Human names

[Something Evil]

And so I'm writing a story where for once the main character is a normal, terran human. However, my list of such names isn't always the most original, in the case of last names especially.

So it follows, I thought, that I might ask you. Names from any country is taken, male and female. Though the main character will probably be a female, there are other characters to be named too.

[Milo]

Bob. :noface:

[Aurelia]

Camilo. ;)

No, seriously - some human names I really like.

Male:

Alexander
William
Arthur
Swarovsky (all right, it's a last name and the name of a crystal company, but still!)
Amadeus (just because)
Philip Augustus (smart guy)
Aurelius (:D)
Iacobus

Female:
Aurelia :D
Angharad
Shareefa (name of a singer)
Aqua :D
Chenoa
Elena
ZZ Top :D

Any good ideas there?

[McClance]

There are plenty of websites that provide some good sources for many unique names.

[Madrigal]

There are plenty of websites that provide some good sources for many unique names.

A good one to start with is behindthename.com. Not always accurate about name origins, I hear, but it certainly has a lot of names.

[Grey Bear]

Oookay.

Lets stop this particular gravy train before it comes off the rails and little Timmy gets decapitated.

When picking a name, for the love of Mike (and Prada, because I worship a higher God than you), can it with the "It has to have meaning!!!eleventy!!!" bull, because quite frankly - it means jack. Okay? Got it?

Some of my favourite names come from military terms or even just weird or cute combinations of words. For example, in the Talent fanfic, I've got a Maxim Yates, Clarion McCall, Mirielle Jaures, etc. Names don't mean anything to me - as long as I think that the name is good enough, I'll use it. Surnames are more fun - in the Talent fanfic you can spot a bad guy because they have a surname that you'd associate with 'bad events' in British history or places in Britain where something horrific happened. Places like the island that was used for biological warfare testing or a valley of utter misery. And first names, as far as I'm concerned, don't have to be English or even European or Classical (such as Alexander, Philip, etc) - I'm partial to using the Scots Gaelic alphabet, which uses plant names for the individual letters, or even the names of mountains (one character, who was cropped out of a story I'm writing right now, was called Sheila Hallion, which was a play on Schiehallion). The most important thing is to have fun with the names, not obsess about "meaning" that means absolutely nothing to the reader.

GB

[Bamy]

Try here then http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/names.htm

[Shalyn]

You know what works well? The phone book. Any phone book.

Open the book, flip the pages, point to a name. There's your first name.
Same deal with the last name. If you don't like what you chose, look around the pages for others.

Satisfaction guaranteed.

And while you might end up with a name like "Edna Higgenbotham", well, what's wrong with that? I plan on using Edna in a story some day since that's my paternal grandmother.

[Greenrider Tresa]

My current favorite site for all sorts of names is www.seventhsanctum.com (http://www.seventhsanctum.com)

[Aurelia]

What types of qualities is he trying to express in his characters? That can help generate names

[Grey Bear]

You know what works well? The phone book. Any phone book.

Open the book, flip the pages, point to a name. There's your first name.
Same deal with the last name. If you don't like what you chose, look around the pages for others.

Satisfaction guaranteed.

And while you might end up with a name like "Edna Higgenbotham", well, what's wrong with that? I plan on using Edna in a story some day since that's my paternal grandmother.

Crack open a BT phonebook here in the UK and you're sure to find a Dumbledore, Snape, a brace of Harry Potters, not to mention a quigillion Ron Weasleys. Ordinary names, with zero meaning or pomposity attached, go a lot further than those with a meaning attached.

GB

[Anareth]

I just go with names I like. Some characters go for months, or years, without a middle or last name. (Nadia still has no last name that's actually her birth name. Michael has no middle name.) Elaine and Alan were named because I liked the sound of them. (That "Alan" means handsome turned out to be a bonus.) Only one character I've written has a particularly odd name (discounting secondary and teritiary characters like Mikelis and Sidona) and he was born in ca. AD 15 in Rome and has a name that's more or less normal for that period (which he does not use as his daily name in the modern world!)

[Something Evil]

Thank you for the ideas everyone.

By the looks of it, I have a few days ahead of me sifting through various websites and phone books :D

[Aurelia]

What qualities would you like to express in your characters?

[Vyon]

I think GB has missed the point about the meanings of names. Sure, it means diddley squat, my own name would translate as 1 "forever youthful" (Latin) 2 "messenger of peace" (Greek) 3 "creek or small stream" (Polish) and the imperative of the verb "to speak" in Hungarian - what a mish-mash!

But when looking for names for characters, it is sometimes useful to look up the quality or meaning and then use the name that goes with it. I used to do it a lot when I first started writing, it would give me a picture of the character to start developing. Now I don't do it so much, only if I get stuck. I go more on the sound of the name, or the characters will arrive with their names already attached. That doesn't stop me from changing them if I feel like it.

There are almost as many ways of choosing names as there are people who do it, choose whichever is right for you.

[Grey Bear]

I think GB has missed the point about the meanings of names. Sure, it means diddley squat, my own name would translate as 1 "forever youthful" (Latin) 2 "messenger of peace" (Greek) 3 "creek or small stream" (Polish) and the imperative of the verb "to speak" in Hungarian - what a mish-mash!

But when looking for names for characters, it is sometimes useful to look up the quality or meaning and then use the name that goes with it. I used to do it a lot when I first started writing, it would give me a picture of the character to start developing. Now I don't do it so much, only if I get stuck. I go more on the sound of the name, or the characters will arrive with their names already attached. That doesn't stop me from changing them if I feel like it.

There are almost as many ways of choosing names as there are people who do it, choose whichever is right for you.


I found the whole "this names means this, ergo this fits my character" idea to be rather...well, Victorian. I like having characters with names that don't give the reader an automatic idea of what they're like. If I choose to call a character Verity, its not saying she's going to have some sort of moral virtue about her. If I choose to call my lead character Alexander, what, is he supposed to be a leader of men? Come on. Show a bit of imagination, create a character, step away from the norm and give the reader some fun!

GB

[Anareth]

I have a couple that are 'appropriate' (Alan can mean 'handsome', and by sheer coincidence when I looked up what his brother's name, Kevin, meant, so did that, and 'Nadia' means 'hope'--all appropriate, but accidental) and in one case the everyday use name is meaningful ("Valentinian" can mean 'healthy', 'strong', or possibly 'brave', depending on how you chose to translate the root) but it would have been given to the character on purpose (cognomen were sort of nicknames, and frequently teasing--for example Cicero, as in Marcus Tulius Cicero, means 'chickpea' and was an unfavorable commentary on his appearance.)

But overall, I pick a name whose sound I like and go with it. Probably the most thought I've put into any name besides Val's is Jeanette Isabella McElroy, and in her case the thought was "Hm, Jeanette was born on Christmas Eve. Was her mother cruel/odd enough to have actually named her after the carol?" ("Bring a torch, Jeanette, Isabella") I decided yes, she was.

[Vyon]

I found the whole "this names means this, ergo this fits my character" idea to be rather...well, Victorian.
GB

Victorian and over romanticised - I wasn't suggesting that anybody take it seriously!

I found it useful when I first started writing, and only as a starting point. The character soon develops their own idea of where they're going if they are any good.

I'm just as likely to pick names out of the sporting pages of the newspaper at random.

Jaime Nutbrown (who isn't) and Isaia Toeava (who is - probably Samoan from the picture) Or his team mates Onosa'i Tololima-Auva'a and Saimone Taumoepeau. I could have some fun making up characters for them - and they wouldn't be rugby-playing Kiwis either.

[Phyrne]

Use a book of babies names. If they look too plain try changing the spelling. Fern looks far more exotic spelt Phyrne.

[Anareth]

Use a book of babies names. If they look too plain try changing the spelling. Fern looks far more exotic spelt Phyrne.

*sits back, waits, gets the popcorn for when Grey Bear spots this....*

[persephone]

Uh . . . names can be fun to play with, but chances are most people aren't going to notice any special meanings, unless you make it really obvious. And if it's going to be really obvious, you better have good reason for making it so.

[cwolf]

I have a friend of mine whose name is "Eric Fight". Pronounced that way too. It's his real name, mother got the last name when she married his father... etc.

[Grey Bear]

Use a book of babies names. If they look too plain try changing the spelling. Fern looks far more exotic spelt Phyrne.

*is stirring tea and puts teaspoon down, gently*

My dear, I must congratulate you on nearly creating a name with zero vowels.

Okay, kids - Yeoo-Neek spellings? Ain't clever. Seriously. They are the epitome of "Oh my god, I am dying to be mocked" and mocked you will.

However. If you want odd names, always look abroad or to mythology. One of my favourite sources for odd names is Persia - with my uber-favourite name being Persis with Anahita being close behind. Anahita, btw, is the name of a sea goddess and I've used it for a girl, the name of the canoe she builds, the legend that she created around her crossing an entire ocean to save a small group of people plus herself and the ocean that was named in her honour.

But seriously - calling a character Mysti Destini Jhayde?

You're asking for a bitchslapping.

GB

[elfycat]

I found the whole "this names means this, ergo this fits my character" idea to be rather...well, Victorian. I like having characters with names that don't give the reader an automatic idea of what they're like. If I choose to call a character Verity, its not saying she's going to have some sort of moral virtue about her. If I choose to call my lead character Alexander, what, is he supposed to be a leader of men? Come on. Show a bit of imagination, create a character, step away from the norm and give the reader some fun!

GB

I do agree that giving a character a name with meaning may not be the best way to go, but sometimes I think that a name dictates the way someone else treats you. If my real name was Tahlula or something similar I would be treated differently and would not be the same person. Even a small change from Sarah to Sally over a thirty-five year period would change who I am. I may have a different career, or a different husband, different friends, hobbies...well everything.

So Alexanders may have to have strong leadership qualities because other people around them, at a subconcious level have expected them to. It's a good way to add depth to a character.

[Grey Bear]

I do agree that giving a character a name with meaning may not be the best way to go, but sometimes I think that a name dictates the way someone else treats you. If my real name was Tahlula or something similar I would be treated differently and would not be the same person. Even a small change from Sarah to Sally over a thirty-five year period would change who I am. I may have a different career, or a different husband, different friends, hobbies...well everything.

So Alexanders may have to have strong leadership qualities because other people around them, at a subconcious level have expected them to. It's a good way to add depth to a character.

I don't think names in the real world lead to your being treated differently. Thanks to idiots in the romantic fiction genre people do think that exotic names or names that somehow link into a field or area of expertise will lead inevitably to said area or field. For example - when you think of John Storm, what do you think? I bet you that there are a hundred crappily written romantic fiction novels where theres a Doctor Storm somewhere.

A good - nay, better - way to add depth to a character is to confound people's expectations of that character. Theres an Alexander in my family (okay, theres a few) and he's a lazy son of a *bleep* - I don't see him leading anyone soon. Its why I roll my eyes at the "X name has Y meaning which states that X must have Y or an equivalent equal or greater to Y". Phillip means "Lover of horses" - does that mean you write in a guy who likes a bit of beastiality? Mallory means "Ill omened" - is she suicidal? And hell above all else, Lesley, Cameron and Ashleigh are all guys names - so are the femmes all trannies? Sorry, but the argument holds as much water as a paper teacup.

GB

[elfycat]

I don't think names in the real world lead to your being treated differently. Thanks to idiots in the romantic fiction genre people do think that exotic names or names that somehow link into a field or area of expertise will lead inevitably to said area or field. For example - when you think of John Storm, what do you think? I bet you that there are a hundred crappily written romantic fiction novels where theres a Doctor Storm somewhere.

A good - nay, better - way to add depth to a character is to confound people's expectations of that character. Theres an Alexander in my family (okay, theres a few) and he's a lazy son of a *bleep* - I don't see him leading anyone soon. Its why I roll my eyes at the "X name has Y meaning which states that X must have Y or an equivalent equal or greater to Y". Phillip means "Lover of horses" - does that mean you write in a guy who likes a bit of beastiality? Mallory means "Ill omened" - is she suicidal? And hell above all else, Lesley, Cameron and Ashleigh are all guys names - so are the femmes all trannies? Sorry, but the argument holds as much water as a paper teacup.

GB


I think the argument is a little stronger than a paper teacup (which work quite well as anyone drinking a take-away warm beverage will know). I'm not saying that all Alexanders are leaders, just that when a total stranger meets him they have a stereotype image of Alexanders in general. How the individual reacts to that is the difference between stereotype and reality. Perhaps it has contributed to his laziness in little ways. I'm not delusional and do not believe that I am a Princess for example, but I think that my name and the reactions of people have influenced me over the years.

[Shalyn]

If the name sounds good, go for it.

However, this bit about changing the spelling to make it look more exotic...*shudders*

If I like a name, I'll use it. In one of my books, the main protagonist's name is Cordelia - Cori. I like the name. I will admit, this story has something to do with water, and one definition of Cordelia was "Daugher of the Sea", but if I didn't like the name, I wouldn't use it.

Her best friend's name is Jacqueline. Jackie. Not Jaqui, not Jackee, Jackie. I've always loved the name Jacqueline. I don't give a rat's tail-connection what it means.

The only time I'll make a name look exotic is in fantasy. And generally, I'll just make up a name instead.

Friend of mine's daughter had a baby - Patty told me her name was Bianca. Thought it was pretty.

Then she sent me a picture of the girl with her name underneath.

Know how the idiot kid spelled "Bianca"?

Beyonka. Or maybe it was Beyonca.

I'm like "Wha-fu?"

You know what I asked my friend. See, I'm tactful. very. I said "Is Steph's boyfriend black?"

Because guess what, children. Even though it's becoming more and more natural for white people to give their kids 'exotic' names, guess where the trend started?

And no matter how this sounds, I'm being observant, nothing else but.

[Anareth]

For anyone who thinks "unique" naming and "creative" spelling are good ideas? I direct you to http://www.notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/index.html Many have tried to be unique.

[Shalyn]

Not to mention that when your kid goes on an outing with her friends and they go into that cute little store, and there are keychains/pencils/<insert other trinket here> with names on them, your kid can't find one with her name.

Mary, Barbara and Lisa all get keychains with their names on them, but your little Tylara has to go away empty handed because her name doesn't exist!!!eleventy-one!11!

Trust me, I know. My birth name is "Laurel" (no, not that Laurel). While it is somewhat normal, it was not common while I was growing up. I could find "Laurel" or "Laurie" very rarely. The closest I could come was "Laura" or "Lori", but those aren't my names.

[Kath]

Trust me, I know. My birth name is "Laurel" (no, not that Laurel). While it is somewhat normal, it was not common while I was growing up. I could find "Laurel" or "Laurie" very rarely. The closest I could come was "Laura" or "Lori", but those aren't my names.

You'd think Katherine would be easy enough... but it was usually Catherine with a C, or Kathryn with a Y, or Kate, Cathy or some other combination in between.


There are at least 30 unique variants of my name. As a teenager, I had fun borrowing Katharyn for a while, but to be honest, it was pretty dumb. And it made finding name-keyrings etc very hard indeed.

[Shalyn]

You mean the La and the De names? Oh yeah, we know who to blame.

The worst one I know of is a family here in Glasgow who called their girls after characters in Dynasty and Dallas.

You know.

Alexis, Krystal, Bobbi, Sue-Ellen...

GB

Sue-Ellen sounds like someone born in West Virginia.

At least those names are relatively normal. Relatively.

Oh - as for meanings - know what Laurel means? Victorious. Or things to that nature.

You know what I'm victorious at? What I excel at? Procrastination and sleep.

Yeah. Way to live up to a name.

[Rabble]

For the record? Its Kayleigh. Not Kaylee, not Khayley, not even Caelee. Seriously, as much as I love Firefly and Serenity, that just pisses me off.

GB

The firefly character known as 'Kaylee's' full name is Kaywinnit Lee Frye.

...no idea if 'Kaywinnit' is a 'real' name or not.

Which reminds me... people who give nicknames as legal names and give girls male names need to be shot. Really. Jayne Cobb might be a fine looking guy, but it's a good thing he's fictional, or i'd be collecting money for the "Fund a beating for Jaynes' mum" society.

and words to live by:

"OK, that's it. I officially declare all nouns off-limits. No Heaven, no Destiny, no Solace. Too much pressure. You just know Heaven will be a miserable bitch, Destiny a welfare queen and Solace in desparate need of Ritalin. No nouns. Not ever. No Hunter, no Colt, no Trinity, no Summer. No River, no Phoenix. No Attica, no Chance, no December. No Aria, no Legend, no god damn Dakota. Have you ever been to either of the Dakotas? Yeah, there's a reason. It's the same reason no one names their kids Iowa, Nebraska, Idaho or Wyoming."

[Grey Bear]

I think the argument is a little stronger than a paper teacup (which work quite well as anyone drinking a take-away warm beverage will know). I'm not saying that all Alexanders are leaders, just that when a total stranger meets him they have a stereotype image of Alexanders in general. How the individual reacts to that is the difference between stereotype and reality. Perhaps it has contributed to his laziness in little ways. I'm not delusional and do not believe that I am a Princess for example, but I think that my name and the reactions of people have influenced me over the years.

And just how many people do you know who know what the meaning of names are? Some people call their children a name because it sounds good against the surname (such as my friend, Cassandra Smith or another friend, Cameron Hunter) not because they have a name in mind and that applies to people who meet them. Not everyone is interested in what the name means. I'll be frank - people who read stuff and then say "They should have called X person Y name because Y name means Z meaning" are quite frankly rather boring and should be locked into a darkened cupboard or something where they're less likely to cause themselves harm. Seriously. I went through a period where people had names that "meant" something and one day I thought, good god, this is all so highly super pretentious and I made a rule for characters: stick to the "sounds good against the surname, no matter how horrid the name" rule. That's why I have Ethels and Meryls and Beryls and even a few Hildegards and oh-my-god untampered with names.

For the record? Its Kayleigh. Not Kaylee, not Khayley, not even Caelee. Seriously, as much as I love Firefly and Serenity, that just pisses me off.

GB

[Grey Bear]

If the name sounds good, go for it.

However, this bit about changing the spelling to make it look more exotic...*shudders*

If I like a name, I'll use it. In one of my books, the main protagonist's name is Cordelia - Cori. I like the name. I will admit, this story has something to do with water, and one definition of Cordelia was "Daugher of the Sea", but if I didn't like the name, I wouldn't use it.

Her best friend's name is Jacqueline. Jackie. Not Jaqui, not Jackee, Jackie. I've always loved the name Jacqueline. I don't give a rat's tail-connection what it means.

The only time I'll make a name look exotic is in fantasy. And generally, I'll just make up a name instead.

Friend of mine's daughter had a baby - Patty told me her name was Bianca. Thought it was pretty.

Then she sent me a picture of the girl with her name underneath.

Know how the idiot kid spelled "Bianca"?

Beyonka. Or maybe it was Beyonca.

I'm like "Wha-fu?"

You know what I asked my friend. See, I'm tactful. very. I said "Is Steph's boyfriend black?"

Because guess what, children. Even though it's becoming more and more natural for white people to give their kids 'exotic' names, guess where the trend started?

And no matter how this sounds, I'm being observant, nothing else but.

You mean the La and the De names? Oh yeah, we know who to blame.

The worst one I know of is a family here in Glasgow who called their girls after characters in Dynasty and Dallas.

You know.

Alexis, Krystal, Bobbi, Sue-Ellen...

GB

[Brenda]

Wow, these posts all got posted in reverse order, it looks like!

[Aurelia]

Also, Something Evil: you can take a name from a foreign culture and base a language of a peopl around that...I've done that several times. For example, you could take an African name and shape a culture that is similar to that of an African nation.

[Madrigal]

You mean the La and the De names? Oh yeah, we know who to blame.

GB

Oh yeah. They made up about half of the girls in my grade. -nisha was pretty popular, too... and all of them were black.

Certain noun-names are OK, in my opinion--if they've gotten common enough for most people not to really notice. Faith, April, and so on. Stuff like 'Solace' is just bad.

[Grey Bear]

Oh yeah. They made up about half of the girls in my grade. -nisha was pretty popular, too... and all of them were black.

Certain noun-names are OK, in my opinion--if they've gotten common enough for most people not to really notice. Faith, April, and so on. Stuff like 'Solace' is just bad.

I was unlucky to have been at a Catholic school. Lots of Anne-Maries and other names where two female names were forced together in a non-lesbian-partnership-style with a hypen.

Most horrific.

Not to mention John-Pauls by the cartload.

*squick*

GB

[Milo]

You'd think Katherine would be easy enough... but it was usually Catherine with a C, or Kathryn with a Y, or Kate, Cathy or some other combination in between.


There are at least 30 unique variants of my name. As a teenager, I had fun borrowing Katharyn for a while, but to be honest, it was pretty dumb. And it made finding name-keyrings etc very hard indeed.
There's only one variant of my name. But people still manage to bollox it up on a regular basis.

Ok. I lied. There is ONE other way to spell it where it is pronounced the same. CamiLLo. But that's Italian, babes, and I KNOW that you've never run across any Camillos OR Camilos, so what's your excuse.

My favourite, of course, has to be when I am dictating. "C... A... M... I.. L... O..." *look down at paper* "That's one L". So usually now I say "C... A... M.. I... one L.... O". :laugh:
The firefly character known as 'Kaylee's' full name is Kaywinnit Lee Frye.

...no idea if 'Kaywinnit' is a 'real' name or not.

Which reminds me... people who give nicknames as legal names and give girls male names need to be shot. Really. Jayne Cobb might be a fine looking guy, but it's a good thing he's fictional, or i'd be collecting money for the "Fund a beating for Jaynes' mum" society.

and words to live by:One kid asked me the other day if wasn't I glad that my parents hadn't named me Pancho. Question was based on my last name. Anyway, poor bloke didn't stop to think that Pancho is "short" for Francisco. :roll:

I was unlucky to have been at a Catholic school. Lots of Anne-Maries and other names where two female names were forced together in a non-lesbian-partnership-style with a hypen.

Most horrific.

Not to mention John-Pauls by the cartload.

*squick*

GB
Eh. I like some double names. Maybe it's an espanol thing. :shrug:

My aunt/godmother is Maria Sara, two of my cousins are Ana Isabel and Sara Elisa.

When you say those names they sort of get mashed into one though. Anisabel and Saralisa. Maria Sara we usually just call Cuca. :erm:

[Shalyn]

Oh my gods.

I was just reading a post on a list that I belong to in good old Kentuckiana. Woman was talking about her daughter.

Don't know this woman, don't know her ethnicity.

Her daughter's name? AirEka.

Pity the poor child.

[Brenda]

Sounds like maybe she thought she was naming her Eureka - which I still wouldn't wish on anyone!

[Anareth]

Sounds more like "Erica". Only they decided to get creative with the spelling.

[Shalyn]

Just another "lets take a name and change the letters to make it look exotic".

When you're fifteen to twenty-three, it's cute. After that, it's just stupid looking. IN MY OPINION.

[Bane]

I love Spanish names. Must be my childhood. I grew up in a heavily Mexican area where it wasn't weird to spell Sara without that blasted H on the end. I hate it though, because I can't hardly find Sara without the H. I find it in areas where Sara is often how the name's spelled, but not in places where that's not common. Odd, how it's common enough, and not weird at all. What is it with the fragging H anyway?

The place I go to find names? Mythology. I don't mess with the spelling, or worry about meanings and all that. Meanings just get in the way, and messing with the spelling makes it look weird unless I'm writing extreme fantasy or something. :crazy:

[Vyon]

Back to the keyring, pen, mug, etc thing. I'd have a riot on my hands when my ex bought them. There's a Chris, easy, a Karen, which might even be spelt right. But then Manu would want one too - guess what, it's a common enough name here, but not whereever they make those things. :shriek: "I want one too :shriek:

[Bane]

Yeah, I tried buying one for a kid I was babysitting once. :erm: They don't make Mateo either, and he won't accept Matthew, which is the English translation of his name...

[Ian]

I heard of someone (that LL's mother knew) called Ophelia, which wasn't too bad (if a little pretentious), but for the fact that her surname was Balls (trying saying it out loud...)

[Bane]

:giggle:

My calculus teacher in HS brought a friend in who was a math prof. somewhere and introduced her to us. She was really cool, but I wouldn't want her name:
Ginger Vitis.