Creating your own names.

@chubit (122)
December 15, 2011 1:05pm CST
In a novel that I've been writing on & off for years (since my teenage years, that I've more recently been updating with my now experienced style) I decided to go it alone when it came to names. This meant that all 'typical' names were definitely off the table, (read: Jane, Thomas, Emma, Robert) but even more uncommon ones or typical names from other countries Istroke off. However! It turns out that creating your own name isn't easy, because so many of them have been used before. My main protagonist was called Khyi - imagine my surprise when I watched a film with not just the same name, but same spelling! So what's your experience with creating your own names? Do you think it aids creativity, or that it's just an added writing block in the mine-field that is getting some work done!
4 responses
@vivasuzi (4127)
• United States
16 Dec 11
I never tried to create my own brand new names, that does sound hard since like you said so many are used already somewhere. I did write a bit for fun since my teenage years and I always tried to come up with unique names for each character. My goal was usually to avoid using a name of anyone I knew because I didn't want them to think the story was about them. I tended to pick names I considered to be my favorite names. Funny thing is when I had my baby, I didn't use any of my "story" names but a completely new name. It's not new to the world, but it's not very popular where I live - Lila. I love it :) But never thought of it in my stories.
@vivasuzi (4127)
• United States
16 Dec 11
Also, I usually would make my story names something that I thought had a cool nick name. I started this when I was young so I thought having a cool nickname for the characters made the story all the better.
@webearn99 (1742)
• India
16 Dec 11
I don't write, so you will be getting advice that may look like a blind person's understanding of a mime act, prepare yourself for it! Naming a character in a novel has got a lot to do with the genre of the novel. For example a period novel can have a name Micheal, but definitely not Mike. There were more Ebenezers then, than Ebbys. History books will provide you with enough material to try permutations and combinations to get the right feel for the character you want to name. A science fiction could demand acronyms rather than formal names. Remember R2D2? Creating such names is easy, write down the functional requirements of the character and create the acronym for it. This can be either a syllabic or an alphabet combination. RAER may represent a radiation emitting robot, or RADEMBOT. There! that took me 15 seconds. For alien or humanoid names, break out of the mold. Pick weirdest sounding short names from, let us say, the Orient or the far east, rearrange syllables to to get a snappy name that rolls off the tongue easily. Creativity is thinking different, go wild with it.
@AdalieM (1134)
• United States
16 Dec 11
I try not to worry too much about my character names. I had never come up with my own names. I think having a good plot is very important than the names. I usually use my favorite names: David, John, Josh, etc. I don't see what is the big deal. Someone name Alex can be good and bad. The reason for mentioning this is because some authors pick certain names because they think someone with the name, say, Cassie, is suppose to be a strong woman, but I have seen weak cases. No point. To each their own.
@Aja103654 (5646)
• Philippines
16 Dec 11
I try not to not make a name overly different, since my stories usually are set in the contemporary world. names have to fit the time, place and nationality of a character in the story. unless if your story is entirely fantasy, set in a fictional world, then it's alright to make up any name you want.