Coming Up With Fantasy Names

The easy answer? Name generators, the many many baby name dictionaries...

However, that's always the patronizing one, isn't it? It doesn't show much consideration for the deeper aspects of why a name resonates, why an original name can make all the difference, in fantasy especially.

So what are you looking for? Here are some of the basics I consider while hunting for a name:

• Meaning: even if you want a wholly original name, you might want to consider combining names with cardinal meanings. I use names meaning flame and rain in UnSung (Aiden and Talia). If they had a child, I might name it Aylia or Talen, some variation of combination. It doesn't have to be so cutesy an arrival, but combining can give you the aesthetic base of a name that is still uncommon without being nauseating.
• Regional consideration: this can also combine with racial/cultural difference but if you have vastly different people, you may consider distinctions in preferred sound and language. Commas might become a cultural trend. Warlike tribes might favor harsher consonant sounds while scholarly cultures might embrace the cadence of vowel sounds.
• Unconventional: in certain cases, names are not loving or considerate. A street urchin may have a common name or one akin to an object, even a nickname. Goblins might get names with odd compound word combos (Nobcorn or Henpeg-- just play with it). The more you can distance it from Earth culture, the less you have to suspend disbelief.
• Accent marks: I'll throw out a name like Kvothe. Most people won't say this 'right' but then most authors are fine with that. (It's something along the lines of lines of keh-vohth, but a quick transition between the kv and just a hard 'o'. The e is ignored). If there's some insistence on a pronunciation, accent marks can be a good guide, but you'll have to remember to type it every time. Accent marks may present formatting problems since not all fonts support or display them properly. You can also use conversation, someone teasing how it's said deliberately or something along those lines. PRO TIP: if you already have a uniquely spelled name, you can control/command-F to find it, then Find and Replace the unaccented name with the accented version. Unless you're a natural at the keyboard shortcut for accents, this will keep you from breaking the flow in drafting and save time in editing.
• Test: even once you find one you think you like, test it out loud. Names are rarely actually said in natural speech. Names are more for introducing or getting their attention, scolding or teasing.  You'll use descriptions more often to direct who is speaking and to whom. I've gotten sick of a name I thought I liked or something just didn't sit right once used a lot. Remember though, that in real life, people often have unsuited names so you can poke fun at that too. He might not 'feel' like a Bob, but he just is.
• Common: nothing wrong with Bob, John, Karen, Ann or Sue. Except the presence of a great deal of common names tends to disinterest readers. If your main character is lamentably just regular earthling Joe, then his trip to a fantasy world with Celestyne, Van'Hanara and Jekoura stands out. Even his attempt to nickname them Tina, Hannah and Joe to simplify would be interesting (and rejected as absurd to them).

Look at the many colorful examples of languages already available. English is one language where 'consonant clashing' happens. Languages like Japanese are heavy on the flowing vowel sounds. Kleb sounds abrupt, yet Kaleb softens it tremendously. Women's names are often light chains of vowels. Men's names tend to end in rough or final consonants. Many names that don't follow this area gender-neutral where they originate-- or it's a masculine choice in one region but heavily feminine in another.

Remember, when you set the norms for your world and regions, you can also set the name outside of convention to use as part of the conflict or development of character. I know it's not chronologically organic (worlds exist before the people shaped by it) but a writer often benefits most from creating out of order. I personally tweak worlds and characters alike to ultimately fit the story. Yes, it can be a massive edit to tweak worlds and characters for that purpose but I also feel it's up to me to struggle for what I think is best for my work.

It is worth it to follow your own rabbit hole here but I hope this brings up some helpful points to consider. Sound has a mood, a meaning, an intent, so I get why people struggle to convey what they mean when they ask how to pick a name. They don't need the lazy pseudo-intellectual assholes with their Google-send solution. They're looking for the visceral connection a name bears on the character itself. 

Aw, hell, why not end on some color porn combo fun? From Encycolorpedia, I give you Rienna's hair and eyes color combo: Chestnut brown and a 'polo' grey with a green undertone. I like to cool or warm greys and browns to saturate them a bit and because her hair is warm, I wanted to polarize her eyes to visually reveal aspects of her character. Since writing and drawing are not always about imitation but optimizing the possibilities of fantasy, I like to cement characterizations with color quirks like this. She is a simmering and restless woman that tries to emulate her father's steely authority. She wars with earning respect on her own merits while maintaining her identity as a woman.i didn't write her to be a 'strong woman' in the sense that she truly thinks she can meet men on their own level, but she does believe she has the unique ability to best them with her own advantages. She has a streak of recklessness and sometimes takes on more than she can actually handle but the follies of youth don't prevent her from adapting to new lessons.

Next post, I'll throw in Dinsch's hair/eyes combo. He's an interesting one, my Bryfolk-- a rabbit-human hybrid whose albinism only affected his rabbit genes.

What significance, if any, do color choices have on your characters?