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Hi, folks. This would be my first post except in "Introduce Yourself" so I hope I'm doing this right.
Anyway, today I was thinking about names for the characters and I wondered how other people do that. Do you go through name generators on the net, picking up a book or do you actually sit down and invent them? Those that write about Earth or Earth based worlds probably use names that are in use today. But what about those that write about foreign cultures?
Personally I like to invent my own names. It is a hard and tiring process but to me it is worth the effort. Of course if I want to make nice sounding names, I usually come close to real-life names again.
I would like to post some names of mine here so you can tell me if they sound good to those from the Anglo-Saxon language group (I hope I got that last thing right and nobody would be offended for me calling them that). Maybe we can even go further and you can tell me what kind of a character pops into your head when you hear the name. That's what I strive for: to get a sketch of a character from the name alone.
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Often I find that the most elegant or beautiful names are those that existed a few centuries ago; even more so, those that are from different cultures.
If your inventing names, they'll come to you. Don't struggle to hard. I've always tried hard to make new names for my futile attempts at fantasy writings (I'm not exactly the most experienced writer, heh) and usually the names just sound. . .cheesy.
So, my suggestion is to just look at some names in the real world. Name Generators seem worthless to me, and well, I think you'd have a little more fun researching real names. IMHO anyway.
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My brother-in-law gave me the greatest suggestion for names recently. I was asking him for some input for my name file. I write mostly near-term sci-fi/alternative reality, so I generally use names that are current and recognizable today, but I aim for a multi-cultural name mix, and sometimes need both first and last names.
Anyway - BIL's suggestion was to look at the names in my spam folder. It's surprisingly fertile ground for name combinations, names that represent something other than mainstream america, and interesting mixes of first/last names.
This isn't likely particularly useful to you since you're inventing names for fantasy, which I can understand (though I do scratch my head at some when they're really weird - I only read a little fantasy, though.) But in case anyone else is looking for some ideas...try your spam folder!
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The mentioned thread goes only about names from more or less successful books and movies. I promised myself I would never copy from those though I might come close accidentally.
If I want to see my stuff ever published I need to aim at the foreign market and that means either completely renaming my characters while translating to English or I choose good names from the beginning. I chose the first since it makes more sense.
I'm not writing fantasy but science fiction. And since my world has no connection to Earth it would be very dumb for me to name them with American names such as Dick, Tom, Harry.
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I have to fit it to the character, story, and background. But the background is the most important. Most of my stories are set in a fairly cosmopolitan culture---anybody could have come from anywhere---and I give them names to match. Sometimes, though, it's all set in one background---say, the standard collapse-of-civilization struggling-up group---and I have to organize my names and nomenclature to match. (Just on the story I've been revising this past month, I've got one character from one tribe, and another from another tribe but the same culture and planetary area. I came up with something that will do---I think.)
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If I'm writing in a real-earth setting, I usually patrol www.behindthename.com. If it's in a historical period, I'll look up common name statistics for that year. In general, I usually go into the search with a list of 5 or so first letters I'd like to be the first letter in a character's name. I don't know if this is just my neurosis or what, but first letters carry connotations for me.
For example, a guy with a Z name will be darker, more introverted. A names usually suggest intellectuality. B names usually suggest earthiness, solidarity.
Of course I don't expect my reader to have this same system as me, but I enjoy having that little clue in my characters' names that I can identify their archetype with.
If I'm making a fantasy name, I usually start out with that website and a list of first letters anyway, and take an existing name and toy with it until it's something I like. If there's a particular ethnicity I want to allude to with that character's culture and naming traditions, I'll see if there are any recurring themes in a real-world language equivalent.
For example, if I've a character from a hot, horse-loving clime, I might want to try and trigger an unconscious relation to Spain in the reader's mind, so I'll look at Spanish names and dink around with those until they're unrecognizable, but still "feel" roughly Spanish.
I used to have anxiety about making up real-world names, because I wondered how "probable" they were. I've worked at a library for a year now, though, and when I check in a book that has a hold on it, the patron's name is displayed. In one year alone I have seen enough ridiculous, cinematic, and charming name combinations to convince me that anything goes.
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(...Back after a long absence due to finals...)
One of the most interesting name I've encountered in real life was a Mr. Chuck Schmucker.
To me, the most important thing is what the name will say about the character. Don't forget that nicknames are common in fiction, if not possibly a little overdone here and there. "Bean" is a great example for me, especially when you read how he earned the name. (I don't think it was in the books, I think OSC posted a snippet on the site. I'll have to look for it.)
Most of my characters are from backgrounds analogous to real-world backgrounds, so I start there. In my current WiP, the setting strongly relates to the ancient Hebrew and Syrian world, so I use names I can find from that period and location.
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Sometimes I write a few words that describe a character and then make up a name out of that. My best was a major character who was a leader. I rule -- Irulian. Liked it so much I gave the name to my first born. She loves it. When she was waitressing people would come in and ask for the girl with the science fiction name.
A lot of times I'll assign languages to groups and then pull out words from the appropriate dictionary and arrange the letters into a name. That way there is a feel to the names from the frequency a letters sort of thing.
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MartinV - I'll give your names a look if you want. If your email addy is listed in your profile, I'll drop you a line. If not, we'll have to figure out some way to connect (I don't put my email addy on my profile, I'm allergic to spam.)
If nothing else, I can take a list of names and give you my reactions to them. Perhaps that would be useful.
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What you do is to decide where your main market is, such as Austrialia or America and then go to a baby naming book and choose names from a culture that is forign to them. There are names no American and few Austrialians will ever run into in their normal life that sound forign.
Keep in mind when creating your name. There will be a time where you will be doing a book reading and will have to pronounce the names of your characters. It will not look good if you stumble over them like XYZLXY that many young authors use for their alien names.
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I definitely do not use names such as XYZLXY. I always try to pronounce my names before I use them. The problem is that I read them out loud quite differently that someone else might so there is still a dillema.
KayTi, if you could take the time and go through my names that would be great.
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My names come from very odd places, a mispronounced word, graduation lists, community play books, foreign phonebooks, names that I've misheard. . . anyplace. I try them out when I'm around kids (5-10) and if they like the name (or are able to pronounce it) then I'll use it. Sometimes the internet is useful, but I prefer the printed word. I keep a 'name journal' where names that I like are recorded, someday I might use it, who knows?
A note to those who obsess over meaning of names, it's OK to change the name of your main character, thank heavens for computers, I spent a whole bunch of time looking for the right name when I could have been writing. Don't make that mistake, I've often had my characters end up naming themselves. If you try too hard people will notice and I can't tell you how many times I have given up on remembering the name of the character in a book and just called them 'the guy who. . .' Names are always important, but story shouldn't be lost to have sweet names.
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Read who the junk mail is from. There are some excellent names in them.
IN my story ideas, the names are unimportant. I will write them with he or she all the way through. When I run into something where there is confusion of who says or does what, I will put a name at the begining and then use it to eliminate the confusion. These are no more than three pages, btw.
For serious work, I will use a name that search and replace can locate easily, and not confuse with other words. Use Charles or bobby. When you are finished, use the search-replace and put in the Wilbermiese Ogalmyer thornsbey name you really wanted to use. I have accidently used the wrong name, such as bill and the changes ended up with the fly landed on the duck's Maynard.....
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I don't use generators. I'm vain, and want to create names myself.
In fantasy, or sci-fi too, I guess, I find that looking at names from other cultures is helpful. Look at 'Pastwatch'. Those names are awesome.
In gothic fantasy, or 'woodsy' fantasy, like LOTR, I think different spellings of familiar names make for great names. I find that's what I use the most... Or combining two different names. Sara becomes Sarador (Sara, and Doris). A different spelling might be something like 'Lyzah', instead of 'Liza'. Just off the top of my head.
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"In my current WiP, the setting strongly relates to the ancient Hebrew and Syrian world" lehollis
So's mine (I find that interesting, at least). In this case I use online name dictionaries of the time period. For any name I try to make it fir the character. If a name does not come right away I put in a replacement until I can get a good one.
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It's surprisingly fertile ground for name combinations, names that represent something other than mainstream america, and interesting mixes of first/last names. 
