Naming Characters

Brother/sister with such distanced roots for names makes sense only in certain contexts. In modern America it might seem less strange (though still a bit odd). In 1800s Italy it'd be pretty out of place.

Personal example: My world for my current novel is based off Europe quite extensively. The main country borders a German/Nordic-esque land to the north and a Slavic-esque land to the east. A character born in the north is named Bastian (Germanic). A character born in the east is named Lillian (Lillia is Slavic). The more southwest you go in the land, the more Latin/French things get, and two characters from there are Edward and Charles.

But I'm not sure how many people really care that aren't language fanatics

For the love of god, whatever you do, do NOT name your wizard after a popular twelve-step program.

I'm talking to you Brooks!

Doodlebug said:

I just want to get away from Uealiatiana and Xreabreliforth.

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When it comes to complicated (complicated for me ) names like this, I do tend to just skip through them and not bother taking the time to pronounce. To me, these two names would end up sounding something like Uelna and Xforth. I'm a pretty lazy reader when it comes to this

I know. Some fantasy is as bad as the bible sometimes.

"Then Yourshack, Myshack, and ToBedWeGo stepped into the fiery furnace that king Nunchucku-Geezer built for them, and they were sore afraid."

dclary said:

For the love of god, whatever you do, do NOT name your wizard after a popular twelve-step program.

I'm talking to you Brooks!

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He named a wizard Alcoholics Anonymous?

My wife reads Mills and Boon books and some of them have absurdly 'different' names - every character! I prefer normal names.

Doodlebug said:

One of my pet peeves in fantasy are characters with unpronounceable names. (The same thing goes for Russian lit!)

I want to use common names for my characters, but I'm concerned that because I'm world building, if I mix up the names too much, it will sound strange. For example, could I name one character Claude (French) and his sister Helga (German)? Or would that be too jarring? Should I stick with similar-sounding names?

I just want to get away from Uealiatiana and Xreabreliforth.

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Personally, I always keep it simple when it comes to naming my main characters. An upside to this is when you're trying to get people to read it and they can actually discuss it with you. Having complicated names...complicates this.

The only time I feel the need to throw out a name like Xylophedakeladane (sounds like a medication...) is when they're a passing character.

Wouldn't worry too much if you give characters with names that have originated in two different countries. Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with it (or notice it for that matter). I'm not that picky and I just take names as names.

Just go down the list and hand out the names that make sense to you, and worry about the specifics later.

Claude and Helga wouldn't bother me. I think as long as everything is pronounceable and not obviously immediately affiliated with some nationality, like Jaques, it'll be great.

One thing you can do is stick to a common "Theme" such as German names but just change things ever so slightly. Some of the best fantasy names, IMHO, are things that are not normal names but sound like they SHOULD be. Names like Porenn and Sansa and Lessa.

So maybe you like the sound of German names. So you see Helga and change it to Selga. Adolf and change it to Edolf or Agolf. Or something... you can do this with any group of names from a certain language. That way the names seem to "belong" together but are not direct real-life parallels.

dempsey said:

He named a wizard Alcoholics Anonymous?

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Yup. Haven't you ever read the Shannara series?

my friend criticised my use of european names (edward, robert, etc) in my fantasy novel. i argued that if i made up the names (xjadnfrrrgh) why would i not make up all the words.
i did try and mix things up a bit by having a friend-of-hero character called Amir Catt untill that same friend said 'a meer cat'. ill stick to Eds and Robs from now on.

I just want to jump on the bandwagon here and say that I hate, Hate, HATE the crazy names some of these authors spit at us. I usually put the book down when I see names like Xanadot' Turnagnanese. If I do read the book, I don't pay attention to the names. I give them nicknames that I can pronounce and remember. While I'm ranting, let me say that I hate "clever" alternate names for time keeping too. If you want to have colorful names for months/seasons/years, that's cool, but call an hour an "hour," a day a "day," and a week a "week." The author calls it "immersion." The reader calls it "a pain in the ass."

Well, I don't know if this is taking the thread off-topic or I should start another one, but my WIP is at the other end of the spectrum. The characters are gamers and AIs, and almost every name has a hidden agenda. I try to make it strong and relevant, but how do you feel about nicknames with semantic content in Sci-Fi?

Mods let me know if I ought to have started my own thread; I'm still deciphering this place.

ima ways over on the other side of the spectrum, with all wierd names. they get more normal as the story goes along, but its still wierd in the beginning. Should i give pronunciations with it?

so far my beta readers have hit the names on the head with pronunciations. but a few of my names, in all of their wackyness.

Ni'Varion (same as my av, just in the beginning) Ma'Hanadel, Tir'Manassa, Teh'Mehna, Ser'Valen.

should i give an infodump forward, just cause of these? or do yall think they are pronounceable enough?

One thing to consider: A name can be very unusual -- and even multisyllabic -- and still be simple to pronounce.

I honestly don't care as a reader what the style of names are as long as their consistent. Don't give me Kait, Ry, Tynsa, Crispin and Andrew not only in the same book, but the same family (even though I do adore the series, those names really bug the snot out of me every time). Talk about throwing someone out of the story everytime they hit a single name.

Just pick something that satisfies and be consistent. Names say a lot about the world and contribute to the tone of the reading experience. Be aware of all the work they're doing for you.

Doodlebug said:

I just want to get away from Uealiatiana and Xreabreliforth.

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You mean X-ray and Tiana right? hahaha, sorry.
I can be particular about the names I choose, I like reasoning and origin or atleast era/region basis. However, I don't mind too much the name others chose; but I must say when you have names like Agatha, Charles and Seven.

Well, I must admit I'd find it odd to find regular Earth names like Claude and Helga in a completely fantasy world unless it's based on Earth. But judging by the responses it looks like that's just me. I agree with deathwizard in that just because it's a made-up fantasy name, doesn't mean it's impossible to pronounce. I would just make up easy-to-pronounce fantasy names! (My fantasy serial loosely based on ancient Egypt uses names, e. g., like Taka, Be'shen, Nehef, Ahai'ikh, Sut'khut, Khetai, Djuta, etc. I doubt any of these are too hard to say.)

A demon character in another fantasy story of mine is named Xrr'grra'nghraghu. His companions get around this by calling him X, then the MC renames him X'aaru (ex-AR-oo). Works for me, since even I have no clue how to pronounce his real name.

Granted, when I'm using names taken DIRECTLY from existing mythology, readers will just have to put up with things like Mizauwabeekum and Pukwudjininees and Maanaabiziiquae. Nope, I don't know how to pronounce Ojibwa. *shrug*

In an alternate-world setting, real-world names like Claude and Helga would throw me right out (unless there's a good explanation for them).

I think you can make up reasonable fantasy names if you have half an ear for what sounds good. Uealiatiana and Xreabreliforth are pretty bad, but Liatiana and Breliforth would work for me. Tiana and Brel even better.

I always liked "Slab McBeefsteak"

I'll give a rep point to who can guess that reference first

dempsey said:

He named a wizard Alcoholics Anonymous?

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Yes. Yes he did. We are not, in the words of Dave Barry, making this up.

Well, it's Allanon, actually. But I can't think of any way to pronounce that which doesn't come out more or less Al-Anon. I've got to say, I kind of feel for Brooks on this one, though. I can see coming up with a really good name and only discovering too late that it's attached to something totally inappropriate. I mean, does anyone else think Cialis would make a good fantasy name? If it weren't for, y'know, Cialis.

Izunya

dclary said:

Yup. Haven't you ever read the Shannara series?

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No. I'm beginning to think that's a good thing.

Izunya said:

I can see coming up with a really good name and only discovering too late that it's attached to something totally inappropriate.

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That is so true. Sad as it is, you basically need to do a Google search on *every* character name you come up with these days, 1) to see if anyone else is using it (in a significant way) and 2) see if it's inappropriate in any kind of context. Also, it could mean something offensive in another language. Just imagine coming up with a cool alien name, only later to discover that its an extremely offensive Mongolian curse word.