Character Names?

Character names! How do you come up with them? Do they just come to you, or is it a long and arduous search for the perfect name that fits just right? Do you look up the meaning/the origin, or just pick whatever sounds good and go with it? Unique, semi-unique, or normal? There are a lot of question marks in this post.

I LOVE character names and naming characters! From the beginning, depending on what kind of character I'm thinking up, I just KNOW what I'd like it to "sound like." If that makes sense. From there I'll go to babynames.com and start picking letters. Like I'll definitely know which letters I DON'T want it to start with, and which I would like.

Then I start browsing meanings, saying names out loud and such and usually that's how I find my names. However, there are some instances like naming villains especially where I'll get out the dictionary and start finding names based on the original latin/greek/celtic root of the word.

It's complicated, sometimes. But among my favorite, favorite things to do!

Amanda wrote:Character names! How do you come up with them? Do they just come to you, or is it a long and arduous search for the perfect name that fits just right? Do you look up the meaning/the origin, or just pick whatever sounds good and go with it? Unique, semi-unique, or normal? There are a lot of question marks in this post.

I think I do all of that to get my character names. Some times the name will just come to me and its perfect, other times I look up a meaning and then pick a name that sounds good. As to whether the name is unique or not, I guess it just depends on the character for me. I used to spent hours looking for names and I eventually broke down and spent a whole day making a list of names I liked so that I don't have to do as much searching

Naming characters is my FAVORITE thing to do!! I think, like Sarah, I do a little bit of everything. There are some characters that just kind of have a name from the start. One that just pops up in my mind. Others I have to search on Google for hours before it fits right. But I find myself Googling(sp?) last names more than first names.

@Lizzy I search names by certain first letters as well. Like I love names that start with A or L.

@Sarah I need to make a list like you did lol. It'd definitely save a lot of time.

Sometimes character names just come to me. Like, just like that. And it fits so perfectly.

Other times (or, more often) I have to stalk through baby names websites till I find one that strikes my fancy. Though I much prefer the names to just "come" to me. lol. xP

@Lizzy Good idea with the list!

Shahira wrote:Naming characters is my FAVORITE thing to do!! I think, like Sarah, I do a little bit of everything. There are some characters that just kind of have a name from the start. One that just pops up in my mind. Others I have to search on Google for hours before it fits right. But I find myself Googling(sp?) last names more than first names.

@Lizzy I search names by certain first letters as well. Like I love names that start with A or L.

@Sarah I need to make a list like you did lol. It'd definitely save a lot of time.

I SO over-do L names! I don't do it on purpose but I end up with so many and I love them all. Obviously I do, since my online name is Lizzy.

Shahira wrote:Naming characters is my FAVORITE thing to do!! I think, like Sarah, I do a little bit of everything. There are some characters that just kind of have a name from the start. One that just pops up in my mind. Others I have to search on Google for hours before it fits right. But I find myself Googling(sp?) last names more than first names.

@Lizzy I search names by certain first letters as well. Like I love names that start with A or L.

@Sarah I need to make a list like you did lol. It'd definitely save a lot of time.

It saves sooo much time and it was really fun making it! I need to make a new one soon cause I used a lot of names on the list already

I guess I should answer my own questions, lol. I'm relieved to know that I'm not the only one who takes a trip to babynames.com! I definitely look up letters that I like, but I keep a running list of names that I've used, too, and try to diversify the letters a bit more. I tend to favor A's, L's, S's, R's, and T's. And ending male names in '-an' or '-on'.

So to the babynames I go, and I find ones that I like and combine them with others that I like to get unique, but not crazy, names. That's for fantasy, of course. For my more contemporary stuff, it's usually that the names come to me, and for historical, I look up origins and find the ones I like.

@Lizzy I love a lot of L names too. Plus my darling niece's name starts with L. <3

@Sarah I'm going to do that soon. Good luck with updating your list.

@Amanda I also use the ending '-on' & '-an' for the male characters in my stories, too.

Than you