Character Names?

I generally have an idea of what the name will be like before I start writing. It's a little hard to explain.

Some examples:

I knew my protagonist in one story would have a "standard" name that started with J, was two to three syllables long, and could be shortened to a one syllable nickname that you don't see too often.

I used Jeremy as a placeholder for a while, with Jerm as the nickname, though I knew that wouldn't be the final name. It was "close enough" however. Without a working name like that I find it hard to write. Weeks later it "clicked" for me and I swapped to Jackson/Jacks.

Another story I wanted a girl named after a sound of some kind, preferably a once syllable name, based on a word that could have originally been used to make fun of her.

This one came quickly, and I settled on "Munch." After I had that I chose a "real" name of Margaret, which only one person calls her, and continued writing.

Yet another example is when you want a normal-sounding-name-that-is-not-normal. In that case I just take some normal, popular names (usually from a site like Nameberry), and mess around with letters until something hits.

Lom or Tam instead of Tom. Jeslen instead of Ellen. Jurry instead of Jerry. Meddy instead of Dotty, Zake/Jake, Mery/Mary, and so on.

Pick names and alter them so that the form is familiar but the letters aren't.

But yeah, I always have a "placeholder" name that is similar to the name I end up using. But that's just me and how I do it -- others are going to be different.

I try to pick up names that don't sound similar to each other, and that belong to the right period / area. I pick up my MC's name first, and use this as a starting point to "differentiate" from it.

So, for example: Donovan, Matthew, Helma, Maud... They're different enough, I think, even if I have two "M" characters.

Another good point -- it's nice to mix up the feel of names.

A popular example: Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Two, one, and three syllables. Ending in -y, a consonant, and a vowel. Two standard names and one real-but-nonstandard name.

Hagrid would be an example of a name that (I think?) was made up but is still easy enough to pronounce.

Lots of "H" letters to start but it doesn't matter because they're all so different.

Fun fact: some months apart, and in this order, I decided to include (as the opening of one of the later chapters) the sentence "the next morning, [MMC] awoke from uneasy dreams to find himself transformed in his own mind into [a giant metaphor]" and to bestow upon MMC the name "Gregory." I had actually nearly forgotten about my intent to make the allusion when I gave him the name, and the two decisions have nothing to do with one another.

I found actors that were similar to the traits I wanted for my characters and then combined their names to form a new name. For me, names are always in flux, but the more I keep them, the less I want to change them.

I normally have their names even before I start writing. For the most important characters ,at least. Then I google them to make sure I not just taking a celebrity name.

Sometimes I have to find a name for a character I have already written, so I go for the baby naming sort of thing. It usually works better when I know some of their traits already.

I use the first names of people that I know for my characters. It gives them a sense of reality to me. Sometimes I feel guilty when I've created a really effed up character and given them an awesome person's name. The guilt, however, is short lived. As far as the last names, I've pretty much just said a bunch of last names out loud with the designated first names until one sounded right to me. At some point I'll probably have enough stories that this method will no longer be useful, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I use baby name books/websites... but a lot of the time I have an image in my head of what the character looks like, and list the first few names that come to mind for him/her, and choose from those...

I try to use names that are memorable but not unusual enough that other characters would comment on it. I also make sure I don't have too many characters with names starting with the same letters or sounds.

I choose random names that I like before I begin writing them (Most of the time). My names never have any special meaning or a definition to fit the character; that's just not realistic to me.

LKSebastian said:

Where do you get inspiration for character names? Do you build a character around the name, or look for a name for an already (at least semi) developed character? Do you prefer commonplace names or rare, sometimes made-up names?

Names are my favorite part of the planning stage of writing so I'm curious how other people approach it. I couldn't find an existing thread for this, but if one exists, I'm definitely going to feel like an idiot for missing it. I'll blame it on coming off of a ten and a half hour shift of work and running on about five hours of sleep.

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The character usually comes to me first. Then I have to find the right name. I like to believe the name reflects the character. I LOVE names and think they're important...sorting like branding (advertising talk ) to me. Like 'when you hear this name, you think of my story' type thing. I like different and uncommon names, yet not too unique that it takes away from the story.

For last names, I pay attention to (and then text myself) the last names of people listed in movie credits.

For first names, I have always used 20,000-Names! The site itself looks really crude, but it has TONS of names and their meanings (and alternate meanings for alternate cultures, as well as spellings). I don't think I will ever use anything else!

I like to know what my MC's names are before I start writing. When it comes to secondary/minor characters, one of three things usually happens:

1) I use the first name that comes to mind and never look back.

2) I overthink it way too much and cause myself unnecessary stress.

3) I ping one of my friends/writing buddies and say "Hey! Wanna name a character in this book?" This is how I've wound up with the video game alter-egos of my buddies in my books, and in one notable case, a character named after my friend himself.

My favorite websites for names are behindthename.com and nameberry.com. The former is facts-based, and you can get the meaning of names (organized alphabetically or by ethnicity). The latter is highly subjective, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It can be helpful to see what stereotypes and connotations people associate to a name and decide if you want to go with the flow, subvert expectations, or find a new name altogether. Nameberry also has lists like "Nature Names" and "Frilly Names" and the like.

As others have recommended, variety is good when it comes to multiple characters. I'd suggest aiming for varying the first letters, the ending sounds, and the syllabic count (probably in that order). Just as an example, in my book Disintegration, there are three significant women in the MC's life, and I wanted to pick names that were quite different from each other in sound and style to emphasize said differences. I went with Meyta, Ro, and Tanith. Even without knowing a single thing about my book, you can probably guess who was the tough tomboy and who was the delicate feminine one.