How do you figure out your characters names?

[Maddiffer 1]

They are often inspired by a specific theme or language I had in mind when making the character. 

 

Then, I look up a bunch of names with that theme or language in mind, and I decide from there. Or make edits to an existing name.

[kira 1]

I loooooooove looking at baby name sites and seeing what is trending xD but for names for my characters, I will sometimes look on wiki to see what names were popular in so and so year and go from there. Otherwise, baby name sites are my go to. It works for rping, and my sims 4 games 😂

[Asher 1]

One of my favorite lazy tricks is to grab random textbooks or RP books or manuals, which are collaborative works, and flip to the opening pages to just mine it for names I want to steal. Very lazy, very interesting sometimes.

[Faux 3]

I usually trawl through baby name sites (Behind the Name especially) until I find a name that either sounds nice and unique or has a meaning that reflects the character in some way. But other times I just turn straight to Greek/Roman/Norse/etc mythology to find symbolic names.

[kevin pearson 3]

I draw inspiration from... Basically anything and everything. It's rare I'll go into something without a vague idea of what I'm doing with the character, including that character's name. For instance, I can spend at least an hour trying to find a name related to the color blue. I equate my pickiness to names to when I'm messing around with the character creation tool in a game. 

[Bel 0]

Probably a super lame answer but just google usually? Depending on the nationality I will google popular first names/surnames of that nationality and then just pick something I like. I have been known to look for names with significance or mean something relevant to the character traits or personality but that's rare nowadays.

[Kitsunesweetheart 0]

I usually use unique male/female name websites. If I'm working on a character that's not human, I look on name generator websites (for vampires, demons, etc).

[Herald of Andraste 5]

Tend to go to 20000 names and nameberry to look for what I need. I do love a lot of names that can be considered unusual some times, and generic others. Completely depends on the character. But I do love a name from Mythology.

[RedSky 3]

Sometimes it's a random generator. Other times, I like to find names with certain meanings that fit the character. 

[Pepper 10]

I like names that are unique. Rare, and OLD... so I'll search Scottish names. Irish names. Popular names of this time period or that period.  When I find a name I like, I add it to a list of names that was born about 15 years ago.

 

I keep a pad of paper and a pen within reach. You never know when you're going to hear a name that you know will belong to a character eventually. Since I write as male and female, my list has come in handy for more than one game!!

[Shaw 4]

I've been using name generators for years.  

[Zina 7]

I like using translators for the character's given language and finding a word, or multiple words, that suits what I think their parents want them to be.

 

If I'm not doing that, I am absolutely infamous for creating characters with the most normal names I can think of. One of the last characters I made was named "Dick", and before that, "Greg".

 

My thinking for that is I love that people go all in for their unique names, but I love to have worlds filled with Johns and Freds and Samanthas and Katies. So I make them.

Edited March 14, 2022 by Zina

[DivineRabbit 64]

Sometimes I go with cultural name lists. Depending on whether that is an integral part of the character. Other times I leaf through favorite books or google baby names.

[Blooming of the Blooms 19]

Behind The Name saves my ass so many times. Sometimes I'll try to think up a name on my own and see which one feels fitting.

[Matsumota 5]

I use middle eastern names mostly. But I stay away from the name tells something about the OC (Most the time.) People don't name their kids and they suddenly grow into what it means.