What I'd been up to all this time.

[JohnSm123]

It's hard to pick first and last names that aren't used by somebody in America or Britain. I even had one that I found out later was the name of the main protagonist in a novel.

Look at the various people named Dolores Haze (a.k.a. Lolita). I don't think Nabokov worried about it much

Wait, I need to pick last names too?

 

[gunhilltrain]

Wait, I need to pick last names too?

I don't know, did people use last names in the Middle Ages? Or is this just a medieval fantasy? Tolkien gave some of his characters last names, although I haven't actually read him.

So are you actually going to do anything? When I wrote the Geek Pride story, I picked the names of movie characters for the members of the film crew. Della Wilder is one of Pam Grier's roles. I also had her from Winston-Salem, NC, because that is where Grier is from.

And the whole thing is just over 11,000 words.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

Me neither. For my Arthurian myth novel, I took the traditional names, messed with the spelling a bit, added a prefix as an honorific, and invented a character or two.

Maer Maerlyn
Nym Nymue
Vyv Vivyanne

Some peanut tried to ping me for writing dragen, but what would he know?

One of the characters in mine is named Branch Sloan. And I don't remember if it were you or somebody else mentioning characters called Glitz & Glam, but I said I was using them and can't wait to get to that chapter.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

Can I use John? Can I give one of my characters the same name as my pen name? I've heard that should be avoided?

Can you use one of the most oldest and generic names? Why not?

 

[MetaBob]

Wait, I need to pick last names too?

Are you still effing on this? Jeez.

No, you don't have to use last names. I seldom do. I might have them in my head, but they've seldom been necessary in my writing.

There are many better reasons to avoid writing. I imagine that I've been experiencing several of them this year, in fact.

Effing character names should not be one of them. Pick one. KISS.

Gird your loins, signore. If you think you might be a writer, then effing write.

 

[MadeleineSinha]

If I find myself needing a name I use a trick I read about in an interview with Lee Child.
He uses Aston Villa players names so I use Crystal Palace players, however other teams are available.
Womens cricket works well for female characters

of course that presupposes it’s really names that are the problem with writing your story

 

[Jmanchu]

Wait, I need to pick last names too?

For medieval times? Only if they're nobles, royalty, or famous people, merchants, and maybe craftsmen. A lot of commoners back in the day didn't really have last names, especially serfs. And last names for medieval times aren't hard. Names of places, villages, cities, or names of their fathers or famous ancestor ending with a prefix or prefix of "son" or the like in there, or names off of their profession or trade(Tanner, Fletcher, Hunter, Smith, etc), etc were common. Fantasy, though you can easily get more creative with the names.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

If I find myself needing a name I use a trick I read about in an interview with Lee Child.
He uses Aston Villa players names so I use Crystal Palace players, however other teams are available.
Womens cricket works well for female characters

of course that presupposes it’s really names that are the problem with writing your story

I often look up top 100 baby names from the relevant year and country, and pick names from around no.20. For countries where I can't find such lists, eg Turkey, I have looked up football teams then googled the name to ensure multiple people of the appropriate nationality pop up.

But to get writing, I'll happily use placeholders. I have multiple stories where characters started as A, B, C before being named.
Denying Alex has Alex, Bob, Cassie, Duncan, Ed and Fran in 750 words.
Third Time Getting Lucky has housemates Alec, Ben, Charlie and Delia, plus various others who started as letters.
Ali and Becca in Wheelchair Bound? were A and B until shortly before submission of their story.

 

[GlennJenko]

Henry, Edward, Richard, Mary, Elizabeth etc.

Ha! This reminds me of a joke from my A Level medieval History class that if you're looking for the name of someone in 15th century England, you're basically looking at one of those five.

Going to echo the others for a moment and say there are other names and nicknames and most people aside from close confidantes would refer to a noble/royal by their title, not their name. E.g Edward, Duke of York would be referred to as York by most people. A monarch would be referred to as "your grace" or "your majesty".

I also think I saw you mention it was possibly a Germanic kingdom? You'd get some cool names there - Maximilain, Fredrick and Sigismund to name a few.

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

I recently finished a Sci Fi book entitled "We are Bob"
Spoiler alert, they weren't all named Bob

 

[JohnSm123]

I recently finished a Sci Fi book entitled "We are Bob"
Spoiler alert, they weren't all named Bob

Good for you. I'll most likely never finish mine, for the names-issue turned out be impossible to overcome.

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

Good for you. I'll most likely never finish mine, for the names-issue turned out be impossible to overcome.

JohnSm123, I believe in you.

 

[onehitwanda]

I recently finished a Sci Fi book entitled "We are Bob"
Spoiler alert, they weren't all named Bob

How could you do this?!

 

[Bamagan]

I recently finished a Sci Fi book entitled "We are Bob"
Spoiler alert, they weren't all named Bob

Grammatically, that tracks. The title wasn't "We are all Bob." More likely, it was either a collective name (a la "we are the Borg" or "this is Spinal Tap") or that funky royal pronoun game kings and queens like to play.

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

How could you do this?!

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

Grammatically, that tracks. The title wasn't "We are all Bob." More likely, it was either a collective name (a la "we are the Borg" or "this is Spinal Tap") or that funky royal pronoun game kings and queens like to play.

Definitely a play on the borg thing

 

[JohnSm123]

JohnSm123, I believe in you.

Nah, ever since that person pointed out my name choices are anachronistic, I can't find a set of names that sounds right to my ear. It's time to accept this is a dead end.

 

[FifthEstate]

It's time to accept this is a dead end.

Yes, please accept it and hopefully everyone else will too! Why are there four pages of responses to this ridiculous thread?

 

[StillStunned]

The thread had been buried in a shallow grave until you resurrected it.