Question

[kajones_writing]

Names are going to get slowly more difficult and I was wondering how other people dealt with this, although I’m pretty sure most people don’t have the same problem I do, having to come up with unique names for so many different collections. Part of my problem is being picky. When I name a character I put a lot of effort in to finding the right one, because otherwise nothing feels right. There are also some characters who seem to want to have the same name (or close to) as another and I don’t quite know what to do about that. I’m pretty sure it would be fine to have characters with almost identical names in different collections. My problem is the characters who want to have the same name as another character and finding names that feel right for other characters. Input would be appreciated.

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.

Comments

[ariestess]

Normally, I let the characters name themselves when they're being introduced "on the fly". If I'm fulling plotting out the character in advance, it's a combination of character choice, muse choice, and my choice.

[aldersprig]

*amused* you posted this just as I was asking for names on my @Thornewrites account.

How I name people depends on the 'Verse. For Addergoole/Fae apoc, for background characters I use random name generators and then sort through for meanings that fit. For the main characters, I google meanings until I find one that I like (Usually. Jamian was an exception).

For Reiassan, right now I just make up sounds that fit within the language's rules. Ditto the non-humans in Dragons Next Door.

For Space Accountant, to keep with the "not this world" feeling, I use http://www.fourteenminutes.com/fun/names/

Let's see. Most of the other worlds are either ask-from-Twitter, Ask-my-name-nerd-friend in specific, the Social Security Database for the era I'm writing in http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/ or a random name generator until something fits the mood. http://www.thinkbabynames.com/random/1