| Re: Stumbling Blocks
Creating and naming characters/regions/objects for my worlds is one of my favorite things to do. I have many different ways with which I come up with names for people, places and objects. The time it takes for me to do this varies, but I'm usually satisfied with the result. As a note of interest I will give almost all of my characters a first and last name and sometimes even a nickname, even if I never reveal certain details of their name in a story.
One method I use is word association and alteration. This method works well for fantasy setting as you will most likely wind up with something not based on a known language. Take a look around and see what random objects are nearby. As an example there is a display of reading glasses near me as I am typing this (yes, on the net at work... so lazy). So I take the words that describe the object I just observed. Display, tower, rack... yes rack will do nicely. Glasses, spectacles, lenses... lens will fit the bill methinks. So now I have two words to concoct a name from. Lens-rack, Lensrack; still kinda mundane in my opinion, so lets switch some letters around or swap them out with something similar. We'll use an "a" in this case, instead of the "e" and we'll swap out "ck" for "cht". Lansracht, a suitable last name. After this I can either pick something further to word associate for a first name, or I can use another method. At this point I'd probably be limited to what names I'd use for the first, based on the sound of my last name, which sounds a bit german or maybe scandinavian. I think I'll use another method for the first name.
Name mutation. There is an ungodly amount of names in this world, let alone making up new ones. Simply take a common name and switch it up a little bit. Where there's an "I" put a "y", if it has an "o", put aN "au" or a "ou", or anything like that. Chances are there's already a variant of what you'll come up with somewhere in the world anyway. For my example I'll take the name "Walter". Obvious one is to take the "w" and replace it with "v", may be kinda cliche but I like it. We'll also chop the end of the name off and stick "tzer". Valtzer... perfect! We now have our new name, "Valtzer Lansracht"; sounds kinda villainous to me. The creation of a backstory would be the next stage, along with a personality.
As an variation of my first method, you can use "foreign language word alteration". Think of a word which represents your character. If they're strong, think of stone, or steel, or iron. Thne take this word and translate it into another language, preferably on that is as close to their "culture" as possible. Example continued: "Stone" is "Pietro" in Italy.
Keep in mind that I do not always just rip names out of my head. Sometimes going with the conventional type is just as good, or even a combination of the two. I have other methods I use but I'll save them for later when I get home... lest I get myself killed. |