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Names
Feb 16, 2011 19:40:45 GMT -8
Post by Lil' Raskol LobLaw on Feb 16, 2011 19:40:45 GMT -8
1. It depends. If I can't come up with a name, then I go on baby name websites. Other times, I just think of names that I know.
2. I like common ones, so they seem more ordinary. It's also more realistic, I think.
3. Vanessa, Josie, Shawn/Sueng, Zack, Rachel
4. No. It doesn't change within context.
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limelightqueen
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You know how to whistle, don't you?[Mo0:0]
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Names
Feb 21, 2011 15:24:28 GMT -8
Post by limelightqueen on Feb 21, 2011 15:24:28 GMT -8
1. I use thinkbabynames.com, because it gives you perodical names as well as abbreviations.
Looking over that site I can tell you it is NOT reliable.
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Deleted
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Names
Mar 26, 2011 10:26:14 GMT -8
Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2011 10:26:14 GMT -8
I usually use behindthename.com and Wikipedia, but I'll sometimes look to mythology for middle names.
I avoid made up names as a rule... I just pick names that seem right to me, even if the symbolism doesn't reflect the characters. I mostly go for names that suit a character's ethnicity.
Camilla, Samia, Anji, Isela, Opal, Nita, Sevastian, Declan, Cal, Errol and Tory
Sometimes, but I don't usually do it on purpose... sometimes I'll give a really feminine girly character a tomboyish name like Morgan or I'll give a hero or villain an embarrassing middle name like Atticus or Falk. I did give a villain Knight for a middle name so it would be ironic though...
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limelightqueen
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You know how to whistle, don't you?[Mo0:0]
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Names
Mar 30, 2011 20:41:46 GMT -8
Post by limelightqueen on Mar 30, 2011 20:41:46 GMT -8
^Atticus is an awesome middle name!
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Deleted
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Names
Apr 4, 2011 8:21:10 GMT -8
Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2011 8:21:10 GMT -8
^Thanks! I don't really think it's embarrassing, but it is in the character's mindset. I don't think that Kerr Atticus Wallace is particularly bad, not like Cillian Falk Witt.
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Deleted
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Names
Apr 7, 2011 19:38:13 GMT -8
Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2011 19:38:13 GMT -8
1. I usually just google names. If I'm feeling particularly creative, I make them up.
2. I just pick names that sound good with the character and corresponds to their ethnicity. Sometimes a name totally sticks and I can't rid of it.
3. Names like Darius, Elizabeth, Matthias, Daelan...
4. Nope. Because I don't feel it's very realistic for villains to have "evil" names, since no one is born evil. I only do this if it's an alias, but of course, not all villains use aliases. And some villains believe they're genuinely doing good, so if those did use an alias, it probably wouldn't be "evil". Unless it means something like "dark angel", which would imply that they believe they're doing good, but are fully aware that their actions to achieve their goal aren't the best way. Excuse my rambling. Anyway, same with the "intelligent" and ""simple" names.
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limelightqueen
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You know how to whistle, don't you?[Mo0:0]
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Names
Apr 16, 2011 14:14:08 GMT -8
Post by limelightqueen on Apr 16, 2011 14:14:08 GMT -8
I dislike when people choose names that mean what the character is (except JKR because she rocks and did it consistently). I often use a character's name to reflect their upbringing or their parent's characters. In a non-me example of this we have Sarah Dessen's Along For the Ride where Auden's name reflects her parents pretentiousness to a T. And her father's new baby Thisbe even more so.
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PuzzleChick
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Names
Apr 25, 2011 4:38:36 GMT -8
Post by PuzzleChick on Apr 25, 2011 4:38:36 GMT -8
Depends. Sometimes I'll have a name in mind that I love, or as soon as the character is created I know immediately the perfect name. Other times I usually hang out on the Adopt a Name thread on the NaNo forums, make a list of names that I think suit the character, and then sometimes use a name website or baby name book to check up on the name's meaning if I want something symbolic. I also just pick up names I hear around me. (For instance, I'm naming one character Reed after hearing the name Reed Timmer, the tornado chaser on StormChasers.)
All of the above, really. It depends on the time period and 'verse. I do have a thing for more unisex names. Also I like slightly old-fashioned male names (Alistair, Silas, Joseph, Lucas/Luke, etc.) and for female names I like ones that I can make nicknames from. I also really love male names that begin with the letter J. xD Every novel so far has included a male character with a J name. (Joseph, Jensen, Jalen, and now Jesse.)
For my furthest work in progress I've got: Luce, Joseph, Rad Sniles, Zee Decapolis, Jason, Kayla, and Scarlett. (Rad and Zee are nicknames for Bradford and Stephanie.) For the novel I'm plotting right now I have Alistair Scott, Reed (also called Jesse) Dupree, Milo Swen, Royce Boon, Aiden Rick and Remy Farthington.
Well, on one hand the names sometimes do suit the character's stations in life: In last year's NaNo I had Murphy Locksley, son of a well-to-do family. And then there was Trae, a slave, who doesn't have a surname at all, and whose name is actually a play on "tres," as he was the third son born. So, longer fancier name for the normal child and a carelessly chosen one for the slave boy, to reflect their ranks in life.
Also, this year I have a shapeshifting character who loves to create fake names/identities for himself. These sometimes get a bit silly or are purposely created to suit his alias. (Avery Fairfax for a quiet, blond, bookish fellow, and Frederick Badcock for a tall, brash, outgoing person, for example.)
I won't go out of my way to create "good"/"evil" names though. How they treat their names might give some of their personality away, but their name alone usually won't denote what "side" they're on.
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Saeran
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Names
Apr 25, 2011 22:37:03 GMT -8
Post by Saeran on Apr 25, 2011 22:37:03 GMT -8
I mostly just create my names
I really like theme naming like giving a name that fits a character's personality
Um right now I working my story Warhound and the names of the beastchildren are as follows Hound, Falk, Crowe, Wulf, Rook,Bishop,Pawn and Knight
the thing is since I do theme naming, my character's are pretty much exactly like their names. Like my main Protagonist Hound is a beastchild meaning a person who was born with the characteristic of a certain animal and animal companion. He was born with the characteristics of a hound thus the name.
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Mikashi
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Names
Apr 28, 2011 7:46:44 GMT -8
Post by Mikashi on Apr 28, 2011 7:46:44 GMT -8
1. Usually I just make up a name. Or, I'll borrow a name of a friend. Example--in the Engraved, there're several characters named after a few coworkers, tho' their personalities are pretty different.
Or, I'll use a flower's name as the base for a different name. Or do something similar to this, and use a pre-existing name as a base and make an anagram out of it [shown below in #3]. Example -- Chrysanthemum's [flower] --> Chrysanthe [girl name]. People may find it odd, but I love this damned name so much...to the point where I name so many OC's after it /shot.
I may take a name from Mythology, if I really, really like said-name. But the only one I can really remember that is mythology-based is Cassandra, and I'm not sure if I have actually used the name yet XD /shot.
2. Any names that I find interesting.
3. The Engraved:
Main Characters:
+ Annalise ["last name undetermined"] + Veran Nolk >>> Actually, both of these are alias-based anagrams, but I made these up first, and then decided on their actual, real names. This is why there is a "last name undetermined" for Annalise, it is technically both her last and first name together, or at least it used to be, I kind of tweaked her a name a little. XD.
Secondary Characters:
+ Ashliana Burogette [Made up on the spot.] + Jasmina Xerxes [Jasmina--> Jasmine, named after a friend; Xerxes--> A name that Jasmine likes.] + Zacharia Xives [Zacharia--> Zach, named after a coworker; Xives--> "x" is a numeral, in "ives" add a "w" to it, and it means x-wives. In other words, he flirts with practically every girl he sees, so I wanted to incorporate it, and even added it within his character-personality.] + Juliette Vernat [Made up on the spot.]
Amongst others, to type up any more /shot.
4. Nah...as earlier stated, I tend to make them up, or borrow names from already existing-people, so I don't bother to look up meanings. This allows me to side-step the archetypes which I would prefer to avoid at least, on the name-basis.
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Apr 28, 2011 8:06:04 GMT -8
Post by Corporal Flashback on Apr 28, 2011 8:06:04 GMT -8
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Names
May 13, 2011 14:53:36 GMT -8
Post by spookynoodles on May 13, 2011 14:53:36 GMT -8
1. Babynames.com, yo. And whatever I happen to think up. 2. I like names that are pretty, but realistic and versatile. You know those names that roll off the tongue really easily and look nice on paper? Those names. 3. Teresa Marie Lafeyette, Annette Rose Matthews, Adolf Feszler, Derek Andrew Desprez, Lauren Ceccarelli, and Violet Ng. 4. Not really...they're just names.
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Pripyat Rarity
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Names
Aug 31, 2011 3:04:57 GMT -8
Post by Pripyat Rarity on Aug 31, 2011 3:04:57 GMT -8
1. Babynames.com or 20000names.com is where I normally go. I sometimes just pick names I like for characters, tho surnames tend to be harder to find and I end up adapting 20000names first names for surnames.
2. I use a mixture; also, it depends on story/RP plot. For example, in one RP based on the concept of a separate race of canines with a human shape, the names I chose for my characters were wolf, dog and fox names.
3. Here's some names from recent RPs: Liam, Damien, Diego, Arkady, Star, Vincent, Michelle, Dulce, Faina, Phelan, Dolph, Todd, Rustem, Lupe.
4. Depends. Some of my characters have good and evil parts to their personalities so I just choose names that I like. Sometimes a villain may be anonymous and just known by a title or a nickname. I do try to match names to nationality; it just makes sense. Also, one thing I dislike in stories is people who say a character is for example Japanese, then give them an English name without any preceding explanation. Or vice versa.
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