Creating Character Names

Many writers tell me the hardest part is coming up with a suitable name for their character. I envy those people. Their characters are already complex personalities that just need a birth certificate to be whole.

For me, it’s the opposite. I design names based on situation and environment. I know who my character is, where they live, what makes them “special,” but I have the hardest time inventing desires (the entire basis of a plot) or quirks. They live on a hamster wheel, doing the same run on a different day.

Names, I have no problem.

Every writer needs a name book – often these will have “Baby” in the title, since the majority of everyday people only need names for that purpose. Expect an odd look from your clerk if you are a young teenager in need of this supply for your writings. I remember my first time well. I was eleven, and you can imagine.

Name books are good if you have a general idea already – you know you want a girl’s name that is Spanish and starts with the letter A. Or you want a German name that means “flower.”

Where do you turn if you want to invent a name? Not too strange to turn away your readers, but something still meaningful to your story?

I have an easy fix, which is also fun.

If you just want a fancy name, pick a name you like but doesn’t fit your character.

For example:

Amber.

Write it backwards:

Rebma.

Now, play around with the letters, transposing and changing them, until you have a new name you like.

a)      Amber

b)      Rebma

c)      Remba

d)      Remia

e)      Rymia

Rymia could a war-protesting fairy in the far-away forest of Timbriana (creating fantasy locales is easy too – I just took the word Timber in re: forests and added the typical “ia” to the end, plus “na”), or a human in college studying music (is she a hippie, a hipster, a nerd, a cheerleader?).

Just because a name is different doesn’t compel the character to be in a fantasy. This is YOUR character. If the story is solid, the name will be accepted.

If you want an invented name with meaning, either assign it a meaning (how you work this into your story is up to you – is it a flower her mother loves, the name of a river where her father met his true love?) or start with a name that already has the meaning you want.

Let’s try “Natasha” which means “born on Christmas” – perhaps you have a messiah character, or someone who is going to sacrifice herself, or someone who is obsessed with holidays and gift-giving.

a)      Natasha

b)      Ahsatan (This is not cool.)

c)      Ashatan (Okay, fixed that.)

d)     Aislaytan (Hm, Aislinn is an Irish name [sounds like Ashlyn or Ashling] that means dream or vision [works well with Christmas], so let’s combine the two.)

e)      Ashlayton (I’d rather spell it out than have people mispronounce it. You may feel differently, and that’s okay! It’s your character, after all.)

f)       Asali (Personally, I like the A-S-L sound, but not the "ton" at the end.)

g)      Asaldi (Almost sounds neutral – could be a boy’s name as well. Reminds me of Vivaldi.)

I’m stopping there because I like Asaldi. But any of the variations after the original backward-spelling can be used if you like how it sounds. You can also keep going. But see how different Asaldi is from Natasha? And because it’s new, the meaning of the original name can be kept if you want it that way.

Also, don’t be bashful picking from mythology and history, just as parents do. Maybe the character’s mother is obsessed with orchestral music and likes Antonio Vivaldi in particular. Perhaps she thought Vivaldi would be a nice name for a daughter. You get backstory, too, when you do it this way.

Today’s deviant ditty:
“Lost” by Arion