Randy Ellefson's Blog, page 5

Techniques for Inventing Names

We can use several techniques while inventing names, which can be more fun than using a name generator. It’s more creative and gives a feeling of ownership and pride. These techniques are presented in no order and can be combined.

Silent or Repeated Letters

Taking a simple or known word and adding silent or repeated letters is simple. H is great for this. Galen becomes Ghalen. Add an extra l to create Gallen. An extra n makes it Galenn. This can change the pronunciation but that’s fine as long as we like it. Other good choices for silent letters are s and m, while many letters can be repeated depending on their position in the word.

Vowel Substitution, Addition, or Subtraction

Vowels can be changed, added, or subtracted to and from existing and invented words. An extra vowel gets us Gaalen or Galeen (with a possible pronunciation change). Maybe Gaelen is better. Or Galan. Swapping y for an i or e gets us Galyn or Galin.

Capitalize Another Letter

We can capitalize additional letters, but only two is likely best. This works better in longer words, like GaLendria, but this might work better with an apostrophe, such as Ga’Lendria. We typically capitalize the first letter, but there’s no reason a culture can’t choose another, resulting in gaLendria or ga’Lendria. We might want an explanation for this, such as humility being prized so that less importance is placed on the self; therefore, the initial letter isn’t so tall. That viewpoint could result in the entire name not being capitalized, like some modern performers such as k.d. lang, but it may cause audience confusion and should be used wisely. It might also look like a regular word, not a title. Capitalizing a different letter might also benefit from an explanation, such as galenDria, where galen is the given name and Dria is the surname; the surname takes prominence so that family members have a “family first” attitude.

Switching First Letters

We can switch the first letters of known words. Woman becomes Soman, Doman, Roman (maybe not that one), or Loman; I could go on. The computer manufacturer Dell becomes Kell or Xell. Look at your keyboard’s letters while doing this. It helps.

Add Suffixes or Prefixes

Adding a one syllable suffix to the end of a word helps add style if we use it with some consistency. It can help characterize a region or culture, too. Galen now becomes Galenor or Galendor, though the latter sounds like a place. Instead, maybe Galenda. A prefix could create Dagalen, though that no longer looks like a prefix, partly because it’s so short. We could change the capitalization to daGalen. If we used a hyphen or apostrophe, we get Da-Galen, Da’Galen, or da’Galen.

Breaking Known Words Up

A challenging but fun approach is to look at products around us and steal a syllable or two, and maybe change some letter. This often produces very good names. As I wrote this, “Galen” was on a nearby product, which is how that got chosen. So is “solutions,” which I can turn into “Lucion” by dropping the first syllable and replacing a letter. More examples: “Plantronics” becomes Ronik, “Contigo” becomes Tigo, and “moisturizer” becomes Irizor and Sturin. If you don’t like the result, play with it until you do. Maybe Kirizor and Asturin are better?

Foreign Languages

We can take names from languages foreign to our own, either wholesale or as a basis for modification. This is particularly useful if we want to create a sense of shared names in a culture; if we need many words, inventing them from scratch can be difficult. This is known as an analogue, and while my Rule of Three doesn’t apply as much, it’s still good to make at least one change, instead of three, to prevent people from recognizing the name. From Asia we can take the names Amida, Bae, and Kaede and convert them to something of ours using techniques in this section, resulting in Amidar, Baedin, or Kaedi, for example.

Be Consistent, Just Not Too Much

When inventing names of people or places within a region, some consistency helps create the impression of unification. To adopt a naming style, use certain elements repeatedly. Which elements will depend on our preference. Any aspect of a name can do. For example, the suffix “or” can be added for Galenor and Ravenor, or the “ae” combo to cause Laeryn and Novinae. Then create a place with both: Daelinor. It’s also okay to have names that don’t meet these conventions because too much consistency looks too planned.

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Tips on Creating Names

Making any aspect of our work challenging for the audience can kill enthusiasm and conversation about it, and this includes names. This issue can manifest in several ways, each with its own solution.

Keep it Short

Long names tend to be harder to read, remember, spell, and pronounce than shorter ones. This includes too many names, or syllables within a name.

More than three names may be excessive. In English speaking countries, we typically use just the first name, the surname only when being formal, or both when introducing someone. The middle name is almost never used unless it is part of a stage name or someone goes by that instead of the first name. We can invent something different, and other cultures have already done so, but the point is that we seldom use more than this. We can invent a long name like Liminera Solto Ariso Nubien Arta Astol Munir, but few people want to see that more than once.

Names with too many syllables are hard, too. Four syllables is considered long but not unwieldy. Exceed this infrequently (once a story). Strive for between one and three syllables much of the time.

With long names, such as Limineraslyvarisnia, people tend to skip much of it rather than working it out as we did when inventing it. In actual usage, such names get shortened anyway, such as to Limi or maybe Nera. It can still be advantageous to invent such a lengthy one to create a sense of cultural differences, but we’ll want to use the long version once or twice, such as when introducing the character in narration, or at a formal ceremony.

In addition, sometimes parents or other authority figures will use the long version when expressing disapproval or affection. By contrast, the short version can be a show of familiarity, whether that’s appropriate or not. If we want to use this device in a story, maybe we should still use the short version in narration (implying this is how the character thinks of themselves) and only put the full name in another character’s mouth.

When writing content such as a summary or book blurb, use the version that easiest to absorb. The long version could give the impression we’ll be doing that all the time and possibly turn off a potential reader. However, using first and last name can be good if the combination sounds very cool and gives a hint about their character or type, such as Talon Stormbringer, the name of my all-purpose fantasy action hero.

Keep it Simple (Apostrophes and Hyphens)

People are drawn to simpler things, and that includes names. World builders can easily create a sense of somewhere different from Earth (or another culture in our invented world) with unusual naming conventions, but some approaches can be overused or otherwise annoy readers. This includes too many consonants, hyphens, or apostrophes. One of these per name is better than several, even if spread across a character’s given and surnames.

One problem with too many consonants together, like Ghlnalenkm, is the difficulty in pronouncing it. Some readers may find this easier than others due to similar occurrences in their language, but others won’t and something as simple as a name shouldn’t be a point of consternation for our audience. In the case of Ghlnalenkm, the “h” adds no value. We could also surmise that there’s a vowel somewhere in the start, such as “Gal” or “Glen,” producing Ghalnalenkm or Ghlenalenkm. Why not just write them that way ? Or get rid of the “h” and get Galnalenkm or Glenalenkm.

Hyphens are used to connect two words, like Smith-Davies when a married woman wants to keep her surname when taking her husband’s surname, too. While the culture might use hyphens, that doesn’t mean we need to show it to our reader all the time. In the above case, maybe mention Smith-Davies and then reduce it to Smith for the rest of the work. We can write something like, “She went by Smith instead of her legal name, Smith-Davies, out of laziness, but never in the presence of her husband, who’d been known to arch an eyebrow when she didn’t add his Davies.” This smoothly gets in some characterization and tension while doing some housekeeping exposition.

Why is an apostrophe used? It takes the place of an omitted letter, or potentially several them. This justification reveals how truly optional this is – and therefore how easy it is to avoid. Do we really need to replace a letter? What’s wrong with it?

Before doing this, decide what letter is being omitted and whether it seems better that way. Fantasy writers have been using (abusing?) apostrophes for a long time, and this is precisely why many people loathe it. A quick Google search will reveal a heaping of scornful posts about this. Do we want our audience rolling their eyes? That’s contempt for us, so probably not.

To avoid that reaction, we should have a justification for it, though the obvious problem with this is the need to explain it. However, a single sentence can do. What justification do we need? Making a long name shorter by replacing letters with an apostrophe is a good one. We can replace Smith-Davies with S’Davies; that’s an awkward example because it sounds bad, but you get the idea. We can explain, “Recruits were called Marmillionor partly to haze them with the unwieldly mouthful that had produced widespread derision for eons, and which shortened to M’ionor upon graduation.”

An apostrophe is also used for a contraction, such as “can’t” instead of “cannot.” The main issue we face is that people won’t understand what we’re contracting unless we explain it, so it looks random. We can get around this with some characterization: “He’d been a wizard of the Marmili Order before becoming one of the famed knights of Ionor, and while the combination was rare, the title of M’Ionor struck awe into everyone but the surly guard barring his way.” Note how in this case the “I” is capitalized due this resulting from two titles being combined, unlike the previous example, where letters within a single word were omitted. This could be written Mionor, but the significance of two merged titles is then lost, though many won’t realize this detail.

We may want to use the apostrophe to suggest pronunciation. This often happens when several adjacent vowels should be sounded apart rather than as one. For example, the word “Tourten” is likely read as two syllables (“TOR-ten”), but writing it as “To’Urten” makes it three (“tow-UR-ten”). We could further decide that the first two letters are short for “Torni,” for example; this means “To’Urten” is short for “Torni Urten.”

The one thing we don’t want to do with apostrophes is have no reason for using one (or giving the appearance of this). Making a name sound like a fantasy one by including a senseless apostrophe is not a reason. It is the most loathed justification and considered shallow. Even when we have a good reason, we should use them sparingly. “All things in moderation.”

The Issue of Similarities

There’s an idea that an author should avoid having two characters whose names start with the same letter, such as Adam and Aiden, in the same story. The reason is that people often don’t read very carefully and mostly notice the first letter, especially if the names are also roughly the same length. In misreading it, they can think a different character is saying or doing something, causing confusion.

The same principle can be extended to naming places or things in a given work. Don’t name one place Newall and another one Norall; in this case I’ve also made the ending the same to illustrate this point. A variety is easier to accomplish if we’re world building to tell a specific story, because we can invent the names just for that story, but if creating a world for general and repeated use, we do run the risk of inventing two places that appear in the same tale sooner or later. While not a guideline to obsess over, the trick here is to not name adjacent places too similarly, as they’re the one most likely to be visited within a single story.

Sound

A name’s sound matters more in mediums where people will say it, but authors should still think about the impression it creates and how easy it is to say. Be sure to say your invented words aloud. This tells us much about how feasible it is and whether other characters are likely to use the full term or shorten it. If we’re struggling to pronounce it, that’s a bad sign. Don’t worry if your audience doesn’t say it right, as it’s bound to happen for even mono-syllable words. If accuracy really matters to you, we have the option of providing a pronunciation guide on the book’s website. This can take the form of a short audio file of ourselves saying the name. Modern technology makes it very easy to produce such recordings.

Appearance

Books aren’t really considered a visual medium, but the look of a word matters for style. While we can’t read elvish, Tolkien’s flowing script creates a smooth impression, while many hard consonants can suggest brutality and coarseness. Adding silent letters can change appearance while not interfering with pronunciation. We may want to use certain letters within one culture, such as always using a k instead of a c, or replacing i with y. For example, Lonnieri vs. Lonnyery. Letter combinations can also be frequently repeated, such as “ier” as in the names Kier, Lonnieri, and Raediera.

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How to Use Existing Names

If there’s a name we really like, we can sometimes use it without consequence, but this depends on the name and how much of it we use without alteration. A famous name like Luke Skywalker is one to avoid. Even the surname can’t be used due to its heavy association with him. A variation like Airwalker might work, but the similarity in subject matter between air and sky is also more problematic/reminiscent of him. On the other hand, Nightwalker doesn’t immediately call him to mind, unless his full name is Luke Nightwalker. Even Lucas Nightwalker might tip off people as to what we’re doing. As usual with an analogue, follow my Rule of Three: at least three significant changes. In the case of a name, just two changes may suffice, such as Kier Nightwalker.

There are other names that might not be household ones, but which are still too well known in the genres to use, even in an altered state, without raising some eyebrows. This includes Legolas from The Lord of the Rings (italics), Raistlin Majere from Dragonlance, or Voldemort (Harry Potter). Be careful leveraging such names. It’s arguably better to borrow a minor character’s name or use one from a lesser known work or author.

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Creating Unique Names

Inventing a name that no one else is using appeals to both world builders and our audience. But it’s possible to invent a name that’s already in use without realizing it, and we can always claim this excuse, partly because it’s unrealistic for us to know every name ever used by every creative person in history. The odds of any author coming up with a name no one has ever done before, or ever will again, are slim. Even so, we should try, because uniqueness prevents confusion and a reader associating the name with something that’s already familiar. We often hope that a character, place, or thing we’ve invented becomes famous; a distinctive and cool name helps this. It’s worth noting that combining familiar words helps audiences absorb them quickly. The example in the previous “Compound Names” section demonstrate this.

Sometimes people who have multiple names become known by just one, like Cher, Bono, and Sting. They are said to be mononymous. But it’s far easier to create a unique name by combining words (for places) or given and surnames (for people). There are far more Lukes than there are Luke Skywalkers. There’s only one Han Solo. Only one Princess Leia, who could almost be considered mononymous in that she’s got a title and one name; it’s not clear in the films whether Leia is her given or surname (it’s her given; her surname is Organa even though her family name could also be Skywalker were it not for adoption).

When inventing a name, don’t worry if you invent a word that, as it turns out, already exists, even if you’re naming a plant, animal, or species instead of a character. It’s not ideal but also not a big deal. There are countless words in English that have two meanings and there’s no reason yours can’t become meaning number two. On the other hand, if you find that the word exists and is objectionable in some way, or easily confused with what you’re doing, you might change it in one of the ways mentioned in this chapter.

As a case in point, I used “drek” long ago only to later learn that it means “shit” in German. Go ahead and laugh. I did. And then I stopped using that. It pays to Google any word you invent. Ignorance can be bliss until someone in the know sends you an email and you cringe. As “drek” illustrates, a word that doesn’t exist in English may exist in another language.

It can become an exercise in futility trying to avoid every last word, so don’t worry too much. I once invented “kryll” for one of my Llurien species only to discover many years later that “krill” are a type of marine life. I decided I don’t care partly because I spell it differently and few people are going to know that word. And if they do, they know krill are a small crustacean whereas my kryll live on land, meaning there’s little reason to confuse one with the other. Nonetheless, a beta-reader once pointed it out with “LOL! Why are you naming this after tiny fish!?!”

A more recent incident brings up another problem: someone far more prominent than you can invent a similar name long after you did. In this case, Seth MacFarlane’s show, The Orville, also has humanoids called krill. I still frown every time I hear it, but I’m not changing a name I’ve been using since 1991 because Seth used a similar one starting in 2017. I know some people will ask why I stole Seth’s name instead of using one of my own, criticizing my lack of originality and even claiming I’m a Seth fanboy. On the plus side, I published The Ever Fiend in 2016 featuring a kryll, so I have proof I used it first. Still, I wonder why Seth named his humanoids after tiny fish!

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Creating Place Names 2

Names of places sometimes change, which can happen for several reasons. We don’t have to worry about what the place was called before unless desired.

One of these is an event that creates the current name. If a shipwreck happened there, the ship’s name might have renamed the place. A named weapon fired from that location could be the source. A nearby land feature can be the source of a disease named; Ebola was named after the Ebola River near one of the initial breakout sites.

Being conquered often results in a new name connected to the conquerors. An obvious example from Earth is the litany of cities named Alexandria after Alexander the Great conquered them. He could’ve named them after a god or hero, too. This is one way to create a name in a region, where that name is unlike those already there; sometimes these new names stay long after the conquerors are gone, though this seems more likely if occupation lasted a number of years; otherwise the conquered might just switch back to the old name.

The opposite is also true – the name of a place is given to an event, like a battle named after it. In SF, we might have an item being built here, like a well-known ship, weapon, or device named for the town of origin or mass production.

Another type of event is weather or other natural phenomena. A well-known example would be Winterfell from Game of Thrones. On Earth, places have been named Hurricane, Rainbow Springs, Frostproof, Waterproof, Cyclone, Snow, Tornado, Summer Lake, and Winter. The more literal names are less artful than something like Rainbow Springs and can suggest we didn’t put much effort into them.

Using People

One option is to name a place after a character or a surname. We see this on Earth all the time with names like Jacksonville or Harrisonburg. Other examples include the Cook Islands (named after Captain James Cook), Dominican Republic (Saint Dominic), and Seychelles (Jean Moreau de Seychelles). This can be done from villages all the way up to countries. We can add requirements, such as the person needing to be royalty before a place can be named after them. For more ideas, look at this very long list at Wikipedia:

The main issue with naming places after people is that it means inventing another character; we probably aren’t naming a location after someone who’s in the story we’re telling. They’d have to be pretty old, for one, but it also makes things a little odd. However, if we’ve invented gods or other legendary figures (as discussed in Creating Life, The Art of World Building, #1), we can leverage those names here. This is one area where building a world used for our entire career, rather than only the story currently on our minds, has an advantage, because we’re more likely to have invented people we can repurpose. We might want to do an alternate version of their name to avoid confusion between the place and the person; using prefixes and suffixes (see the next section) makes this easy.

If we’ve already invented place names, we can retroactively decide these were people. We don’t need to spend much time developing them as characters, as a line or two in our notes can suffice. For example, “Kierdon is named after the knight Kier Moonbright of Illiandor, who exemplified honor and valor at the time of the town’s founding, for his heroic sacrifice at the Battle of Hestia, where he saved the crown prince at the cost of his own life.”

For what reasons do we name places after people? In addition to heroes, legendary figures, and important discoverers and political figures, we often use religious saints. If people embody a positive character trait, such a person may be chosen in a show of optimism about the quality and character of the location’s citizens. This trait needs no basis in fact. Those with both good and bad characteristics will exist in every location, so this is a technique we can use to quickly invent past priests or wizards in our world.

Adding Suffixes and Prefixes

Some names are based on a surname, which can be more obvious when we’re familiar with that surname, such as Washington or Jackson. This familiarity doesn’t exist on invented worlds. While we can certainly use such names without alteration, we can also alter them with either a familiar suffix or prefix from Earth or one of our invention.

The examples below can spark imagination:

Ville (Jacksonville)Burg (Harrisonburg)Sted (Christiansted)Caster (Lancaster)Chester (Manchester)Avon (Avonmouth)Burn (Blackburn)Don (Abingdon)Den (Willesden)Ford (Stafford)Gate (Helmsgate)Ing (Reading)Mere (Windemere)Ton (Hamilton)

Doing this in fantasy or SF might result in places names like the following:

FlamecasterMagedonFluxtonStaffordSpellburnOrbdonLasertonDroidstedSpellcasterBeamdonBlastervilleCryotonCyberburgRayburnHivemereMoonfordAeongateUnimereCompound Names

We can also combine words, whether we leave a space between them or not. For example, East Haven and Easthaven both work well. This lets us take two somewhat ordinary words and fashion something unique from them. More examples include Black Hollow, Broken Shield, Hero’s March, Goldleaf, Ironforge, Oakheart, Raven’s Nest, and Silverhelm. A partial list of source words is here (and don’t forget to use colors, directions, and plants and animals, either of our invention or not):

EndKeepBreakDaleSpringStreamsHornValeRidgeFallsPassDenHeartCrestFieldMoor

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Creating Place Names

Naming places has a few unique considerations.

In our modern world, at least in the United States, few of us have any idea why any location bears its name. This may be true in our invented setting as well, and likely depends on how old places are. Since many places are named for someone, the person for whom they are named also has an impact if that association is remembered. Being named for someone that a culture has forgotten relegates the connection between person and place to the unknown. This is also affected by how long ago that person lived.

For example, we assume anywhere named Washington is named after the first president, but Dallas is just Dallas. In reality, the latter is named after George M. Dallas, but few know that, care, or have any idea why they should. In a world where travel is easy, such ignorance is more likely due to the sheer number of distant places (over a hundred miles) we can visit. But in a fantasy-like setting with restricted travel and far less information about the wider world, it’s more likely that people know why each location within a certain distance bears its name. This is partly due to a lack of information overload that comes with technology. Consider this before spending too much time inventing justifications for names; your characters may be unlikely to know or discover this and we therefore have little reason to worry about it ourselves.

In a single work, we should avoid explaining the reason every place bears its name. It can start to sound like we’re educating the audience or doing exposition housekeeping. Strategically pick the one or two places that are worth this, and briefly sneak in any such exposition. We decide based on whether the place’s name and its origin can characterize the setting or not.

We can have our characters see a statue, painting, or carving, at city gates, on flags, on awnings, or on prominent buildings, possibly with a plaque that commemorates the namesake. Something that depicts the person is a little better because their appearance can give an idea who they were without explanation.

For example, “As he entered the gates of Kierdon, Antar smirked at the statue of Kier looming overhead, sword aloft, plate armor emblazoned with the knighthood’s symbol, cloak swirling around him, for if Kier had still lived, he would’ve been mortified at the squalor and seediness that scurried around the town.” We would then go on to paint more details about what Antar experiences as he goes about his business, hopefully making this relevant, too, such as someone stealing from him along the way. We could alternatively have him being chased through town by ruffians before finding himself cornered beneath that statue, which adds commentary to what’s occurring.

We can invent place names using several rationales and techniques discussed next.

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Creating Surnames

In contrast to the given name, the surname is inherited from either the family or a clan, but not all surnames are inherited. They are often chosen or changed, either by the individual or someone else, such as a servant’s lord, or even government officials. Many who immigrated to the United States were simply given new surnames upon arrival. Sometimes those new names had something to do with their original name, such as a misspelling or Americanization of it, while other previous surnames were simply ditched by officials.

The original meaning of a surname is often lost in time. This is especially true if the spelling has been altered. In our work, we’re more interested in giving characters names that mean something to not only them and other characters, but to the audience.

Any of our characters might have earned a name or simply inherited it.

Using Places

Surnames are often used to distinguish between two people in the same settlement who have the same given name. This means that in a small town or village, surnames might not be used. Galen is simply Galen. If he travels, he might be asked where he’s from, resulting in others calling him Galen of Norin, which in time might become Galen Norin. This could become his surname if he’s moved into a culture where others have one and there might be more than one Galen. One’s place of birth need not be the surname, as later residences can apply instead.

If there’s a prominent land feature, this can also be used, as can names of castles or other prominent buildings. The name of an actual hill can be used, so that Galen, who lives near Ardo Hill, becomes Galen Ardo, or the generic word for the feature can be used, resulting in Galen Hill. Regions such as counties, states, kingdoms (including long forgotten ones) and more can be used.

A knight might wish to suggest he comes from a respectable city instead of the less-favored one from where he actually originated. Said knight need have never even visited, much less lived, in that city. Few if any are likely to contest such a claim unless advanced technology, the kind found in SF, allows them to easily verify his origin. That said, a character doing this might have an accent that betrays him, for example, and be unaware his ruse is known or suspected.

In some countries or regions, an article is placed before the surname, such as “de” in France, resulting in Galen de Borun, and this is sometimes later altered to d’Borun or Deborun. When using an apostrophe in names, remember that the punctuation is replacing something. We can make a list of articles used in a given country; remember that not every name should have them as that looks too consistent and planned.

Using Occupations

Surnames were often derived from an occupation, such as a blacksmith or ironsmith. This latter point raises an issue for fantasy authors. There are almost certainly blacksmiths in your world. If you call someone Galen Smith, that surname looks too much like a name from our world, which interferes with our attempts to create a world that appears different from Earth. The way to avoid this is, well, to avoid this. Choose occupational surnames that are likely for your world but don’t exist in ours. Another option is to leave that example as Galen Blacksmith, because that’s less familiar. This also allows us to introduce a character and state their profession simultaneously (unless it’s different, in which case this can be a problem).

In some countries, servants took the first or last name of their employer as a surname, adding an “s” to the end. Galen’s maid, Sori, becomes Sori Galens, or maybe Sori Isa-Boruns. An actor who always plays the role of a king in plays becomes Galen King.

Using First Name

A surname is sometimes created from a first name. Using Galen again, his son could be Rogin Galenson or Rogin Galen. This first makes sense but also looks a too little Earth-like. His daughter might be Galendaughter, a common naming convention in some European countries. A shorter suffix might be simpler. In Russia, girls inherit their father’s last name just like boys do, with one distinction: the letter “a” is added to a girl’s last name. For example, Galen’s son would be Rogin Ori Isa-Borun and his daughter would be Suri Pia Isa-Boruna. Simply adding “a” works for some names but not for others, so we’d need more than one version.

Using Nicknames

While we sometimes associate nicknames with being unflattering, not all of them are, and in either case, these can become a surname. Those who’ve refused to choose a surname are sometimes given an unflattering one. In our world, Trollman could be someone who has specialized in dealing with trolls or who resembled a troll. Any physical or even personal/mental characteristic can be used. If someone acts haughty like a hated nobleman, they could end up with that nobleman’s surname, which is the reason some people on Earth have Caesar for a last name. To be more precise, a relative may have been given that surname derisively and then passed it down. In some cases, families remove unflattering names in later generations.

Another variant is using something unrelated to the individual, sometimes as an affectation. Someone can be named after the morning sun, a beautiful (or even deadly) flower, or an animal known for its strength.

Compound Surnames

Where an individual has two last names, this is called a compound surname. Several varieties exist on Earth and can be leveraged for our world. Each of the two names is typically derived from one parent. Let’s take the name Galen Sori Isa Borun and break it down:

First Given NameSecond Given NamePaternal Last NameMaternal Last NameGalenSoriIsaBorun

Figure 14 Compound Names

Galen Sori is his first and second given name. Isa is his paternal last name (i.e., his father’s surname was Isa), and Borun is his maternal last name (his mother’s surname was Borun).

If Galen has children, they can either inherit just Isa or both Isa Borun, but in Hispanic cultures, seldom if ever is only the maternal name (Borun) inherited alone. There’s no reason we have to follow that, of course, but it shows some variations are available even here.

If Galen has children who inherit Isa Borun as a surname, and then they have children, it can become more complicated. For example, let’s say Galen’s son Rogin Ori Isa Borun marries a woman whose last name is also a compound name, Sine Tiona. They have a son, whose name could be Uron Dain Isa Borin Sine Tiona. Those wanting to shorten his name can call leave off his middle name “Dain,” but they can also use only his father’s surname, calling him Uron Isa Borin. Since it’s not okay to use only the mother’s surname, Sine Tiona, we can’t call him Uron Sine Tiona. Variants on all of this exist.

Similarly, his father’s surname being Isa Borin means it would be wrong to call Uron by just one of those: Uron Isa or Uron Borin are both wrong. This is again assuming we’re following the Hispanic convention. We can invent our own rules.

To help avoid confusion, we can use punctuation: Galen Sori Isa-Borun has a son Rogin Ori Isa-Borun, who marries a woman with the last name Sine-Tiona. Their son is called Uron Dain Isa-Borin Sine-Tiona. In our work, we’re seldom going to want to use all of these names, as audiences expect to be on a “first-name basis” as the expression goes in the United States, with our characters. This is considered more personal, and audiences want personal connections with characters.

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Creating Names

Creating names for people, places, and things can be a challenging but necessary part of world building. This chapter will discuss techniques for inventing names, how language invention can inform our choices, and options regarding the different parts of names.

People Names

In order to explore naming, we should first understand which parts of one we’re discussing. Differing terms are used for the parts, such as given name, surname, first name, last name, and more.

How Many Names?

Up until about the 12th century on Earth, not everyone had a first and last name, known as “given name” and “surname,” which means having both is optional for our invented world. People in some countries have two or more surnames (and which can come before the given name). Hereditary last names are also not universal. Knowing the reasons for these variations will help us decide where on our world we could do similar things. We have flexibility.

The order of these names can vary, but in Western countries, the given name is typically the first name and the surname is the last. In Eastern countries, this order is often reversed. In Spanish-speaking countries, the given name is followed by the father’s surname and then the mother’s. This mostly matters to us if we’re presenting both names to our audience. It’s a simple way to distinguish one culture from another.

On Earth, some religions have saints, and those names have sometimes been adopted by others. One result is many people with the first name John, for example, resulting in a need for surnames to distinguish between them. One point here is that if we have famous knights or wizards in our world, their name can be highly sought.

Given Names

The “given name” is bestowed (hence the term) upon the person, usually by their parents, but it can be decided by other relatives, particularly if the parents are absent or incapacitated. Or the cultural choice can be different, like grandparents doing it. Or an older sibling. We might decide that the state does it, especially in an authoritarian regime or a futuristic one where people are given a number instead. Consider the government type that this person was born into for whether people have freedom to name a child or not.

The name is typically given at birth but could be changed later if an important event or religious ceremony occurs. This could be as simple as the child’s first, eighteenth, or twenty-first birthday. We can decide a boy becomes a man on losing his virginity and then he gets another given name; the same can be done with a girl, or when she bears a first child. They’ll be known by something else in the meantime, or perhaps their initial name is replaced by another in a coming-of-age milestone of our choosing. If a character obtains magical power at puberty, for example, perhaps they get a wizarding name then, whether they or their instructor choose it. Names are sometimes changed when immigrating to another country, possibly to fit in. Ethnicity might be downplayed this way if the character has reason to fear hostility.

How might world builders use such information? Explaining via narration is the least attractive option. Dialogue might be better, such as one character noticing another’s ethnicity but that their name doesn’t quite match and then remarking on this, possibly snidely: “Your name won’t hide what you are!”

On Earth, the given name distinguishes one person from another in a family or clan (because they’ll all have the same surname/last name). Sometimes there is more than one given name, which means that one of them, referred to as the forename, is spoken first if both are used. Either one could have more prominence and be the main name for this person, but it’s often the first one.

As for why a name is chosen, the reasons vary and are often combined. The simplest reason is that parents like the name. This may not apply to world builders, but wanting a name that’s clear of negative associations can also rule out some choices; a relative of mine gave his daughter the name of a despised woman I once knew and for years, I thought of this every time I heard the girl’s name. Names can be chosen in hopes that the child will have the character trait, such as Hope or Faith. On our invented world, we could decide a word like Kier means “heroic” in an old language and give this name to a character. We’re only likely to mention such things on occasion.

Occupations can be another source of names, which is especially true of surnames, such as Smith. Objects can be chosen, as can places, the time of birth, or physical characteristics. Sometimes a surname becomes a given name, like Harrison.

Many names have a meaning that we may be unaware of because the name is based on old disused words. One issue is that names based on something can come across as literal unless we explain them, and it seems less like a name. For example, few of us know that David means beloved, so we’d have to explain that or call the character “Beloved,” which might seem odd. As a result, this information is interesting but potentially not useful. If you’re like most people, you may not know your own name’s meaning. Your parents might not have either. Or they looked it up out of curiosity and then forgot what it means a month later.

It is possible to voluntarily choose a new name, in which case the phrase “given name” makes less sense unless we think of this as giving ourselves a new name.

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Where to Start Creating Languages

The first decision is whether we want to use an invented language, for what, and how often. This will determine whether the time or money invested is worth it. We should also decide if we’re comfortable with inventing phrases as we go along without worrying whether they make sense to linguists, a small portion of the audience. If we think we will frequently use extensive passages, or the world is one we intend to use for decades, inventing (or hiring) may be worth it. Time spent on this world building task is time away from another task; do we have the time? For those who are already making money with their work or can afford it, this is one of the few world building tasks we can hire someone else to do for us. It’s worth considering. The next recommended step is to buy one of the listed resource books, because even hiring someone requires knowledge – unless we’ve decided to ignore the subject altogether.

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How to Hire a Conlanger

We can hire a conlanger via the Language Creation Society’s (LCS) site at https://conlang.org/. Simply fill out an application that includes details of what is needed and by when, and potential conlangers will contact us about fulfilling the job; LCS recommends providing 2-3 months lead time. As they note, clients (that’s us) always want to know how quickly we can receive a translation for our needs; patience and planning are helpful.

Even when hiring someone, they’re likely to use terms we don’t understand if we haven’t read any of the books mentioned in this chapter. For example, do we know what phonology is? Our conlanger may use terms like this and it behooves us to know what they’re talking about and what we’re buying, not to mention how to use it.

LCS suggests four order options, based on how much material we receive from the conlanger, who retains the right to suggest their own pricing. What follows are quotes, as of 2020, from their website: https://jobs.conlang.org/pricing

Option 1

“Naming Language”Phonology (the sounds of the language)No grammar at all2 dozen names$100 United States dollars (USD)

Option 2

“Conlang Sketch”Phonology (the sounds of the language)A few basic forms of grammar50 lexical items (vocabulary words, including names)$200 USD

Option 3

Phonology (the sounds of the language)Basic grammar150 lexical items (vocabulary words, including names)5 sample sentences$400 USD

Option 4

Phonology (the sounds of the language)Detailed grammar500 lexical items (vocabulary words, including names)20 sample sentences$800 USD

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