How To Name Your Book Characters

What's in a name? A lot! I'm sharing how to name your book characters. Names for contemporary, fantasy, sci-fi, historical novels--I'm going over tips & tricks by genre, plus notes on culture, tradition, and etymology!
Consider this your nerdy deep dive into how I name characters, and everything you might want to consider.
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[@SydneyFaithAuthor]

We writers seem to spend more time on baby name websites than expecting parents 😂 Great video, always lots to think about when naming characters.

[@caribrown48]

Sydney Faith Author As a mother and a writer, I concur.

[@milktea3825]

OMG IKR 😂😂😂😂

[@diamondfox8374]

Omg SAME

[@annejia5382]

sooo true tho 😂😂😂

[@SensibleSoulHealing]

God forbid a writer HAS their OWN baby!

[@heleddflower8082]

I watched a documentary (probably about 7-10 years ago) on BBC here in the UK. They were talking to a historian who was also a barrister. His name was actually Harry Potter. I genuinely felt sorry for him.

[@natsuki4021]

Yep. My teacher knew a man named harry potter who was named before the books became popular. After they did, he could hardly make reservations anywhere under his real name because everyone thought he was prank calling

[@liberpolo5540]

@@natsuki4021 Me right now: "Aw, poor guy, that's so sad ... I feel bad for him!" Me in my head: *OML, BUAHAHAHAHA ...!!!! tHaT iS HiLaRiOuS!!!*

[@pineforest1442]

At least he had a fictional hero named after him.

[@soobindoll9561]

@@natsuki4021 Omg that is sad

[@gailasprey7787]

What do you mean? Being called Harry Potter would be the best thing ever! Being called the chosen one by everyone around you is pretty cool.

[@BonnieDragonKat]

Really good resource is Behind the Name, which also has a generator good for character history items.

[@TwstdPrtzl]

Kali Angel I use that all the time! The random name generator is really good. I like to choose ones that sound good and then research and adapt later.

[@hhcat91]

Best name website ever!

[@khrystynakhrystal]

My favourite website

[@tomaszmazurek64]

One thing not mentioned about researching names from another culture are formal, informal and diminutive forms of names as well as honorifics and situations when those should be used. For example my Polish first name is "Tomasz", however there is almost no situation in Polish language where someone would address me by that name alone. If someone addresses me in a formal situation they would either use honorific "pan Tomasz" or the full name or both. If situation is informal enough to not require that, it is also informal enough to require the use of the informal form of the name "Tomek". Using the formal "Tomasz" alone is unusual enough that it was actually my nickname in high school. Now you probably won't be basing your book in Poland, but since an example of Russian names was given, many Russian names popular in the west - Tanya, Masha, Misha - are actually diminutive name forms, that in Russia would not be used in formal contexts. Some even wouldn't be used outside of family situations.

[@AkiShiroi]

Excellent point, good sir.

[@underequeen6823]

Well, after reading this comment I now have to study how Chinese, Croatian, Russian, Korean, Romanian, Brazilian, Italian and Nigerian names work. Fun.

[@tomaszmazurek64]

If you are only using those cultures' names as an inspiration and not setting your book in all of those countries simultaneously you probably don't have to. Though a basic dictionary check of whether you are not giving someone a diminutive name or something like this might still be worth your time. @@underequeen6823

[@lapersianaperta]

So are you telling Tomek is not the real name of the two Tomek I know? 😱 Just blown my mind 🤣

[@tomaszmazurek64]

If they were born in Poland then it's almost certainly not. I usually introduce myself as Tomek to foreigners, since it feels weird to hear them call me Tomasz and I usually can't be bothered to explain the whole formal/informal name thing to them. @@lapersianaperta

[@giovanac4820]

I created a character who was very sweet, kind and a hopeless romantic. I named her Pamela. Flash forward to the day after, I looked up the meaning of the name Pamela and found out that it means "all sweetness" or "all honey"

[@nevisnebis1207]

It just sounds like a sweet big sister name, Pamela is a lovely name for that kind of character

[@malhalewell6846]

i`ve been using baby name sites for so long now, i thought it wasn't`t a common thing to do. and i search the names up too!

[@ezekieltdi4947]

summerwich wow that’s fucking crazy

[@joannamiller9446]

I have a Norwegian character and for a few days I had his last name as Hansdatter. Then I realized "-datter" means daughter. DUH. I knew Han-son or Ole-son meant "son of _____" but I didin't realize there was a daugter form too. Glad I wasn't too set on it.

[@oddeyes9413]

I have a few Japanese characters in my series and it's a slight double check to make sure it's safe. Like Yuki or Tsurara.

[@leafhoff4321]

Hi, Norwegian here. Do you mean a character that’s Norwegian or a character who has Norwegian ancestors?

[@PartridgeQuill]

One thing I like in fantasy is when world building takes naming convention into account. In my own fantasy world, dwarves (for example) have surnames composed of two words (firebrew, diamondheart, etc.). When two dwarves marry (regardless of gender), both parties take one word from each other's surname and form a new surname. For example, in the surnames I mentioned, if dwarves with the surnames Diamondheart and Firebrew married, they might both take the new surname Fireheart. Great video!

[@mistyminnie5922]

that's honestly the cutest thing

[@ThesmartestTem]

@@mistyminnie5922 omg isn't it, though?

[@icyglaceon4435]

Partridge Quill reminds me of Warriors. Not the marriage thing, just their overall names.

[@iovechester5654]

Partridge Quill reminds me of Waca names.

[@aashi8316]

I have a question about this: how does this carry on to the next generation? If their child has the surname Fireheart and they marry someone, wouldn't they lose one of their parents' names when combining their names?

[@amy-suewisniewski6451]

There is nothing that annoys me more than that fantasy/sci-fi setting with all of these different and unique names, and then there's Tyler XD. It's especially bad when its siblings, and the MC is named something like Ravena, and she lives with her parents Bob and Sue, her older brother John, and her younger sister Mary.

[@ThesmartestTem]

I have seen that a few times, too.

[@toxicsugarart2103]

I’ve always felt that way about Star Wars, like there’s all these unique names like obi wan and amidala, and then there’s just...luke.

[@marymohr2799]

@@toxicsugarart2103 I totally agree, but I think it fair to point out he's not the only one. Obi-Wan went by Ben, and Han is a real name, though it's not common in Western culture. But still, I get the point. It's a galaxy filled with planets and people and cultures so different from our own, and yet many of them have names we commonly have.

[@toxicsugarart2103]

Mary Mohr yeah :D

[@elijahculper5522]

Could not thumbs up fast enough. My aunt and uncle had five kids all with super unique rhyming names. Their sixth was Tyler, which rhymes with none of them.

[@alyssac5067]

I had a teacher a few years ago and her exact name was a character in the book I just bought. I told her and she got excited.

[@MandiLynnWrites]

I love coming up with character names and how when you find the right one it just clicks! I have to say, my favorite novel to come up with names for was my historical fantasy. It was so fun finding names from that era!

[@beverlymarsh233]

I have a pattern: 1. All the good characters names are 1 syllable or have a nickname that is 1 syllable, they will only be referred to by the nick name 2. Villains tend to have 2 syllable names that don’t roll or flow as well

[@erikperhs_]

What about Scar and Mufasa?

[@CyhAnide]

I wrote a story that takes place about 5300 years ago and ended up spending a year researching PIE family proto-languages, just to get the names to sound believable. It was intense.

[@nonametherabbit8593]

Easy as PIE, eh?

[@marichka-mulligan]

I remember this one time I named a character with what I assumed was an Irish name. It wasn't. I misremembered and gave him a nonexistent name, which unfortunately had already grown on me by the time I discovered that. So I added a passage of him resenting his name, saying that his parents misheard the name of the saint and so changed it drastically. Besides that, my world based on a bland of two cultures, so I usually try to reconstruct the phonetic changes a name could experience going from one phonetic system to another. The downside is that sometimes you are just going from Eoin back to Ivan and there's nothing you can do.

[@littlefox_100]

What was it

[@xxweirdofromspacexx1119]

Yeah what was the name?

[@1pusheen]

what was the name ?!?!?

[@vicenteantonionunez347]

Picking out names is one of my favorite parts of writing, though I get so unnecessarily stressed out about it 😂

[@necrowolf77]

I love naming my characters with eccentric or super unique names.

[@AliciaNyblade]

Awesome video! Naming my characters is one of my favorite parts of creating the story. I dive deep, too. For instance, in the novel I'm writing now, one of the antagonists is named Camille. That name comes from the Latin word "camillus", which means "temple servant" and thus will hint at who she was in a past life.

[@portella2509]

If you're contemporary character has a really old-fashioned name, and you don't want to change it, show us, or if it isn't the MC have them talk about, how their family works. Maybe their parents are older than the parents of the other characters. Maybe they were named after a grandfather or a great-grandfather. Just explain yourself somehow otherwise it will be just kind of awkward.

[@ulla7378]

On the other hand, it's not really that uncommon to have bit uncommon name. I usually as a reader don't bat an eye if the name is slightly too old or new (if it is something extremely off, like the name is something that was invented in 1900-> and you use it story set in antiquity, then yes). I've never met a person of my age with my name, most are 30 years older. That specific thing didn't really affect me in any way, and there wasn't any specific family member I was named after. It's just a thing. For all the thousands of babies named with the popular names, there are hundreds and tens of people named with not as popular names for their time, which quite often just ... does not affect them in anyway. That does not mean author can't do what you suggested, and it can give a character good background. I feel that authors, and those who write, tend to give names much more meaning and importance than average reader does. I do that too, agonize over names some times. But many readers are just "ehh, as long as I know who is being talked about".

[@zeryyyyy6835]

Oh no. I have already named my characters and am pretty fond of the names too. I always pick a name which I think fits tte character and sounds good. If I cannot pick a name I call them by a number and then go back when I have. I had a character called 23 for the first quarter of my book until I stumbles upon a name I thought sounded and felt right.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

All I can suggest is PLEASE, do not publish a character named, "23"... "House M.D." did some unscrupulous crap with character names, and as a direct result, I can't remember two actress's names for SH*T!!! One will ALWAYS be "13" to me... AND worse, there's one my mom still points out in shows, yelling, "There's Cutt-throat Bitch!" ;o)

[@AkiShiroi]

@@gnarthdarkanen7464 However, it was a character-based choice to keep their names as 13 and Cutthroat Bitch and that is because the series is about House (literally named after him) and he showed his usual disdain for others by naming them that and never bothering to learn their names. It's true to his character and its true to the nature of the series that House always gets his way. 13 never confronted him about her name but you could eventually see her be called by her name (that of course I can't remember but my sister is a die-hard fan and always remembers it and feels sorry for her) when she starts dating Foreman, which tells you that she is no longer just "13" for him and serves character development. You also almost never hear the first names of any of the other characters but you know their last names because they address each other in a formal fashion. House M.D., with all its fault, is an outstanding series written by amazingly talented people, if you don't remember a character's name you have to assume that a writer of that level has done it on purpose and ask yourself why, what does it tell you about the story. Cutthroat Bitch became Amber when she started dating Wilson, and the entire cast started mentioning her name a lot all of a sudden, and that is because House had acknowledged her as a serious threat and a worthy enemy that could make him lose the only person who actually loves him and who he likes. Since it is inspired (or a fanfiction, lol) on Sherlock Holmes and Watson's relationship, the relationship between House and Wilson is almost 50% of the story, and the ending was centered on that (speaking of name choices, do you see how the author kept the same initials as reference?). As soon as Cutthroat Bitch becomes Amber, a whole arc centered in her battle against House starts. She is literally a person to him now. If the story feels sloppy or very amateur, it is usually a mistake on the author's part. But that show is written with meticulous precision, the only issue I have with it is because I think eight seasons of watching House's stupid ass being stupid and an ass was too much, but every line, every camera angle, everything is polished and top-notch work. I've heard doctors who loved to get together on weekends in a Netflix-and-chill fashion and watch House to play the game of trying to guess the diagnosis before House could. The creator is not a doctor, but he put so much effort into honoring the profession and the fans that real doctors approve of it to that point. So, basically, House M.D. is a great series and when something is great it's important to respect the author's choices and give them the benefit of the doubt, and names must serve the story and the message you are trying to convey through the story, as long as you remember who 13 is and who Cutthroat Bitch is (if your mom remembers it's because it was pretty iconic), you don't need to remember that their names are (I googled it, of course) Remy Hadley and Amber Volakis. If for some insane reason you actually read al of this, sorry for the wall of text, I try to make sure I explain myself correctly and always end up writting too much.

[@zeryyyyy6835]

@@gnarthdarkanen7464 I would never ever do that. The minute I found the name I searched for all the 23's and replaced them with the name.

[@rileyackison4495]

Hahahahaha their faces come directly to mind when you say 13, and CTB

[@SUMMERSKlES]

Stop I do this 💀 I have a character named 5

[@Amberanimegirl]

If you get confused at names from multiple societies, then i guess the Avatar the Last Airbender universe will confuse you because they go all over, even make references to actual people and there own fandom. They one time named a nerdy character Otaku because most of the fans are otakus Lol I personally like using names that hint at something. Like my main character who has the power of fire, her name is Roxanne, which means "sunset" or "sunrise", can't remember. Another character who is able to take powers from other characters like Rogue from Xmen but not exactly the same way, i named her Teresa which means "to harvest". Or maybe an ironic name, like a guy with mind reading powers who uses them to cheat on tests at school and is emotionally immature the name Hubert, that name being ironic to the meaning which is "bright heart" or "bright mind". I also did this once by complete mistake but i am loving it, Roxanne, or Roxy, has another name people know her by, which is Rhea. Anyways, she has a boyfriend who is named Marc. Marc comes from the Roman God of Mars, who had a lover name Rhea-Silvia. Laughed really hard when i found that out accidentally. I just named Marc after an annoying kid from school originally Lol I like doing the extra research sometimes personally because its funny to find out where names come from. But i also study history and language at school, and it just seems to jell to learn the history of language for funsies.

[@AkiShiroi]

What you choose to do with names is an amazing thing because today's fandoms are crazy obsessive and you can bet they will be googling your character's names meanings and when they see Roxanne's they'd be like OMG SO COOL

[@synflwr]

All your main character wants to do is party all night

[@Mo-vu7jc]

I always thought I was pretty on-the-ball with naming my characters, but I never considered how the name affects the character in childhood. I knew that the name would say a lot about the parents and what the parents wanted for the kid, so that might have some impact, but it didn't occur to me to consider possible social problems during childhood that might impact a personality. Thank you!

[@Mo-vu7jc]

also, behindthename is an awesome awesome resource for first and surnames :)

[@ladycalathieloropherion]

Maybe it's a different Heracles You remember how all the girls were all named Brittany? And all the boys were Jason?

[@screechingbirbs6406]

This was very helpful, like usual thanks

[@soniaballada]

In my current WIP, I manipulate the names of people I know. The first step is to switch their initials. First initial become their last initial and vice versa. Then I try to make the character name resemble the name used for inspiration as much as possible. Using, of course, the same cultural bounds of the original name.

[@ravena1441]

I like that I was already doing a lot of this without thinking about it! I usually research origins and meanings of names whenever I stumble across a name that just *clicks* with the character. Unless I have a character name right of the bat (which rarely happens) I usually end up call my character something like Apple or Odd Eye (currently the name of one of my unnamed characters who I'm still trying to find the right name for), or something that relates to them in some way to identify them. Once I find the name, like I did for "Real Devil" last night with the name he picks for himself when he goes from being a sorcerer to what is essentially a minor god. I still have to work out what his birth name is, but for that I've got to stumble across the right name either accidentally or in a list of names from a certain origin. I also need to get an idea of sorcerer culture in my universe, and how that culture would influence what Real Devil's parents would name him. I am currently struggling with naming one of my main characters. Seonghwa is the perfect name for him, but his species is a species I've created, so it doesn't feel right using a Korean name when the gumihos will have Korean names. From what I could find, it means 'to be a star/to become a star' based on Park Seonghwa's name. Which fits this MC really well because his species believe they become stars after they die and they help guide the living through their lives. So, it would make sense for parents to name their kids something related to that. I don't want to come up with entirely fake names, so I'm stuck on what to do because I assume that with a made up species, that I should probably come up with a made-up naming system as well?

[@TomorrowWeLive]

I generally start with a surname or first name, and then pick a surname/first name that goes with it. Then, if they have a family, I pick their names based on the surname.

[@alainiskandar3472]

What I love about you videos other than that incredible content is your humor and you are legit a fun person to hear. I giggled many times as I was working out at the gym. The Alexa joke got me 🥲🤣

[@santanasg8445]

Names are one my FAVORITE things to branstorm about!

[@SpottedBananaPeel]

Everyone spells my first name wrong. It's a common one. KATHARINE. There are about 5 different ways to spell it. Also it's funny you brought up the name Emily. That's my middle name. Talk about plain names. Haha

[@xxweirdofromspacexx1119]

Me too, it’s “Marian” not “Marion” and it’s so annoying.

[@human9460]

Emily is my first name :) My mum took the inspiration from Emily Bronte and my parents didn´t know an Emily or parents who wanted to give their child our name. The name is not thaaat famous in Germany but I know around 3 other Emilys, one same age as me (19) and two younger. I think how pronouncable a name in different laguages plays a huuuge part.

[@delyseonduty]

Alexa, do you have any tips for giving a book a title? Some people seem to have a knack for names and titles, and others... Well, I’m one of the others. When I name my novels, they are often simple, one worded things that are flat and vague. Example: if I’m writing a novel around werewolves, I might name it Wolf. Wow. Titillating, I know. Haaaalp!

[@AkiShiroi]

Not Alexa, but I'll give my two cents because I suck /sucked at titles too. For titles I have two approaches, and most books, movies and so on follow these. (OMG I WROTE SO MUCH, I'M SO SORRY) 1) A spotlight title. This is something that marks with a clear emphasis the most important part of the story, not necessarily from a plot point of view because there's also the concept or the message. They are mostly things that make sense more toward the end of the book, especially in the climax, and usually the phrase is stated exactly like it is in the title. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" points exactly to the main plot, and the rest of the series follows the trend. You don't learn what the Philosopher's Stone is until near the end, so when you are reading and you see the title referenced, you immediately understand what is the main plot or point of the story. For another best-seller insanely popular book, "Fifty Shades of Grey", of which I know very little but it's a perfect and well-known example. This title is not said verbatim in the book, but almost, and it's a clever pun-metaphor but let's see the literary purpose. We are all aware of how toxic the relationship between Anastasia and Christian Grey is by now, and when the title is referenced, so are they. They are pretty much discussing their baggage and Christian turns his back on Anastasia and walks up to the window in that dramatic fashion romance novels love so much. He says "I'm fifty shades of fucked-up". And the readers go WOOOOOW and clap. The main point of the story: we'll take a nice tour through this asshole's damaged psyche, fasten your seatbelts. Oh, but he's more complex than it seems! Fifty shades are a lot of shades. You can also imagine the ending now, because if he's fucked-up now, the logical course of a romance novel would be that her love will eventually fix him. In Nolan's Batman, the first is "Batman Begins", it just states the plot: this will be a story about Batman's origin. In "The Dark Knight", that sentence is literally the last one, with a previous explanation of what it means. In "The Dark Knight Rises", you don't hear it stated like that, but when he is about to get out of the prison, climbing without the safety of the rope, embracing fear and basically learning the lesson, he asks a man what does the cheering of the other prisoners mean. And the man answers "Rise". I got goosebumps in the movie theatre and I get goosebumps every time I re-watch it. And I re-watch it a lot. For my stupid examples: One's called Stone by Stone, it's the story of a daughter growing up and escaping a very imprisoning family. She says it to herself in the climax, it becomes the climax, "This house is a prison that her mother built. Stone by stone." End of chapter, reader would ideally need to take a moment to process my genius (?) Another is called The One That Guards Ashes. It's the story of a secondary character, his name has that meaning. He is the dead best friend of the protagonist, who he admired because of the spark of goodness he had and who ends up becoming an evil son of a bitch. In the end, he sacrifices his life to save the protagonist from an awful situation that was destroying him, something the reader already knows because it has been stated in the prequels. He says he got his name because of a childhood incident when the other kids burnt his books and he kept the ashes, and he looks at the protagonist thinking that maybe today he is still guarding ashes. Because the protagonist is already broken (which he also said) and will become an evil son of a bitch anyway. So it puts the spotlight on the main point of the story, that his sacrifice was useless and that his personality revolved around trying to save something that is already burnt. The title of the series and of the last part is Caged and the last sentence of the story is "in the end, aren't we all caged?".It doesn't get any blunter than that, it's literally the point and it has been hinted a lot of times but never said that ALL the characters are helpless victims of their fate. Cheerful, I know. So, the title makes the reader say "hey, this must be important!" when the story references it but it also adds another piece of vital information. 2) An annotation title. This is not super opposite to the spotlight title. This time, it's something that is not stated verbatim in the story but that when you think of it, it makes the story make sense. Maybe even changes the meaning of the story! It could be ironic. Take "Sin City", which is a series about many stories and many characters. Why the title? Because the main point of the story is to tell the story of this city that happens to be a decadent mess. All the sub-stories are about corruption, murder, etc. Same happens with "Les Misérables", the story goes from one character to the other, then this one dies, then you have one more, and they also die, it's quite erratic. My sister pointed this out to me and said "I thought this movie was so scattered and then it hit me. The Miserables, literally. The movie/musical/book is about all people who are outcasts and the ending when they see each other in that sort of Heaven tells you that they are all the same and together. "House M.D." is another, you watch a sort of medical police story, but if you deviate from the title, you will get lost or confused. The story is named after the protagonist, the story is about Gregory House, who happens to be a doctor specialized in diagnosis, it's not about the cases, or the patients or the supporting characters, it's not about being cynical and human nature. It's about this particular character, HIS worldview, HIS ideology, HIS struggles, HIS friend, HIS boss, HIS subordinates. One of my stories is about the many stages of the protagonists' romantic relationship. It's an extremely toxic relationship because they are the villains and are pieces of shit, later it becomes really abusive (in the next part, actually). It ends with the stupid bitch asking the stupid bastard to never leave her and the stupid bastard swears dramatically that he will never leave her. Which is true, but you are already seeing all the shit that will eventually hit the fan and that promise makes you a bit uncomfortable. To complete the meaning of that part of the story I titled it "Happily Ever After". Yeaaaah, no. Lastly, if you are planning on selling the book you are working on, the title should be somewhat related to the genre. Better said, it should be appealing to the type of readers that you think will love it. My titles are all very dramatic and tragic, because I write for myself, and I think of which type of titles make me think a book is going to be poetic drama with tragic endings that make absolutely no one happy. You could browse books that are similar to yours, I find the genre division a bit confusing, but when I was researching to learn to write a blurb I ended up just searching for books similar to my writing preferences, and I could understand a lot better what I was supposed to do. I am so sorry for the lenght of my ramblings but while we wait for Alexa's input maybe something I say will make sense or help.

[@delyseonduty]

May Alex Thank you. Wow, that was not only informative but enjoyable to read. I really appreciate the feedback. Definitely opened my eyes! When you break everything down like that, it doesn’t seem like something so out of reach. Do you have any public works? I honestly, truly enjoyed your reply - that probably seems weird. I don’t know. Seems like you have a strong voice, and when it comes to reading I always get sucked in after I get a feel for the voice of the writer. Anyway, thank you again! I am screenshotting this gem of info.

[@zetjet9901]

Idk man. I’m writing a book called “Apollo & Clementine” and the main character is neither of those people.

[@krazily_kate100]

Same. Give me basic details and I can probably describe a world or form a backstory for you... But when you ask me for names? Sorry, bud. I got nothing.

[@junehanabi1756]

In response to 1:38 ~ My go to place is FantasyNameGenerator, despite the website name. It's not just fantasy at all, it has an extensive set of in-house generators for a ton of countries and places in the world present and past using real-life names. So you can go anywhere from a common male modern American name to a historical Welsh female name. The website has a vast range of other in-house generators for city names, boat names, lake names, school names, fictional names, etc...

[@fluffyspunsugar]

7:50 "-and one person's name is Bob." That's how I felt about the names in Dune. You have Jessica and Paul, and then you have a whole string of weird names that, if weren't for the movie, I'd never have known how to pronounce.

[@presleykeilani389]

I began writing and I feel inspired now :) I LOVE FANTASY NAMES I use Pinterest to get my names and their meanings 🤷‍♂️

[@dragonking184]

With fantasy (also any genre but easiest to explain with fantasy) you can use a characters name as easy foreshadowing. Let’s say that your main hero will gain some mystical fire power then give that character a name that deals with fire. Or if your story relies on a specific mythology or legend then giving a character a name that sounds similar to a hero or villain that is from that tale. In my case my MCU-esce series is loosely drawing from some events in Arthurian legend so I had my main characters last name be pendragon (named after uther and Arthur pendragon).

[@pippajackson3027]

2:40 was really insightful to me. I don’t think i ever thought about that for contemporary writing, but it makes sense. Once you’re writing fiction, it takes a lot to become completely absorbed in a story-at least i know, i feel author voice taking over quite easily -wondering about the thinking of the person writing the story instead of living and feeling the story as it happens. But then the book that IS able to completely suck you in deserves even more kudos... Irl, a lot of my friends have chosen their own English names. So it doesn’t even phase me to meet people whose names are “Blue,” “Snow,” and even “It.” (That last one ended up getting changed, fortunately:)

[@BonnieDragonKat]

Also mind that naming rule if your using Slavic inspired names because it has special naming rules for each sex.

[@RandyM403]

Why would anyone take a Masterclass when they could just listen to Alexa! I'm learning a bunch! Thanks for the excellent content.

[@rileyackison4495]

I just wrote up a character for a tabletop rpg and he is of Irish decent. His name is Sean MacGouren. The funny part is Sean is the Irish version of the name John and after doing some research I discovered that MacGouren has the Irish Gaelic word for Smith in it so my characters name translates to John Smith, one of the most commonly known American names ever. I made it as a little bit of a joke between myself my twin who is also playing and the gm.

[@Crockettgirl10]

Been working on a historic trilogy loosely based on my ancestors. The first book wasn't too hard name wise, but in the second that focuses on the second generation, there were children named after parents. I decided for sanity's sake to make nicknames, Louise became Lucy. Then I started the third book and not only were there kids named after parents, people married spouses with the same name as a sibling. I had 2 Elizabeth's and an Eliza--all with same surname. Took some creativity, but they are all distinct, period acceptable and pesonality applicable. Talk about work, thought!

[@daybreak_ofc]

Your videos help quite a lot, so thank you for these tips and everything. I'm 15 and trying to find my footing in the writing world. You're awesome!

[@cathiewatson7622]

Yay for the Welsh shoutout! I've been watching lots of your videos for a belated nanowrimo start and this is so helpful.

[@junehanabi1756]

In response to somewhere around 6:30 ~ Fantasy Name Generator, any fantasy name you can think of for like seemingly a hundred fantasy races or even entities.

[@spectacular2402]

Alexa mentioning Welsh twice in one video?! It's nice to know my li'l language isn't forgotten. Welsh vowels are great because we have 7 instead of English's 5. Depending where you are in the world one name can be pronounced in a different way. In Wales, Dylan isn't pronounced "Dil-un" as in English, it's "Dul-an". Naming characters always takes me a while. I'd been writing my current project for at least 3 months just using placeholder descriptors instead of names for my main characters. Once I did my research and played around with names I became attached to the names I'm currently using pretty quickly. Sometimes things just click :)

[@AlexaDonne]

Ha, I mention it so much b/c I've noticed a lot of fantasy writers loveeeeeee to crib from Welsh names (also Gaelic!), but not always successfully :P

[@spectacular2402]

@@AlexaDonne I've not been reading seriously for very long so I've not noticed that trend. That's interesting though! I'm super wary of books that are inspired by welsh history/mythology because I've seen it done so badly before.

[@julietbullen-dunbar7059]

I tend to pull from my own family names like you mentioned "the homage," but I do struggle over names. I have used the names of famous dead people in the story to give the story a time period. I enjoyed the video thank you.

[@elizabethanthony3916]

I use baby books too, especially for the meanings, I've been writing stories since I was 15, but have never tried to get anything published. I'm old now and life got in the way for too long. I discovered your channel only recently and watching your videos has inspired me anew! Subscribed 😊

[@TheElimmist]

One of my naming hacks is using puns. Like Arthur Young which came from Young, Arthur and then from young author which almost sounds like it. There's also Lola Aria Nashton which spells out her initials as LAN for a hacker character

[@Gerod253]

A great resource for names is the book Gary Gygax’s Book of Names. It’s out of print, but if you can find a copy it contains thousands of real world names organized by culture and time period. Male, female, and family names are covered as well as a brief explanation of how they work together. It doesn’t talk about the meaning of the names, however. Thank you for a fascinating video. I really enjoyed it, and got some wonderful ideas. Peace be with you!

[@khrystynakhrystal]

There's this website called behind the name, and it is literally the best. It has the etymology and history and usage, and popularity. There's also user submitted names, which are names submitted by users of the website. And the best part: the polls. Basically you can make a poll on like which name is better or what should the surname of your character can be, and they're really fun to vote on. There's also a surname and place name site, but the place name site has like 4 names on. The surname site isn't as good and the firstname site, but it has a lot of good names!

[@jacquelinedacre380]

I’m about to view this as I’m about to change the name of a protagonist. Maybe I won’t….but I want to say I love you Alexa Donne! Watched your Harsh words and agreed with all. Though I’ve had two books published there was still something I just wasn’t getting. Thanks to you, now I get it!! Such a relief. Thank you. Oh. Yes. It was summed up as “They don’t care!’

[@valasafantastic1055]

One dude in a world named Tyler is hilarious! A great choice for comedy. Speaking of which I've been watching your tips videos no mention of comedy... I feel like we have some different opinions and likes in books than each other (i love epic fantasy quests and magical creatures) yet your writing tips are still fantastic and helpful, thanks! Names are fascinating.

[@mythicalcreaturecomforts]

To be fair, I have a character named Ravenna who was born in 1992, but her mother was a Vampire born in the 1800's

[@theorosef]

One pair of character names I'm particularly proud of is Madeline Rose and Nox. Just by their names, you can tell how different they are, which is the goal! (Also, Nox chose their own name, which is why it's so funky.)

[@andrearidgeway939]

I first heard the name Alexa in a Christopher Pike book. I can't remember which one, but i loved it.

[@andginisin]

Also considering how characters interact in the story and what role they play can also generate some interesting choices. Dickens was a master at that

[@SteventheShoehanger]

Names for my characters just come to me, quickly. But, when necessary, I like to check the Ellis Island records. Using the records, you can find names based on culture/country.

[@TheEccentricRaven]

Good perspective! I also advise people, don't overthink it. Too many writers dwell on a name because they feel that they need something or with spazz like Indiana Jones. For me, naming a character is as easy as picking a name I already like.

[@saiyuriinuzuka6400]

I'm in the, "my characters all have 'unique' names"... Is that cliche or tropey? O.o

[@screechingbirbs6406]

Idk but that makes your book either very interesting or extremely confusing depending on how hard they are to pronounce. I have a fantasy novel that I’m writing and my characters have unusual names that are quite easy to pronounce and remember. What I’m saying is make your characters names memorable and unique enough for your readers to remember who they are but not too unique or confusing for the reader to not understand.

[@delyseonduty]

If it is cliche, I still love it ❤️ Don’t change

[@saiyuriinuzuka6400]

Oh yeah, her name is Juniper, but she goes by Juni. No one but her dad call her by Juniper.

[@delyseonduty]

Love it!

[@saiyuriinuzuka6400]

Oh gosh... I also have Reign and Serenity (Ren). All different stories, but my heroines have different names than is typical. I may need to change my hero's names some...

[@evelynkrull5268]

As someone with a really uncommon name (although it became more popular about 6 years ago) I respond to any name that sounds like mine. Emily, Emma, Elaine, Lynn, etc. Anything that starts with e or ends with Lynn I will assume you're talking to me. No one remembers my unusual name lol

[@spideyoclock]

I legit run your videos while I write/brainstorm cause it like etches into my brain. Also, you sound like a really nice person. 😌

[@beatricedorta9400]

I needed this so badly!!! XD

[@mariealice4850]

Me too. Just renamed two characters with sooo 1980 first name!

[@nereid149]

i have a trilogy i'm working rn that takes place in 2016, but instead of looking up popular names from the mid 2010's, i decided to add some special patterns in the characters names, so like the main character's name and his family are all named after places in america, and his best friend and her family's names all start with ka-, so i thought that would be a fun little detail to add lol-

[@sleepyqueenhadou3013]

I love using baby name sites, but in my most recent writing I found a name that that was beautiful (in my opinion) and it is Aristella which come from the Greek root for 'the best' and is the base for aristocrat.

[@beccawoo2650]

My maiden name is an old German one for someone who makes or sells parchment. I always thought it was pretty neat as I have always wanted to be a writer

[@ClassicKellyYT]

This is an incredibly informative video! Loved it!

[@damienluznicky8225]

I really like your videos, and they help me when I'm writing a lot!!

[@pineforest1442]

I actually do this a bit different. I like my character names to be nouns, verbs, and adjectives, so what I do is I write different things, and I place a personality to that name. It’s good practice for me. Shows how the name really coincides with the character, and what we expect them to say and how we expect them to act.

[@elisa8666]

Even though I’m Italian, I’ve never heard of the region you’ve mentioned, so interesting! Also, fun fact: your surname litterally means “women”, and it’s not popular at all here, or at least in the area where I live... names are such a beautiful topic

[@rileyackison4495]

Just a note. I’m 99% sure that Donne isn’t her real last name. She has mentioned that she use a pen name and that Alexa is her real first name. I think. I may be misremembering in which case please feel free to correct.

[@AmberZak83]

I’m a teacher, and kids I teach actually have my names I chose. My worry, though, is I have an Irish kid called Niamh (pronounced neeve). It’s a lovely Irish name. I have a student with the name Niamh (I came up with the name before I met her) but worried it’s going to be weird, especially for Americans.

[@myfisharmyisever-growing7393]

wow this video was so much fun. i love it when this channel gets nerdy

[@AGawesome8]

I’ve just stumbled across your amazing channel and you have significantly opened my eyes! I knew there was much to consider when delving into the world of writing, but you’ve provided a LOT of information that can be difficult to find anywhere else. Thank you! (also, I really needed that tough love video).

[@tiffanydoris3]

I am working on my character and I was really drawn to a particular name. When I looked it up I found out it has a meaning that matches up with who she becomes in the story. Now I just need to figure out what naming convention will work for her name to make sense amongst the other names I pick. It is a unisex name that is popular as a boy's name in the region I was considering using but it is a common name there. I have to try to figure out if it is ever used as a girl's name I guess if I want that naming convention.

[@englishnerd5580]

Good deep dive into names!

[@MidoriGaleart]

I like to choose names that their sound reflects the personality of the character. The bad part is it depends on the language which vocals and sounds are more strong or less common. As a spanish speaker, A (AH) and O (OH) are "louder" than E or I, my most TNT characters are Karen, Alicia or Clavel, kinda, and the soft and sweetest ones goes by Mizuno or Joshua. Funny fact, Joshua is not a common latino name, but, it is in a certain medium class from my country, the public where that story is directed. And, even when is a "soft" name, it has a whole profile attached to it in here, of strong willed young folks, sorta survivalistic in dangerous places of the city (2 years after launched the story it began to resonate with the objective public and is awesome)

[@kijekuyo9494]

Two notes: 1) For more-or-les contemporary English-language names, I read some advice in a baby names book. It usually sounds best if the first and last name don't have the same number of syllables and that the number of syllables differ by one. For example 3 and 2, 2 and 3, 1 and 2, etc. I've pretty much stuck to that, and it works well. 2) Readers actually see character names, and I feel like the appearance of the name in print can be important. I wrote a fantasy book that had names from a fictional language, and I used the appearance of the letters on the page to help define the character. I had one that was rather headstrong, dogmatic, and narrow-focused, and I called him Zokore. I liked the angular shapes of the Z and K, and the two Os. I also named a religious city Kijekuya because of the drop-down letters J and Y bracketing the tall letter K, which is repeated from the first K. I liked this name so much, I now use a modified version for one of my online names.

[@frauleina.5085]

Now i want to work on my idea that just has to wait a few more months. Daaaamn 😁 woderful content as always. Thank you

[@daniellewagner7140]

This is great advice!.. but now I’m insecure about my character’s names. Fifty fifty 😬

[@lucyamclarenauthor]

Ha, same 😬 oh well 😂

[@screamingattrees8422]

My system for making names is writing two columns of names that I like, and in the third column, combining the names.

[@junehanabi1756]

In response to 18:11 ~ Fantasy Name Generators that I've mentioned in 3 other comments on here and is absolutely not just fantasy but also historically accurate names from around the world also has a gender neutral generator for many (not all) generators. They've got alike a thousand generators and I'd say a good portion of them have the gender neutral option.

[@Marie_Garwood]

What a wonderful video full of great info! Thanks for sharing, Alexa!

[@markwolter1302]

Wow, this is so great! As always, awesome video, Alexa!

[@morganjones2744]

Wow. I do the samw thing. Well, most the time. I have multiple lists of names i like, each doc seperated by genre, and i chose names based on time period. But ivr never got to culture, or religion for most my names. Great video. Super helpful!

[@TheHalfblood.Studios]

In middle school when I started to really get into writing, I thought up a character named Jake Ransom and I was so excited, I drew pictures of him, had a whole vibe for him and his stories, I was ready to commit and get started on a potential series (ambitious for middle school, I know haha) but then I happened to Google it one day just in case and found out there was already a book series with the main character having that name! It was so heartbreaking, I had fallen in love with this character so MAYBE do that sooner than later...that'd be my advice with that particular point made in the video.

[@leech1355]

I gave both my main characters German names because I loved the sound of them and how they look on the page more than anything else, but my setting is heavily Japan-based and every other character has a Japanese name. It’s only the first draft but don’t do what I did and say “ah names don’t matter yet” because later down the line once you love your characters it will be painful to go back and switch their names haha

[@AkiShiroi]

Make up a reason for them to have those names. Like their great great great grandmother was German or whatever. It happens to me all the time with absolutely everything and I just sit down and think a list of reasons why this character would have that name, or that male in a female-dominated society would have so much power, or why the queen that was just a background character would be so apathetic and dead-inside. Like writing a mystery novel and working from the end and backward, it has never failed me and I do this with 99% of the story. Changing the names when you are already invested emotionally is soooo hard, but I assure you that the best sparks of originality in my stuff come from something I fucked up.

[@rebeccasperring1747]

I was so excited about this video and got to thinking about lord of the rings and how a lot of it had some inspiration from Nordic/Norse etc mythology....list of Nordic baby names revealed Gandalf means “an elf with a wand” MIND BLOWN!!!

[@99thJediWarrior]

I'm a fellow Ravenclaw too! 🦅🦅🦅 Also, I tend to look up names when I'm thinking of characters, as well. I know for a fact that alot of the names I have for characters have meanings behind them. There's always some meaning behind someone's name and there may be more than one meaning. And somehow, your character has to embody that name in some way.

[@CiaLaVirago]

One of my OCs is named after an Amazon queen because one of her mothers teaches ancient literature at university and she adores greek culture

[@cifge_404]

In my current work, Blake comes from a group of kids who weren't given names, so they just chose names for themselves that sounded good to them, so if I just _decide_ to meet a character from that same group it's just a matter of picking a name that someone with very limited outside-world experience would like the sound of. Other times I just know the character's name as soon as they come to mind (like Lennie, who was sort of inspired by a popstar lol), and if I don't I'll often know what sort of name I want them to have. Name meanings tend to matter a lot if I don't have a name already.

[@1MKWilliams]

I don't have any hard and fast rules on names, but I try my best to avoid the top 10 popular baby names from the past decade. I want my characters to stand out and for their names to mean something. However, Alexa makes a great point with focusing on the genre. If I wrote historical fiction I would probably pick form the top 10 popular baby names of that decade.

[@paulapoetry]

Great video. I also love naming characters, and regularly use baby name sites, as a resource. And yes, I do Google first and last name combos too, for the same reason as you. 😃💝

[@christinarenna7074]

I died when you mentioned the name Hannah Smith because that's the exact name of one of my characters.😂 I wanted her to have a super common name but now I'm wondering if I should change it.🤔

[@sanablue]

I have a character who has a slightly unusal name that's not completely exotic but rather not common in the place she lives. And since she's been little only her parents and her grandma have called her that so that now only they are allowed to still use it while she basically forces everyone else to just use her nickname (a short form of the name). Hearing her full, real name from someone other than her family makes her uncomfortable. And idk if this is the reason, but I, too, don't like my full name like at all. I let my parents use it and my coworkers (mainly because it's so awkward to come up with a nickname after everyone just got used to your name) but I hate it when my friends use it and I'd never willingly tell it to anyone online. So I guess what I wanted to say with all this was: think about how people think about their own names. If you want your character to have a special and unusual name, consider that they may love or hate that name and that they may want to be called by a nickname or something else, especially if the real name is very long. And also consider that not everyone react the same way towards that. Parents may not be happy when their child tells them they hate the name (I did that when I was younger, I'm so sorry Mum!) and people who've known them for a very long time may just be so used to the name that it's harder for them to accept the nickname. And of course, many people will simply not know about the real name OR the nickname (e.g. when they only see the name on official documents or on like the passport).

[@Crosshair_is_Pookie]

5:08 Yeah I have to agree with that because 1. In America you would say, Harry Henry or Harrison, but in Russian, those names would sound like Ga-ri, G-en-ri, or Gar-i-sn. 2. In America Last names stay the same Emily White, Jack White, Emily, and Jack White but in Russian, you would change the ending for example Emily Sokolova, Jack Sokolov, Emily, and Jack Socolovi.

[@paulciampo2104]

I like listening to you. Reminds me of someone.

[@jessicagrzado8664]

I love it when you go 201 on your channel!

[@juliagane317]

This is amazing my starting a new draft and my main characters name is literally Main...I needed this. Thanks

[@AucklandNZ1]

I just pick a name up out of the air - but perhaps that's not the best thing to do - however, I did go to the right year to check the names - so I'm doing it right.

[@eyestotheskies]

I had a Doctor Erin Kerr in one of my stories. Googled it. There is literally a doctor Erin kerr in real life lol 😂

[@sydneyhanamore]

Before I read either, I was so confused about the characters Cassian and Casteel from Acotar and From Blood and Ash. They’re fan bases are basically the same and I never understood what book people were talking about

[@elizalagonia1049]

With my current project my outline has character names that I changed when I started writing because they started with the same letter. At one point I had an Amy, Amanda, and Abby along with a Jamie, Joan, and Jeff. I switch Joan to Beth, Abby to Jordan, and Amanda to Audrey. If I have a scene with two characters with a name with the same first letter I make a character sandwich. My character's Casey and Sam are put in between characters with the same first letter.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

Great video on an often overlooked subject! I might suggest (cautiously) that one keeps a "running document" of general purpose naming work, just a basic series of lists for firsts, middles, lasts... and whether there's any gender bias or concern (weight?) to them intentionally... I've done this for years, since I got REALLY REALLY tired of sitting there with plenty of thoughts swirling around my mind for the story and not a damn thing to do with a name... It seems that it's always sometime later and someplace else I think of some GREAT character names... they roll right out there and feel/taste/sound perfect for the imagery I've developed for characters... OR would make a delicious fit with something I've worked on... ...EXCEPT, the damn paper isn't right there to write it down, and by the time I get back to where I could "make changes"... It's gone! Okay, most of the time, I can actually remember it longer and make changes. The exceptions come in RPG's when I've already introduced the Character, so that's all over... OR the work I would intend the change upon is "already turned in". SO I just found a clean (enough) section of a notebook or pad I could carry around. It's for "naming work" where I can pick up an idea, scratch a few notes, make a new name... whatever... AND keep it for later scrutiny. AND in those critical moments when I'm "without inspiration" to name a character, I can LOOK at something to help. I have guidance in the form of "earlier inspirations" where I can pluck a few words, monkey with it a bit, and slap a new moniker on a Character so the story can move on. It's like some kind of miracle... AND the group at the gaming table still gets to endure the occasional PC named something or other Sheitzkubel, but at least it's intentional. (You can get it unscrambled from German, so have fun...) ;o)