Hi, everyone. I'm not sure if this is quite the right place to post this, but I once saw a link on LIT to some kind of database where names could be randomly picked when choosing names for characters in stories. Does anyone know anything about that?
Choosing fictional names
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GreyWhispers
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I don't know about that. But would love to put it in this way, if you're writing for a story. Plot a scenario, imagine the feeling behind it. Research for some names, you will definitely put all of them in arrangement.
I don't know about that. But would love to put it in this way, if you're writing for a story. Plot a scenario, imagine the feeling behind it. Research for some names, you will definitely put all of them in arrangement.
oggbashan
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I have a collection of Baby Name books left over from when I had a secondhand bookshop. I scan one of those books for suitable names when the characters start to develop.
I, and several others, use either vanilla names such as John and Mary, or codes such as Fem#01, Man#01, when starting a story then use Find/Replace with appropriate names when the characters become more definite. Watch out for partial replacements or the replacement missing possessives such as 'Mary's'. It can be confusing if the new name Jenny suddenly has 'Mary's' hair.
Names can be a problem for readers. If you name the female lead as Sharon for example, and the reader knows or knew a Sharon, their impression of Sharon could colour their interpretation. That's OK if they liked the Sharon, but if she was a bitch that they disliked?
However, some readers are less picky. They skip the actual name and just use it as an identifier. If they have read Russian novelists, or some Fantasy fiction with weird names, they are not likely to be upset that Sharon means something to them in real life.
Tzara
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Here's one. It lets you select sex, ethnic origin, and decade of birth. Don't know if it's actually any good, but you might take a look at it.
Hypoxia
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Gargle is your friend. Merely gargle "[ethnic] baby names [year]" where [ethnic] is Mexican or Chinese or whatever, and you'll get hits for sites listing names appropriate for ethnicity, time, and sex. Or you can gargle "names generator" and you'll find a few of those sites. They're fun to play with.
My favorite results: I found names for two Hopi maidens in the 1880s. Then I used gargle to translate sex talk into Hopi. Yes, it's different...
My favorite results: I found names for two Hopi maidens in the 1880s. Then I used gargle to translate sex talk into Hopi. Yes, it's different...
Surely people want more than a mere random name or a name that sounds good. I want names that mean something.
Hopefully your baby name books go into the origins of each name so you can check that for appropriateness, at least with your main character. If you give your character a last name, look for historical people who share the last name you've chosen make sure at least one of them has some thematic connection to the character.
Is your character's name an anagram for some word or phrase that means something for that character? If not, why not? Anagram generator tools are not hard to find, and this is why middle names were invented: to give you more letters to finish your anagram.
Hopefully your baby name books go into the origins of each name so you can check that for appropriateness, at least with your main character. If you give your character a last name, look for historical people who share the last name you've chosen make sure at least one of them has some thematic connection to the character.
Is your character's name an anagram for some word or phrase that means something for that character? If not, why not? Anagram generator tools are not hard to find, and this is why middle names were invented: to give you more letters to finish your anagram.
oggbashan
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I have over 100 Baby Name books. Apart from names that have been in use for generations - John, Mary, William, Helen - the books DON'T always agree on the name's meaning.
What a name might mean to me because I have met people with that name won't have the same association for the reader.
I try, when I have a more definite idea of the character after writing or plotting at least half of the story, to find a name that fits the character I have created. Whether the name is right? Only each individual reader can decide.
But we could be overthinking this. The character is more important than the name. After all when parents choose a name for a baby they have little idea about how the baby will develop into an adult persona. And when they do? They might change the name, or go by a nickname, or secondary name, not the name their parents chose.
For example, I had a cousin whose name was confusing. Her mother named her Susan Hilary (surname) but invariably referred to her as Susie. When a teenager, Susan Hilary decided she wanted to be called Hilary. She hated the pet name Susie. The wider family had already begun to call her Susan, but there was another Susan in that family so the use changed to 'Hilary Susan'. But her mother still called her 'Susie' so the wider family reference when talking about her was 'Hilary Susan Susie'. If talking TO her, she was Hilary. If talking about her to her mother she was Susie. If talking about her to anyone else in the family she was Hilary Susan Susie in full.
But her husband called her 'Hill'.
sr71plt
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The most important thing, I think, is to not let the names be confused with each other in the story itself--or to confuse gender unless the point is to do so. Naming your heroine Trevor is going cause a glitch in the reader's mind each time it comes up, so it wouldn't be advantageous to do so unless a plot point is involved. Next after that is to try to match it to the period of the story. There are "most popular name" lists by decade available on the Internet. You might get away with calling your hero Adolf in a story set in the 1890s. Not so much in a story set in the 1940s.
visioneer
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Another option is Behind the Name (http://www.behindthename.com). The site generates random names from various cultures and shows the etymology and history of the names.
PennLady
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I used to have a file of names I culled from junk emails and I'd refer to those for names. Saved some trouble a lot of times, since I'd have first and last names already together. Plus I could mix and match.
Baby name books can be helpful, or to save the space I sometimes look up names on different sites. Finding the most popular names from various decades can be helpful if you have a specific setting.
Baby name books can be helpful, or to save the space I sometimes look up names on different sites. Finding the most popular names from various decades can be helpful if you have a specific setting.
NOIRTRASH
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Very true.
My sisters are: Cynthia, Sherrie, Jamie, Marcie, and Trini
My daughters are: Denise, Rebecca, and Amanda
My grand daughters are: Samantha, Kyla, Lilliana, Ariana, Catherine, and Loren
I'm working on a little something where a deceased wife and a rescued waif share the same name. However, it's a conscious plot point to lead the first person protag through conflict. Otherwise, I try to make names unable to be confused even with a quick scan.
Bramblethorn
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I'm wary of using that sort of generator for cultures I don't know well. Often they lump several different groups together that have different naming conventions which can lead to implausible combinations - e.g. "Muhamed" is a fairly common Indian first name, and "Kaur" is a common last name, but "Muhamed Kaur" is a very unlikely combination that would be jarring to anybody who understands what those names signify: "Muhamed" is typically a Muslim male name, "Kaur" is a last name for Sikh women.
I know most readers won't notice, but that sort of thing bugs me.
Lynn_MXX
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For your characters, use the names of your friends. I'm not suggesting that you smear your friends with the questionable actions of your characters, but imagine your friends as actors and actresses playing the part of those characters.
But don't use ambiguous names. Be sure that the reader knows whether the character is male or female by the name you have given them
But don't use ambiguous names. Be sure that the reader knows whether the character is male or female by the name you have given them
Heliopheres
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Always know the cultures you use in a story well enough to avoid such things.
In my limited experience of requiring names, I check the press for story lines that vaguely match the sort of character. Gold-digger/Footballer's wife etc.
An older person? Old stories still exist from any period, be it WW2 or otherwise. Also friends of Grandmother had appropriate names. Politicians' relatives can be a good source.
An older person? Old stories still exist from any period, be it WW2 or otherwise. Also friends of Grandmother had appropriate names. Politicians' relatives can be a good source.
tomlitilia
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