Choosing a name

[pinkfiend1]

I was just wondering how you choose/chose names for you characters.

I was just starting to write something and realised that I need names for the people and they didn't jump out me, so I started looking for names on a baby naming site I started looking at the definations I thought might be right first but none of them seemed to fit, so then I thought about what kind of background the characters had and searched through the tons of names that appeared for that looking at their definitions to see what name that sounded right, and meant something relevent so it all kind of fit together in a nice little package.

So how do you come up with your character names?

[raquelaroden]

I made up a big list of names from a baby names site about a year or two ago, and I can't remember how I went about it, but I made up a list of surnames as well. So, when I need a name I go to that list. I tried to have mostly names that are fairly common and not that exotic, but occasionally I'd just like the sound of a particular name and I'd put it in the list. If I were making names for a fantasy story or sci-fi story, I have no idea how I'd proceed....I'm not good at making up interesting names.

I do try to think a bit about the character's background when choosing the names, but what wins out over that sometimes is whether the name suits the way I see them or think about them...their personality. It's hard to find the right name, sometimes.

[celebkiriedhel]

Sometimes I choose a name because it feels good rolling off the tongue. Sometimes a choose a name for its meaning. Especially elvish names. I also like the labials. Sometimes it's whatever pops into my head as I'm thinking about the character. Sometimes I just try out a name until one fits.

It's pretty random for me.

This is website I use for names - it's got an amazing selection, better than a lot of the baby naming sites.

www.behindthename.com/

[somuchsong]

Because most of my Sims are born in game at this point, I generally don't have much of an idea what kind of person they'll be when they grow up and whether they'll suit their name or not. So I choose their names based on what I think the parents might pick. I have a list of names I want to use but I also use a few websites.

The site Kiri linked to also has a nice random name generator, in case you're not too sure what you're looking for.

www.behindthename.com/random/

There is also Behind the Surname

surnames.behindthename.com/

It's set up the same as Behind the Name, which means you can search for surnames by ethnicity. I can never think of surnames and this was really helpful when I was setting up Sullivan. I think I got almost all of the founding surnames from here.

I also like Nymbler.

www.nymbler.com/

Sometimes I know what style of name I want but none of the names I come up with in that style are working for me. So I punch a few of the names into Nymbler and I might find some better options (or worse options - it spits out some serious crap sometimes).

[celebkiriedhel]

Ooo Thanks for that! I hadn't seen Nymbler before.

And I see you're an Aussie too!

[mdpthatsme]

Hmmm, for characters that were created using the Sims 13pumpkin had purchased a baby book and we kinda just sipped through it to find names that just seemed to represent the Sim. As for characters that were made before the Sims, I have no idea how I formed most of them.

My main character of manuscript NA name is Certain. I guess when I was younger I just said to self "he is that certain guy with those certain abilities and that certain appeal." So Certain just stuck.

[drew]

I have used' behind the name' as well. Or do a search for 'Irish' names or surnames for example, in google.
But since I named a character inadvertently after a gay porn star (Nick Moretti) I also do a google search on any name I plan to use. Somuchsong knows what I mean about Nick Moretti, *snort*
Thanks about Nymbler, didn't know about it~

[pinkfiend1]

Thankyou for the suggestions. Nymbler comes up with some weird names.
Good idea on googling the names first.

[somuchsong]

Oct 13, 2010 11:29:54 GMT -5 @drew said:

But since I named a character inadvertently after a gay porn star (Nick Moretti) I also do a google search on any name I plan to use. Somuchsong knows what I mean about Nick Moretti, *snort*

LOL, yes, I do!

And even after accidentally naming a Sim after a gay porn star, would you believe I <i>still</i> don't Google first name/surname combinations? I really should! I don't particularly want any more of my Sims sharing their names with porn stars.

Another place I get surnames is from musicians and songs. I got Moretti from the drummer in the Strokes, and Carmody comes from a character Deborah Kerr played, who was referenced in a song I really like. Carmody's kind of the surname I wish I had but it would sound awful with my first name.

[Stacy]

Oct 12, 2010 19:20:22 GMT -5 @celebkiriedhel said:

Sometimes I choose a name because it feels good rolling off the tongue. Sometimes a choose a name for its meaning. Especially elvish names. I also like the labials. Sometimes it's whatever pops into my head as I'm thinking about the character. Sometimes I just try out a name until one fits.

It's pretty random for me.

This is website I use for names - it's got an amazing selection, better than a lot of the baby naming sites.

www.behindthename.com/

That's the site I use.

I found Seth and Lilith by looking up names with death in the meaning on behindthename.

And then I re-read my second legacy and realized I'd done that once before, when I needed to name a couple whose only purpose in the story was to die. Blew my mind to go read a three year old story and see a wife refer to her husband as Seth, and then on the next slide he called her Lilith.

[bunnylita]

Sometimes names for characters just come to me, other times I have to work at it. I look up names on baby name sites sometimes. Other times I look to people I know for names. I don't keep a list of names, but I have names I like I keep in mind when it's time to name a new character. Usually naming characters comes very easy to me.

[rad]

For OP they're names from Neighbours (except Bebe, a pun on Baby) and the Lazarus Dispatches had sci-fi names, and both stories had alphabetical names, so they're easy. The Kyoti names were chosen according to how I thought each gen of parents would name their kids, so Karis's kids had fairly conventional names and Joseph's had crazy names, for example.

As for Taken, I try to have names that reflect where the characters come from, and the age they are, so I have done things like google the most popular first names and surnames in West Virginia to get some of my character names there. For other characters, when I've come up with a name, I've then checked that the name I have chosen comes from an appropriate country.