The Do's and Dont's of naming characters.

[Third333strike]

The Do's and Don'ts of naming characters.

What is more than important than your characters name?

A character is a huge part of any story, and a bad name is ruin a story or a game.

Heres some things I have noticed while playing games and making games, with some advise I've heard thrown in.

Naming Fiction Characters - Alliteration

"Hi, my name is Chris, this is my sister Cristy, our dog Chime, and Great Aunt Chelsea."

Do not give the majority of characters in your game names that begin with the same letter. Not only is this too cute for words - these are the same people that dress in matching outfits at holidays - it can also confuse the player.

Naming Fiction Characters - Avoid Real People

Abraham Lincoln might very well be a wonderful name for the weaponsmith in your story, but it will bother some readers. If you are going to use the names of real people, be sure there is a reason for it. Also, using the names of people you know in real life may cause undue Mary Sue-ness or end up getting you sued.

Naming Fiction Characters - No Transgender Names

Francis, Pat, Terry, and Robin are all great names. However, they have gender ambiguity. Do not make it difficult for your readers to remember if Pat is the sister or brother of your main character.

Naming Fiction Characters - Avoid Plain

Since you want your characters to be memorable, do not give them plain, ordinary names. This does not mean you should come up with outlandish ones either. John Smith, Mary Roberts, Ann Jones, Bob Johnson. These names are so commonplace that people may forget them.

Naming Fiction Characters - No Rhyming

Another too-cute method of naming characters is rhyming their names. Do this only if you have a reason, such as a pair of twins with a silly mother. We all remember Palem and Porem, but hey, they were twins, and who couldnt like them? Bob and Rob, Tim and Jim, Mary, Larry, Gary, and Carrie. This is just another way to confuse readers.

Naming Fiction Characters - Avoid the Last S

The last thing to avoid when naming fiction characters are names that end with the letter S. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with them: Regis, Thomas, Marcus, but they throw you into the possessive conundrum. Some style guides say to show possessive with an apostrophe S no matter what. Others say to use just the apostrophe.




Select a name that reflects your character's personality. Occasionally, the names of my characters change mid-way through the making of my game. Why? Because the character isn't who I thought he was when I first set out to make the game. Think of your favorite actor. I'll settle on Jack Nicholson. Now picture him, walking the red carpet in his sunglasses and tux. Got a good image of him? Good. Now, what if I told you that man's name was actually Horace Wheatley? Don't worry, it's not. But you get the gist, I'm sure. The name should reflect the personality of your character. It doesn't always do so in real life, but it certainly should in fiction.

The name of your character should roll nicely off the tongue. The names you choose should sound harmonious. Vary the syllables. Take more time developing the names of your main characters, which will be mentioned far more often than your secondary characters. Consider the names of some of your favorite fictional characters.

Keep the character's name consistent with his time period. For instance, you wouldn't have found many Calebs or Jaydens back in the 1930s and 40s when Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe were walking the streets. You wouldn't find them in 17th Century Romania either. Research the time period and place in which your novel is to be set, and find popular names from that time and place.

Avoid names that sound similar to names that others have already made famous. If you are making a childrens game, it will not do well to name your main character Larry Potter, or Harry Totter either for that matter. Be as original as possible without making the name odd.

This kind of defeats the entire purpose of this thread, but If you have trouble coming up with ideas for names, use this generator. It's for fantasy names.

http://www.todays-woman.net/writing-res ... t-776.html

 

[Mechz]

Do not give the majority of characters in your game names that begin with the same letter. Not only is this too cute for words - these are the same people that dress in matching outfits at holidays - it can also confuse the player.

Speaking of which, in real life my girlfriend's name is Marla, her sisters are Marcy and Mariel, and her mom and dad are Maria and Marcus.

.... ._.

 

[Third333strike]

Well, that sucks. I feel bad for you. And cousins also! I couldn't take it....

 

[Vorpal 86]

I agree with making names that fit your characters persona. Also, fit their name visually to their graphical look. That could be hard, or easy to do, depending on how each person visualizes situations. I ALWAYS keep my names separate from reality. They will star in a game, and games are not real. Imagination is the key.

Names MUST be easy to pronounce, as you said at all cost, else the player could forget trying to say his heroes name while playing if referred to.

But yeah, you have some good points here. I myself am pretty nifty at making names. A while back it took me about 5 minutes to think of a name for "Edgar" from FF6, and 5 minutes for his bro "Sabin". The resulting names were:

"Edgar = Hijent" (His Highness, the king of Figaro)
"Sabin = Brostin" (The Brother of his Highness, that's king of Figaro)

How about those names? It's much thinkier' to make names for your own game than it is to RE-name a character from an existing game.

 

[Third333strike]

I agree Vorpal. Thanks for your feedback.

 

[Kishi3133]

In Quinsetence or whatever Reives named his main char Reives.

 

[Spoo]

Actually, Kishi, Reives was just a nickname.  His actual name is Revere or something like that. 

I suck at making names. I actually look on a baby names website and look at foreign names.

 

[WeAreSuperhero]

Oh man. I have main characters called John AND Marcus. Jeez D'=

 

[Joy]

But yeah, you have some good points here. I myself am pretty nifty at making names. A while back it took me about 5 minutes to think of a name for "Edgar" from FF6, and 5 minutes for his bro "Sabin". The resulting names were:

"Edgar = Hijent" (His Highness, the king of Figaro)
"Sabin = Brostin" (The Brother of his Highness, that's king of Figaro)

How about those names? It's much thinkier' to make names for your own game than it is to RE-name a character from an existing game.

However, another point I cannot stress enough is that you have to think someone named these people when they were babies, think of where they came from and the circumstances (a spanish peasant wouldn't likely name their kid Francisque). Also avoid name meanings that are too blatantly tied to what they do later in life, being subtle is alright, but no names that mean "He who will destroy the demon of Sylrrhah and become the king of Astonia", something that means "Noble leader" or "True warrior" would suffice and be more realistic for someone to name their child. Hell..my name means honorable ruler.

As for Eddie and Sabby-kins, Their mother and father had no clue who would eventually become the king of Figaro, so naming one "Brother of the king" would make no sense.

 

[Xk8]

Hmm...

Palom and Porom were crying over the phone....

 

[regi]

I feel the need to stress this. Here's something you forgot to mention.

AVOID JAPANESE NAMES.

 

[thelivingphoenix]

A Japanese name by itself isn't bad, but if you use a ton of them, it's just a bit cliche and doesn't really make your game any better.  It probably just sticks out like a sore thumb to the player, especially if they've played a lot of games from Japan (and who hasn't?).

 

[DivineLight]

why not Japanese?

for myself though, I rather use European style, rather than American names.
Some of them I don't know from what. Just example, Serdio, Reicht and Fendrya.

 

[The Cry of Fallen Angels]

Only use Japanese names if YOUR CHARACTER IS JAPANESE!

As for the "do's" and "don't's";

-It doesn't matter much whether an unimportant character is male or female, unless you have created a world without gender-equality, nobody cares. I mean, the hero has a sibling, mentioned 2-3 times in the entire story, who cares if Raobin is the brother or the sister? If he/she's important people will remember.
-People can't use Mary, but "Seth" is perfectly fine?
-Why the fuck a character's name needs to fit the personality? Seriously, why? I don't "get the gist".

There's some good points, but really these pointers give me a huge wtf-feeling.

 

[meian]

- If it doesn't matter if the player doesn't remember the character, then it, well, doesn't matter if the player remembers the character, right? His whole point was that such transgendered names do not paint any definitive part of that character's personality, the same way "Jessica" paints a girl character by default. If they're so irrelevant, well.

But on that note, if you are making such unimportant characters, why name them at all? I'm re-reading Where the Red Ferns Grow as part of my back-to-classics kick, and the protagonist never names his ma, pa, or sisters. Mom is Mom, Pop is Pop, and we're only told that he has three sisters, they're never given names even when they're in the scene. Why? Because his sisters have absolutely nothing to contribute to the story besides acting as stage props, so readers don't give two shits whether the oldest sister's name is Jill or Beth. And it's absolutely beautiful, and it contributes to the concise, streamlined storytelling that doesn't detract us from the main story with meaningless details.

So if said character only has two or three lines, if they're so irrelevant to the story that you, the creator of these people, the breather of life into dead clay, can't be bothered by caring, why should your players feel any different? Robin away!

- Who said Seth was okay? I perfectly expect a character named Seth to stand aside characters named Damien and Demona.

But on that note, I think his point about plain names remains to be seen in context. Silent Hill, the greatest franchise in video game history as far as I'm concerned, had perfectly normal, perfectly plain-named individuals in perfectly abnormal situations, and it WORKED. I'd shit bricks and quit if I saw a Freya or Cecil or Wakka or Refia or whatever in that game. Though, conversely, if Squeenix were to have a character named James Sutherland or Heather Mason or Lisa Garland or whatever waltzing around Zanarkand casting Firaga, they'd lose 95% of their fanbase on mere principal, and for good reason.

Context, location, setting - as far as I'm concerned, these are the most important factors in choosing a name. Annnd aesthetics, but that probably comes last. ):

And I'd thought this would go without saying, but it's SUPREMELY important to find fitting names for your characters. They are the covers to these books, the windows to the souls - the quickest way to break your character, and almost always the quickest way to define them. I think I covered much of this in my last two paragraphs, but then as I said I thought it was already self-apparent, so.

Lastly, really there'd better be a damn good reason why your character is Japanese. If I had a buck for every character living in a pseudo-Germanic-Renaissance fantasy world whose name was SAKURA and AKIRA or their ilk, I'd quit my job tomorrow. No other culture seems to have their denizens inserted anachronistically or otherwise into geographical locations that don't make any sense. But you already mentioned this, so ... Conversely, Japan is not a magical land of enchantment and excitement, it's a culture of mind-numbing conformity and high expectations. For christssakes, they lead the world's suicide rate and have ever dipping fertility statistics. It's not at all as otaku have hyped it up to be, and Japanese people are not inherently more interesting or superior to someone from, say, Poland. Yet, if most game makers wanted to make a super awesomesexycoolsmartexotic character, where do they hail from? Three guesses, it ain't North Africa.

Annnnd baw, there was more to this but I have to wake up for work in four hours, so, bah.

 

[van helblaze]

I myself use a lot of Greek names, but if I see a name in another game (eg. Kratos) I won't use it.

 

[Sonata]

I don't understand why you suggest we avoid names that end in S. To show possession you just add the apostrophe to the end of the name. For example "Sheila was Marcus' Mom".

 

[eharper256]

Sorry, but I'd like to revise some of those points, Third333Strike.

Naming Fiction Characters - Alliterate, but be wary about it

Though your example is true, it can be nice to show a small linkage. Parents do sometimes think about this when naming their childrens siblings. Just make sure that there is a noticable difference. Chris and Chrissy is bad, but Kristoph and Klavier is not, nor Terence and Tricia, or Marcus and Meridith.

Naming Fiction Characters - Corrupt Real People

You basically can't NOT use a real person. Chances are, however remote, that there IS somebody with that name, somewhere. Like Abraham Lincoln? Corrupt him instead. Make him Alistar Lynheim instead. Replace letters randomly on a one by one basis, until you get something interesting.

Naming Fiction Characters - No Transgender Names for Main characters

Unless you're making a point, or are having the ability to choose gender (but not name) at the game start. I'll at least concede on that.

Naming Fiction Characters - Avoid Plain

I'll agree with that. Unless, again, you're making a point. Silent Hill has already been offered as a case study. It works because of its plain-ness. But as a general rule, main characters are interesting, not plain.

Naming Fiction Characters - Don't worry about the Last S

I don't know what style guides say to put an extra possessive S on to an S ending name, but they're wrong. Maybe its an american english thing, but S names in British English are always just '. Like "It was Chris' ball, but Thomas' mother had bought it." 

Nothing wrong with a S name. Heck, I use Fortinbras.

Naming Fiction Characters - Your parents were HOW BRUTAL?

And my little addition. Picking a totally random name out of a hat might be effective, but its unlikely to really happen. How a child is named is often a reflection of their background and their parents personalities.
Some parents are deliberately brutal in naming their children (I once knew someone whose 5 sisters were named after famous london train stations!). Others make a habit to always place a relatives name somewhere in there (I'm an example of such; my middle name is my great uncles). Some parents agonise over how well a name rolls off a tongue, others couldn't give a damn. Some pick 'stylish' names, others favour unusual, unlikely ones. Also a plain name is indicative of a plain, or (to be tactless) an uneducated background.
If you're a noble, you're unlikely to called Bob. Similarily, a peasant called Xavier is practically a physical impossibility. In this way, names can help you flesh out characters.

 

[van helblaze]

Sorry, but I'd like to revise some of those points, Third333Strike.

Naming Fiction Characters - Alliterate, but be wary about it

Though your example is true, it can be nice to show a small linkage. Parents do sometimes think about this when naming their childrens siblings. Just make sure that there is a noticable difference. Chris and Chrissy is bad, but Kristoph and Klavier is not, nor Terence and Tricia, or Marcus and Meridith.

Naming Fiction Characters - Corrupt Real People

You basically can't NOT use a real person. Chances are, however remote, that there IS somebody with that name, somewhere. Like Abraham Lincoln? Corrupt him instead. Make him Alistar Lynheim instead. Replace letters randomly on a one by one basis, until you get something interesting.

Naming Fiction Characters - No Transgender Names for Main characters

Unless you're making a point, or are having the ability to choose gender (but not name) at the game start. I'll at least concede on that.

Naming Fiction Characters - Avoid Plain

I'll agree with that. Unless, again, you're making a point. Silent Hill has already been offered as a case study. It works because of its plain-ness. But as a general rule, main characters are interesting, not plain.

Naming Fiction Characters - Don't worry about the Last S

I don't know what style guides say to put an extra possessive S on to an S ending name, but they're wrong. Maybe its an american english thing, but S names in British English are always just '. Like "It was Chris' ball, but Thomas' mother had bought it." 

Nothing wrong with a S name. Heck, I use Fortinbras.

Naming Fiction Characters - Your parents were HOW BRUTAL?

And my little addition. Picking a totally random name out of a hat might be effective, but its unlikely to really happen. How a child is named is often a reflection of their background and their parents personalities.
Some parents are deliberately brutal in naming their children (I once knew someone whose 5 sisters were named after famous london train stations!). Others make a habit to always place a relatives name somewhere in there (I'm an example of such; my middle name is my great uncles). Some parents agonise over how well a name rolls off a tongue, others couldn't give a damn. Some pick 'stylish' names, others favour unusual, unlikely ones. Also a plain name is indicative of a plain, or (to be tactless) an uneducated background.
If you're a noble, you're unlikely to called Bob. Similarily, a peasant called Xavier is practically a physical impossibility. In this way, names can help you flesh out characters.

I totally agree with you