Picking names

ccarver30 · Apr 25, 2007

I pick some of my characters' last names from street names around town. :tongue

How about you?

Shady Lane · Apr 25, 2007

I shove syllables together until I get a combination that doesn't sound ridiculous.

I much prefer first names to last. A lot of my characters never get last names.

Azure Skye · Apr 25, 2007

I've stolen a lot from my relatives. Some the name just pops into my head based upon the character's personality. Like one, his name is Eugene. He just seemed like a Eugene, ya know?

MidnightMuse · Apr 25, 2007

I pull 'em outta my ass.

And sometimes the phone book.

Nakhlasmoke · Apr 25, 2007

My MC's normally arrive with names, although I have ended up making changes.

sunna · Apr 25, 2007

^Sounds painful!

Since my only two WIPs are celtic fantasy, I got mine mostly from Old Irish and Scottish Gaelic and Old English....and tweaked them until they sounded 'nicer'.

...of course, others I just pulled out of my...erm...anyway.

ccarver30 · Apr 25, 2007

sunna7kore said:
^Sounds painful!

Since my only two WIPs are celtic fantasy, I got mine mostly from Old Irish and Scottish Gaelic and Old English....and tweaked them until they sounded 'nicer'.

...of course, others I just pulled out of my...erm...anyway.

I have pulled some from older names too - WIP 2 has "Callen" in it.

Scrawler · Apr 25, 2007

I picked up a baby name book for $1.00 and like flipping through it when I need to creatively waste time. (I imagine when they decided on the baby's name, they had no more use for the book.)
I find the Random Name Generator somewhat addictive- also a good way to "research" the day away.

wordmonkey · Apr 25, 2007

I use real words that give a clue to what the character is all about.

Of course, that doesn't always work, as it can be a give-away. And that's where the translation website comes in handy.

So that friend in chapter one, who actually has his own agenda rolling and by mid-book reveals himself as the real antagonist might be Karl Verrater. (German in this case)

herdon · Apr 25, 2007

I usually try to use names that sound like the character, at least to me. I did write something set in the 12th century once, though, and I used a variety of names databases to come up with names from that time.

I almost hate the naming process, though. Sometimes I'm in the middle of a chapter and things are flowing and suddenly I have to introduce a minor character but one who must be named and then.... I'm staring blankly at my computer for ten minutes.

swvaughn · Apr 25, 2007

I've used street names. Also, baby name lists, phone books, The Writer's Digest Sourcebook for Building Believable Characters, colors, character traits, the chalkboard-and-eraser method, movies, word association...

Lots of ways to name characters. I just stop when I find one that fits.

Claudia Gray · Apr 25, 2007

Depends. Sometimes I just know a character's name, and I don't know why. Other times I ask myself who the character's parents were, and what sort of name they might have chosen for a baby. I try to make sure that no two important characters in the same book have names that start with the same letter unless those names are very different. When I'm looking for character names for people from other countries, I go to websites that list famous writers/actors/athletes/politicians/etc. from that country and sort through those for first and last names that seem to work. And sometimes I just amuse myself, which is how I ended up with a supporting character named Balthazar.

giaaddison · Apr 25, 2007

my stepdad asked me this last week. i just have a feeling about hwat the characters name should be from their personality or from what they go through in the work. They don't have last names though - to difficult.

Novelust · Apr 25, 2007

I name my characters to fit a major aspect of their personalities, but if I'm stuck, I search through the online baby name lists.

IrishScribbler · Apr 25, 2007

I do the same as Novelust. I'll pick names that have significance to the story or character (without being obvious...no John Everyman).

I draw a lot on Celtic myth, as well.

Sassee · Apr 25, 2007

I'm pretty anal about names... I usually research first names with particular meanings or sounds that fit the character, and then if it's a main character I'll find a last name that either flows well with the first name or is a common last name. I usually use the online name databases to find names and compare meanings (you'd be suprised how much meanings differ from site to site).

I almost hate the naming process, though. Sometimes I'm in the middle of a chapter and things are flowing and suddenly I have to introduce a minor character but one who must be named and then.... I'm staring blankly at my computer for ten minutes.

So true Havlan...

ChaosTitan · Apr 25, 2007

I have two baby name books, plus I bookmarked an online searchable name site. The character always tells me when the name is right or wrong.

Sometimes for the fun of it, I'll use a name as an inside joke, usually for someone with a bit part. Most recently, I named a murder victim "Joel Stevenson" as an homage to a character from the TV series Boomtown (named Joel Stevens). Very few people would get it, but it makes me smile.

Elektra · Apr 25, 2007

I use names that have some meaning to me and my friends (usually an inside joke). Luckily they all know Latin, so a lot of the joke-names fit into my novel...

Julian Black · Apr 25, 2007

I'm always writing down names I think I might want to use. Yes, I have used street names, as well as other place names. Maps are a great place to start looking for names.

Usually, my characters show up with a name, or at least a definite preference for a certain kind of name. I have one male character with a very odd name, and my attempts to change it have failed--that's who he is, and he won't budge. His wife, on the other hand, didn't seem to care what her name was, as long as it started with a D and let her have a cutesy nickname (Dolly, Dottie, DeeDee, etc.). I've used four different names for her in my notes. That was annoying, so I decided to pin her down on a name.

She ended up being Delilah (called Dolly), because she's a rather tricksy character and the name/nickname have meanings that play to both sides of her personality. It also gave me an idea for a little twist in the plot, which was nice.

I like having names (both first and last) that are significant, that have meanings related to the character's personality or role in the story. I like odd names, too, but with a few exceptions I try not to be too Dickens-obvious about it. So I spend a lot of time looking up meanings. I also have a file of names sorted by meaning, so if I have a very aggressive female character and need a name whose meaning reflects such qualities, I can find one. A lot of my minor characters show up with only a first or last name, so looking up names by meaning can be very helpful.

NTG · Apr 25, 2007

Use Social Security records

It's always much easier to choose a name from a list than to pull one up from memory, so I use:

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/

to find the top 1000 names (boys and girls) for any particular year of birth. Especially for women characters, it makes sense to use a name that fits the age of the character. When I was young, I associated names like Mabel and Gertrude with very old women. Now the names of many of the girls I went to school with are not to be found in schoolrooms today. Unless it's the teacher's name.
You can always go outside the list, of course. But it's a good start.
Last names are more constant, so the phone book is good.

Legionsynch · Apr 25, 2007

For the first name, I usually do the same as many of you, looking at baby name lists here or there. Sometimes, I grab a name based on a meaning, but most of the time, I just run with it if it sounds like it works.

For last names, I struggle a bit with them for awhile. I've used last names from people I went to high school with, if the whole name has a good sound to it. Or sometimes I just wait until something strikes me with inspiration.

Elektra · Apr 25, 2007

Julian Black said:
Usually, my characters show up with a name, or at least a definite preference for a certain kind of name. I have one male character with a very odd name, and my attempts to change it have failed--that's who he is, and he won't budge.

I know what you mean--one of my MC's showed up with a name--only problem was, it wasn't Greek (Gaelic). I tried to change it, to no avail. I finally gave up and just Greekified the name.

Oliveman · Apr 25, 2007

Eh I like giving names that have connotated personalities with them. You can many times achieve that through seeing a name on a list that fits the character, or doesn't, if that's your preference/point. (e.g. Butch could be an emotional classical composer) At other times, you can use other languages, such as latin, to compose names that connotate meaning directly through derivation. Also, you could simply add letters together and use your imagination to create a name that sounds right. All these suggestions apply to both the last and first names. Of course remember that having every name mean exactly who the character is is a jarring approach usually, and rather you should apply your sharp wit and sensibility of language to craft a name your character is worthy of having, and furthermore, one that makes sense in the greater context of the story.

Zoombie · Apr 25, 2007

For my latest WIP, I just chose Jimmy becuase I've always wanted to write about a guy named Jimmy. Weird, huh? And for the other charicter, I named her Pixie becuase I liked the shortened version of Pix, but didn't want Pix to be her full name. And a few minuts ago I realized that it shoulden't be Pixie. It should be Pixel. Becuase she's a robot. Get it?

McDuff · Apr 25, 2007

Depends. In the novel, one of the MC's names just came and stuck, the other went through change after change, and even after I changed the character's gender I stuck with the male name I had picked for her when she was a he. Now, after trying out various female names, I'm still going with the original male name because that's what the character is called in my head. Also, the word is apparently Australian Aborigine for "a hollow tree that is on fire", which is fucking awesome.

The speedwritten screenplay I'm nearly done with doesn't have any last names at all, I just went with boring names that fitted the characters. They started off as $PROTAG and $SIDEKICK and $LOVEINTEREST and then I search-replaced them when I thought they should be called something. However, the first time I did it I guessed wrong, because Bob was definitely a Simon and Simon was probably a Bob, but it later turned out he was a Rob. Some of the characters have descriptions, my personal favourite being "Dennis, King of the Accountants".

Picking names

Nicole Castro

my name is hannah

Huh?

Midnight Reading

yes

Nicole Castro

Bored fanatic

ook

What's up?

adrift

*Does not molest books.

Momma Wolf

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