# Writers of the dope, how do you come up with names? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 14, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251 "2013-10-14T20:18:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Why\_Bother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19adc/32.png) [@Doctor\_Why\_Bother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Why_Bother)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/21 "2013-10-15T14:32:16Z")
If you look back at stuff written a few hundred years ago, the names haven’t changed all that much. I’d just use regular names. Maybe pick some regular names that you don’t see very often like Dahlia or Joseyn, or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/22 "2013-10-15T14:33:50Z")
For my fantasy novels, I look at objects around the room I’m in – seriously. Poster becomes Potser becomes Otser becomes Otzur. It’s not this quick for me, usually – I may have to go through a dozen iterations before I get to something that sounds right. I also try to vary the letters I use, the length, and the number of syllables. If the last new character had a one syllable “T” name, the next character might have a 2 syllable “E” or “O” name. Sometimes names just pop into my mind, but often they need more massaging. I might even start with a gibberish word and pare it down. “Galomfy” becomes “DeLonzie”, or something. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/23 "2013-10-15T16:03:23Z")
> [@bump](#): > > To go a little further… > > I’m also not a fan of naming human characters weird spaced out names when they’re in the relatively near future. I mean, we’ve had recognizable first name / occupation surname combinations for upwards of 1000 years now, and some first names are over 2000 years old (Marcus / Marc / Mark for one example). Naming your guy “Quarnian” is just bad (not to pick on **RealityChuck** too much). It’s likely that in the 30th century, we’ll still see variants on William, Jennifer, etc… and probably other more modern first names like “Hunter” as well. Where the hell would “Quarnian” come from? As I said, “Quarnian” came from an old mystery book, specifically one written in the 1931: [Malice Aforethought](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malice_Aforethought) (You can see the name in the[cast list](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162096/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast) of the BBC production of 1979). I’m sure that Francis Iles used names of that time; he probably chose “Quarnian” (female, BTW) in much the same way that Conan Doyle chose “Sherlock” – an unusual name he ran across and liked. As for future names being variants on common names of today, you may have noticed that names like Chiwetel Ejiofor, Morena Baccarin, Nnedi Okorafor, Vylar Kaftan, and Shweta Narayan\* are already being used today. Thirty years ago, these would have seemed “weird spaced out names.” \*First two are actors in **Serenity** ; the last three are Nebula Award nominated authors. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/24 "2013-10-15T16:39:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > One time and one time only, I started the first sentence of a first chapter without a main character’s name in mind, a name that I thought was perfect appeared on the screen, and that was it. I’m kind of doubtful that’s ever going to happen again. For the most part I just blindly grope around my own brain until I find one that sounds right for what I think the character is. I used to read baby name websites to try to find the right meaning, but I don’t do that very much anymore. A few weeks ago I had a long conversation with **twickster** about the name of a child is mentioned (but doesn’t even appear) in the story I’m working on- I was _really_ stuck on that one. Once in a while I’ll use the name of someone I know, but only if the character isn’t anything like the real person. Just out of curiosity – what did you finally decide on? ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/25 "2013-10-15T16:44:25Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Nah, it’s something that annoys me when I pick up a book set 1000 years in the future, and everyone has space-agey first and last names that don’t derive from anything in the present day. It’s usually a good sign that the book will be schlocky. 1000 years is a long time. I don’t have much problem with space-agey names, but I think we do agree that the writer should have taken some time to think about how they got space-agey names. Maybe they were European names transliterated into Chinese, written down in Sanskrit, and then re-arranged by the AD2400 UN COSSPCN (convention on spelling standards and politically correcting naming). Or maybe the religious purge of AD2600 resulted in the Prophet issuing spiritual names to his subjects according to his own wacky ideals. By AD 3000, these events may be ancient history to the present characters… but the writer should be thinking of these things. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/26 "2013-10-15T16:51:22Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Just out of curiosity – what did you finally decide on? I’m sticking with Parrish. I can change it but I spent way too long thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/27 "2013-10-15T16:57:49Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > 1000 years is a long time. I don’t have much problem with space-agey names, but I think we do agree that the writer should have taken some time to think about how they got space-agey names. Maybe they were European names transliterated into Chinese, written down in Sanskrit, and then re-arranged by the AD2400 UN COSSPCN (convention on spelling standards and politically correcting naming). Or maybe the religious purge of AD2600 resulted in the Prophet issuing spiritual names to his subjects according to his own wacky ideals. By AD 3000, these events may be ancient history to the present characters… but the writer should be thinking of these things. Aye, but the names shouldn’t suck to pronounce, even in your head, or be nearly impossible to differentiate when reading them (I’m talking to you, David Weber, about your stupid names in the otherwise excellent _Safehold_ series). ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/28 "2013-10-15T17:48:26Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > As I said, “Quarnian” came from an old mystery book, specifically one written in the 1931: [Malice Aforethought](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malice_Aforethought) (You can see the name in the[cast list](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162096/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast) of the BBC production of 1979). I’m sure that Francis Iles used names of that time; he probably chose “Quarnian” (female, BTW) in much the same way that Conan Doyle chose “Sherlock” – an unusual name he ran across and liked. > > As for future names being variants on common names of today, you may have noticed that names like Chiwetel Ejiofor, Morena Baccarin, Nnedi Okorafor, Vylar Kaftan, and Shweta Narayan\* are already being used today. Thirty years ago, these would have seemed “weird spaced out names.” > > \*First two are actors in **Serenity** ; the last three are Nebula Award nominated authors. Still doesn’t make it a real name. I’m guessing that Iles got it from the “Quarnian Tor”, which is a landform in Dartmoor in Devon, England. Nobody actually named their children “Quarnian” until possibly after the books were written, just like nobody actually named their children “Katniss” or “Haymitch” before the “Hunger Games” books. Those other names you mention are just ethnic names. Nothing weird about having a character named “Morena” or “Mohammed” or “Mikhail”, even though they’re not particularly common in English. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/29 "2013-10-15T17:57:16Z")
Perhaps aliens don’t have names. Perhaps assigning names to people is a tradition that only occurs on planet Earth. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/30 "2013-10-15T18:03:13Z")
True, but by the same token, names like Wendy and Vanessa weren’t given to anyone until they were created by an author, and I bet that 9 out of 10 people, if given a list with Wendy and Vylar as options, would pick Vylar as the invented name. There’s nothing wrong with being creative, you just have to be creative within boundaries. Primrose is a lovely name, and has been used for a long time. Likewise, Katniss is a flower name - it just doesn’t have a history of use. But in a culture that really likes K names, it’s a perfect created name. People have this idea that “real names” are names that mystically got plopped onto someone, and has this legitimacy about it. I can understand that to a point, but you have to remember that back in the middle ages, there was some tough guy over by the well snarking that “Thomas Cooper” is totally not a “real” name - no one names themselves after their barrel-making! Just be Thomas, or Old Tom like everyone else and stop making shite up!" ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/31 "2013-10-15T18:18:48Z")
I have several baby name books which have plenty of unusual names. Here’s a great quote about unusual names (I think it’s by John Scalzi or James Nicoll. If I’m wrong, sorry.) “Nothing says quality fantasy like misplaced apostrophes.” Intersperse those words with apostrophes. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/32 "2013-10-15T18:19:44Z")
I started by varying\* the names of people I knew. But lately I’ve started using place names. E.g., in the area where I lived there are several place names with enough variety to provide both first and last names. (Sometimes I’ll convert a name to or from English or other small variations as needed.) One advantage of this is if you publish and someone with that name gets upset, you can just point out that Eugene Springfield, Dexter Creswell and Grover Cottage implies a familiarity with the southern Willamette valley and nothing more. (But not as nearly “target rich” as the area I’ve been actually using.) If you’re doing SF, keep it simple. Avoid rare letters, combinations and consonant strings. “Thana” is a readable name. “Jxalmnq” isn’t. \*The technical term among us computer geeks is “munging”. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/33 "2013-10-15T18:24:54Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’m not a writer, but that method just seems hack-tastic. Like really bad, god-awful sub-Twilight grade fantasy and Sci-fi naming scheme methodology. Tough. Elision is an actual way that words–including names–drift over time. “Samel” from “Samuel” is no worse than “Jem” from “Jeremy”, which is a perfectly cromulent diminutive. ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/34 "2013-10-15T18:42:43Z")
Human names are easy. I just check my junk email account. Seriously. All of those disposable emails are sent by Randomly generated names that can be surpisingly unique and viable. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/35 "2013-10-15T18:59:05Z")
I guess my point/question is: What is the writer trying to accomplish/convey by using fucked-up uncommon names? If there’s a good reason for it, then by all means do it. If it’s just uncreative stage-setting for your sci-fi novel to make it more spacey or futuristic, then knock it off. It’s lazy and schlocky, and you’d do better by coming up with other ways to convey that setting. I mean, plenty of good sci-fi writers use everyday names- Niven, Pournelle, Pohl, Heinlein for a few examples. And others use fictional names/variants on those names intelligently- [Vernor Vinge in “A Fire Upon The Deep” comes to mind.](http://cackhanded.com/blog/post/2008/06/25/Fictional-Linguistics.aspx) His use of the names clearly points out the evolution of the names from ones we’d recognize in the modern day. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/36 "2013-10-15T19:01:36Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Still doesn’t make it a real name. I’m guessing that Iles got it from the “Quarnian Tor”, which is a landform in Dartmoor in Devon, England. . . Considering that the character’s full name is Quarnian Torr, you’re probably exactly right. Depending on when the tor was named, however, it could have been used as a locative surname. And the shift from surname to given name has been done many times for many different names, and would not be at all outrageous. Similar examples are Beverly (beaver meadow) and Shirley. Although if your last name is Torr and you name your daughter Quarnian . . . It’s not a common name, but it either follows a completely natural process or it mimics that process. Sorry if it breaks your suspension of disbelief, but it’s a suitable character name. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/37 "2013-10-15T19:15:44Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > True, but by the same token, names like Wendy and Vanessa weren’t given to anyone until they were created by an author [Oh yeah?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2057/was-the-name-wendy-invented-for-the-book-peter-pan) ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/38 "2013-10-15T19:40:47Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > [Oh yeah?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2057/was-the-name-wendy-invented-for-the-book-peter-pan) Aight, that’s Wendy off the list. Vanessa still stands, and I’ll add Arwen instead. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/39 "2013-10-15T19:56:14Z")
In my books, my main characters have names I like (I’ll see a name I like and then come up with a character to fit it). The major secondary characters are the hardest, because they have to have good names and sometimes it’s just hard to get the right one. One of my secondary protagonists went through three last names before I finally found one I like. For one-off characters, usually their names just pop into my head. Sometimes I look at name list sites or phone books or credits of movies or TV shows until something clicks. Of course, all my characters are humans and the books are set in modern days, so I don’t have to contend with weird sci-fi or fantasy names (though my favorite characters tend to have somewhat unusual names). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251/40 "2013-10-15T20:08:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **bump** : > > Nobody actually named their children “Quarnian” until possibly after the books were written, just like nobody actually named their children “Katniss” or “Haymitch” before the “Hunger Games” books. So? That’s a perfectly fine name origin. Maybe sometime in 2463, a writer wrote a book containing the made-up name “Jathox”, or something, and people liked the book and it caught on. By 3176, when your story is set, it’s become a very common, popular, and traditional name. Heck, maybe by the time of your story it’s considered _too_ traditional, and old-fashioned. What gets me about names in books, though, is something completely different: Even when the names are mostly “normal” (at least, by our standards), have you ever noticed that there are almost never any repeats? A novel might have over a hundred minor characters named, and given that many people in our world, you’re probably going to have more than one “John”. But you almost never see that in books. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-of-the-dope-how-do-you-come-up-with-names/671251.md?page=3)