How to come up with a name for a book character: top 3 ways
1. Pick Up
Study the characteristics of the names to find the one that suits you! The Internet is full of sites on this topic.
For example, the name Anna is suitable for a kind, wise, attentive girl. And the name Dmitry is suitable for a successful, strong-willed, amorous man. And don’t forget that some of the options sound nice, but they are generally considered unlucky.
For example, the name Leonard is typical of irritable, stubborn, cocky guys. Therefore, do not give a character that name if he is calm and cheerful. And also pay attention to the meanings of the names. To get more specific ideas for names, you can check out the hero name generator.
2. Change
Experiment with different words: mix, cut, reorder/add new letters. So you can get interesting options. For example, the word “jumper” can become a gunpoint. And from the names “Sarah” and “Josephine” you can get: “Seraphina”.
Your humble servant Georgy Kesov can turn into Grigory Utyosov, Gosha Kresovich, or Zhora Kosov. Change the names of friends and relatives in the same way. Only they shouldn’t find out the truth. In general, the options, as you can call the character, – the sea.
3. Combine
If the hero of the book goes to school of Magic, and for obvious reasons, you do not want to call him ” Harry Potter”, then make the changes – let him become Gary Stein (Gary is a similar-sounding name, and Stein is in honor of my favorite writer: Robert Stein). Just pick your option. Or use associations.
For example, when I hear “Harry Potter”, then I immediately imagine the New Year’s atmosphere, snow. And one of the key characters in the series of fantasy novels “A Song of Ice and Fire” is called Jon Snow (snow in English means “snow”). Let the character’s name be John.
Thinking further: I’ve watched the Game of Thrones TV series based on the above series of novels. And I associate this series with the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. And there was the character Frodo Baggins, played by the American actor Elijah Wood. In the end, I settled on the option: “John Wood”.
So feel free to combine first and last names. Just don’t get too obvious (Jack Dove, Hermione Weasley, Ramsey Martin).
Top 5 tricks to name your character
- Do not borrow the names of heroes from other people’s works. Be original!
- When you find a name, think if it really suits the character? And doesn’t it stand out too much among other names?
- Don’t overdo it with “uniqueness.” After all, names such as Elsa Kerkinitida Flora Tsakhes and Grobynya Sklepova may not please some readers.
- Make sure the name matches the era/country/area where the hero lives.
- Ask loved ones if they like your option. Explain in detail why you decided to choose it. And based on their opinion, draw your conclusion.
So now you know what you can name the character in the book! Use all of the above methods, and then you will no longer have the question: “how to come up with a name for the character of the work?”.
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