I have over a thousand characters (many of them just names, only about two hundred of them are well developed) and thought I might share how I come up with so many names.
Note: This will be mainly helpful for scifi and/or fantasy creators.
Method 1: Thesaurus oh Thesaurus
Sometimes I take a normal name like Ryan (or an obscure name like Rake) and then think of a word such as but not limited to an energy or a material. In this example, I will use the material iron. Then, I will add another word to this to make the last name. In this example, I will use hammer. Sometimes it helps to take letters out or add them to make the name seem more real.
Meet Ryan Ironhammer
Method 2: AEIOU and Word Roots
Typing in random spam can get you places you never thought. For example: opqvjqrm
We're going to turn that into a name. How? Let's take out some (but not all) non-vowels. Ovqrm. Now, let's add a few (possibly taking out more non-vowels in the process). Overquim. It can also help to look up word roots to throw in the mix. In this case, we can use the root min (meaning: less) to replace quim with. Overmin.
Some other names I came up with using this method are Avilscure, Yordinond, and Fetenon. This method usually produces more obscure words or names. This method is also excellent with place names.
Method 3: It's 5AM and my boyfriend won't stop texting me.
This is a less recommended method, but I've come up with some of my coolest names when I'm really tired and texting my friends. I h a t e autocorrect, so I'm prone to making typos. My novel was even named Cosmonogic because of a typo I later grew attached to (real word, Cosmogonic). I'm only referencing this method, because tonight I accidentally called my boyfriend Matru via text (his name is Matty). Now Matru has joined my character list as Matru Scarcin!
What do you think? Do you have any methods you use to name your characters?