How do you name your characters?

I always think about the specific way the character got the name, like who their parents were and cultural naming conventions. In fantasy I invent at least rudimentary naming rules.

A lot of the "baby name" sites have bogus etymologies and "meanings"; I'd be cautious about using them.

If you're looking for early Celtic names, our own Heather Rose Jones is a great source; she's a Ph.D. linguist, with an emphasis on Celtic languages.

Whatever works best for the writer, so long as the names start with different letters, number of letters, and don't rhyme.

I used to use telephone books from different states, but I don't know if they even still print the white pages. Now I use the Fake Name Generator. Much of the time I skip the given name and use the ones in the fake addresses.

https://www.fakenamegenerator.com/

Finding names was easy for me. I have no idea if they work for other people, but they work for me.

I wanted names that were common in the late 1800s, as that was when we were industrializing hard. So, lists of names in the 1800s from a bunch of regions.

I developed an in-world convention for surnames, too.

I also loved that Rowling's choice of the (to me) unusual name 'Hermione' led to it being now an easily recognized name. So, I drift towards certain currently less-popular names, too. Hence, my hero Myrta.

I'm hoping to find a place to use the name Prudence. Specifically, I want a character named Prudence de Scott. She might go by Pru. Her name would be meant to evoke a current US official, but I don't have the details worked out yet.

Personally I find names that match a characters temperament or other adult qualities unless there is some reason to explain how that happened--like if it is an adult nickname or their parents could magically predict what they would be like.

I'm writing historical fiction based in the early 17th century so that constrains the names that are available. My characters are mostly English and Irish with a few other nationalities thrown into the mix. The English characters were relatively easy -- they ended up with names like Benjamin, Robert, Samuel, etc. My MC is from Cornwall so searched for Cornish surnames and picked one I liked the sound of.

The Irish characters were a bit trickier because I had to decide whether to give them the full Irish names in full spelling glory, or make things easier for my non-Irish readers by anglicizing them. I ended up choosing names with an anglicized spelling (e.g. Ailish, Conor) or Irish names that are fairly well-known today (e.g. Seamus, Sinead). I anglicized the surnames, so O'Sullivan instead of Ó Súilleabháin.

For my Moroccan characters (because the MC goes to North Africa for few chapters) I went with common Arabic names like Yusef, Ahmed, Fatima. I considered including some Amazigh (Berber) names, but the characters are from Northern Morocco and mainly of Andalusian-Muslim family origin, so I didn't think that would be accurate. Moroccans in that era didn't have surnames but instead used patronyms like "ibn Omar" (son of Omar) or "bint Ibrahim" (daughter of Ibrahim). Or sometimes they would be known by a descriptor such as "Al-Andalusi" (the Andalusian). I tried to use a mixture of both.

I have two named French characters. They got their names from some French guys I know, but with the first name and surname scrambled up. I did check that the names were OK for the period.

This SCA page is quite good for Medieval and Renaissance names: https://www.s-gabriel.org/names/

novicewriter said:

Interesting! Almost everyone has a completely different method.

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Well, to be fair, I use lots of different methods; my favorite is Old Hack's, where the names just come along with the characters. But that doesn't always work, so one needs back-up plans. I also collect interesting names as I come across them in RL, and I've used typos and misreadings of words on occasion, especially in SF.

Place-names are another good source. Most of the characters in my current WIP are named after roads.

Also, seconding whoever said to google the name you pick, to make sure it doesn't mean something inappropriate, or you've accidentally named your character after a famous terrorist (did that once), or something else you'll wish you'd known about sooner.

I'm in Old Hack's camp of the characters tell me who they are.

Of those who don't, I collect lists of interesting names. Sometimes I will adjust/morph them a bit to look or sound pleasing.

And I always say them out loud to make sure they roll off the tongue and I haven't inadvertently gotten cute and chosen names that look good on the page but are hell to say out loud.

Same here. Names come immediately with the character. My stories always seem to begin with the character wanting to tell me their story, so it's as if they introduce themselves. Only once did a character get cutesy and want me to "guess" his name. I threatened to give him a cutesy name in retaliation and he fessed up.

(I don't plot and the unfolding story really is like someone telling me their story. It makes for some interesting twists and turns sometimes and the ending is always a surprise to me. Kind of like reading someone else's book.)

I'm partially the same as you both bearioul and Ari. I just create the characters and the names just pop up. Once I look up the meaning of the names I'm glad that they fit perfectly with them, most of the time lol.

I also do just randomly look at names from lists and try to see which ones just sound like they'd fit.

Honestly, I name my characters after other characters or writers. Like Eliot after George and T.S. Eliot, Rosamond after Rosamond Vincy, Tess after Tess D'Urbeville, the like. That way, they already feel oddly familiar to me, like old friends.

Old Hack said:

I don't name my characters. They tell me what they're called while I tell their stories.

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This. I tried to change a characters name once he told me who he wanted to be as I wrote him, and that didn't work, so the original name stuck It just comes to me. But if I *have* to get a name, sometimes I use fantasy name generator.

I'm also in Old Hack's camp. The characters name themselves. Recently my newest idea for a story came to me in a dream, along with the main character's name (Salina, spelled that way. My husband made fun of me. Asked if she was salty.) For a MG idea I'm working on, it has a historical element to it, so I'm trying to select historically and culturally appropriate names. I'm not one to select names with heavy meaning, but for this MG one, I am.

I write secondary world fantasy, so in many cases I need to make up the names whole cloth. In my current work, which is a sort of steampunk fairy tale, I've got a real blend of Victorian names that have been 'weirded up' a bit, and completely made up names for fairy's and such.

I chose my MC's name (Cait) because I wanted something that blurred the gender line a bit. He is after all a gender swapped little red riding hood.

First names are easy, usually. I used to be a janitor at a Sun Life Financial, and at each cubicle there is a name-card. Learned a lot of last names from other countries/cultures. Some of those names---and first names, too---have found their way into my fiction, and probably always will. Also, last names can come from musicians I follow or hockey players.

All of my characters' names have a fictional or historical connection with James Joyce.

I never really give random name's to characters. I write dystopian fiction, and I have a huge interest in history...so I name all my characters usually with something with historical meaning or referencing something in contemporary times. E.g. my main character is Arthur Hudson, Arthur based on King Arthur, Hudson from Sherlock Holmes character Mrs Hudson. Another character is Martin Luther, another character is called Khalid (after the historical military commander) another character is called Juvayni (a Mongol scribe and historian)...

It has to make sense to me...

Sometimes I have a name in my head already for the main characters but most times I use the baby names websites or the name generator sites to get first and last names.

Depends on the character's part in the story. I like balancing symbolism and realism, and thus forth, like names that summarize important aspects in regards to the character's journey. I usually google something like "name that means death" or "name that means journey."

With my WIP being set in the far future, I've had to make up most names. Some came from nouns, others I tacked on a syllable to a real name. The most creative I got was with this one girl who would not share her name, so I took the three main character traits she had and chopped those words into pieces. I then mixed and matched random syllables until I got one that fit. Like "creative" and "ruthless" make Rutive.

It depends on the setting, first--whether somewhere more fantastical where I'm building various cultures & naming standards or if it's here on Earth, in which case I'd need to look at where and when on Earth & go from there. I habitually make little notes if I hear an interesting sounding name while I'm going about my daily life, or just a name that resonates with me. If I'm making up a name I'll generally start with a base like, "This character I'm getting a sense of "K" so let's see... Ka.. Ke.. Kor.. Kel.. Ku.." and then from there just scribble around different iterations of names until I land on something that sounds good and fitting like Kurei or Ker.

I always Google my made-up names for main characters just to be sure I'm not accidentally plagiarizing someone else's work, because sometimes my memory is like "NAME THEM KVOTHE, TRUST ME THIS IS AN ORIGINAL NAME YOU JUST MADE UP." And I reply, "Kvothe! Brain you are a GENIUS what a great name! Sounds kind of familiar though.. where have I heard it before.. maybe I knew someone named that in middle school. Probably fine."

Patty said:

I also loved that Rowling's choice of the (to me) unusual name 'Hermione' led to it being now an easily recognized name. So, I drift towards certain currently less-popular names, too. Hence, my hero Myrta.

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Hermione was a Shakespeare character from The Winter's Tale (the daughter of a Russian emperor). There are signs of Russian things in Harry Potter, such as Privet Street (where the Dursley's lived). Privet, in Russian, means hello.

I suppose Hello Street is appropriate to start book one of HP (Hello World.... programming nonsense).

Hermione was unusual in the UK, too, at the time. Less so now!

Privet, though, is a very common type of hedge in the UK associated with snobbery (eg wealthy people have privet hedges to keep the poor out). I don't think it's a Russian reference. But I'm not a Potter fan so maybe I'm wrong.

Harlequin said:

Hermione was unusual in the UK, too

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Unless you're a P.G.Wodehouse fan...

Harlequin said:

wealthy people have privet hedges to keep the poor out

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Or hawthorn... apparently...