How to Name Characters Faster
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2024
- It can be hard to name characters in your story, but it doesn't have to be. Names follow fairly simple conventions, like how English names are usually organized with a first, middle, and last name. The characters in your novel might not use that naming system, but it's likely they'll have some kind of consistency, and establishing a way to name characters might help you out in the long run!
Script and VO by Adam Bassett
Animation by Cole Field
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A [2006] Guide to Names and Naming Practices: www.fbiic.gov/...
More about the names of people and their titles in Chinese history: www.chinaknowle...
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Hey, thanks for watching this little video on naming systems! ❤We followed it up with another video on names, taking a look at precisely the things I ignored this time-examples of names chosen for their meanings (among other things). You can check it out here: th-cam.com/video/10Pbqiw1V20/w-d-xo.html
@Caitlyn Carvalho Charlotte Webber is freakin' hilarious. 😂
I think the "line" is dependent on what you're writing. If you're writing something very serious the audience's tolerance for obvious puns or meanings in names might be lower. If you're writing something more lighthearted, they might be expected. I know I rattle on about naming systems in this video here-and I do believe in them-but I also think that we put too much concern on a character's name in general. Whatever you tell readers, they're likely to accept, so long as it makes sense in the context of the story.
I would also recommend picking names with different first letter for different characters. So naming the hero Jack and the antagonist Jake might not be ideal.
Yeah, absolutely! This is a common suggestion I give folks as well. It's not uncommon for people to be in the same group with similar or the same exact names-but it can be hard for the audience to discern between them. It's a really easy way to improve clarity on the page.
-Adam
You could get around this by giving them nicknames. As in, you can actually have two Johns in a team but they call one of them something else for clarity lol that happens all the time in real life.
Love this idea. I have a nomadic race that I had [Personal Name] + [Family Name] + [Tribe Name], and I'm going to move the tribe to be first because that makes a lot of sense. They would be more recognized by their tribe!
I am a masochist. My story involves with characters with intricate surname systems and a religious culture and I always look up names and their meanings, though I usually end up using one I like how it sounds depending on the character more so than what it means.
I'm just a fan of whatever sounds nicest.
Like Kevin. That name always sounds amazing. In absolute any genre. Especially fantasy.
I agree.
Michael’s a great name too. In fact one of my primary characters is named Michael. 😁
In Germany, the name Kevin has very negative connotations. Or as someone put it: "Kevin is not a name, it's a diagnosis."
I recommend the Irish version Caoimhin(pronounced like "key" joined with "when").
You could write it like Kiven if you like.
@@SiqueScarfaceKevinismus.
Basically when common folk use foreign names(Kevin was originally an Old Irish name) which cause those foreign names to be associated with lower class thought.
Also(specifically in the case of women) called Chantilismus after the usage of the French name, Chantel.
This thumbnail is just... *chef's kiss*
Good short video, with a reference in the description to go further.
Very nice!
Such a nice quick video that raises some really good things to consider!
You missed an aspect of Chinese names. A lot of Chinese names have three characters: surname - generational name - personal name, where the generational name is shared either by all cousins on one side of the family or by all siblings in one nuclear family.
I like the emytology method. It's easiest and works well for me I think.
For me I came up with a protagonist for my story, took one look at them, and went “hmm.. yes, Kip” and their name has been Kip ever since
I mostly like to just use names I think sound good. If the meaning fits their life and story too, bonus.
Sometimes I do try to come up with something with meaning too, such as giving a character the surname Shepherd because he's a leader and someone who cares for others, contrasting other family members who do not "live up to their name" as it were.
But perhaps most importantly I try to make sure the names used in a given region sound like they belong together, and if a name sticks out, that there's an in-world explanation that addresses this, regardless of whether or not it shows up in the narrative.
Unless it's a multicultural setting, in which case you do want different sounding names to some degree.
I often like to use names to hint for the story or names tha fit them from meaning because of like they were named by gods or they earned there name or something connected to there past. Making there name, a name with history and backstory to just why they have that name
Kevin!!!
LOL 😂
This one's for the Kevins.
When I pick a name, I try to stay in the logic of the race/culture of the characters and sometimes it's hard since I copied a little some of ours past cultures. One of my elves races is close to the english-celtic era (with druids and multiples gods) so I looked for names from that period of time but in the end I didn't like them much and since I wanted a feel of mystery/out of this world, I had to come up with an another idea. So I searched dictionnaries of old langages (and some comtemporay too) and I picked a word or two which could describe my characters, changed some letters and it works !
But I never tought about the last name and the meaning of its placement, so I'll have get to check that ! Thanks for that, cause, when I think about it, all my races have the same pattern and it might not be the best for immersion ^^
My naming system goes as follows. The personal name follows a strict, law enforced pattern of Father, Grandfather, Eldest Uncle to Youngest Uncle, etc. But for last names, it gets more complicated. Only the children of the eldest living male get to carry the family name. The other siblings get either (father's name)son or (mothers name)son, depending on if they live in a patriarchal or matriarchal state, and also depending on which of the two is older.
I like pain.
One of the families in one of my stories with the exception of the youngest all have Roman names because part of the inspiration for their home is Rome. The youngest however has a French name because her mother named her instead of their father because he didn’t like that she was a girl and due to some rules in their kingdom the true heir to the family so he didn’t want to name her so her mother did instead and gave her a French themed name because her home kingdom is inspired by France.
My fictional Yé have a pretty simple naming system of optional title (queen, chief, captain, ambassador, etc.) + personal name (regualrly derived from a noun) + family name (regularly derived from an adjunct), the latter being inherited with a system of class/gender shenanigans.
RIP Kevin
Video was great, but my name's kevin and I wasn't expecting a roast at the end.
Jackson's views are his own.
The name Kevin(Irish: Caoimhin, Old Irish: Caemgen, Latin: Coemgenus, note that despite the different wordings, the Irish pronunciation is quite similar the English pronunciation) is over 1500 years old.
For a computer game, I coded pet ravens which a player could hatch from an egg. I devised a small algorithm, which took the name of the pet owner, did some mathematical shenanigans, and threw out a pronounceable, one, two or three syllable name. (My raven was named Tinre by the algorithm.)
Franielle is a very uncommon name that isn't used very often. I use the internet when naming my characters. But if I'm making a language, then my characters name should home in from that language.
Naming my characters is so hard for me. I'm writing a story that has a fantasy norse genre to it with different races. I end up using name generators to get inspiration for names
Mikayla is my sister and she has lots of ways to spell her name like Makayla
So how do you do it faster, actually
Choose a culture that sounds right, then look up a names generator.
Just Bob, nothing else.