The name of a character is more than just a name. It’s the word that defines them, and what readers use to refer to them. Most agree this is an important detail to get right. But there are many ways a writer can approach this. Let’s figure that out together.
Points to Consider
There are many aspects to a name, and authors tend to prioritize according to their taste. Here’s a general list of them:
Meaning—Obvious enough; what the name means.
Sound—How it sounds to the ear. This includes its syllable count, and how easy (or not) it is to pronounce.
Spelling—How it looks on paper. Not all names sound as they are spelled.
Origin—What language and culture it’s built from.
History—A name’s previous use and reputation.
Vibe—The overall “feel” of the name. Some names are used more in certain genres than in others, often for this reason.
Originality—How unique or new the name is.
The choice between all these is entirely up to you. But let’s break down what each of these mean for your characters and worldbuilding.
Meaning
I feel like this aspect is comparable to olives. Some hate them, and some love them. Or in this case, some completely ignore meanings, while some obsess over them. In fantasy, there tends to be a larger crowd of people who do pay attention to them. Just like we give depth and fun to our magical worldbuilding, so do we with our characters. But there are a couple things to consider.
In reality, parents have no idea what kind of life or temperament their children will have in the future. They’ll most likely choose a name according to their preferences, in honor of an ancestor, or of a trait they hope their children will achieve. This is something I didn’t used to consider before. Now, if I choose to account for this, I usually stick to “close meanings,” instead of exact ones. As in, you can see how the meaning could fit with the character, but it’s not so obvious that it looks intentional. It’s open for ideas.
However, there are many examples where prophetic or fittings names are perfectly realistic. For example, in Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” series, elves were often gifted with foresight, thus could choose their children’s names according to what they saw.
Also, there are some things parents can observe about their babies from the beginning, like the color of their hair or eyes. There are also prophecies or titles that a character could be expected to fill from birth.
But you could also take the “romanticism” approach, as I like to call it. As in, the idealistic way, where elements in the story are made nicer or more purposeful than they would be in real life. This is a fantasy world after all, serving as literature and an escapism for us. Having names with meanings that attribute further to the story is a completely valid option. It can also give your readers another fun detail about their favorite characters. It really depends on what you enjoy most from a book.
My personal approach went from exclusively choosing names off of meanings, to making them the most minor part of my process. I found that if I only searched by them, I really limited my options. Although it sometimes worked out, other times I just couldn’t find anything. So now, I only focus on it if it matters to the plot, and pay more attention to other aspects.
Sound
Maybe this is just me, but how a name sounds really affects the fate I choose for it. The name “Frank,” for example, sounds rather old fashioned and jolly to me. Something I would give to the friendly farmer next door. Whereas the name “Elora,” sounds very seductive and flowery. A name I would give to a witch, or the female pirate. Not the cheery old woman drying socks by the fireplace.
There might be a linguistic science behind how this works. If there is, I don’t know it. Maybe it’s purely personal. But this is something I focus on a lot. The name’s sound is like its version of a book cover; it’s the aesthetic quality it has. And if it doesn’t match the face or vibe of the character, then it’s going to seem wrong on them.
Spelling
This one is similar to what we discussed above. Only, instead of being what it “looks” like to our ears, it’s what it “looks” like on paper. It doesn’t happen very often, but I’ve occasionally come across names where I like the spelling, but… not the pronunciation. Or vice versa. Readers probably won’t care all that much, but if it does bother you, then this is something to look out for.
Spelling is also a cool way of turning an ordinary name into a fantasy name. Such as “Josephine” to “Yosefeen” (don’t worry, I made that up). As you might be able to tell, there’s just one problem with this. You better have a clear pronunciation guide for these names, or you’ll risk frustrating your readers (the one gripe I have with Tolkien’s work). You don’t want to make their job any harder than it has to be. It’s why many international names are anglicized for us English speakers. A really good example of this is the name “Ashlyn.” Its origin is Irish, so as you can imagine, it’s real spelling is weird. Ready for it? It’s “Aislinn.” And yes, it’s still pronounced as “Ashlyn.”
Origin
This is especially important to consider in tandem with your worldbuilding. Whether your fantasy story correlates with our world, a time in our history, or has a universe of its own, the origin can attribute to the made-up culture it came from. For example, if you have a fictional island based up north, then picking names of Norse or Scandinavian origin would just make sense.
Also, names from certain origins tend to have different characteristics from each other. Characteristics that impact their sound, vibe, and spelling, which are all aspects we’re including on this list. Germanic names are bold, sometimes harsh to our ears. While Latin names sound softer, even melodic. These differences can be fun to play with between fictional cultures, families, kingdoms, or even individuals.
History
Usually when I think about this aspect, it’s to figure out what names to avoid. The names that have questionable reputations, bearers that are too famous to help, or less than optimal associations.
For example: there’s a reason why I’ve never met a single guy named “Romeo” in my life (we all know why). In a story, you have a little more leeway to use something like that. But you better keep in mind its heavy connection to a certain tragic romance. Readers will inevitably be thinking about that every time they read it.
But this concept also includes your personal history with a name. Most people have bad associations with certain names, and those are best left to the characters you hate. Otherwise, don’t, or it’ll drive you crazy.
But you could also use history to your advantage. The name Arther, for example, is notably worn by the noble, but tragic king of Camelot. You could choose this name to hint at your character’s personality, or foreshadow their arc.
Vibe
This comes as a combination of all the above, but it’s worth mentioning. Because sometimes a name just feels “right,” and we don’t have an explanation for why. Sometimes name hunting isn’t about looking for something specific, but for something that fills in a vague idea. Such as… “starts with ‘g,’ bold,” “three syllables long,” “cute and short,” etc. This is another perfectly valid way to search for names. Our gut feeling is rarely wrong.
Originality
There’s also the possibility of making up a completely new name from scratch. Or tweaking an existing name to seem unordinary. These often take more work, but they’re worth the effort. They’re new, they’re imaginative, their immersive. The only few caveats are these: don’t spend weeks on this, if you can help it. Writing is more important. Also, make sure they’re pronounceable and spellable.
If you got those in mind, you’re good to go. Here’s a short list of ideas for how you can do this:
Foreign Language: You could go full on Tolkien and create it from a language you invented. But I imagine most authors don’t have the time or knowledge to do that (myself included). Instead, you can pick an existing language and create it from that. The cool thing about this is you can freely decide the meaning, and even its spelling. If it’s not quite what you want, you can add or subtract a few letters. While all in all, it’s still connected to a real word with a real meaning. Dead languages are my favorites for this, since no one speaks them anymore. Latin, Anglo Saxon, and Proto-Germanic are some I’ve dabbled into.
Scientific Names: A rather specific branch off the first one. Real names in this genre include “Vanessa,” the genus of a certain type of butterfly, and “Belladonna,” the scientific name of deadly nightshade. The cool thing about scientific names is that they’re Latin based, so they’re accessible to English speakers, but still have a unique sound to them (usually very lyrical). They already have meanings and connections that can add to a character, and so many of them are still unused.
Nameplay: You can take existing names and change them to create something new. Some names we know today are actually results of something like that. A classic like “Marianne” is a combination of two separate names, “Mary” and “Ann.” “Nevaeh” is backwards for “heaven.” And the name “Elizabeth” has so many nicknames and spelling variations, it’s insane. A fun thing about spelling variations is that you can also manipulate the pronunciation that way, making something even more unique.
Wordplay: Or you can take words instead and play around with those. You can leave them as they are, like “Twinkle” or “Wreath,” and have a new word name. Or you can mix around with their letters, smash another word onto them, etc. Just… maybe look up your new name afterwards to make sure it doesn’t correlate with anything less than optimal.
Keyboard Chaos: Basically, you make up some gibberish that sounds nice. Whether by typing a scramble of letters or spitting out the first nonsense that comes to mind. Then assigning a meaning to it (or not) and connecting it to your fantasy worldbuilding (or not). This option is great for those who want complete freedom on the whole process, and complete originality. But again, make sure you look up your finished name before finalizing it.
Worldbuilding Fun
You can have even more fun with names, especially if you’re the kind of writer that enjoys worldbuilding. None of these ideas are vital for a good story. But if you’re up for options, details like these can make your world feel more tangible to readers.
Common Names: Every culture has them in our world, but we tend to forget that in fantasy worlds. Is your character’s name truly unique, or is worn by a third of the girls born every year? And does this impact her? Maybe she got separated from her friends a few months back. Those friends are trying to hunt her down, but because of how common her name is, they’re getting pulled into constant misleads and side quests.
Forbidden Names: In our world, there a few names that are kind of “forbidden” to use, usually because they have terrible associations. Like “Adolph,” for instance. Maybe a character has a name that’s accepted in their home kingdom, but is a taboo in the foreign land they’re trying to hide in now.
“Title” Names: If you’re not sure what I mean by this, “Lord of the Rings” is littered with examples. “Samwise the Brave,” “Gandalf the Grey,” “King Elessar (elf-stone)”, etc. These are very connected to fantasy, and are a lot of fun to play with. They can make characters all the more memorable, and also let them carry a piece of their own story or personality with them. Especially if their real name doesn’t give that to them.
These could be used as titles, nicknames, or even pseudonyms. And how your characters acquire them can be something of interest in their backstory. You can put them in a couple formats such as “the [something],” or “[name] [two in one]”. Correlating examples—“Sauron the Deceiver,” “Thorin Oakenshield”.
Last Names: If you’re making these up, it can be hard to know where to start. Solution? Just do what most of our ancestors did. They often chose something based after their occupation, location, family, or even something completely random. Examples in corresponding order: “Fletcher” (someone who made arrows), “Beckett” (meaning stream), “Erikson” (son of Erik), or “Campbell” (random name meaning crooked nose).
There’s also the classic “son of/daughter of” thing, like “Aragorn son of Arathorn.” (I know, I’m using quite a few examples from “Lord of the Rings” today. No, I’m not sorry.) Or you could use toponymic surnames, meaning names pointing to a certain region or residence. An example from literature is “Cyrano De Bergerac.” From my understanding, “Bergerac” was the estate he was born at, thus his surname means he’s “of Bergerac”.
Cultural Naming Styles: Each culture has its different beliefs and priorities. One fictional kingdom might be very religious, so a lot of their names have virtuous meanings. While two borders away resides a people very in touch with nature, making the majority of their names after plants and animals.
Naming Traditions: Do they have last names? Middle names? Are long names common? Or single names the most popular? Is there a difference in naming between social classes? Does a child choose their own name once they come of age? There’s a lot you can play with this, if it fits nicely into your worldbuilding.
Conclusion
All that we talked about here isn’t a to-do list you have to follow. It’s to show you the things you can think about while searching and creating names, instead of being limited to one or two ideas. Now go name those characters and have fun. And if you come up with a really awesome name, show it to me in the comments!