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How do you come up with character names?
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Krys
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Aug 30, 2009 04:22PM
I usually get my names randomly, very few first names actually have meaning too them, the only two I've ever made that have signifigent meanings are Lumiere and Ombre, meaning Light and Shadow in french :]
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I usually get names from figuring out what my character looks like and what there personality is, or I ask the person who inspired the character what they would name themselves if they could
Names just kind of pop into my head randomly, most of the time ... like I just KNOW what the character's name is, for some reason. But when I don't know the name right away, I usually scroll through behindthename.com to find something that fits the character. :)
I have to agree with Brigid. Most of my names just come to me naturally without any foresight or planning. However, there are times when I need to tweak a name or want to give it a real-world reference. In my sci-fi novel I have characters with names such as 'Cain' and 'Abel'. I chose to use these names, because the characters exhibit personality traits that are similar to the ones shown by their biblical counterparts.On the other hand, in my fantasy stories, I have created languages for my cultures and like to construct names from those languages. One example of a name I constructed is 'Betzenmegel' which has an obvious Germanic flavor.
Ultimately, the most important thing to me when creating names is to make sure that the name SOUNDS as though it belongs to the character. To paraphrase Orson Scott Card, can you imagine if Count Dracula's name was Count Cuthbert?
lol--At first, I had Kirilee's name as Kirilee Anna Hylan--but that didn't sound right--so I tried and tried--got Kara Lynn Yuin--Kira Nancy Juhns--Jessa Mina Lyo--and finally decided on Kirilee Fey Hycanth
it depends on which one fits ur characters personality-and what u think fits
Ronna wrote: "So do you guys change your character's name when something comes you think is better comes up. Cause I was thinking of changing one of my character's name, since i'm not that attached yet. What do ..."Ronna,
It's never too late to change a character's name until your book is in print. Even then, I might take a swipe at changing a character's name if I can get away with it. In fact I have! ;)
Amber,I love ancient Greek names too. In fact, I plan to name my children after the ancient Greek Goddesses and heroes. How cool is that? ;)
I love them, their like amazing to read and learn about. Aha, which one do you plan to name her/him after?
That's a good question, Amber. I am really fond of Ariadne. But I also love Electra. Athena is quite beautiful too. I'm pretty sure I'll go with Ariadne. But as with things of this nature, I'm sure I won't have the final say on this matter. ;)
Usually if I can't think of a name for a character I will just put like ***** in and then when one just seems to fit, I insert it in. Most of the time a name will just come, if not then I go onto baby name sites and either put in a meaning or go to the letter I want it to start with and just try a bunch of the names out.
Kevis wrote: "It's never too late to change a character's name until your book is in print. Even then, I might take a swipe at changing a character's name if I can get away with it. In fact I have! ;)"wow! i can't imagine doing that ... once i've chosen a character name i always stick with it. but i never want to change it. it feels like, once i have a name, it's just right. of course, I won't even start a story until I have all the perfect character names. XD
Kevis wrote: "Amber,I love ancient Greek names too. In fact, I plan to name my children after the ancient Greek Goddesses and heroes. How cool is that? ;)"
I love Greek mythology!! I went through, like, a phase in fourth grade. lol! Greek names are awesome. I love the name Ismene ... which I used in my book Reborn. ^_^
Kevis, have you read the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan? Great series! And they're full of Greek myth references, which is part of why I love them so much ;D
Sometimes I painstakingly chose names from baby books. Sometimes the names slam me in the face, as if the character is saying "This is my name."In my scifi series Scrolls, Jadon was the name I picked out for my kids if I ever had a boy. When my 3rd child rolled around and I was having another girl, I made her middle name Jaiden. I wasn't going to lose that name. So again, that name appears in this complex female character of mine.
Ahern was going to be Ahren, in honor of Aeryn Sun from Farscape. Like Aeryn Sun, he thinks a gun can solve all problems. But I kept mistyping the word, swapping the r & the e. Finally, I said, "Screw it. Ahern is good enough." After a while, I forgot what I had originally intended.
The name that I am still confused by is Chester. She's a bit of a sensuous girl. Where her name came from, I have no idea.
Jaak was named after my friend Jacob, even though they are nothing alike. My original intention for Jaak was to be a noble-hearted thoughtful fellow. He turned out to be a bit too wishy-washy to stick with any of his noble-hearted intentions. I wanted to yell at him, "Why are you acting like that? You were going to be the leader!"
Each name probably has a story of its own. Just like when I named each of my kids.
I love the name Venus even though it's a name of a planet
I struggle with names. Sometimes they come to me, sometimes I have to look up meanings, and sometimes I just force different names in until one sticks.But it's really hard for me.
♥ Brigid ♥ wrote: "Names just kind of pop into my head randomly, most of the time ... like I just KNOW what the character's name is, for some reason. But when I don't know the name right away, I usually scroll throug..."me too bridgid.
