How do your

Chatterbox: Inkwell

How do your

How do your characters get their names?

Seriously, how. Not that I'm going to steal your method, but I'm just curious.

For me, I either choose names that I really like (rarely). Examples: Tiffany, Sirius, Kale. Sometimes I make up names (Examples: Siara, Deren.) Sometimes I take normal names and twist them a little (Examples: Mirande, Issabellie, Anjelikah) And, most often, I take the names of a mineral, star, etc. Occasionally I switch around letters (e.g. Ukanite comes from 'unakite') but usually I don't. Examples: Polaris, Quartz, Obsidian. And also sometimes I look something up in Latin and either leave it as it is or switch letters around. (Example: Extrani)

Also I have very popular names that I use a lot. Or variations of it...

Girls: Syrra, Syra, Siara, Tiffany.

Boys: Sirius, Ukanite (or Uki), Obsidian, Ash (I swear on Draco's head that this is not stolen from Pokemon), Kale, Sirius, Sirius, Sirius...

Yes, I am a big believer in the name Sirius and the recycling of names.

submitted by Tiffany W.
(April 24, 2012 - 9:43 am)

Latin words with letters switched around, obscure names from other languages, anything cool sounding that I can find on baby name websites. X)

submitted by Snake
(April 24, 2012 - 6:40 pm)

oh, and sometimes I use some of my ancestors' names.

submitted by Onake
(April 24, 2012 - 6:41 pm)

Onake... that's a nice name...

submitted by Tiffany W.
(April 24, 2012 - 8:32 pm)

For my current book, all of my characters are either constellations or Roman gods and goddesses, but in general, I like things that sound unique.

submitted by PiperC., age 12, Atlantis
(April 24, 2012 - 8:48 pm)

I usually get my names from different baby name lists. (E.g. Irish, African, Egyption, Welsh, etc.) Occasionally I use names from my family tree. Sometimes names that I just like, but not usually.

submitted by Ivy, age 12, Camelot
(April 24, 2012 - 8:57 pm)

Sometimes names pop into my head but that doesn't happen often.

If I'm looking for a name relating to a specific country/culture I use Google, Wikipedia, baby name websites, or the Scrivener name generator. For names for anyone I use springhole name generators (I use the Chronicles of Peter Potter in Wonderland mostly). 

submitted by Olive
(April 25, 2012 - 6:12 pm)

I normally just think of a name I like.  I also take an okay name and twist it until I like it (Theodore into Thedra).  Also, I look up a name pertaining to a meaning I want (Nerina for water).  If I get stuck, I look on baby name sites.

submitted by Melody, age 13, Just being awesome
(April 25, 2012 - 7:44 pm)

Depends.

I have a particular name site that I use because it's very convenient for spewing random names and/or searching by meaning. I'm also quite fond of the graveyard approach, wherein you wander through the headstones nicking names (textbook editors work equally well). Sometimes I just like the sound of a name–Bellona, Elspeth, and Terpsichore fall into this category (and that last is the name of my self-insert, though she usually goes by Terry). I am strangely fond of male names for women–not just the usual ones like Alex or Terry or whatever, but the odder ones like Bartholomew or Morty or what-have-you.

So yeah.

 

submitted by TNÖ, age 18, Deep Space
(April 25, 2012 - 9:37 pm)

I use baby name sites. I found a really good one recently that I use. I just randomly pick some sort of name (Albanian Names, Hawaiian Names...) and see which ones I like. I've also googledLatin words once or twice. 

submitted by Elizabeth M., age 12, Germany
(April 26, 2012 - 10:34 am)

Most of the names I use are just corruptions of regular names, (Ashney) or come off a baby name website.

Others, I have no idea where they come from (Adeliah). I do store up good names whenever I think of them, though. One (Lilliterra) I got off this very site, from an RR (by permission.). Sometimes, I think that I have no idea where a name came from, then it turns out to have a very good reason to be stuck in my subconcious. Example: Corelle had been the MC of the Pearls of Penthallia series for over a year. I loved her name- I didn't know where it had come from, but something about it just felt right. Then I looked on the bottom of the plates that our family has had for, like, ever. And IT WAS THERE. :O Unbelievable.

 

Yes, Corelle is a line of dinnerware made by Corning Glass Company.

Admin

submitted by Emily L., age 16
(April 25, 2012 - 11:32 pm)

Since I'm not very good at making up names, (although I'd love to be able to,) I just stick with real names. I do a scan of as many names as I can think of in my head, and then choose the ones I like the most.

submitted by Blackberry E., age 12
(April 26, 2012 - 4:17 pm)

I usually figure out my character and then try to find a name that I thik fits their personality. That doesn't work that well, but I try. Sometimes I'll write a few chapters of a book, then go back and change the character's name as I form their personality more. Then a few chapters later, I'll decide that another name sounds better and go back and put that in. Yeah, I'm not very good at naming characters. Maybe I should try baby name websites. They seem to work for everyone else.  

submitted by Sally, age 12, California
(April 26, 2012 - 11:43 pm)

I rarely make names up, although I occasionally write high fantasy that requires made-up names. Sometimes the names just come into my mind with the characters. Sometimes I have to search my thoughts for the RIGHT name for so long, rolling different ideas around in my head. (There's one character in my most recent story whose name I puzzled over for ages. I finally decided that "Noel" fit well, though I had originally discarded it for its peculiar sound.) Sometimes if I'm online and i have no ideas, I'll look at a baby name website. (This is really helpful if I want character names for a certain ethnicity.) And sometimes I twist letters around until I have a name. (I found a nametag that said Allo Rose once. Allo can be rearranged to make Lola, but Lola always makes me think of Charlie and Lola, so I turned Lola into Lula. Then I had a brand new name: Lula Rosa... Wouldn't it be awkward if Allo Rose is a chatterboxer?)

submitted by Sasha B., age 13, California
(May 5, 2012 - 7:11 pm)