"What's in a name..."

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Character Naming Tips & Tricks

Naming Your Character

It’s possible that naming ones characters can be one of the most enjoyable aspects of starting a story or novel. Fiction allows for the chance to create things fresh from our imaginations in ways that would either make little to no sense in the real world, or would be completely impractical and ridiculous. Needless to say, some character names out there would likely cause said figure to have its a** kicked regularly in school in reality.

However, it’s not always easy pulling these fancy things out of ones a** (or thin air, whichever), and naming characters can be a challenge and in some cases downright frustrating. Deep down every writer fears cookie cutter, average Joe names. So, what’s the secret to developing these fantastic names that flow off the tongue and fit into place so easily?

Well, there isn’t one, but there are some wonderful tips and tricks to getting to that point.

 

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Obvious Features

The right name for a character can add dimension to any story as well as help in the development of said character. One of the best things I’ve found in my character naming, is giving them a name that is either pertinent to their place in the story, or expresses important aspects of the character. A name made with these things in mind can actually help in character development and aid in keeping their personality in line.

A name like this can be formulated in a number of ways. For instance, if one wants to focus on an important physical aspect of a character it would be simple to examine this feature and start tossing words and synonyms around.

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IE: “The young boy sat against the tree, deep in thought. He was relaxed, peaceful, and when she looked into his vibrant, blue eyes she could see it all reflected, those deep pools calm and sparkling like a spring of glistening water. It was almost as though she could see his fantastic hopes and dreams reflected there, and as she gazed, she began to feel as though her own were reflected there as well.”

So, we have here a young boy who’s most outstanding feature is his eyes.

A simple thing to do is play off the color. Vibrant, blue eyes.

Let’s start with Blue.

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Some synonyms for Blue are: Azure, Beryl, Cerulean, Cobalt, Indigo, Sapphire, Turquoise, Ultramarine

Obviously, some of those would make pretty craptastic names, but there are a few that would work. Personally, I’d go with Azure, or even Cobalt. They’re both a color blue, but at the same time it’s not often you hear them used in the description of color, so most people won’t catch on right away wink

You could also go with the descriptive terms: Let’s use Pool

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basin, bath, lagoon, lake, mere, millpond, mud puddle, natatorium, pond, puddle, splash, swimming pool, tank, tarn

Those all suck, but, they could still be useful. Sometimes just hearing a word can bring on different ideas. Such as tarn. I added an E to get Taren. Not the greatest, but you get the idea.

 

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Names With Meaning

One of my favorite ways to pick a name is a name that actually means what I’m looking for.

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For instance: “She was powerful and deadly yet so commanding and beautiful that he couldn’t look away. Her features were sharp, eyes icy and grey, silently threatening a painful end to anyone who stood in her way. But to him, her most threatening feature was the storm she carried in her hair and the simple fact that at any moment she could summon lightning so fierce, her enemies would barely have time to blink before meeting their end.”

So, upon developing this character I noted that a good bit about her related to a storm. Going to one of my favorite name sites, I tossed the word ‘storm’ into the “search by meaning” box, and came up with these:

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Kendaleigha: “Valley of the Storm” origin: American
Pillan: “God of Stormy Weather” origin: Native American
Storm: “A storm” (duh) origin: American (duh)
Sufa: “Storm” origin: Hebrew
Tempest: “Stormy” origin: English

One of the obvious would be Storm, but I found it rather tacky. That, and after X-Men, I’m not entirely sure there could ever be another “Storm” wink My favorite out of the selection was Tempest. It not only sounds cool, but it’s unique without being overbearing and well…it just suits her smile

It doesn’t have to stop there either. It’s not uncommon that the word you’re using won’t have very many names to it, and sometimes this means there won’t be one you like at all. That’s where the thesaurus comes in, and other relating words, like ‘darkness’ or some such similarity.

 

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Go With It

Above all else, it’s important to remember that you know your characters best. You gave them life and their personality, know their habits, quirks, all the things that make them who they are. It’s only natural that you’d know what their name is, too smile If you see one, or hear one, and you just feel that it’s right, then it probably is. Go with it. Even if it happens to be one of those cookie-cutter names. If the name fits, then it fits.

 

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Other Tips

Feel free to post what you’ve found and I’ll stick it here!

Last names: Local phone books work great for figuring out last names. Don’t be afraid to say your name combo out loud. wink

Name games: Try spelling a name different ways. It’s fun to see what starts to develop. Use other name games as well.

 

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