I find this one of the most interesting parts of planning a new story. There are many ways to go about finding the perfect name for your heroes, villains, background characters etc. but if you're struggling, here are a few tips that help me :) I will post five in total so keep watching for more:
1. Use Name Meaning Websites and Books:
This is probably one of the more obvious ways of naming your characters. There are so many useful websites all over the interweb waiting to be found as well as baby naming books in the shops and libraries. Just think of the main trait of your character or the main aim in their lives and find a suitable name that fits that meaning.
You could go for a really simple trait, like one of my characters is extremely clever, so I typed in 'clever' to a name meaning website and it came up with a huge list. My eyes fell upon Cassidy and that's my character's name. :) Simples!
Or perhaps you could use an aim of your character. Sofiel is a young boy who wants to protect nature, so I searched a name that meant something along the lines of 'Nature's Guardian' and Sofiel meant 'Angel of Nature'. Perfect :)
On the other hand, you could type in a name you fancy, find out the meaning and then allocate a relevant character. For example, I love the name Brianna so I wanted to call a character that and up pops the sidekick to another story again. Brianna means 'Strong one' so perfect for a girl who has been through a lot but keeps on going for her friends and future.
It's really easy and there are so many sources for you to use. Many websites and books give you snap shot meaning as well as detailed history, the name's popularity, origin and other useful information.
2. Use a Translator:
Whilst not the best for long passages for French essays, just think of a trait for your character or part of their history and translate it to think of an unusual first name or unique last name. Like if a character is a copycat of everyone without their own thoughts, then translate something like 'Clone' into another language such as Italian or Danish.
Take Professor Lupin from J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter'. Many of you may already know that 'Lupin' is derived from 'Lupus', the latin for wolf. This indicates his darker side on a full moon. Also, Voldemort literally translates to 'Flight of Death' in French and this murderous character lives up to his name. J.K. Rowling thinks up so many amazing names that fit her characters perfectly as well as creating the most wonderful, magical world of all time! (Can you tell I'm a Potterhead ;) )
Another fun way I use a translator for is to create a hidden message behind the character through their full name.
For example, take the main character from my story 'Everto'. Her name is 'Ena
Intenebris'. I used a name meaning website to find 'Ena', which means 'bright and shining', and then a translator to combine 'in ténebris', which means 'in the dark', to create 'Ena Intenebris' - 'Bright and shining in the dark.' This leads on to different possibilities in the rest of the plot and the all important prophecy. Most people might not notice this but it's fun to add a little back story to a name that only you know.
However, with this way you run the risk of translating wrong, but it's not much of a problem if you gain an interesting name from it :)
3a. Use the Names of People Close to you:
The simplest way to name characters is using family and friends names. They could reflect their character's personality and relationships or you could just like the name and allocate a character.
If your Mum's name is Jane, then so could your main character's Mother. Or, you could name a very protective and loving character Jane. You could call a boat the heroes are travelling on 'The Jane' or just find a person who acts just like your own Mum and call her Jane.
The opportunities are endless with this tip and you could name your whole cast and crew after people you know and love. This gives you someone to base your characters on, typical names if your story is set in modern-day and an endless list of names to choose from.
I'm sure people will be very touched that your best-selling novels include them as the heroes and you can tell the bully what you really think if you use them as the villain!
3b. Use Famous People:
This is also another small tip, but must be used carefully
You could also use famous people as inspiration, but it's best not to call the character their full name exactly unless the character's parents were obsessive fans. If the character's Mother loved Twilight so called her daughter Bella Swan, it would have to fit the story or plot in some way.
Here's the tricky part. The person that you use will be known to many and already exists so using their name could cause confusion with readers. It's best to keep this as a reserve or use sparingly as a tribute to a personal inspiration.
Loosely basing the name on someone famous is perfect. For example, there's already been a Leonardo Da Vinci, the famous painter, inventor and all round clever guy, and I had a clever character in need of a name, so Leo was born. Leo also means 'like a lion', so connotes he will be brave too. Inspiration is everywhere so how about watching out for your favourite celebrities every now and again?
4. Use the Names of Objects, Flowers, Animals etc.
Of course you wouldn't name your main character Chair or Zebra, but you could always base them on that. This is a more difficult way of naming characters because you'll think up new names but you must be able to pronounce them easily as well as make sure it fits. If you can't say the name, then the reader's stumbling will interrupt their flow.
Flowers are an easy way to go for basing character names. They're mostly used for females, but you could find ones that work for males to. Take Valerian for example, the masculine version of Valerie and a herb. I also think that this is good for fantasy stories but could work with any other genres as well.
Though some flowers are worth avoiding. Like Daisy and Lily for a cute innocent girl is used a lot and Rose for the beautiful stranger but how about mixing a name that may not fit the personality... Nature is perfect for inspiration
With animals, birds are a good way to go, like Raven and Robin and Phoenix. You could also use names that mean animals, like Rachel means Ewe and Tiger, well, means tiger...
If your new name is difficult to pronounce but you really want to use it, then try using a nickname or shorten it for your characters and only use their full name a few times, so the reader rarely has to try and figure out how to say it in their heads :)
Just look around you when you're outside then the names will come to you. :)
5. Use Names on Signs, Benches, Buildings, etc.
Everywhere in the world today must be labelled to point us all in the right direction, so use that for inspiration. This is a very simple way of thinking up names and can just make something click inside your mind.
Road signs are often named after people as well buildings, so take those for inspiration. If you live on Greenwood road, then your character's last name could be Greenwood. If your school's called Abbey Hill, then Abby Hill is a great name.
I saw that someone used dedications on benches and trees and memorials for inspiration. I think that this is a lovely way of keeping alive the memory of that person who it is dedicated too.
This is so simple and easy for all of you to do since all you have to do is look around. Look at the posters and pictures on your wall; the maps of the tube line; the seats in a park. Even looking at your cereal box in the morning! Names can pop up from anywhere.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy ;)
And that concludes my tips on character naming :)
So, to review, here are my tips for naming characters:
1. Use Name Meaning Websites and Books
2. Use a Translator
3. Use the Names of People Close to you or Famous People
4. Use the Names of Objects, Flowers, Animals etc.
5. Use Names on Signs, Benches, Buildings, etc.
These past 5 parts are great ways for me to think up character names, so hopefully they are useful to you too. Anyone can do it just by stepping out their front door. Actually, you don't even need to do that but just by looking out the window you'll see something that sets your mind off ticking. I hope I've carried out a wide-spread of tips that most people would find helpful but, if you do something else, comment and tell us all :) You might spark off inspiration for the next best-selling author ;)
~White Ravens~
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