Character Names!

[crayon_witch]

I don’t know if anyone else has this problem, but naming my characters is really really hard!

So! I thought we could make a thread where we all pitch in the names we’ve accumulated from agonizing over character names, for reference if anyone is stuck!

I like writing down cool last names, so here’s some from my list;

Holiday
Weary
Glass
Dear
Winter(s)
South
Crane
Sword
Shirts
Kirin
Polaris
Swan
Rose
Sweet
Bits
Noble
Savage
Quaker
Knight
Cage
Archer
King
Morning
Steele
Burn
Street
West
Sturdy
Little
Boycott
Diesel
Day
Rebel
True
Pierce
Fable
Shield
Smart
Towne

[moodyfd]

Coming up with last names is always really hard for me. Thanks for sharing!

[qwerty]

Whenever I need to come up with a name, I use these websites -

http://www.behindthename.com/

https://surnames.behindthename.com/

http://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/

Another thing that works sometimes is thinking of a random word, then randomly adding / subtracting / rearranging letters one at a time until you end up with something that seems like a name.

[Lady_DarkStar]

I use the name generator in Scrivener. I just pick the language of origin I want and go through the suggestions for both first and last name till I find something that fits the character.

[DasIstWunderblyat]

This sounds ridiculous but my fantasy names come from random google translate words with some twist. It's so stupid to think of it.

[racarter]

I actually got most of my characters last names, and sometimes first, from astronomers. I needed names and thought it would be fitting to use these since stars are a theme in my comic.

List of astronomers

Priscilla Fairfield: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priscilla_Fairfield_Bok

Hazel Spellman: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolyn_S._Shoemaker

Annika Draper: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Draper

Roxanne Herschel: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Herschel

For some of them there’s reasons why I picked them but other cases are random. Cassandra is the only exception from my main cast, her last name is West, which is just cuz that’s the direction the sun sets in.

[octafg64]

To come up with names of europeans, i translate swear words of different languages and mix them up to create names
Skinedritt Vuilestront
(Skitt-dritt is dirt shit in danish) Vuil-stront(dirt shit in dutch)

[peachypeaych]

For some reason I really like names from the days of the week, like Wednesday from the Adams family. I think “Monday”, “Tuesday”, “Sunday”, “Friday” would all be interesting to see as names. I might end up using one for a character.

[lartianmartian1]

Oh, this is my jam right here (and I have characters named Kirin and Swan, and one with the last name True <3).

I have an alphabetized list in Google Doc form of literally hundreds of names. First names, last names, place names, possible chapter/book titles, cool words that I like, you "name" it (sorry not sorry)!

See some interesting names in the closing credits of a show or movie? Goin' in the doc. Stroll through a cemetery, oh what an unusual surname! Goin' in the doc. These words sound good together and make me picture a certain place and time. Goin'. In. The. Doc. Names I may or may not have made up, or existing ones I smushed together, or ones I just changed the spelling of ever so slightly? You know the drill...

Soooo if anyone really wants a link to the doc, I can send it your way? Just message me, I guess

[droidmonkey1]

I actually decided that the names will be made from different languages and have a connection to the character.

[indigodrawing]

I like getting last names from people in various creative outlets ("Bisley" came from Simon Bisley, "Lambert" came from Verity Lambert, "Hewlett" came from Jamie Hewlett, etc)

[moodyfd]

Wait Scrivener has that??? Where!!!

[moodyfd]

I know a lot of times with last names, especially while writing high fantasy, I'll use occupations like Miller, Baker, or Smith. I'll also use place names like Rivers, Fields, or Hill.

[racarter]

Ohhh! That’s a really good idea, I wouldn’t mind a link to the Doc, please.

[Lady_DarkStar]

In windows version go to the tools tab, under that mouse over writing tools, it's at the bottom, name generator.

[moodyfd]

Oh my gosh...

That's amazing! Thank you!!!

[comics.resTart]

I just name my characters after my friends name. Rudra diwakar and all other names used in my comic are the persons I meet everyday. Even the villain Khushjaat Intah is named after "Intekhab Ahmed" (int and ah in last name). That way I feel more connected with my own story and characters.

[LittleMissDevil]

A lot of my character names have been floating around for ages... For newer ones I just make noises until a name forms that I'd consider cool. xD

Some of my characters in "The Machinist" also gave themselves names to refute their human heritage, which made it really easy. "Silhouette", "Fang", "Mantis" and so forth are not to hard to come up with ^^

[kadazuro]

recently listening a podcast they said that some names end in words that make the people smile (barbie, hot wheels), so they associate the name with "joy" and it get stuck easily, opposite is true for villain name.
Also having the first name and last name match the initial letter helps remembering the name (Roger Rabbit, Peter Parker, Donald Duck)

In my case we just threw all that science out the window, and since my comic is base in our own family, we just pick a name for our characters

[Trevor]

i just toss a bunch of random letters together to make a pronounceable word, and that’d be the last name.

for example:

goncallous
jenchuk
geque