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Character names: your favorites? Weird ones? Meanings?
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Quantum
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Mar 23, 2017 05:50PM
Do you have any favorite character names? Names that are just weird? Names that are so interesting that they make you want to look up their meanings?
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Weird names just for the sake of weird are a turnoff for me. Yes, if the character is an alien, have an alien-sounding name for it, but don't give me a 'Brxgtjiswoo'-type name, unless you want me to stop reading that book right there. As for human names, I prefer names that correctly reflect the nationality or ethnicity of the character.
Mehreen wrote: "How about "Mehreen" lol."so, what does your name mean? what's its etymology?
Alex G wrote: "Mehreen wrote: "How about "Mehreen" lol."so, what does your name mean? what's its etymology?"
Arabic. Meaning "skillful"
Mehreen wrote: "Alex G wrote: "Mehreen wrote: "How about "Mehreen" lol."so, what does your name mean? what's its etymology?"
Arabic. Meaning "skillful""
great name! beyond it being your own name, i can see how it could be a favorite.
Alex G wrote: "Mehreen wrote: "Alex G wrote: "Mehreen wrote: "How about "Mehreen" lol."so, what does your name mean? what's its etymology?"
Arabic. Meaning "skillful""
great name! beyond it being your own nam..."
Yeah, That's why I'll never use it lol.
In Black Books there's a character called Fran Katzenjammer.This word has two definitions:
1. confusion; uproar.
2. a hangover; a severe headache resulting from a hangover.
http://blackbooks.wikia.com/wiki/Fran...
It seems likely that most people who watch the show and like the character never know her surname is a real word that describes her character.
Too funny! I clicked the link and was immediately drawn into a black hole of hilarity.
Michel wrote: "Weird names just for the sake of weird are a turnoff for me. Yes, if the character is an alien, have an alien-sounding name for it, but don't give me a 'Brxgtjiswoo'-type name, unless you want me t..."Me too! I like when people give uncommon names for the region of the world too, like if I'm reading a book set in Japan, don't just name all your girls Sakura or Yuki. Throw in some Marikos and Hikaris once in a while!
Esmeralda: What is your name?Butch: Butch.
Esmeralda: What does it mean?
Butch: I'm American, honey. Our names don't mean shit.
- Pulp Fiction
There are places where names have meanings and places where they are just names
Roman cognomens are interesting, if you got the first one in the line. Thus Tiberius gave my character the cognomen Scaevola simply because it means "left-handed". Unfortunately, after a while the so-called cognomen became a sub-gens name, thus if my character had grandchildren, they would probably be called "? Claudius Scaevola" even if they were not left-handed, and they would need a fourth name. Claudius, of course, is the gens name.
Any Tolkien names work for me. Bilbo Baggins. :) Treebeard :)
My favourite character from a book was called Tiian. I've added an extra a and have named all my ain gaming characters after her: Tiiaan.
One aspect of foreign names that tends to confuse me is the habit in Oriental cultures to put the family name first, often followed by a middle name and ending with the given name. To make things worst, one Japanese friend said that, when dealing with Occidentals, Japanese often reverse the family and given names' order. It can get really confusing indeed. I actually ended having to ask him which one was his family name. Embarrassing!
Michel wrote: "One aspect of foreign names that tends to confuse me is the habit in Oriental cultures to put the family name first, often followed by a middle name and ending with the given name. To make things w..."It is fairly embarrassing when you write about them. I have usually put Japanese in our naming order, but Chinese with family names first. I hope I am not making a fool of myself.
Ian wrote: "Michel wrote: "One aspect of foreign names that tends to confuse me is the habit in Oriental cultures to put the family name first, often followed by a middle name and ending with the given name. T..."in China, Japan, and Korea and Vietnam (had to look the last two up), the family name precedes the personal name. but if you have your own world or the audience is Western as is usually the case for those of us here since we're writing in English, then why not use the Western order? unless China is the dominant culture in your world and it's maintained that cultural name order.
(side note: the word, Oriental, is somewhat denigrating--at least in the US since it was used in racist laws, especially in California--it has also generally been used by Europe to classify the "other" Orientalism is a classic book on this issue. It is also rather archaic and so broad (since it covers the Middle East to Japan) as to be less than useful.)
Alex G, be assured that I did not use the word 'Oriental' in any denigrating or racist way. In Canada at least, 'Oriental' is still pretty well synonymous with 'Asian'.
Michel wrote: "Alex G, be assured that I did not use the word 'Oriental' in any denigrating or racist way. In Canada at least, 'Oriental' is still pretty well synonymous with 'Asian'."i definitely did not think you had (I should've noted that in my OP).
Michel wrote: "One aspect of foreign names that tends to confuse me is the habit in Oriental cultures to put the family name first, often followed by a middle name and ending with the given name. To make things w..."I love that convention and I've used it when at times when giving characters Asian names...of course I kind of have a private chuckle thinking how most other Americans probably don't realize the order and might get confused...
Scout wrote: "A real name is my favorite: Rip Torn"who's name is that? @_@
An American actor in the '60s. Always thought that was a great name.
