Name...or rather how do you come up with your characters name?
How do you decide on what to call your character? Does it have a meaning? Did you name a baby name website? Do you use another language?
Personally I've used several of these methods above. I've used my own native language of Irish when constructing my own superhero's and werewolves. Aimsir means weather, and as she wields the forces of the weather, it suits her.
Others have names that are similar to who they are. Like Wolfe for wolf like man who likes to hunt his prey and mainly be alone.
Others have names that people would normally have, only letters have been taken out or rearranged. Others were named using a baby name website (well actually several), which are also good for finding out the meaning of names if you are trying to link a name with person, and their traits.
It's important to remember not to name to many characters with similar names. When that happens you can turn the name around. I have a character that was called Derrin, which is too much like another characters, so I turned it around, and it's now Nirred, my tall blue mouthless alien.
So, how did you choose your characters name?
For me, it depends on the character. Some of them, I want a name with a particular meaning. For others, I review name lists and find one that feels right.
ReplyDeleteJamie (Jannghi.blogspot.com):
ReplyDeleteI often question myself as to how I choose my character's name. Such as the one in my tween books et in the 1980s.