How do you name your characters?

an interesting question..... in a story I am currently trying to finish, I came up with the name Adelaide Bre'al for a person's ASSUMED name. The name Adelaide came from the character of one of the housekeeper(s) on the show "Different Strokes" and I just thought of the last name by myself. The name actually *changed* a few times, and I finally settled on and kept the name Adelaide.

In my "Parent Trap Star Wars style" story, Amelia and Erin were just names I liked. Amelia was a play on Amidala (assuming Luke would have known his mother's name in my AU) and Erin was just a name.

In my other story, "Mara's Search", Wedge is of course named for Wedge Antilles and Brandon is just a name I liked.


Its difficult to come up with good sounding starwarsy like names. I even came up with a name of a species of a bear like creature -- the "Tatyne" just for one of my stories.

 

Ooo! I finally get to unleash my name sermon!

First off, I've read a lot of fanfiction where Earth names are used. That's alright since GL, Lucasfilm, and Del Rey authors sometimes use Earth names such as:

Luke
Ben
Ken
Jaina
Jenna
Wes
Jess
Jann
Davin

Then there are almost-Earth names:

Han (Hans)
Leia (Leah)
Jacen (Jason)
Mara (Mary or Martha)
Jens (Jen)
Kyp (Kip)

And names that sound like words:

Aurra Sing (aura, sing)
Bail (bail)
Dash (dash)
Rade (raid)
Wedge (wedge)
Talon Karrde (talon, card)
Maul (maul)
Spero (sparrow)

I'm sure there are others, but I can't think of them now. Here are some of the more weird names:

Amidala
Qorl
Tenel Ka
Daeshara'cor
Xizor
Tsavong Lah

and much more.

Names give each character a distinct feeling. "Regular" people often have short, plain names like "Gann." Sith names are ominous and powerful like "Vader." Jedi names vary widely- in the Old Jedi Order, many human Jedi have hyphenated, 2-or-3 syllable names (Obi-Wan; Qui-Gon). In the New Jedi Order, almost anything works. Yuuzhan Vong names also vary, depending on the rank and caste.

In TOS behind-the-scenes databank, there are some references to names, like this one:
Early draft scripts of Star Wars had the Imperial capital world named Alderaan, which was sort of a cross between Coruscant and Bespin. In these early versions, Princess Leia came from the peaceful world of Ogana Major. Subsequent rewrites reshuffled names and settings. Much of the action that once took place in a prison complex on Alderaan instead took place aboard the Death Star, and Ogana Major was renamed Alderaan, with Ogana being slightly respelled to become Leia's surname.


So what I do most of the time is simply take a word that describes the character, and tweak it until it sounds right.

FernWithy wrote a helpful article on naming here.

 

awww

Thanks.

 

Ooh, boy. I love talking about this. Here are some examples of how I approached naming my characters:

Jessa Calrissian - a variant of Jessica, which means "wealth". Appropriate, since this character is obscenely wealthy.

Mikel Ismaren Rage - this name is a tribute to a character from a book by Melanie Rawn, who is one of my favorite authors. Mikellan Startoucher is a saint in her Mageborn trilogy, and the named seemed appropriate for the idealistic, gentle son of a Sith.

Melody re Riall - Riall is a variant of the word royal and Melody just struck me as a beautiful, elegant name. In this case I chose a name that represented everything lacking in the character. Melody in my stories is a foul-mouthed, tactless street thief.

Denilee Ismaren Rage - the good old stick-the-syllables-together method.

These are just some examples. I also find that sometimes a charater's role dictates their name: Ben Darklighter, Lucéa Naberrie (variant of Lucia, a feminine version of Luke), and Hal Horn being three of my examples. I'm not sure that helped any, but maybe it gave you some ideas.

 

Oh, I forgot. Lucas named Luke so that his first name and last initial say "Luke S." Sounds like "Lucas."

Naming characters is half the fun! I've got lots of unused names waiting to be used.

 

Oh, Alderaan_, Mara is actually an earth name, it is the original Hebrew version of Mary(which means 'sympathetic'), at least according to my little book of names. This book I have (really old thing and out of print) has tons of really wierd names.

When I name a character I think of the personality they have then look for human names that have a meaning that could describe the character. For example I named a character who lost her memory and family Trista, which means saddness. Not neccessarily a name you hear all the time. I also get names out of religious books, like Enoch, in the bible this man never dies, he ascends in to heaven. Uh, in a story he is in he dies, but he is never 'quite' gone if you get my drift. This has also been used in one of the JA books. Guerra, which means war in Spanish, was a character.

What's fun is if the reader has heard of the name you are using and if it has an interesting story that is juxtaposed with your character it adds to your story and often gives the reader more to think about, you can also use it to hint the characters future.

 

I just take the first few letters I see from a label and put it with the next few letters of another thing. Unless its for my Yuuzhan Veng characters, then I just pick something delicate and something to describe it, like Roughriver.

 

I copied this straight from my answer to the other naming thread:

"1: Just type up random letters ex. jalid

2: Search for patterns already in use ex. Ilen Sandsifter (This is what Mike Stackpole does. I asked him once.)

3: Take a song lyric or something and use it modified, based on the sound of words ex. "Give it to me baby" = Gimitu Mibae

4: If it's OO (Original Offspring), take parts of people's names, add a few letters and mix, ex: Thranne (Thrawn/Isard)

5: Take a word in your native language and simply use it, or some good-sounding words in some other language ex. Kivi Naru (Stone String in Finnish)

6: Just pick something that sounds nice ex, "Lae.. Laea.. Laa..." like someone already said.

I'ven't used any of those examples. I just made them up using my normal methods."

That's what I said then, that's what I say now. Oh, and then there's #6: Take a characters name and fool around with it: Luke= Luue, Mara=Ma'ar, Xizor= Shisorn...

Ara
(Fictioner and an author wannabe of the worst kind... obsessed and insane)

 

Latin is a great language to come up with names.

 

Last names I pretty much just make up out of nowhere then see if I can pronounce them.

First names I usually do one of three things.

1. Respell a not too common name from earth, ie Caleb becomes Kayleb.

2. Change a letter in an earth name, ie Anton becomes Antol

3. Combine more than one earth name, ie Sydney + Annette = Sydannette

 

Other way how to make SW names:

Write down a word that describes your character the best. Then just translate it into some not-so-widely-used foreign language, mess up the letters a bit and you have a name! (there are plenty of translators on the Internet)

 

I read some where that the names should refelct the Characters personality. Like I have a Character named Damia in my story "Reminiscence". Damia means untamed and if you read the story and really pay attention to her character you'll see it fits.
Felicia Z.

 

In the novel, Imperial Coquest I used real names from real people and adapted them. Names I get inspired by everything around me including the TV or Phone book. Here is the way I got inspired.

Here are some examples:

Shidron-Qu (Shy Dron-Coo)came from "hydrogen" the first element in water which in turn is the second element in mud. Qu was explained in the original draft to mean four in the Kraulin language. The kraulins were supposed to be the first inhabitants of Laquera Station. The word Laquera, or Lacquer, came to me as I listened to lecture on in Art History. At least something came out of that class.
The damaged rebel ship, the Kaspaar, will need a name change in the final draft since the movie Caspar came out. In the second draft the name Kadspaar appears. Tergera was originally called Dergera. Since Yoda came from Dagobah I didn't want people to come to the conclusion Jedi planets all start with "D."
The name Sate Pestage obviously came from a plot synopsis by Allan Arnold in The Empire Strikes Back Collector's Edition magazine. 1980, Connecticut: Paradise Press, Inc. p.24. Dovan Pestage was my idea to replace Darth Vader as Luke's primary nemesis. He's one part Darth Vader, one part Hannibal"the cannibal" Lecter, and a dash of Mordred from Excalibur. His partner throughout IMPERIAL CONQUEST was Druge, taken from the word drudge, a ruthless assassin. My interest in"The Assassin's Guild" prompted me to write a story outline for an independent HOSTILE INTENT, a non-Star Wars theme book dealing with political takeovers and manipulation.
Denusyn Rourd came from Sergeant Rourke from F-Troop.

The three sons in CONQUEST were named Rhigger (taken from thelead character in Taxi), Carreck (named after my friend Eric Mielcarek), and Dovan (named after Donovan, the lead character in V: The Series).

I loved the anthology album "PINK WORLD" by Planet P Project which tells of a boy Artie who swam in a polluted river filled with toxic sludge which, after society locks him up in an insane Asylum, is transformed into one of the worlds greatest leaders in the post apocalyptic world who city of scholars and clergy is protected by a "great barrier".
Rhigger became my Artie, affected by his father's "Sludge", whose goal would be to prevent his father from using his dark army from destroying the galaxy as Rhigger's visions foretold. Since he physically could not confront his father and brother he would need someone else to kill Sate. The introduction of the Hucarian Tribes, hints that the Tergera city has it's own "barrier" of sorts that we'll see in book two. With this in mind, the second draft we find Luke is tricked into confronting the new Emperor, but when Luke refused to fight as he did in Return Of The Jedi I needed a catalyst to force him into a bloody saber duel. That catalyst would come in the form of the Jedi fanatics secret weapon, Gareth Sol.
Sol (the name of our Sun) would than carry the light-saber of Obi-Wan Kenobi which harks back to the original version of the Keeper, which would be explained that Vader actually kept it as a memento and that thieves ransacked his abode in the Imperial Capital on Coruscant.
The idea of Lightsaber welding Rulgrud Shocktroops came from an early Ralph McQuarrie painting showing Stormtroopers carrying the Jedi weapons. I thought that the armor of regular stormtroopers were too restricting and designed the Biker Scout-like cut down version. They were basically armed with Jedi like physical strength without the mental powers that Sate Pestage could not produce in his army. In a cruel twist of fate my original 1980's idea of the new shocktrooper now resembles that of an armored, black and white Power Rangers Zeo. The idea of the eye slits in the shape of a "T"with two horizontal bars was taken from a french symbol ring warn by Magnum PI. A new design is forthcoming.
Nagaron Station was designed after my bathtubs drainplug. Governor-equivalent Jar'red (from Jared Martin who played in War Of The Worlds series) was original

 

I tend to combine real people's names, mix and match and do the usual switching of one or two letters in each name.

Damaeo (Damian)
Lewix (Lewis)
Tolm (Tom)

 

Coming up with names is fun for me.

My most difficult names I ever did was a planet of formal people with really long names.

There was

Shisa-Tal-Rea-Cata-Nish-Myliace
Shisa- I was thinking, sheesh, what do I use, and I came up with Sheeshah, Or Shisa.

Tal- I stole that.....heehee, you know, Tahl. Just change the lettering, though I don't advise it.

Rea- Dont' know where that came from. I think from my cousin's name, AndREA.

Cata- I was watching a cat, and thought of a fancy way of saying it.

Nish- No clue again, just came to me.

Myliace- Me-lie-ce. heehee.

Then, in the same story, there was Jasu-Peri-Late-Nas-Kipa

Jasu- Jason, adapted a bit.

Peri- Parry

Late- Caffe Latte. (I wanted some coffee...)

Nas- Boss Nass, adapted.

Kipa- Kip, add a vowel.

Vasically, any sound that comes into your mind, play with it.

Ok, my favorite way of coming up with names.

GO OUT AND FIND AND BUY A CHEAP BABY NAMES BOOK.

You will never regret it. I found one for 5 dollars, and I never regretted buying it.

Believ it or not, many star wars names came from name books.

Mara Jade
Mara- bitter, Hebrew
Jade-from the name of a precios stone. (duh!
Makes sense, huh? Bitter, yet beautiful.

I don't remember the others. Anyway, I have lists upon lists of names that sound star warsie.

Here's an example: Abra, Adria, Adina, Aidan, Althea, Amina, Anika, Anya, Areta, Asha, Astra, Aysha. That is just a list of A's that I liked from the baby name book. i think I ended up using 5 so far of the a's.

I love making names!

 

GO OUT AND FIND AND BUY A CHEAP BABY NAMES BOOK.

You will never regret it. I found one for 5 dollars, and I never regretted buying it.


I'll second this advice. In an upcoming fic of mine (one of these days... ) I originally had Palpatine's first name as Daishar, but I've changed that to Adrik, which is derived from Adrian. In Latin, Adrian means "Dark One," which is certainly appropriate. His love interest was originally Sarya, but is now Ilona, which means, "Light."

 

I don't use any of the tricks that most people use: words from another language, mixing letters from another name, looking on babynames.com.... (you should see what your name means, if you don't already know, there)

I just think about how I want the character to be like and then type in letters and see if it goes wiht how I imagine him or her. It usually is very easy, but if there's a complex personality in one character, it can be hard.

One of my OC characters, Jenan Kules, I just thought of how I wanted him to be like and I thought a J name suited him. and since he needed a last name I thought of another letter that would go with his personality, which is the K.

Note: Not an easy or good way to make up names for those who have trouble with coming up with names, but if you name your dogs crazy thigns, maybe you can name your character.

(why do you think I chose Rev for my penname? )

 

Ok, I'd like to say I have a set method, but I don't. For the bad guys I try and give them a evil ring like, Evianl. ( proundounced E-van-el) to sort of sound like the word evil. That way it might cause a simular emotional response as the actual word. For good guys I will ussaly take a noraml, or slightly unsual name and warp it sort of like this, Jennifer, Jenalfer or Jenisla. But this if for star wars and other sci fi or fantasy. It wouldn't work in normal stuff, for that I just think of a name that fits their personality or nationaltiy. For example, if someone's Irish, Nora O'donnel. Or if their kinda shy I'd give them a classic name like Emily or Amy. Any way, those are some examples, hope I was a little bit of help.

 

One character in an upcoming fic is Corwin, which means Raven. A Raven is a very clever bird, but also a bird with a dark reputation. Perfect for an assassin.

Among the alias' he uses are Jankielek Ioannis, Zana Janko, Giannes Juhani, Ansis Vanechka, Jovan Yochanan, and Janos Ivanov. The common trait of all his alias' is that they translate into John Johnson

 

Up!

 

I still name characters just from made up words, parts of words, synonyms describing my character. It really has to fit the character I am making.

 

hmm.. I go about it several ways.

1) In my fic Ohana, it's based in Hawaii. So, I cheat and go to an online dictionary that also translates English names into Hawaiian. I.E. One of the main characters, Leikele, is a translation of my own name, Rachel (it's actually Leikela, but I didn't catch the E when editing it until I had posted like 5 different times saying Leikele). The names are English, but in Hawaiian they're just so bizarre. Fred=Peleke, George=Keoki, Virginia=Wilikinia

2) Take names and mix them around. Andy became Nayd, Nathen became Nath-Sen, and Rachelle became Rokele. Heck, I even used Sacul (Lucas backwards.) Thomas Kinkade (my fav. artist) became my character Kina (chopped up Kinkade) Samoht (Thomas backwards)

3) Just hit keys until something looks good. It works some times.

4) History names (Yes, history buff), or Bible names. EX. I used the name Xerxes for a Falleen king. Xerxes was the Persian king that Ester married. History names (Roman ones are the best) include Cladius, Tharoneus, and anything else that ends in 'eus'.

5) Switch brand names around. Napster= Retspan

6) French/German/Russian translations

7) mixing things you hear up. My dad one day got mad when the president was making some announcment during a NASCAR race, and shouted "More NASCAR!" I slowly sounded it and got Mo-Nas, forming my main character's last name, Monas.

8) You have no idea how, you just do.

 

To give a sample of some of my names;

Alyx - Alex with a small change (always a favourite name of mine)

Phobos Lengai - Phobos, a moon (of Jupiter, IIRC) and Lengai - Oldoinyo Lengai is an obscure volcano in Tanzania

Serenia - The e-mail address of a dear friend of mine includes the word Serenity, and I've always liked names with 'ia' on the end

Riixu Marsh - Plucked it out of thin air...

Tobias - Just a weird-sounding Latin name

 

A great way to come up with new names is to make a "Master Sheet" of every one-syllable sound you can make. This sounds daunting, but it isn't really. Divide them up into "soft" and "hard" sounds. Keep in mind that you can make the same sounds using different letters-- C and K for example.


SOFT:

Aa
Ba
Da
Li
Le
La
Ze
Se
Si
Na
Oo
il
el
ol


HARD:

Ka
Ti
Te
Ta
Ki
Pe
Po
Ka
ik
it
et
ek


etc. etc.

Then, just choose how many syllables you want, and stick together the sounds. Female names tend to have more soft syllables than hard. Male names tend to be the opposite. Try using all hard and all soft, or start soft and end hard, or vice versa. A name that starts soft but ends hard could be the name of a man that follows the rules and is very strict-- "Veerik" or "Delzet".


Remember that you dont have to spell the sounds the same as you wrote them down, either-- experiment in other ways to spell the same sounds to give your names a more exotic look.

 

what else can you do? this may sound strange, but you can look at commercials for medicine. or just watch commercials in general and if there's a product name that sticks out and that you like the sound of it, write it down, mess with the spelling and you have a name.

[that's how i got a name for one of my characters. vaniqua - skin hair remover = veniqa, SW slut]

or, flip through magazines. eventually, you will spot a word or two that you like. do the same thing, play with the spelling and that great thing about that -- it can be the name of a person or a thing.

for example, and i have done this. there was a name of japanese lady. i played with the spelling a couple times, and came up with some really interesting names.