Okay, so I haven’t posted for a while. Hey, I was busy, okay? xP
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Recently, a few days ago, MSN’s home page featured an article called Harry Pitts? The worst baby names of all time (link at the bottom of this post). I’ve this liking to reading Msn’s informational articles, and this article’s title intrigued me because I thought, “Hey, how bad can a name be?”
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Apparently I was pretty clueless.
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If you read that article, I’m sure you’d be pretty surprised as I was. I mean, imagine calling your child these names:
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- Damya (try saying it slowly, or if you’re clueless, it has the same pronunciation as “Damn ya!”)
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- Mayo Head (I’ve nothing against the last name… but adding to it with this? Geez, I pity the guy)
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- naming after diseases (Fever, Cholera, Hysteria…)
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- the seven sins (Greed, Pride, Envy… um, don’t you want your kids to follow the “good” rather than the “evil”?)
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And stuff like that. It’s not only limited to those, however, I’ve actually been to a page (can’t remember what kind of page it was) where it showed a couple with their newborn baby, with the name Sephiroth. Yes, that Sephiroth. The ever-so-popular villain from Final Fantasy VII. (I don’t mean it’s a silly name, as I’m not sure how the public would receive it, but at least it’s better than the other names up there.)
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While I admire the parents’ decision to give their children unique names, still… sometimes it’s pretty outrageous. Wouldn’t you feel angry having such a humiliating name that makes you the target of bullying/teasing most/all the time? Of course you would.
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Now, what does this have to do with character names?
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Well, the same thing happens with story writers and their characters’ names too. A lot of writers go “ZOMG I NEED A GREAT NAME FOR MY CHARACTER!!!1!!11!” (which isn’t necessarily bad, I do it myself too xP), but many others just go, “Ah, what the heck. It’s just a name.”
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Wrong!
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A character’s name would stick in the readers’ minds, often if it’s one of the main characters (good or bad). For this reason, the name needs to suit the character, as it’ll be his/her label for the readers. Of course, there’s also something called going overboard.
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So, let’s take a look at various categories that a character name should have!
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Tips to a Good Character Name!
With the help of two good character naming articles and my past experiences!
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There are many requirements that a name must fulfill before it’d stick out in a reader’s mind. No, no, I don’t mean “sticking out” as in it pokes the reader in the eye, more like “sticking out” so that the moment you mention the character’s name, s/he’d go, “Oh, I know! He’s the guy the protagonist hates a lot!”
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You want the readers to remember who each character is, right? So naming is the first step! (or second, or third, but who cares? xD)
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So these are some tips for a good first name (in no particular order):
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- Tip 1: Are you comfortable with it?
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There’s nothing more irritating than selecting the name nonchalantly for your protagonist and you find out later that you didn’t like the name after all. Then, by the time you see a really good name for him/her, the name’s stuck in your head and the new one now doesn’t feel right!
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Yes, that happened to me before. I didn’t like the character name Hiro when I first created this protagonist for a story (which I now don’t plan to write), but I thought, “Ah, I’ll just think of a new name later and just use this first!). Then, some time later, I really wanted to change the name, but felt that all the good names no longer fit this guy, because the name Hiro got stuck!
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Yeah, it’s never fun that way. x(
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- Tip 2: Does the name suit the character?
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Yep, you read it right. A name needs to suit the character.
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First thing is that the name should fit the race the character is part of, like giving an elf an elven name (example: Elvoríth), or giving a faerie a silvery name (example: Melodie Silvertoes).
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And for heaven’s sake, please don’t call your character Zork Vardüs when he’s a human, especially when the name suits a non-human (alien, orc, anything goes) more! Would you like to go around with that name too? No, right? xP
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Then the name should suit the character too. For example, if the setting of your story is medieval (with lords and ladies and the whatnot), I tend to associate a name like Deveroix (pronounced dair-ver-roy, I think) with an upper class guy. Or maybe it’s because I’ve an assassin character (double job as an upper class lord) called Keir Regis Deveroix. xP
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Try play around with names, and see if the name suits your character. =D
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- Tip 3: Easy to spell, easy to pronounce
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All right, I admit. I made this mistake before. I once created a name that no one else seems to know how to pronounce… it ended with a -ceques.
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I mentioned in my story that -ceques is pronounced as “kiss” (the que is silent). Still, that name still baffles people… they always ask me; how the heck do you pronounce it?!
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(The problem with me was, I fell in love with the name, so I can’t take it off. T_T)
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When people are baffled with the names, they tend to stop each time they come across them. This, of course, disrupts the storyline flow (some), and some people would even get annoyed.
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So, the moral of this story is; don’t create names that are so very hard to pronounce/spell!
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- Tip 4: Avoid common names
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“What? Not this name again!”
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Yep, that’s the kind of reaction you normally get from common names. How many stories in the world that has a character called Dan in the story? How many Sarahs and Janets and Patricks and Samanthas are there?
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Not to say that you can’t use these names, but… because these names are so common, they’re not very interesting, and sometimes readers feel bored when they see the same names over and over again.
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If you really want to use one of those commonly used names, you might want to change the spelling a bit. For example, instead of Sarah, maybe you can spell it as Sera. Instead of Chris, maybe a Krys or something.
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Though of course, don’t forget to follow tip #3 up there when you do change the spelling!
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- Tip 5: Avoid similar-sounding names
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Imagine you have a hero and heroine called Kain and Jane. Or Alexander and Alexandra. Or two heroes called Craig and Greg.
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You might think, “Hey, they’re not so similar! Look, the spellings are different!” Or not. Many readers read “aloud” the stories in their minds, so when similar sounding names turn up, they might get confused between the two.
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- Tip 6: Avoid androgynous names
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I’m serious. Imagine you have a character called Jamie. Let’s say you didn’t describe the character too well, so the readers though, “Okay, so this is a guy.” When you describe what she wore to go out on a date (a hot dress and 3-inch high heels, for example), the readers will exclaim very loudly, “ZOMG!!”
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It tends to be confusing, so this is one point to take note of.
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- Tip 7: Avoid too many apostrophes
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In fantasy and sci-fi stories, sometimes you see names with apostrophes, i.e. T’iegel and Kh’svara (self-created names, muahaha!).
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Of course, when you have too many names with apostrophes, or too many apostrophes in one name, it does make the readers go mad. I mean, the occasional name with an apostrophe is fine, but when all names are like that, it’s infuriating. Not to mention some names may look rather unpronounceable.
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Imagine this: “Hi, my name is Ts’e Rog’ul Kh’svara’el.”
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Gosh, I can’t believe I even created such a name! =(
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Tips to a Good Character Surname!
With the help of two good character naming articles and my past experiences!
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Now that you know some tips on what to do and what to avoid for a first name, the tricky part is coming up with a last name that suits your first name. Of course, the last name still needs to follow all the tips given for first names above, and what I’m giving you here are more tips on creating full names, both first and last and the occasional middle names!
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- Tip 1: Avoid rhyming first and last names
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Yep, really. You may think, “Gosh, you’re picky!!”
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Well, imagine a character called Aldin Rakin. Now pronounce it aloud. Doesn’t it sound a little funny? No? Try saying it with a beat, as though you’re singing. Still no? Now, try to pronounce hanky panky (no, it’s not a name!) a loud. Or hocus pocus. So you get the idea now?
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Names that rhyme tend to sound funny. If this was to be a real life name, it’ll often be a subject of teasing. Unless your story is supposed to be humourous, having a funny sounding name will only make the readers laugh and spoil the mood entirely. Imagine a romance scene where two characters are about to kiss, and the moment one character says out the other’s full name… well, you get the idea.
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If let’s say you have a first name called Nicolle and you have a last name called Shmole… well, Nicolle Shmole sounds rather… funny.
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And we wouldn’t want your story to be a laughingstock, right?
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- Tip 2: Different number of syllabus for first and last names
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Now, what do I mean by this?
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As opposed to the previous example (Aldin Rakin… *snickers*), we should try to have different number of syllables for first and last names. For example, if the first name has two syllabi, like Rakin, try to have a last name with one, three or four (or more, if you want, but I think that’s going a bit overboard) syllabi, for example: Voromïr.
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So the name becomes Rakin Voromïr. Better than Aldin Rakin, right? xP
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Or, better yet, put in a middle name that has a different number of syllabi. Since we have a first name with two syllabi and a last name with three syllabi, let’s try a middle name with one syllabi. Like Aêr.
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Now it’s Rakin Aêr Voromïr. Better?
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Of course, I’m not so good with fantasy names like that, so let’s take a look at a normal modern name.
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Let’s say I’ve a character called Nicolle. Since it has two syllabi, let’s try (again) a trisyllabic name, like Karyssa. Okay, so two syllabi and three syllabi. So let’s try a monosyllabic name, like Rene.
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So now the name becomes Nicolle Rene Karyssa. Much better?
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Try it. It’s fun, sometimes. xP
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- Tip 3: Combining words together
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That’s true; combining words often works for last names. That’s what I sometimes do when I’m at a loss for a surname. O_o
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For example, there’s this character I created for a role-play, and his name is Ziegraf. Following tip #2 (for last names) above, I gave him a trisyllabic last name (I like 2 to go with 3, don’t I? xP), and came up with Windslasher.
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It’s pretty easy, isn’t it? It’s just wind + slasher, and it still sounds just as nice. xD
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Of course, there are other ways to combine words together, use your imagination to do it! =D
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- Tip 4: When all fails, refer, refer, and refer
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Yep, there are lots of references out there.
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For a start, there’s always the baby names book from your local bookstore. If you don’t want to spend money on a “little thing” like that, or if you simply don’t want to be seen buying such a book (my younger sister got a stare from a woman when she last bought a baby names book…), then there’s always online resources.
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There are lots of sites out there that helps with all kinds of names. Norse, Egyption, Korean, elven, you name it! Names are something that can be easily gotten online!
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Or, if the lists of names are too long for you, you can always go to an online name converter (you know, like English name to Japanese name converter) to convert any name into another language. Heck, I’ve even seen converters that lets you convert any name into Lord of the Rings names, such as Hobbit, Elven and Dwarven!
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So take a look around. There are plenty of references to look around, so get working!
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References:
- Msn: Harry Pitts? The worst baby names of all time (link)
- Street Directory: Creative Writing Tips – Does The Name You Chose Suit Your Character? (link)
- Writing World: Name that Character! (link)
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