Discussion What's in a Name? | How do we name our Original Characters and why?

I asked the mods if I could make this topic back in July 2016, and they said yes. Since I'm a flake, I'm starting this thread only now.

How do you name your original characters? Curiosity killed the cat, but the curious want to know...if it's not a secret. Do you use a name generator, do you use common SW names, make up your own, something else, or a bit of this an' a bit of that?

Do share. If you remember more names or create new ones, please update your post.

If you want to use a name somebody else has created, please, ask them for permission.

 

Doria Vorr - Went for something that was phonetically similar to Dora Maar and how I could change the SW last name of Korr just a little bit. Later it turned out that there was a character named Doria in the film I like a lot!

And Doria is not going to have her own Picasso torture her and destroy her - I just wanted to give tribute to Dora, whom I feel strongly for.

Maris Inesedam Vorr - There's that obscure Maris Brood character. And I wanted a name with the roots in Maria/Maryam, so I got this. I attempted Mirax at first, but it didn't work because THE Mirax is too much of a big deal to copy her name. So, I went with Maris and it was only later that I was introduced to the unseen character from Frazier. Inesedam is a joke. "Sedam" means seven and the largest degree on the INES scale, corresponding to Chernobyl and Fukushima is seven, so...she's a serious disaster that can damage a lot of things and people.

Elesandre Vorr - Just a mangled version of Alexander. There is Alexandr in canon, Elisander the spaceship and Eliskandro the Hutt among OCs, so...why not?

Charon San Valorum - I tried Talon at first, but it made no sense just like Maris did not above and I was still a newbie to post-ROTJ legends and quite scared of the idea of leafing people on, so...I drifted underworld and got Charon. His dad was Pulott, his girlfriend is Deeina, which is an anagram of Aeneid, his ship is Sticks. Geddit? It's all about the underworld. The San and Valorum were gacked from the list of official names. I wanted a double name, because his faceclaim, who should be obvious by now, has two first names and is commonly referred to using both.

Crixa Valorum - A little tribute to Watership Down.

Anra Renek - "Happy King" in Durese, straight from Wook. The guy's not happy at all, so I thought it would be fun.

Yola Inesedam - I went on to combine Juliana/Julianne and Iolanda. Got this.

Antilless - Why not Antilles? I wanted to imply that Sacorrians do what many big countries do in terms of mercilessly destroying common names and last names. My Filipino pal Fatima has a friend named "Clarenz" and my Brazilian friend Natasha has a friend named "Diogo". What.even.

Larax Antilless - A random invention, like Doctor Zhivago's Lara, but with a SW ending, like Mirax.

Anjie Mencuri - Faceclaim's name taken to extremes. A mangled version of one of the variants of a super-common Earthly first name in Slovenian, last name translated to Indonesian. I liked the confusion it creates since it's similar to "angel" and pronounced like "Angie". His first draft name was Ben-Ki Igbu, which I am glad I changed. But I did keep a modified version of it, Ben Kigbu, for a future character.

Aldo Mencuri - An Italian name. Since Aldo has that "Latin lover" aka "Naboo charmeur" reputation to him, it fits.

Agne Mencuri - "Lamb" in many languages.

Arvel Mencuri - Pretty sure this one's a normal name, too.

Con "Wompy" Brochet - Found the equivalent of the faceclaim's nickname in another language, split it into two words. The nickname needed to relate to a hyper animal thing, so womp rats came to mind.

Deeply Religions - Canon. Their behaviour, bravery, activism and song names closely mirror the ones of a very popular and politically active real-life punk band.

Steamy Wasaka Stew - A fairly obvious pastiche of a real-life rock band's name. Their albums, too. I mean, "SexySpiceStarSinners" and "Steamy Seconds"...anybody?

Red Karnal Zhoorka - Karnal is misspelled carnal, zhoorka is žurka, which means party here. The dude is a RED CARNAL PARTY. Nasty!

Joak Bluestar Shykrill Glisse - I wanted names that start with J and B for his first names, since his face claim's first name begins with J and the nickname with B. The last name Shykrill has a connection to a family from the Sarcophagus moon where a fallen Jedi killed his brother. Glisse...just sounded good.

The nicknames for two of the above characters, Code:Red and Code:Blue, came from the concept of Red Oni and Blue Oni. At the same time, Blue had to be a short of Bluestar and Red had to be the character's actual first name. I later got various negative implications of both, but frankly, my dear...

Korgah - Korg oscilator + the same ending as in the only Dulok female name we know, Urgah.

Anaslinea-Hoc - An anagram of a real-world place name.

Ahyolu - An ooooold and not used for centuries Turkish name for the version 1.0 of the above place.

Sacorrian provinces of Racottia and Berssia - Mangled takes on Croatia and Serbia, yes. A tribute to the mess that is Balkans. The earlier sounds like cheese, or maybe they both do. Yeah, cheese!

Sublata - Latin verb tollo, tollere, sustili, sublatum. The female form of the last is sublata. I always liked the sound of that. Been kind of obsessed with how it sounded since back in '97.

Aryan Gelmeen - Went with an ideology and a mangled last name of...what suits the dude most. Does it need an explanation?

Iasonné - A play on Jason and the German word for the Sun.

Saride - Changed one letter in the Italian name Paride.

Dyeke - I have a friend who is a skilled painter and her last name is Đeke - I just made the spelling foreigner-friendly. It's a tribute to her and her artistry. I told her about it, but she's been so slow with responses to my messages lately.

R'vanye - Rvanje means wrestling in my native language.

Pelayn - Pelen/pelin is wormwood in my native language. Yeah, more Chernobyl.

Nar'cees - This one should be obvious.

Antonio Nokaarbe - Went with the faceclaim's real name, since there was a SW variant, the last name is an inside joke referring to fitness snobs who mock you if you have a pizza or something. Nokaarbe = no carbs. And he...he doesn't eat carbs and makes a big deal out of that!

Koobalt "Master Koobs" Nubes - Cobalt Cloud (nubes, nubis, f - cloud in Latin). Plus, he needed a stupid nickname, like his human faceclaim.

Kaeni - I believe it's a Hawaiian last name, but it was cool.

Caraway - Obviously a spice. Nothing to do with the Carraway from The Great Gatsby.

Laoda and Proto - Some obscure Greek mythology here, shortened/modified names.

Salyx, Kypari, Morusalba - Willow, Cypress and Mulberry. In accordance with character personalities.

Wert Caraway - Just a spur of the moment decision. It probably means something in...some language, somewhere. Who cares?

Rocas - I wanted a Lithuanian-sounding name and I knew one Rokas back in the days.

Garko Garelbi - An anagram of his faceclaim, Dario Argento aka Gabriel Garko.

Dareana Domesuto - The first name came when I was angry with somebody and mangled their name. The last name is the Japanese name for the cleaning product Domestos.

Kalgoto - Yes, inspired by Colgate.

Kalgo-Neet - Yes, inspired by Calgonit. Spoiler: his actual human-friendly name is Ayko.

Taide Lambrin - Yes, inspired by Tide and a mangled version of one of Marina and the Diamonds' last names because it sounded soo good. EP, please, no more cleaning product names. Nothing to do with his faceclaim.

Damaé Hoove - The last name is a clear mickey take, yes. The first name was inspired by the name of the singer of the dance project Fragma, and I added an accent to make it more Naboo.

Doge Rockblaster - The whole name is a clear mickey take.

Soleo - One of those sun-related words, obviously.

Krall - A take on the word kralj (king) here, because he was FABULOUS.

Vikigard - A combo of Viktor and posh-sounding names like Edward. Drall names can be extremely pretentious. Just think about it, they have a city named Mastigophorous. Really? REALLY?

Dingo - If there's a Mungo, why not Dingo? A fitting name for a guy who has a farm in the middle of nowhere.

Oolteema Misura - "Ultimate Measurement" in Italian, changed spelling.

Kaargo - Cargo, changed spelling. And the dude's got some emotional baggage.

Gleb Maradoona - Glebov is an innocent victim in the novel "The Case of the Skalba Station" and Maradoona is a changed spelling of Maradona, because a short Twi'lek man with an even shorter neck whose behaviour is a bit erratic is a funny idea.

Seegmon d'Fraud - Come on, this one is obvious.

Soodar Merek - Went with the name of the man who got me into web development, reversed it and then butchered it beyond recognition.

Rogierre - Google Enrico Ruggeri. HE CAN BE A DRALL AND IT MAKES SENSE.

Names that don't mean anything, so don't waste your time attempting to decypher them: Patrash, Kaalwar, Galak (actually not an OC, just an unnamed character I had to name), Pata, Kasha, Korunas, Fregli, Garade, Trudee Steurpa, Karlina "Karlee" Yaihe, Wake, Katrane, Mousee, Madelle "Mady" Griasmaa, R13-D4, Sooja Brie Mencuri, Darla-Di...

(more to be added, as I go...)

 

This is actually a very good idea for a topic, Ewok Poet

I expect I'll be answering this over a few posts.

 

I introduced a few OCs in my drabble challenge. Which I still need to finish.

So, them...

La'avé Vendara, AKA Lavender - l needed a name that sounded believable as a Twi'lek name. I also wanted something that would make it make sense for her to be nicknamed Lavender, besides that being the color of her skin.

A'ayla Vendara - She's one of three sisters, so they all have the same last name. Because she is the sister with the major attitude, I wanted something that sounded both feminine and badass. A'ayla seemed to fit. Giving her an actual connection with A'ayla Secura instead of just a shared name was an idea that came later.

Chaa'va Vendara - Her first name is just something I made up that sounded good. It was somewhat inspired by the name of one of the daughters from Fiddler On The Roof.

A'asha Vendara - She's Lavender's mother. I wanted her name to be something that sounded soft, but not weak. Something that bespoke a quiet inner strength.

The following OCs haven't been added to my OC index post yet. I'll get around to it eventually.

Mace Brightstar - Mace is, obviously, an established name. There are other reasons, but they would be too spoilery. Brightstar is something I made up after I decided that using Darklighter would be too lazy.

Lordé Palpatine - I needed a name that followed the general pattern for Naboo females, and it also needed to sound pure, virginal, and completely un-sheevy.

Sirjio Naberrie - I wanted a name that sounded like it could belong to the coolest guy in school, a gorgeous hunk, a Disney Prince, or all three of the above.

Claire Moonstep - Her name was inspired by a piece of music. Clare de Lune, to be precise.

Lance Stormbreaker - Someone needed a good alias, so Lance Stormbreaker was born. And promptly killed so that said someone could steal his identity.

Tyra - Claire's sister needed a name, so I gave her one. Totally stolen from Tyra Banks.

 

I have essentially four OCs that I use:

Blue: Got his name because being Barolian, his hair is blue. His real name is Ryoki John Akahai. I picked Ryoki because I wanted a non-anglo sounding name. This name is of Japanese origin. Jonn balances out the name to make it more familiar sounding, plus I wanted a one-syllable name. And Akahai means "gentle" in Hawaiian.

Bree: I named Leia and Han's fourth child Breha Amidala Solo. Breha was the name of Leia's Alderaanian mother. I can completely see her honoring the woman who raised her this way. Amidala was Leia's mother's name when she was queen. This way, Bree is named for two queens.

Nobody ever seemed to catch this, but the god that Blue devotes himself, Ianos, is Janus. The god of second chances is often referred to as the " doorway god," and it's even mentioned at one point that he can see the past and the future simultaneously.

Mirany Lansdotter: I just liked the way Mirany sounded. And as for her last name, there are naming conventions in Mehr in which the child is named after either the father or the mother, plus -son or -dotter, depending on the child's gender. Four people in the same family could have different last names.

Kash Ferros: Funny how this name came about. I had Mirany's name figured out but I could not for the life of me figure out a suitable name for the man in the story I was writing. The television was on and we were watching Walk the Line, the movie about Johnny Cash. I decided I liked the sound of it so I switched the spelling and Kash it was. Ferros just came to me, but Ewok Poet pointed out, it sounds like the Latin term for "iron" so that might have been a subconscious idea that was running around. He is very grounded, and he's strong like iron to have survived this long in his circumstances.

I have other OCs but they're not as interesting.

 

I would have had a hard time not noticing, since Ianos is what he's called in Greek



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So, OC names. I have so many OCs that I can't list them all here, but generally speaking I used the following strategies to name them:

There are the OCs that just come with a name for no particular reason other than it sounds like their name. It's pretty cool when it happens, but it doesn't happen often. One of my OCs in this category is Nazmat Koch; she just popped into my head with her face, her haircut and her name.

There are OCs for whom I use a modified RL name because there's something in their backstory to that effect. For instance, I have a Wookiee character named Yakooboo, which is an Arabised/bastardised version of Jacob because I was planning for him to have a skeleton in his closet in relation to his brother. I ended up dropping the backstory but the name stuck.

Then there are OCs that come in groups, and I name them after a group of the same number in mythology, fiction whatever. I have a story where everything comes in groups of seven, so the seven males were named after the seven wonders of the world, the seven females after the seven stars of the Pleiades, etc. I just butchered the names a bit to make them more starwarsy.

Lastly, there are OCs whose name have a meaning (usually their main character trait) in another language. One of my current fics is an adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame in the GFFA, and to name the characters I've been looking up the etymology of the French names in the novel and then translating it (more or less loosely) to a variety of other languages using Holoogle Translate. I normally try to stick to a single language within the same story, but in this case I wanted a "tower of Babel" effect so I'm trying every single available language until I find something that sticks.

Something I do to name characters in original fiction is to open the phonebook at random and pick a name from the page. To do that however, you need to have a real paper phonebook. I still have one and it gets used only for character names.

 

Mark Tantiss-- (Luke Skywalker clone) The name Mark came about because Mara (thinking he was Luke) told him he was once her mark (target of assassination). He picked the last name Tantiss because he was born in the secret hideout within Mount Tantiss.

Talon Tantiss-- Mark's son. Mark was best friends with Talon Karrde, so he named his kid after him.

Jaden Tantiss-- Mark named this son after Mara Jade. Jade--Jaden.

Kira Starkos-- I am fairly sure I used the SW name generator for the first name and for the last name I probably put random words into Google translate and tried to find foreign words that sounded interesting.

Zylie Karrde -- Random name generator

Valla Karrde-- name generator

I often use variations of my sons' names for various characters, such as Kira's brothers.

I like using Google translate because Norwegian words sound Star Wars-ish to me.

 

There are either two explanations for how I named my OC's:

1. Either I played around with words until I came up with names that were "Star Warsy" sounding.

or

2. I smoked a lot of crack, got repeatedly drunk, and performed regularly scheduled ritual sacrifices until the Wonderful Dark Goat of the Sacred and Aweful Abyss graced me with names that I liked.

 

This is the best OC naming ritual in this thread so far Can someone do better?

 

Aaqu Maerhin: full given name Aaquila from the Dunai elder word for eagle, Martin giving Maerhin
Kaagi Adin: given name from Kaag a water in Warmond, Adin from Adam
Jono Bel Hana: Jon with o added, Bel like in Bel Iblis giving it Corellian roots, Han with a added
Tarmenel Eled-Hir: mix arabic and lord of the rings
Jasir Ere-Dun; mix arabic
Jason Guyet; mix greek hero and french
Mick Kerebuy; Kerebuy from the Dunai elder word for Kerebuy eagle
Nas Aena; surname a en a

Working as an archivist I saw a lot of names and changed those with things added or discarded
My Dunai elder characters are based on Tolkien made Star Wars

 

An analysis of my methodology would seem to indicate that almost no thought goes into it, and except in the rare case of a pun, such as the late Deviant Art / Arthur, where I will Fourth Wall an explanation, I rarely remember how I created a name in the first place.

Stormtroopers appear to be combinations of Greek letters, and a quick glance at my PC's clock.

Hence, Monster Squad staple, BTA-0113, would have been the second letter in the Greek alphabet, Beta, and it must have been 1:13 in the morning.

Sometimes I make note of an interesting sounding name, and keep it for later. Sometimes I will call up a cast list on IMDB, and mix and match first and last names.

Sometimes I draw inspiration from nearby objects.

 

gg

 

Mikayla Moondancer I got the spelling from a book and the last name from using the idea that if there were names in Star Wars like 'Skywalker', 'Darklighter', 'Whitesun' etc so I created Moondancer.

Anak I remembered reading somewhere that the name 'Anakin' could be split so you had 'Anak' and 'Kin' and that 'Anak' meant 'Warrior'' and adding 'Kin' could denote 'without peer' or 'without family' so I decided to make 'Anak' a separate name.


I more often than not use Behind the Name site to find names for characters as well as alternate spelling. Sometimes i have a specific meaning in mind for a name and sometimes i just want a name from a region; the name also has to appeal to me. I have also used a language translation site to get a specific word (I did this to get a name for Dooku to go with his last name) and I have just made them up using either a real name as a basis or combining letters that look like they could be a name.

 

I eat yogurt and dance a lot. Probably not doing better....but...

Various things here:

Like @Lady_Misty behind the name is a great resource for me especially if I'm creating characters of a specific nationality or ethnicity.

Sometimes when I create characters I think of the country of origin (if applicable) and personality and try to look up names that fit what I have in mind.

Sometimes, stuff just falls out.

Regarding Star Wars characters, I try to make them sound exotic and otherworldly, sometimes mixed with Slavic or Asian elements. Latest was Hothan Kobaltav.

 

Minerva Hektor: Minerva is the Roman version of the Greek Athena, goddess of practical warfare and wisdom. Also, Hektor was the honorable Trojan Prince from The Iliad. Considering that Minerva is a human-Time Lord hybrid Athenian princess, the name makes sense.

Lynette Kaic'kul: Lynette is a French name that I like, and Kaic'kul is taken from Sandman: Seasons of Mist.

 

At my old job we had a filter on the emails that would shunt all the junk emails to a folder. Every couple weeks I would go in to clean it out, and if there was a good, weird sounding name i would copy it to an Excel file. I still have it...

Some examples:
Kester Lothrop
Yulezac Makr
Cam Ghion
Pael Asi
Sasoo Cymedei
Fyn Kuuet
Dev Puc
Coryn Chensi
Cral Horker
Grybas Harks
Von Tarli
Reddrik Tralaq
Sala Anoonk-Li

I got the name of my main character, Cern Stormrunner, from a book about Celtic mythology and names. There was a god named Cernunnos, and that name is where we get the name Cornelius, and then Neil, which is my name. Stormrunner was originally going to be Stormrider, but then Nomi Sunrider came along and i thought is sounded too similar

Also I had a character based on my best friend Ray, and the character was named Rey - which means King in spanish I believe.

Anyway after TFA came out I changed it to "Kilmer Bard" after Val Kilmer (as the character is a fighter pilot and my friend loves that movie TOP GUN) and Bard as in the ancient music / poetry maker, as my friend is a musician

 

I absolutely use the name generator for SW names., as side characters in fics, and also for role playing. I like them to sound exotic but not too hard to type/read Examples: Sevrina and Kandori.

 

I've used a couple of methods for creating character names:

1) Research. When I was naming Gungan OCs, I looked at the names of existing canon characters to determine (or invent) naming conventions. At the time, there were only three canon examples: Rugor Nass, Roos Tarpals and Jar Jar Binks. So, I used the idea that Gungan names consisted of either three one-syllable sounds, or a one-syllable and a two-syllable sound. I came up with names like Rell Iss Tonn, Kimma Nril, Rass Hespa, and Surith Herns.

2) Adapting regular English names by using unusual spellings or other methods of tweaking. So Eric becomes Irric, Melanie becomes Melni, etc. Some names, like Orrin, are obscure enough to just use as themselves.

If I'm out of ideas, or I want other opinions, I'll use a name generator, and then play around with the results.

 

Behind the Name is my go-to source for naming OCs. I like to give characters names that reflect something about them—a physical characteristic, a personality trait, an occupation or interest. They have lists of names by theme (“military names”, “earthy names”, “purple names” etc....and I may have consulted all of these lists for naming Lasat OCs ) You can also search by words in the names meanings or browse by origin. It’s also helpful for finding uncommon variants of names.

Noemi Bridger’s Name is a variation on Naomi (pleasant)—which is in contrast to her mother, Mara (bitter). Ronen’s Name means “joy”; my original plan before I knew human/Twi’lek children were possible (and canon) was for Kanan and Hera to adopt a pair of war orphans, one human, one Twi’lek, and Ro was going to have a “twin” sister named Nadiya, which means “hope”.

For minor characters, I sometimes use the random character name generator on KOTOR

 

I make up all my own names or use variations of real names I come across in my work. Other times, I will combine words from documents, calendars, or labeled items on my desk. I usually stick to one syllable, two syllable or or the reverse, but there are others that have broken that mold. Examples:

Rena Mooris - Cor Sec under cover agent.
Lens Eli - Jedi initiate
Kayla Bix - Lens' girlfriend
Shorntaka the Wookie
Cypress Eli - Daughter of Lens Eli
Jasmine Kenodai - cantina bartender
Jesyr Ruk - Imperial Lieutenant
Frinsin Jakobi - probably one of my laziest creations
Dink - Clone nick name
Ansyn Turlock - medical supplies merchant - Jedi trainee
Shard - clone nickname
Vitus Feng - (real name of a customer!) unfortunate gambler and thief
Kyllo Aloyan - Holo star

 

I let major characters name themselves. It's not unusual for characters to go through a few name changes as their backgrounds develop. Culture will most often govern how the names are shaped. I allow this to give consistency in a narrative universe. I recall wrestling with characters over many of their aspects; their names included. And recently, I began again writing SW fan fiction. There's a lot reference material nowadays that helps in name-shaping. Still, I think I drew some heat for Utinni in An Interlude for Revan. However, he was named within the story by Revan. And who knows what she was feeling at the time?

 

Utinni is a lovely name.

I can hear it in a Jawa exclamation, but it has to mean something.

 

As the story goes, Revan had nicknamed Utinni because he said it often in her presence. The Jawaese meaning of the word as being "Wow!" and/or other exclamations remains intact. Either Revan didn't bother to learn his real name or couldn't correctly pronounce it --lacking the pheromones might have stopped her from trying. Also, Utinni wasn't overly fluent in the Jawa Trade Language, which hampered their communication. I took some license and changed the pronunciation at the conclusion of Interlude whereby it is a valediction whose meaning is left to the reader to choose.

 

Lately I've been trying to come up with a few "Darth Evil But Cool" names.

 

Do you need any help? I have some words that could be used