that doesn't relate to their personality but might conceivably be something their parents/namers thought would be a good quality for them?

 

[Aoh]

Isn't it ultimately up to the ones who make their characters to decide what they will name said characters? I mean, it could be silly and thought of as ruining an otherwise decent character. Still, whatever ways a person decides to name their character is up to them.

 

[Owlbear]

Isn't it ultimately up to the ones who make their characters to decide what they will name said characters?

Sure, but I'm just offering a bit of feedback.

 

[Aoh]

Sure, but I'm just offering a bit of feedback.

That's fine. I had meant to quote Crayons though, for some reason it didn't go through.

 

[Melpomene]

My naming method is far too complicated hahaha.

So, first thing is first, and that is that I really like writing in cultures based on real life non-white/non-European cultures. I believe they are underrepresented so making an ancient era fantasy based on ancient India/Egypt/Mesopotamia is fun, but also requires quite a bit of research on my part.

I like for my characters to have names that sound similar to the cultures they are based from, which are often names you don't hear of, especially if most of the media you consume is eurocentric (nothing wrong with that, but usually euro centric media very rarely explores other cultures).

Not only do I want the name to sound like my character, but also feel like my character. This doesn't mean my beautiful warrior has to have a name meaning "beautiful warrior" but I like them having a name that is significant to them as a character in the work, which requires me scouring ancient texts to see what comes up.

But on the bright side when I finally get a name I tend to love it xD

 

[nerdy tangents]

I do fantasy characters so their names are usually themed around family magic.

In the event the family doesn’t have magic I just go with common names of the pseudo-region they’re from.

 

[Crayons]

That's fine. I had meant to quote Crayons though, for some reason it didn't go through.

This post?

I absolutely agree. But then people do name their daughters Desiree and Bella and that kind of thing...

Maybe it's better if it's a word that doesn't relate to their personality but might conceivably be something their parents/namers thought would be a good quality for them?

Isn't it ultimately up to the ones who make their characters to decide what they will name said characters? I mean, it could be silly and thought of as ruining an otherwise decent character. Still, whatever ways a person decides to name their character is up to them.

Of course it's up to them. But this is a thread asking about good ways to name characters. This is a baffling response to my post and I hardly see that this is any more dictatorial than any other post in the thread, and much less than some. I suggest you don't read any more of these advice threads if reading people giving advice offends you in some way.