help naming characters

[SERIA]

Hi.

I am about half way through a story I am writing and every time I mention one of my characters names I cringe. All of the characters names are very common, plain, unoriginal and boring. I need to re-name my characters.

Does anybody know if there is a website that could assist me?

A website that teaches how to combine words to create a names.

It could be a Latin-root web page

A name list. Possibly with the meanings and origins.

I have tried all of the "baby name search" websites... they are useless.

Anyway, PLEASE HELP ME!!!!.

Thanks.

~Seria

[Mark Robson]

I'm not aware of any websites like this. I'll be interested to see if you find one. There is a large thread about character names somewhere in the archives. You might want to take a look. It will be in this section somewhere.

[Isolde]

What about all those spam e-mails you get? Here's some examples:

Lupe Carlson
Arnulfo Morris
Socorro Marsh
Thanh Snow
Giacomo Bledsoe
Tonia Yoder
Emile Arrodondo
Kam Summerlin
Tanner Locke
Gil Pereira
Karam Joslin
Gonzalo Doss
Valentin Barajas
Kendrick Morales
Ora Tatum
Sang Tuttle

[Tsujigiri]

Seee spam can be useful

[Isolde]

Ah! I was using Stumble! on Firefox and stumbled across this site:

www.behindthename.com

Hope it helps.

[Culhwch]

A couple I found, though I haven't used them much, so don't know how helpful they'll be:

http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/
http://www.kleimo.com/random/name.cfm
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~pound/
http://www.seventhsanctum.com/gens/namer.html

[Alia]

Have you tried a baby book of names? There are several different varieties out on the market, you can pick them up at yard sales too. Some baby book names give alternative spelling, which you can even alternate further. Your creative, I assuming since you write, you can come up with some pretty different names that have meaning...
Just an idea!
Alia

[Ignatius]

One of the easiest tricks I have found is translation. Do a google search for Latin, Greek, Welsh, Gaelic, or just about any other language to english, then find a free converter. Then enter a word that best describes your character and bam! a fun, creative name that describes who you write.

[a|one]

Personally I think spelling can make a great deal of difference, even if its just an ordinary name. I have always thought John was a boring name, but for some reason Jon Snow seemed cool right from the start.

ex. Raymond -> Rhaemon / Rhaemond / Raemand

George -> Jorge / Jorje / Jeorge

Even slight altercations can make a world of difference in perceptions of the character (at least for me).

Anna -> Ania / Anaria / Aena

Sorry if my names dont seem very good, its 5:40am and im making this up on the spot.

[Tsujigiri]

I'm a bit perverse, I tend to give simple characters complex names and complex characters simple names.....

[Princess Ivy]

Well, my characters are my children, and i wouldn't stick my children with odd names, so my characters get bog standard, bloke in the corner caff names. Then again, I don't right fantasy or Sci-fi, so its ok if i have a couple of 'Gaz' 'kaz' 'liam' floating in the mix

[dustinzgirl]

When I cant think of a name for a character, I think of thier origin, if they are kind of gaelic or druidic, then I pull up a gaelic translator through google and do a translation on them. For example if I have a peacefull motherly druidess figure I will do this and find the translation for "flower" or "peace" ect. You can also do this in french, spanish, whatever. Just run a search on what culture you think your character would be (Gaelic, for example) and the word translator. Quick, easy and you dont have to think too hard.

[jenna]

i don't know if this would work for everyone, but i take a piece of paper and write the alphabet down the side and just go down and write the first name-sounding word that comes to my mind, that way i've got one's that start with all different letters. i've got about 6 or 7 pages of names now, plenty of stock! i also pull some obscure names from history. and that "behind the name" link that was posted above has a random name generator that's quite good.

[evanescentdream]

Though my methods have changed over the years, my current system is, I think, the best choice available.

I have written languages (not complete, but at least structurally sketched), and using the roots of these languages have named my characters. For instance, I have made common first names, which are few and given to many people. But the characters go by separate names (nicknames) which reflect their attributes.

[Jstotlar]

http://lysy2.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/lookdown.pl


heres the link to the latin translator I use for certain roots I want to incorperate. I like to think of origin as well and what syllabyls (omg i butchered that spelling I think) what really brings out the meaning in the character. I like making up names combining letters and sounds I personally like.

Babelfish is a good translation site as well, if you google it you can find it easily.

You could also google for a name generator or a fantasy name generator. I used to use one a long time ago but lost the link. Many of those have a lot of customizable things to help narrow down the random names to help you find one you truely like and really guided the creation of.

That would be my suggestion to you!