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KraussMr.Krauss

01/05/2016 7:02 AM ·Spoilers

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Question

How do you usually decide your characters' names?

Do you take your time to research the name for the right meaning behind it? Do you start with wanting specific letter(s), syllables, or sound to it and working from there? Do you already have one or two or a whole list of names ready and pick from there before making the character? Share your methods and how you tend to decide them!

Yeahs11

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I dn't think 'bout it. It's all like "They're named _____. It's their name. It suits them and it's their title..."

Yeahs0

Sometimes I'll do research on meanings, sometimes I create my own names, and sometimes I take words that have a definition I want and shorten it, or add to it.

Yeahs0

Creating numerous names and smash them into one to create a cute, silly name. ☆♪

Yeahs0

i have three different ways, 1: i look for words that mean (in this case lets say wolf.) wolf in other languages,sense my characters a wolf-like creature i look at all the various ways to say it until one hits me, in this case Adolf was what i used for one of my characters. Using words that fit around the characters design might not be the most imaginative, but it works.

Yeahs0

2: Sound out words till it sounds right. Try to figure out what you want your character to come of as, choose some sounds that sound fitting to the character, in this case lets say a... Muscle man, think of names like, brutus, bron, desmond... i ran out of idea's but you get the picture, try to think of masculine names for a masculine character, ect.

Yeahs0

3: use a name generator site, one in particular (that i don't remember the name of.) is really good for coming up with names of all types. 4: Ok i guess i use more than 3 methods, this is the main way i do things its also not really a method usually when i'm taking a bath or riding a bike, my brain goes on autodrive, and it starts fleshing out characters,background stories,relationships,and names.

Yeahs0

i just write the names of my friends at school

Yeahs0

I try to use letters I like and then make a name. Sometimes, I use simple names that fit the character. And sometimes... I have a stroke of genius.I never look at meaning, but maybe I should!

Yeahs0

I'm very picky about names. I've got a folder with nane pieces and parts that I fit together. Sometimes I use a name generator, baby names site, or reference specific words in different languages. I'm big on how it sounds for some characters- I like lots of vowels and soft sounding names. For others it's all about meanings, especially if they have a heavy fate.

Yeahs0

I hear you on deleting game files/characters where you don't like the name... character creation screens tend to be my bane. I've got a male and female (both harmonious with the same surname) generic, 'go-to' name for most games.

Yeahs0

Well what I do is go to a baby names website and just look from there But that's what I do when I can't think of names.It really helps tho !!

Yeahs0

I WATCH ATTACK ON TITAN ON BABYS FIRST®

Yeahs0

Did you know in Japan, some Mangaka's pick names that are unrealistic so they don't offend any real life people, especially for villians. For example in Bleach Ichigo means strawberry & in Naruto Sakura is spring blossom. These names are meaningful and also unrealistic. In Dragon Ball the characters are named after really weird stuff like underwear, food, ,bodyparts,refrigeratorsCenderalla,etc.

Yeahs0

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Thank you everyone for sharing! I'll keep this discussion open a little longer, but I would like to ask more questions like this in the future about how you make your character.

Yeahs1

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@ChibiMa: I know very much what it's like. I swear one character of mine probably has a 3rd name because I forgot their original name and the new name I gave after. Now I write everything down because I can't trust my memories and it's far more organized.

Yeahs3

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@DeDe: If I feel it's necessary, I try to do the same. I was surprised to find out much later "Cheryl" and its variants (including "Sheryl") only really started appearing in the 1920s. I can generally get a feel for the age of a name, but if I want to make it more appropriate for a time period, I also want to look when if the name was popular at that point.

Yeahs1

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@Shira: I can relate to #4. I don't even need to be doing anything in the bathroom and I'll get all these ideas and scenarios suddenly forming in my head. I've read that some other authors and artists also get this, and even people with a lot on their mind can think through more clearly when in the bathroom. There's a lot of personal theories about why this happens, and I'd like to look into it.

Yeahs1

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@Alex: Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, really likes his puns and themes. Nisio Isin is an author that is known creating unusual names like "Nanananami Nanami" or "Blues-harp Babysplit" (That name was intentionally absurd and unlikely to avoid offending a real person but also had to be unique to do with the murder mystery in the story.)

Yeahs1

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Normally I would just look up Japanese names for all of my characters or if ur rlly creative u should just make up ur own like something that rlly shows ur character's personality.

Yeahs0

New question coming up, closing this discussion.

Yeahs0

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