How to create STRONG character names | Writers Start Here

[@dillonlong5596]

I'm convinced you're just using this channel to soft launch your rap career.

[@Writing-Theory]

Exposed

[@jaredjenkins1310]

Drake’s been real quit since it dropped.

[@AathielVaDaath]

Remember when it seemed nearly every KZbinr was doing that? Pepperidge Farm and all that

[@Pulchra902]

I knew it! He needs to go on tour one day or i'm gonna explode

[@joela5136]

You mean like Wang woo John fong Etc lol

[@kjlucky6501]

I typically throw 5-7 metal pipes down a set of stairs and name my characters off the sound that makes

[@upg5147]

Add or subtract pipes on the characters relevance to the story, obviously.

[@growingoaks]

Chinese names incoming

[@Gwestytears]

Clang

[@shhinysilver1720]

It is I! Clang-ching the goblin, barbarian leader of the bonkclatter tribe!

[@CitruKori]

I think bilbo baggins was named like this

[@an683ok9]

I love it when authors be like: "Q'äe'vïn'n, it's pronounced Kevin" 😂

[@raeoverhere923]

My coworkers and I made a game out of spelling names as ridiculously as we could in our downtime; Qeighttlihne is Caitlin, for instance. When I worked as a cake decorator, I did get a really crazy Mackenzie: Mykkeinzzy.

[@CodeNameX001]

I once knew someone in real life named "Karizmah"

[@emeralddraegon]

​@@raeoverhere923This game sounds awesome. I want to try it with my friends now. And oddly enough my friend that would be great at it is named Caitlin! 😂😆

[@Igettoosillysometimes]

Sounds more like quevilin lo me

[@shakukon-to]

That's just Goidelic languages (I'm sorry Ireland and Scotland)

[@SOBEKCrocodileGod]

Two things I just wanna say: 1. “Kat” is one of the most overused names ever. Especially for characters who are meant to be somewhat rebellious 2. You can name a character “Alice” WITHOUT TRYING TO SHOEHORN IN ALICE IN WONDERLAND REFERENCES AND PARALLELS AND METAPHORS. Y’all know it was a name before that book, right?

[@uboa8060]

Ah, but Alice in wonderland is just fun

[@SOBEKCrocodileGod]

@@uboa8060 it is. But not every character named Alice needs to be some sort of reference to it lol

[@alicedodobirb2808]

I like the second name

[@poxie2637]

also "Luna".... ive seen so many yt channels that keep using that name far too many times, i kinda just expect that if i stumble on a kids channel they are very likely to use Luna in some form. 😂

[@TheSimpleMan454]

I hardly ever see Kat anymore. The bad ones are Raven, some variation of Alice or Victoria that isn't Alice or Victoria (swear I saw a Vyktorea recently, and binned the draft almost immediately before I felt a little bad, and decided to just bleed on it instead.), and Luna...

[@KarenSDR]

My workplace once hired a motivational speaker whose name was, I kid you not, "Ben Dover." I thought "This has to be a joke," but no one ever made any reference to it or even cracked a smile.

[@cosmicprison9819]

I know that name from some Scandinavian series, where the kids had a bus for the trip they were doing for their final year of school, and they called it the “Ben Dover Express”. Giving you a hint of what they were planning to do on that bus…

[@Jaredskoll]

When I worked in a call center I got a guy calling me called B.J. Cave lol

[@Danahell]

I once applied for a job and the guy who interviewed me was literally called Peter Griffin. I really struggled to not make any sort of reference to Family Guy

[@Fermin-hw5pd]

​@@Danahell "I thank you for not making any funny references to my name, I know that takes restraint from people"

[@denisl2760]

I had a coworker with a last name Dover, we tried to convince him to name his son Ben, he was on board but his wife vetoed it.

[@nightcatssketchbook]

The way I’ve named all my characters is giving them the first one that comes to mind and calling it a “placeholder” that “I’ll definitely change later” (it hasn’t changed in 6 years)

[@nicolewolfcry7408]

yep... Kyera was suppose to be a place holder. nearly 700 pages and 2 books later... shes still Kyera Shade of the Moon. lol

[@Fleta_Maughner]

I'm having a "Lancelot" as a placeholder, it's so goofy i need to change it 😭

[@vespernight4236]

Thats me with giving my characters edgy names at 16 and being too attached to rename them years later (I've fixed one name by saying that the characters mom named her with a 'special' spelling and instead spells her name the 'proper' way bc she doesnt care enough about the 'significance' of her name to bother correcting people) Idk how to fix naming a character Icarus tho, unless I force the Greek myth into a fantasy world where Greece doesn't exist 😢 still I like the name even if it doesn't line up with the character too much.

[@ray-ze8vf]

@@Fleta_Maughner its ok bro.. i have bob poutine as a placeholder rn for a canadian dude... hopefully i dont become attached to it

[@LordCollin72]

Me too! Pick an average placeholder name, and then it grows on you like fungus.

[@shhinysilver1720]

Whatever you do, don’t name a disabled person “Abel walker”

[@strixfiremind]

Why? Some of us are. Specifically don't give that name to someone who can't walk, but a guy with one arm named Abel Walker would be hilarious; because at least he has that much.

[@Krieg8418]

No. Do it. It'll be hilarious.

[@Dalek59862]

​@@strixfiremind guy with no arms named Abel Walker.

[@strixfiremind]

@Dalek59862 "don't piss Abel off, he can't punch you, but he'll walk all over you!!"

[@Dalek59862]

@@strixfiremind his dropkicks kill gods

[@kasagure.]

i'm sorry, but nothing will ever top the perfection of Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way

[@Artist_of_Imagination]

Ah shit, nostalgia

[@ManubibiWalsh]

QUEEN

[@becauseican4653]

👌👌👌👌👌👌👌

[@saanvi3399]

Could sb tell what this is about? I read this in a bnha fanfic

[@ManubibiWalsh]

@@saanvi3399 it’s a name from a fanfic that was written to be bad and troll “edgy” writer types. It’s called “My Immortal”, and we still know nothing about the author lol

[@mayagonzalez7545]

Personally my favorite fictional character name is Tony Hawk

[@apileofbacon]

I wish Tony Hawk was real 😞

[@stormveil]

Is he related to Antony Hawk? 😂

[@cuckoobrain7999]

That's good. I'll use that thankyou

[@ironiccookies2320]

What about John Cena? Everybody keeps talking about that guy but I can't ever see him

[@dannymcgroovell4993]

Nobody seems to remember his brother Mike...

[@isa-belva]

i stay and watch the credits of almost every movie/tv show i watch to steal real people's names

[@Writing-Theory]

I love this

[@calicohusky]

wait that's so smart I'm gonna start doing this

[@Gosuto444]

lmaoo i do this too sometimes, i found a few cool names thanks to it

[@ladykayla7417]

I used to trawl the “white pages” (domestic landline telephone book).

[@rachaelbirch9303]

I really like this!

[@joshuajarret6907]

No writer will ever beat the incredible naming that gave us Karl Carl from Phineas and Ferb

[@Writing-Theory]

Truly a name we can all aspire to!

[@JS-hd5uy]

@@Writing-Theory And Phineas and Ferb aren’t bad either. Btw, since this is the first time I’ve stumbled on any Writing Theory vids, and since if it was mentioned in there I missed it amidst all the others… what’s your name?

[@ARCtheCartoonMaster]

Or Tweek Tweak from _South Park._

[@Maerahn]

Often its not just what a character's name is, but what version of that name the character prefers to go with that speaks volumes about their character. It's very common for characters who prefer to use the version of their name with a 'y' or 'ie' sound at the end to do so because they want to be perceived as younger and more 'fun,' (Danny/Danni, Billy, Robbie,) for those who prefer the shortest version to be seen as mature and no-nonsense (Dan, Bill, Rob) and those who prefer the full, formal version to want people to see them as more serious and intellectual (Daniel/Danielle, William, Robert.)

[@Writing-Theory]

Great tip here! This is a great takeaway. Thanks for sharing it :)

[@strixfiremind]

There's also how one introduces themselves, verses the name everyone gives them. I always introduce myself as Phillip - I have *never* been called that. Always Phil; but as a guy who exists to perpetuate fun (the Forever GameMaster) people immediately go for the shorter, more fun version of the name. Also doesn't help I'm a goofball

[@IsaacMyers1]

@@strixfiremindMy grandad was named philip. So, personally, I would probably default to the full version if I met someone like you, because it has strong enough goofball context for me. besides that I think the even more goofball nickname was Lip. Phil always felt more serious than philip to me, but perhaps I am the outlier.

[@alguienrandom742]

I had a character who went by his last name, so whenever another character called him by his first name you knew they had beef

[@hsunfish]

​@@alguienrandom742this. Not so much this specific thing, although it is a good use of it. I've found it's a more serious, or formal type of introduction, especially used within certain workplaces or professions. For example, a character of mine who is a retired war veteran.

[@coralhayward7350]

Ok but Peeta is a variant of Peter which means Rock. Pita is a kind of bread.

[@suppotato1235]

Fr. I never would have noticed the pun if he hadn’t have pointed it out.

[@sisyphusmarble8460]

It can be both

[@justsomejerseydevilwithint4606]

Peeta the baker

[@LeoMark-q6y]

Yeah those aren't pronounced the same I'm pretty sure

[@marioalbertomoreno3819]

And let's not forget Peta xD

[@Fabulist]

The names in The Hunger Games of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Wotshisface (I forget what it is) was a reaction to every making dumb portmanteau names of couples. “Bennifer” and all that. When you do that with those names, you get either Katpee or Penis. It’s kind of a brilliant meta-commentary on society in a book that’s a commentary on society.

[@keithparker1346]

Interesting

[@hodgeelmwood8677]

Katniss is actually the name of a plant.

[@redline841]

That guy from Zathura

[@TikiArtdog-eq1rz]

I don't know if that was intentional, but there are so many things in that series that just has so many levels.

[@BlipInTheCode]

It'd be funny to give the side characters the most hardcore and amazing names possible and then the main character's name is just Guy

[@JishinimaTidehoshi]

In The Road, the main characters are just named Man and Boy

[@Anat20081]

Guy is a real name in Hebrew

[@Lala-g4p]

​@@Anat20081it's a real name in english too

[@nugget1044]

is that a reference to free guy?

[@Mr_Leo_DS]

Guy McPerson

[@Cotfi2]

I've been cheating my language learning. I run a D&D game where my NPCs are named for relevant vocabulary I'm trying to learn. So, the lich in the library is named Toshokan the Learned. It felt silly at first, but then I watched Frieren and felt totally justified.

[@monroerobbins7551]

Dude, that’s so dope, and makes so much sense!

[@elhazthorn918]

Noooo, that's my biggest pet peeve! Calling your dog "Perro" is just calling your dog "Dog" with extra steps!

[@odinlindeberg4624]

Wait, Frieren actually does get her name from the Norwegian word for suitor???

[@odinlindeberg4624]

Apparently it comes from the German word for freezing... 😢

[@LaSneky]

​@@elhazthorn918 Perrito then :3

[@mr._.mav792]

A lot of my characters names are inspired by the names of pets that I encounter at my job in a vet clinic lol

[@Writing-Theory]

Big fan of this method 😂

[@mr._.mav792]

@@Writing-Theory it works quite well actually! My process is to pool together the surnames of the clients (to avoid taking a pet's name 1:1) and then I tune the name to be fit for a human and match the vibes of both the character and the pet. For instance, there was once a cat at the clinic named Loki who, contrary to his sly and conniving name, was basically a feline Sam Elliot. That imagery perfectly matched a character I was forming for a Western writing project in school. So, I thought "what kind of name could I derive from 'Loki' that conveys a stalwart, Western style soldier. Well Loki was a cat, cats are related to Lions, which is how I landed on the name Lionel. I then paired it with another client's last name, which resulted in my character Col. Lionel Speece. That was years ago but I'm incredibly proud of it to this day

[@doggycatalan]

Dogs with human names are the best: Charlie, Buck, Annie, Apollo, how could you not love names like that?

[@scb-z9u]

This is also how parents often name kids, so that kinda works....

[@momosanpeach]

Curious what you would do with the name Booplesnoot then...

[@ericdutton6743]

Robert Jordan used a telephone book when writing The Wheel of Time. He would randomly open the book and slap his finger down and then slightly mutate the name. Rand al'Thor was Randall Thorsen.

[@meatkirbo]

Yes! Always slightly mutate. Alter it until it sounds just right, like tuning an instrument

[@IsaacMyers1]

I thought he was wrong when he said rand is close to randy. I was like his name is clearly randal thor but modified.

[@andrewspears8891]

For my RPG character names, it's usually generated via generating dozens in a name generator and eventually pick or modify one I like.

[@lorddashdonalddappington2653]

Ah yes, the Lion El'Johnson method

[@claire4jj468]

That's a brilliant idea but where do I iget a telephhone book in these days?

[@Grenchify]

The kiki/bouba effect is another good naming practice. Basically auditory character design. People were shown 2 shapes, one a bunch of spikes and the other a rounded blob, and asked which one was kiki and which one was bouba. Vast majority named the spiky shape kiki and the round shape bouba. It’s a great example of how we associate sounds with visuals and traits. We can do the same experiment with characters instead of shapes. Character 1 is lean and thin, clever, and quick. Character 2 is hulking, fat, quiet, and gentle. Kiki feels better for 1, bouba feels better for 2. They can be switched for subversion too. Personally, I like this method for stories that use modern American naming more than using names with meanings that align with the personality. It’s less on the nose. Also for stories where I haven’t decided on cultural naming practices.

[@Writing-Theory]

Wow, the Kiki/Bouba thing is a GREAT point!! I wish it had crossed my mind when making this video because there is something to be said for why some names feel “right” and others don’t. Great connection there and something that I’ll keep thinking about moving forward. 10/10 comment

[@Grenchify]

@@Writing-Theory thank you!! I’m a writer who does art as a hobby. I love packing character design into everything, it’s fun for me to do. Naming is just another facet we can use!

[@dytamic]

i literally have two characters who ARE kiki and bouba, what now liberal

[@doodlehq7722]

I kinda do this except I make the name first and make the design fit after...

[@intellectually_lazy]

sometimes for antagonists, i borrow parts of names of people i don't like

[@haneulc.7244]

LMAO I’M STEALING THIS

[@Maryannhowto]

Perfect

[@Thepeanutcollector]

MUAHAHAHAAH

[@CaptainKillroy]

Same

[@maki85107]

Ah yes, a Mary Lee Walsh

[@sparksdog8111]

"Fonda Bois...that's not gonna age well," is easily an s-tier opening joke. Great video, as well, but you stole my attention with the opener.

[@Writing-Theory]

I’ll wear this comment like a badge of honor

[@growingoaks]

@@Writing-Theory print it out and put it in a button to most effectively wear this comment 😂

[@austinedeclan10]

Fonda Boyce

[@danielwesley5051]

That’s quite a reason to marry early, though Fonda anything is pretty rough.

[@sahilrahman5066]

"Sorry mister Janus" "How many times do i have to tell you to call me Hugh" Hugh Janus most people missed the last one

[@Behold-my-brainworms]

21:29 fun note here- atreides isn’t just a fun fantasy name, it’s a reference to Greek mythology! The atreides were the sons of Atreus, Menelaus and Agamemnon, and their family is famously incredibly cursed. I mean, they managed to get their entire bloodline cursed multiple times. I’m not just pointing this out to “uhm actually ☝️🤓”, but because I think historical and mythological references are another amazing tool- especially in fantasy and sci fi, where you can get away with stranger and more archaic names and it provides a bit more depth and context (plus a fun reference for nerds like me lol)

[@sethd.8381]

When you use that phrase you're supposed to say "Uhm, actually ☝️🤓" instead of "I'm actually 🤓", Edit: you actually fixed the typo. This was just a silly comment. You have my upmost respect. 👑

[@Behold-my-brainworms]

@@sethd.8381 shhhhhhhh what typo

[@intellectually_lazy]

ja, aside from having known that already, it says so in one of herbert's 6

[@intellectually_lazy]

@@sethd.8381um, actually, you forgot to preface that with um actually

[@Hydro0223]

Yeah the Greek mythology fan in me perked when he said fantastical. Like sir they explain this in the book and I believe the movie.

[@gustavonomegrande]

Toriyama: what name should I give to a prince... * Looks at his salad * ah, that should do it.

[@rivy-lurk-869]

Hmmm, what should I name this Alien Overlord? *looks at his fridge* PERFECT

[@intellectually_lazy]

is that how allah came up with the name saladin?

[@DOG_EATER_1887]

​@@rivy-lurk-869"FREEZER! IT'S PERFECT!"

[@RokuroCarisu]

​@@rivy-lurk-869 Now, what should his minions be called? *opens the fridge*

[@TheDarkestMarcus]

Hmmm, but what should I name his home planet? 🤔🤔🤔

[@DwynTwo]

I think Kaz Brekker is one of the coolest names I've read in fiction and I can't even put my finger on why. The fact that his actual name is Kaz Rietveld and he chose the name "Brekker" after losing his whole family when he saw that word written out on some machinery makes it even better to me.

[@RedOctober_]

Shadow and Bone?

[@DwynTwo]

@@RedOctober_ Yeah, but the books are way better!

[@novasparrow4210]

Leigh Bardugo's characters really have cool names.

[@nawarb.4226]

I once chose the name Lorelei for a villain who's compared to a siren, and I only later found out there's a famous folktale about a siren with that exact name

[@trigger7ff6]

i have a character whose name is essentially an archaic version of a more common modern-day east asian name, and so far nobody has pronounced her name right. this is relevant, because the reason she has *that spelling* of her name is because the person in charge of legally noting her name down misheard her several times and she decided to just go with it.

[@blazerchocobo]

Which is something anagraphic offices used to do a lot (or just regular clerical errors): my mother and my maternal aunt have different *surnames* because of this.

[@charles_capet321]

@@blazerchocoboI’m kinda curious which language this is an the character’s name

[@blazerchocobo]

@@charles_capet321 I'm Italian. It's not a character, but my real life aunt, so I won't reveal the name for the sake of my own privacy.

[@percivalyracanth1528]

I guess you could say, that guy said her name Wong *bdumtss*

[@trigger7ff6]

@@blazerchocobo same with my paternal grandparents, as far as i know! thats how i got the idea :p

[@FuraFaolox]

i don't have one way i name characters sometimes i'll pick names that are popular in that time period sometimes i'll pick names that have meanings related to their character and story sometimes i just put nice sounds together

[@spacecowboy5486]

Sometimes I just take German words and swap a few letters. Works like a charm

[@Mikescool444]

One set of characters get regular names, the others get gimmick-pun-half-names.

[@AsterWi]

and make sure the nice sounds don’t mean something awful

[@jenniferpearce1052]

@@AsterWi But in what language does it mean something awful? My mom worked with a guy whose name is Dung. Sounds terrible in English but I'm sure his parents weren't planning on him living and working in and English speaking place. They may not have known any English.

[@QuasarBuasarEeveeTheUziFan]

Sometimes I combine two halves of Japanese words and remove the last letter of the other half. (I only did that once.)

[@ithinkflutterawesome6511]

Not joking when I say my main character changed names FIVE TIMES. It was so hard to find something that fit the aesthetic, their cultural background, and felt right for their personality. Literally every other character changed names once, max.

[@Writing-Theory]

Honestly, maybe that should be more common! Characters evolve over the drafting and editing process, why can’t their names?

[@jeffanderson8165]

I've got something brewing right now where I had to rename nearly half the characters as well. When it wasn't serious, I had fun with all the (early) characters having first names starting with the letter "J," but found that the central hero, Jason, and a very peripheral character, Justin, were so close that I expected any reader (?) might get confused. Then there were the two lead female characters, Jessie and Jenny, who despite being sisters were as different as chalk and cheese...

[@nyx6903]

Definitely relate to this, my main character is the 14th iteration of a character I first made when I was about 5/6. Name changing can be a great thing 😂 (the original name will never see the light of day)

[@Lvmindere]

There's one character that went from Ultra, to Zealot, then Fanael, then got a nickname of Foral. Ultra was just my username at the time, it was a uncreative name. Zealot did not mean something similar to Jealous, like I had assumed, English betrayed me. Fanael was just sounds that sounded good together; it could've alternatively been written as Fanale, if it were pronounce like how a English speaker would read it, /fan-ail/; however, I read it with Russian phonetics, so it's pronounced /Fan-a-yel/; it's not too different. Then, the nickname, Foral, is fine to read as "floral" without the "l". That's not a conventional name, so it makes sense to get marked as a misspelling; but a different character, Harlie, keeps getting marked as a misspelling of Charlie. Harlie is a name that regular people use; there's even the popular character, Harlie Quinn. It doesn't make sense for that to happen.

[@saeorwss1670]

​@@Lvmindere pretty sure it's Harley that's a common name and not Harlie, it's definitely Harley Quinn too

[@KanaHyoshi]

* *Looks down at paper* * Sorry, boys. I'm renaming you Hugh Janus and Xavier Benedict respectively.

[@Writing-Theory]

Oh no what have I unleashed

[@lisafish1449]

I absolutely will name a character after their occupation or where they are from in an early medieval setting.

[@keithparker1346]

It's historically accurate

[@christopherhuang9501]

"Short name, 4 or 5 letter last name" ... surprised you didn't call out James Bond. (Or was it so flat that I missed it?) Then again, "James Bond" was specifically chosen because Fleming thought it was a boring name ... the sort of name a spy might use to escape attention.

[@sahilrahman5066]

It's ironic that now it's the most well know name someone would use

[@jeffanderson8165]

My understanding was that Ian Fleming had a botany book on his shelf (he enjoyed gardening and was quite fond of some flowers) written by a botanist named James Bond. On a lark, he got ahold of the author and asked his permission to name his new spy character after him. Bond allegedly said that he was okay with it, if Fleming was okay if he (Bond) had permission to name a new flower after him.

[@intellectually_lazy]

@@sahilrahman5066 i have a character, kinda a spy, more of a ceo, who is obsessed with spies, and when he's undercover in his own company uses chopped up spy aliases, like james steed (a combo of james bond and john steed)

[@intellectually_lazy]

@@jeffanderson8165 why not? monty python was some rando from the phone book, and cleese and chapman and the boys never told him. that was the point. he has a show named after him and he doesn't know it

[@franohmsford7548]

Then why pick out Jason Bourne which is 1) not the character's real name. 2) chosen specifically for that very reason - a standard name! - I understand calling out Jack Ryan because Jack {and John} were ridiculously overused in fiction for a long time.

[@keithprice3369]

I'm probably 70% with you on this. I say this as a reader, not yet a published author. Example from the 30%. Jason Bourne worked for me. He was literally reborn into a new person. He was carried or transported into his new life. There's a connection to resilience and strength. I also don't think every name has to have a deeper meaning. Sometimes it's sufficient to be memorable and to roll off the tongue. And let's take your Luca Scott example. Sure, YOU did some research and found a connection between shield and scut, but does that translate to the reader? I doubt it. To the average reader, that's no more significant than your dig at Reacher.

[@IsaacMyers1]

besides, Reacher always worked for me because it evokes the word “preacher”, which really fits IMHO

[@Circurose]

Reacher is funny in context because the book literally makes a joke about his height and his ability to "reach" in a fight.

[@SysterYster]

I haven't seen/read the Bourne series. But, was he given that name after he was reborn, or before? If it was after, I'd say it's an okay name. If he had the name before it happened, naaah, that's dumb. :p Unless there's magic and foresight and stuff involved.

[@keithprice3369]

@@SysterYster Yes. He was a soldier named David Web and was given a new identity. But then he lost his memory and only knew his new name.

[@petrfedor1851]

And there Are Always some unintentional conections for some readers. For example Luca evoke last universal common ancestor.

[@StarlasAiko]

My character is named Alexander Alfons Alliteration. Went to school with Peter Parker, Otto Octavian, Reed Richards, Doris Day, Al Adin, Howard Bowie (goes by Howie), Clara Clayton and James Jonah Jameson.

[@doctorkiro]

James Jonah Jameson Junior

[@sammysandy]

Triple A battery type name for the first one

[@AsuraSantosha]

James Jonah Jameson Jingeheimer-Schmidt

[@_phreest]

god i love marvel names like Peter parker, Reed richards, Scott summers, Wade wilson

[@jessiehermit9503]

But that's assonance? Not alliteration.

[@Farmynator]

I completely lost it at Harry Hole, Harry Hole HARRY HOLE. 😂

[@TurtleMarcus]

I just want it out there that Philip K. Dick once named a main character "Horselover Fat", which is the literal translation of his own name into English (from Greek and German, respectively).

[@Writing-Theory]

This would be like me writing a character named Son of Car. Sounds like a barbarian to me

[@kendlerkendler2667]

Something I learned from One Piece is how nicknames can teach you about the one giving them. For example, Luffy, the MC and pirate captain, never calls people he doesn't consider family by their names. He always gives them nicknames (usually based on their looks), because he can't be bothered to remember anyone's name. It's honestly kinda funny. But the author built on that by later introducing a new character (I won't say her name because it's actually spoilers), and she also gives nicknames in a similar fashion to how Luffy does it (superficial, basic character traits like "long nose"). She joins Luffy's crew, but still only calls them by their nicknames. That is because she keeps everyone at arm's length, scared to get attached and form a meaningful connection. Only after a significant event where she learned she can fully trust her crew, does she start referring to them all by their real names. She usually still calls other people outside of the crew by nicknames, because she mostly doesn't care about them enough.

[@justguy-4630]

Is it a spoiler? It's been a while.

[@elongatedsedation324]

I've always been a big believer that she is literally Luffy's sister in essence. They are literally on the exact same mental wavelength.

[@itoibo4208]

and luff is a sailing term

[@blackraptor1154]

Bro the story’s 1000 issues long by the time I get to whoever you’re talking about (probably Robin) I’m gonna forget

[@kellwillsen]

Honestly, I assumed that Peeta was named for being a like a rock -- both in the sense of giving Katniss some stability, and in the sense of "dragging" at her at times. The connection to pitta bread never occurred to me. Then again, I pronounce the bread with a short 'i', and Peeta with a long 'i' sound. Like, I wouldn't consider a blacksmith's daughter called Stella to be any kind of attempt at "steel". Also, John Rebus is not a meaningless name. A "rebus" is a puzzle, and John Rebus is a detective.

[@intergalactic92]

Same. It felt like a weird thing to get hung up on.

[@franz.francisco]

You pronounce pita bread like pit-a bread?

[@mayapinkhair8086]

As a middle eastern I'm very disappointed

[@numberstheidiot]

When I name my characters, my naming convention usually revolves around the “Five Second Rule” - AKA I think about their characteristics, and formulate their name down, all in five seconds max. Usually it lands me neat results. Sometimes my character names have reason, like Lilith Aurum and her family’s history of gilded eyes, or Oph the Moth with their eye designs on their wings almost like an Ophanim. Meanwhile, it also creates other scenarios like Sadie the Milotic, because a mischievous snake the size of a two story building apparently sounds like a Sadie.

[@jenniferpearce1052]

Pitta? Nooooo

[@TheAurgelmir]

As a Norwegian I never realized how bad Harry Hole sounds in English! It's not pronounced like that in Norwegian. That said, his name does fit into the category that's being discussed.

[@die_aster]

As a Russian, I need a helping hand here. Is the "O" in his surname pronounced like in "pool" or like in "holy"? Hope it's not the first option though.....

[@5Gburn]

​@@die_asterIt's pronounced almost like "hula." Hoo'-luh. Even that's not it exactly. There's a bit of a schwa sound after the "hoo," and the "luh" is kind of a mash between "luh" and "leh." Norwegian is weird.

[@die_aster]

@@5Gburn Thank you for being so precise! I've tried pronouncing it and tbh I was thinking it's going to sound weird in Russian as we have a swear question word that sounds like "hoo-lee", but fortunately it feels okay, not too similar I guess. But actually before asking I checked wiki and it turned out that the name of the character in Russian adaptation sounds like "ho-le" ("o" like in "north" and "e" like in "get"). BTW, Norwegian's beautiful!

[@TheAurgelmir]

@@die_aster More like pook. And the E is pronounced too. So it's "Ho"-"Le"

[@ShoppingatAM]

I think the reason people think it sounds worse than it is is because of the movie adaptation that tried to anglicize the name, but instead of translating the name into "Hill" they just made the pronunciation anglicized which... was a choice

[@dreamingpichu2334]

I love it when nicknames help the reader understand how to pronounce a character's name. It feels better than interrupting the flow of the story with dictionary pronunciation. For example, one of the characters in a story I'm writing is named Amolleon, a name that I completely made up since he's a god. One of the other characters starts calling him Mollie, which not only shows her friendly personality, but also helps the reader understand how Amolleon is pronounced (Ah-moll-ion).

[@oakland7561]

One of my favorite things to do when naming characters who come as a "set" (whether they be parallels to each other, lovers, or are just some way tied together narratively) is i like to give them matching names. This doesn't mean similar sounding names or something like that, but rather using a similar number of syllables, using opposite vowel sounds, or tying their etymological meanings together. In the novel I'm working on, the protagonists are named Louis (lou-ee) Zhang and Cassidy Archer. Their names can both be shortened, to Lou and Cas specifically, which fit together in very pleasing way. They both end in an -ee sound, but "Cassidy" is very sharp sounding with the sound coming from the back of the mouth, while "Louis" is very round and projected forward. Their last names also mean the same thing; the root of the name Zhang means (according to google at least), to tighten or pull a bow string, and it's associated with archery. Being that they're lovers in a time where gay marriage isn't legal in America, i thought it would be sweet to have their last names still matching.

[@Romeo_of_Romelution]

I named my characters Wheelchairio and Crutchet once. It was the best decision ever

[@SkippertheBart]

Crutchet is fun to say. Edit: is it pronounced "CRUTCH-it" or "crew-SHAY"?

[@noobyish]

​@@SkippertheBarti just realized that it realistically could be pronounced either way. English is weird man.

[@Romeo_of_Romelution]

@SkippertheBart the first pronunciation is the right one, but the send sounds so elegant. I might just turn it into another character

[@intellectually_lazy]

@@Romeo_of_Romelution like hyacinth bucket swears it's pronounced bouquet

[@SkippertheBart]

@@Romeo_of_Romelution I just remembered a character I played once. A bard named Benjo, who played a banjo.

[@Shapoufiiie]

There's already a concept about this but in the real world. It's called naming kids "TRAGEDEIGHS."

[@iantaakalla8180]

That being said, the subreddit named after that cannot differentiate names from other languages from tragedeighs, like Siobhan. This, while there is a person named Siobhan in both the cast of Dropout/CollegeHumor and in the popular and acclaimed series Succession.

[@TheseVioletDelites]

​@@iantaakalla8180 The Facebook versions also fall into that trip 🙄 big "other countries besides America exist" moments 😂

[@HylianSwordsman1]

Yeah, he brings up the subreddit for that concept at 8:10

[@someghosthunter]

I'm just saying it now, kids named like that are gonna hate their parents and life

[@cosmok2923]

Peeta is a great name I think. In Panem they do that quite a lot, naming their children with relation to their status or industry. Which makes sense with their identities in the eyes of the capitol being their labor and status being so important in their class struggle. Especially for him it makes sense, his mother really wanted to distinguish herself from the poverty of District 12 and therefor probably from the association with coal mining. Bread is a status symbol in 12

[@mushrooms5757]

That's also kind of how surnames started, they were ment to first represent the work your family did, "Smith" for example, was for smithies.

[@ZonieMusic]

Finally, someone who researches the names they talk about. What turned me off the most about this video is how detached it is from the multitude of naming cultures and standards around the world. (I do agree however there are just hilariously on-the nose-names whose on-the-noseness does not fit the story's context) At around 9 minutes, the guy agrees that naming people around their attributes doesn't happen in the real world, and I was like *bruh*, that's how last names got invented in the first place! The explanation about Panem you mention is like an in-story equivalent of this. I agree with many comments here that: It's not necessarily about the name. It's how it's *used* or transformed by both the name-bearer and also other characters in the story.

[@llwpeaches]

Panem is also the Latin word for bread.

[@rachaelbirch9303]

@@ZonieMusic I enjoyed the video. It was good for opening discussions. But I would have to add to your statement, that people often embody their names. How often have you met someone with a specific name, and they often portray either the good or bad of it? Also, names are associated with a specific type of person for a reason, Ie all "Bryans", "Terry's", or "Susan's" are ____. So, maybe we don't currently name people for what they are/do/how they act... but that doesn't mean they won't be that way 🤷‍♀

[@johnmrke2786]

Naming a blacksmith "Smith", no one would ever do that.

[@vivil2533]

real people in history are sweating right now

[@leafy_cynical6732]

For me I have a naming convention. Males are named after elements, rocks, metals, or minerals. Females are named after flowers, trees, mosses, or flora in general. So I would take something like “Basalt” and then reshape it in “Bashii” or take “marigold” and turn it into “Marin”. Edit: fungi are not flora, so they are neither feminine or masculine.

[@Nova11435]

I am 100% stealing this idea because I have the imagination of a rock when it comes to making up names for my book, and fantasy name generator leaves a lot to be desired for me.

[@canaisyoung3601]

What about non-binary people (the ones who go by "they/them"), or if you want your male character to have a feminine side or a female character with a masculine side.

[@leafy_cynical6732]

@@canaisyoung3601 femboys are still boys and tomboys are still girls. I straight up erased the concept of LGBT from any setting or story I come up with, so the concept does not exist in any setting I make. However, fungi can be considered gender neutral.

[@idkhahahaha]

⁠@@canaisyoung3601just don’t include non binary and keep males masculine and females feminine like they should be

[@joannamyers1268]

​@@canaisyoung3601 Clearly they should be named after fungi

[@phoenixfreefall]

I picked up a great exercise from a workshop for making sure your character name has intention and strength behind it: do a short free write where your character's parents have to defend their baby name choice to their in-laws. Your character's parents don't have to be perfect at naming, either. This exercise gives you some ideas about who your character is, where they came from, what names are normal or abnormal in your setting, what conventions the parents might be either breaking or adhering to. Even if the parents never appear in the story, it may be helpful for the development of your character to understand who they were and how that might have impacted your character.

[@hyliaphora-cecropia]

That’s a hilarious idea! Definitely has great potential for both characterization and humor

[@emilyrln]

Love this idea!

[@houddythequeen]

I do that, thinking "why would this character's parents pick this name?". If you have a character whose parents are musicians, the name Aria might make sense, but if they are a scifi writer and an astronomer, maybe go with Aurora.

[@louisenichols6825]

4:12 Honestly, mixture of things. It depends on the vibe of the character, but I absolutely pay attention to the root or meaning. One of my characters is called Cas, short for Cascabel, which is a snake. Most of it is just "does it sound right", but if I'm really stuck, I take a word related to that who that caracter is, and change a sylable, or the order of the letters.

[@Writing-Theory]

Cascabel is a great name. Love that! And I think everything you put here is a much more succinct way to present how I do the naming as well. You hit every point.

[@Mii..]

That's exactly how I do it too. If it sounds right, I give it and it usually matches. And then I may look up name meanings when I need too. For example: I have a character named Akakios, which means "innocent" or "not evil" and that plays a part later in the story.

[@elkboy2538]

I have many methods for how I name my characters, but I generally follow these rules: 1: It must look good and not stupid on paper. 2: It must match the character in question. 3: If Google or Apple translate can pronounce it the way I want them to, then it’s a go. 4: If my gut tells me to go against the previous rules, I will.

[@Incredible_Mister_J]

I get inspired by Cormac McCarthy's style of naming his characters, Anton Chigurh, Llewellyn Moss, Ed Tom Bell, John Grady, The kid. Simple yet memorable.

[@JishinimaTidehoshi]

I didn't like any of those names

[@Taekaleaf]

​@@JishinimaTidehoshi congrats

[@dianamarcu8939]

omg im romanian and i was so caught off guard in the best way!! no one ever talks about romania haha i got excited. amazing video and editing btw!!

[@kamikage9420]

Shout-out to "Behind the Name", it's basically a search engine that lets you look for masculine, feminine or even nonbinary names for just about every major region and time period in language from ancient Akkadian to Yoruba, Medieval Low German, every variation of English or whatever else you can think of, as well as the etymologies, regional variations, precursors, diminutives and more for each name. I use it far more than fantasy name generator.

[@CastFromHitPoints]

Yes! "Behind the Name" is so useful; it's my go-to site. I write science fantasy and create my ethnicities wholesale (with a mix of 2 base cultural inspirations). The breakdown of the names into their language constituents and the regional variations are indescribably helpful. They've got an off-shoot called "Behind the Surname" for last names too. Since surnames tend to only be important if they're a pun or a homophone it's great for just nabbing a name. For the sci-fi and fantasy writers, with how eclectic humanity was in determining family names, a browse through helps you get a feel for the ways a culture would do those things. So useful even for just general worldbuilding as well.

[@catblackmc1745]

I use it all the time too when looking for new names for people. I got a fanfic where the gamer named one of the NPCs Hubert, so I looked into the origin to decide what his 'given' name could be before being renamed. Not only does Hubert originate from the same language I had already decided would be that NPC's native language, but the meaning was one I could easily adapt for his culture. I was so pleased!

[@NotTsurugi]

This. I use Behind The Name all the time. You can search by Religion, Region, Time period, etc. It even shows you the meaning of the names, and what names they are derived from.

[@celtictarotreadings333]

My go to

[@motymurm]

There's no such thing as "Non-binary name". There are unisex names

[@NormanDimmick]

I'm personally a big fan of giving characters long egregious fantasy names with easily parsed nicknames. It allows you to convey the foreignness of a culture and/or whatever specific connotation you want (like nobility in your world favoring long, pretentious names) while still making the name accessible to most readers. It's also a strategy that allowed me to inflict all 12 Ancient Egyptian inspired syllables of my character's name on my poor unsuspecting tabletop gaming group without them hating my guts every time they had to address my character, so that was a big plus.

[@intellectually_lazy]

my primary main objective in naming one of my characters was to beat dot (the warner sister)'s real name. kinda a tie. leni has more names. dot has more syllables

[@emilyrln]

I love doing this, too!

[@QuirkyBard]

I consider the meaning of the name, the character's cultural background, and who their parents are. How they relate to their name can be a part of their backstory/personality, like if they're a namesake, if they feel their name is too traditional or a mismatch, or if they love their name. Little details help flesh out personality, even if it's all in my head and never makes it onto the page.

[@erockandroll39]

That's why I find the "too on the nose" issue to be interesting. We have so many sir names that describe a profession. (Baker, Miller, Smith, etc.) I think many such names came about in an era where a son inheriting his father's profession was a given.

[@jenniferdaniels701]

Behind the Name is a good source, and even has names submitted by users and popularity charts. The also added comments and namesakes on the name pages.

[@prettyblackgirl2669]

I love Behind the Name, been using it for years

[@Leto85]

22:12 'The more removed from humanlike peoples, the more strange the name gets.' This reminds me of the Elder Scrolls game series. It's fantasy and you can play as different races. Just hearing a typical orc name you already know it's an orc. The same goes for the catlike Khajiit and the reptilian-looking race Argonian. The same goes for the different types of elves and even the humans have names based on French (for Bretons), Roman (for Imperials), Arabian (for Redguards), and Viking (for Nords). I think that's a strong thing: that the reader can guess the character's species based by their name. But don't forget to deviate from that when the story calls for it: Brand-Shei is an Argonian name given to a Dark Elf and there is background reason for that. It's very reason is to a quest even. And that's how powerful names can be.

[@marrymikeymcbee6832]

while in my creative writing class, I would go to cemeteries and take charcoal impressions of people's headstones. I figured nothing would sound more realistic than real people's names. I guess you could do the same with online obituaries

[@intellectually_lazy]

like sleepwalkers

[@1sihingable]

I couldn't finish reading a Koontz book because the name he used for a character kept kicking me out of the story. I thought I was being a snob; thank you for this!

[@jessiehermit9503]

What was the name?

[@fluffacep]

What are the characters named like?

[@intellectually_lazy]

it's not like koontz gives you much to stay for. i have never cared about a koontz character. that's why he's not the king. i care about king characters who only appeared in one sentence

[@intellectually_lazy]

and btw, you are a snob

[@music79075]

I made a character named Edge Crisis.

[@rottensquid]

In the right context, that's a fucking sweet name. Is this a divorce lawyer?

[@theflyingspaget]

​@@rottensquidwhy'd that make me think of edgeworth he's not even a divorce lawyer lmaooo

[@ChainsawMixx]

Perchance he has trouble edging?

[@music79075]

@rottensquid he was a tabaxi assassin that dual wielded database and wore a black trenchcoat. He had all black fur except around his eyes which was red. He also spoke in uwu speak.

[@rottensquid]

@@ChainsawMixx That, or the crisis is the point of the edging. Sometimes, that's the goal.

[@purplecobra52]

Okay a problem with the hunger games section: a lot of the characters names are for things relating to their parent's professions. Katniss is named after a foragable root and her father did forage. Thresh means grain, and he comes from the farming district. Wiress comes from the technology district. It's just a common way to name your kids in this world. It's explained and justified within the story, so it works.

[@rachaelbirch9303]

And her mom was knowledgeable in apothecary/natural healing. Even her sister is named for a flower.

[@melpomenethemuse]

I ALWAYS do the Nickname trick! Given name represents where they come from, nicknames show who they are/how they're perceived! And the best part, these don't have to be phoneticcally attacked to your characters real name! My nickname was Bookshelf one summer!

[@SnakeWasRight]

I usually take existing names and twist them slightly

[@treelicker]

I do a similar thing, I take existing names and spell them as if they originated in Gaelic. The language I'm using is loosely based on Scots, so it kind of flows better that way.

[@gardenofroses197]

I do this with names from the Old Testament

[@kadeorade5296]

Whenever I see a name I like or a word that could be a cool name, I write it down. Then, when time comes for me to name a character, I look through my list and choose something that works best with the character, their story, and the culture they’re from. If there’s nothing, then I go word hunting. I look at color names since you can usually find some cool ones hiding in there, I search random nouns and adjectives in a thesaurus and see what there is, and I mash letters together and then simplify them until I find something.

[@hmadrone]

I really like the way Neal Stephenson uses the name Hiro Protagonist (_Snow Crash_) to unpeel Hiro's history and character. The joke gets better the deeper in the book you go, until it shifts from unfortunate conceit to reality.

[@music79075]

What story.

[@ShoppingatAM]

​@@music79075 the book's name is "Snow Crash", it's a scifi novel in the subgenre of cyberpunk fiction, and is probably most well known for being the first story to get the idea of a "metaverse" rolling for future novels of similar genres. it's actually pretty interesting and would recommend at least checking out a summary of it!

[@dietwald]

That's because Stephenson is effing brilliant.

[@AquaEclipse324]

@@music79075 Snow Crash

[@rayscotchcoulton]

Yeah, surprised it was used as an example here, since that character (if I recall) *calls himself that* as a cheeky alter ego. It's not like he was a member of the Protagonist family or something.

[@MandiMoons]

first video i have ever seen from you and subscribed within the 1st minute. great information and entertaining.

[@ValArt_cpf]

An advice i follow for characters (unless they have renamed themselfs for any reason), is think of the characters of their parents, and how would thouse name them. And as someone who chaged his own name a few too many times to count, just stick with plants. they have plenty names, enough to cover for a world's worth of people, and it can be turned into a plot-point.

[@elhazthorn918]

I named my characters after random authors' surnames from various university textbooks on my shelf. No relation between subject and character.

[@the711devin4]

My naming strategies: - Putting a word that’s relevant to them through Google Translate and use it as inspiration. I got names like Nili, Cole and Castor. - Naming them after an inanimate object, like Crystal, Amber or Axle - Pulling a name out of a hat, like Claire, May, or Llaya

[@Taldoz]

I always ask myself "Is this a name for a Reb Brown character?" And if yes, I go with it. Fear the mighty intellect of SLAB BULKHEAD

[@MettaFTW]

BIG MCLARGEHUGE

[@makibo.mp4]

just take inspiration from Transformers’ naming system. I mean “Optimus Prime” its dumb but it sounds so strong

[@VoidPaul97]

I haven't written a lot, but, in the few short stories I've drafted, I use to look down to the main beliefs or characteristics of a character and search a name that sounds good and has the closest relation with it. But this video gave me a whole new perspective on how to do it. What I like the most of these channels about writing is that since the whole subject is so flexible, you can implement what you learn and improve without having to sacrifice your original plans entirely.

[@aceinspace4340]

Whenever I come across an interesting name, I write it down. I have a looong list of names saved on my phone. the Ace Attorney games is beloved for their name puns

[@florencedelves7409]

Penny Nickle and April May being my favourite ones, oh and Miss Old Bag

[@pinkpusheenpaws]

im personally a big fan of Jack Hammer and that time mia called larry 'harry butz'

[@Whyteroze28]

Have you ever seen the Random Encounters Ace Attorney video?

[@aceinspace4340]

@@Whyteroze28 yes! I love it!

[@fist-of-doom487]

I personally love the Johnen Vasquez method of naming things and it’s essentially “go feral” let me list a few names of reoccurring characters in his show Invader Zim: Dib Membrane, Gaz Membrane, Zim, Gir, Skoodge, Red, Purple, Skutch, Sploonktipoksis, Sizz-Lorr, Dark Booty, Tak, Mimi, Keef, Poonchy. I bet you can’t tell how many of these names are the names of humans. The entire world is ambiguously in the future. As in theirs a lot of more futuristic tech and some casual mentions of modern things are spoken of as if they’re old things, but it’s also not that deep into the future and most of what you see is pretty recognizable. This may account for the strange names of people but the setting itself is so dirty and unhinged that it barely raises an eyebrow.

[@avivagodfrey]

When it comes to creating names for SciFi/Fantasy, my recommendation is to do a bit of futzing about in an Intro to Linguistics course. Your first toe-dip into Linguistics will talk about how to break down languages methodically and see their quirks. Once you understand how languages have rules built into them (like, which letters can be next to each other, which letters can stand by themselves, if the words run together or break into tiny pieces, etc.) you can create a set of rules and use them to build names for a given culture. This is especially useful if you're running into multiple new races in a given book or series, as differences in name structure can help your readers immediately latch on to differences in character cultures.

[@sakurasensations4786]

I’m trying to write fantasy, and I’m working to associate certain phonetic sounds in names with their cultures/backgrounds. But I’m also incorporating cultural spellings that I’ve seen in real life that really interest me and I think make a name look and sound really unique or just nice. Like for example, I wanted to associate the “sh” sound in names primarily with lower class individuals, whereas a regular “s” sound is probably more common among the wealthy and noble-born. Until seeing this video, I had some doubts about my way of naming characters because I was worried I might be trying too hard to make them sound different. Honestly, I felt a huge boost of confidence when you said that this was something “The great’s do.” 😅

[@melpomenethemuse]

Genuinely, the way I choose a character name is by analyzing their themes and motifs and searching baby name websites for names that align with it. From there, I think about meaning, place of origin, rarity, and phonetics for a name that suits the character and the setting.

[@fallonfireblade4404]

The fact that I already DID every tip he suggested here when creating my many characters' names makes me feel a lot more confident in them

[@faramirbutnothatone]

Okay counterpoint, a lot of the names of hunger games characters are super on the nose, even if they're not as obvious as peeta. Rue cause the capitol to rue the day she was killed. Sejanus Plinth in the prequel is elevated beyond the class of a typical district person due to his family's wealth, and his family is an arms dealer that makes up a key part of the capitol's power, both meanings of plinth. President Snow is ironic due to him being such a dark and corrupt man. Gale is an unpredictable, aggressive person. Tigris looks like,, a tiger (though she was named tigris before she went hard on the tiger aesthetic). I could keep going, but I feel like you get the point. Peeta is definitely the most egregious example but none of the characters are safe.

[@intergalactic92]

Is this a cultural thing? I really did not see Peeta as anything but a re spelling of Peter.

[@florencedelves7409]

@@intergalactic92 I think it's supposed to be like Pita bread or something because he's the baker's son (I'm not too sure if I'm correct but I think that's right

[@IsaacMyers1]

@@intergalactic92there’s a greek bread called peta bread. it’s very commonly used in donner kabobs and gyros.

[@IsaacMyers1]

I think tigris is even more on the nose than that. tigris is one of the two rivers of the fertile crescent. Therefore I believe her name also implies her relationship to the rebellion helping the power flow to the people.

[@faramirbutnothatone]

@@IsaacMyers1 ooo that's way cooler!

[@Igettoosillysometimes]

I usually just let my cat walk all over keyboard and go with that

[@CreatorProductionsOriginal]

I once had to create a enemy for a closed rp among my close friends, but I didn’t expect them to ask the enemy its name, so I just typed random letters in my keyboard and cleaned it. “GRUOR”, I still like it lol

[@Itz_Phoenixxx]

One time me and my friend wrote a book and the main characters name was Booey

[@MrHat-vt9tg]

I generally create characters without giving them a name, and at the end, I generally don't give them one because I have no idea what to name them.

[@PALINDROMA.]

Omg same! I never named any of my characters for the longest time, literally years lol, and crafted the story first before starting to give them names XD

[@douglasphillips5870]

A thesaurus is a great tool for finding words that mean what you want, but won't be as obvious as Peeta, then you can tweak them a bit to make them distinct

[@Writing-Theory]

Agreed! I like this thesaurus trick. Plus, anything that doesn’t distract you and take you to another website is a bonus

[@brandilynn2017]

Wait... Was Peeta supposed to be an "obvious" reference to pita bread or something? Here I thought it was a fantasy alteration on Peter. 😆I guess some names are more 'on the nose' for some people than others. 🤷‍♀

[@intergalactic92]

@@brandilynn2017thank god, I thought I was the only one. I’m guessing the pronunciation of Pitta is different in North America.

[@jonathanproctor715]

He mentions looking up different baby name sites and fantasy name generator to look for inspiration, and I wanted to add Behind the Name to the list. It's what I use all the time and it lets you look at lists of names based on different languages and tells you the linguistic roots, meanings, and historical context of each name. It's really helpful for finding authentic sounding names based on different languages and cultures and its really good for find names with special meanings or roots that might make for a good linguistic allusion to your character.

[@Writing-Theory]

Great addition!!! Thanks for commenting this!

[@seanryan3020]

I took a fiction writing class as part of my masters, and I wrote a story about an extramarital affair. I chose Elaine for the woman's name because I like the sound (like Lorraine). I chose George for the lover's name because I thought it was a good masculine name. When they reviewed it in class, someone pointed out "GEORGE AND ELAINE??" and everybody laughed their asses off! I couldn't believe I didn't catch that when I was writing it (it was a 24-page story, no less), and even though I changed his name in the rewrite (to Vance), I still can't unsee the Seinfeld connection, 10 years later!

[@Lectoracitónica]

Would you like to know another example of a name too in the nose? Lily Blossom Bloom, the main character of It Ends with Us. She works in a florist shop.

[@Writing-Theory]

Dang she really leaned into that one! Three flower references in one name. I don’t think it gets more on the nose than that, but Hoover knows more than I do I guess 🤔

[@p.quezon]

16:44 “sharing their full name with someone else can be a sign of that relationship developing” Me: Eugene…

[@kellwillsen]

One way to help with "hard to pronounce" names is to has another character struggle with them, and be corrected. Or use the nickname effect to show how part of the name should sound. Iestyn may look hard to an English speaker, but it's a real name. Have someone guess at "Eye-styne", and be corrected, or have a friend give him the nickname "Yes-man", and you'll quickly clue the reader in on the correct pronunciation (Yes-tin)

[@illust_sushi]

4:14 Honestly a lot of times it comes down to dumb coincidence and/or a conglomeration of real names + altered words that mean something specific to the character. I had a character I named Katherine Timewalker (absolutely atrocious initial idea lol) after someone I knew years ago which eventually evolved into Kathryn Joy, Joy being an alteration of the Chinese surname "zhou" to fit her character background more and give a slight nod to real-world names. One of my other characters from that time has the surname "Fireblood" which was kept intentionally over the top and out of place because he literally is out of place in the story being from a land unheard of; and on the other end of the spectrum one who's just named - Mary with no surname referring to St Mary being from a time where last names weren't a thing yet.

[@Galactic_15]

Im of the firm belief of, "please dear god just name them like a normal person".

[@intellectually_lazy]

tf is a "normal" person?

[@Galactic_15]

@@intellectually_lazyI mean like a real person. Writers tend to give characters weird names instead of names a normal person would have.

[@ironiccookies2320]

@@Galactic_15 I played a game where two NPCs were named "Back'n" and "Forth" because of how they always bickered with each other back and forth

[@sophiezhao8260]

@@ironiccookies2320 If this is the game I’m thinking of those two NPCs were crosstalk performers

[@denisl2760]

I hate the Gr'aagvmavk-xurzz type names you see in sci fi. Just makes it unnecessarily hard to read.

[@AuthorpreneurPodcast]

When naming characters, I tend to look at names that were used around the time of their birth, their ethnicity, and socio-economic backgrounds of the character's family.

[@jneumy566]

One extra detail about Dune's names and how it fits into its lore. Dune takes place in our galaxy in our own distant future. Earth did exist at one point in the Dune timeline. Paul's children at one point speak to each other in a secret, extinct language that they only know because of their genetic memory, which turns out to just be French. So the characters having normal English first names makes total sense when you think about how they're all still speaking English, which seems to be the only language from Earth that has survived 20,000 years into the future. So it makes sense you get names like Paul, Jessica, Duncan, and Vladimir.

[@ASMRbyJIO]

Thank you. I was saying the same thing

[@TheAurgelmir]

I don't write, but I do GM RPGs - and I have to come up with a lot of names. I've found that for human characters I have begun just using regular easy to remember names - Jenny, Billy, Sophia etc. I also made a new rule for myself to never name any NPCs similar names to the player characters. Having a Vincent and a Victor at the same time was tripping me up a lot :P For characters that deserves more attention I will spend time on them. For instance my villain Mattias. Who was an agent of the Dragon Queen Tiamat. Mattias being an anagram of Tiamat's - but also a relatively normal name. For Elves etc I will just take something that seems elfish enough.

[@Writing-Theory]

There’s a lot of crossover between writing and GMing! You’re building worlds and filling them with characters. I know there’s tons of dnd resources out there for things like rolling character names with a d100 for quick npc generation. Maybe there’s a video idea about what RPG resources you can use as a writer 🤔

[@TheAurgelmir]

@@Writing-Theory There's also tons of resources online too. I sometimes use them when I just need a quick and dirty throw away character. Helps me make more than the same few cookie cutter NPCs every time

[@Seraphina-Rose]

I also GM, and tend to stick with short, simple names for most NPCs that my players and I can pronounce and remember. I've run 5e published adventures and some of the names Wizards of the Coast comes up with are atrocious!

[@lawrencecalablaster568]

Xander Benedict has the most villainous name ever, probably because he will soon snap from the jokes about his name.

[@SarahAbramova]

Sounds like a weird version of Eggman.

[@OhRenardlit]

4:14 I associate a real-life country (mostly for clothes inspiration) with each country in my fantasy world. So I usually search for medieval names (since its a medieval fantasy) of that specific country and choose one that has a nice meaning. Then, I change it up by adding or replacing letters that fit the country and check online if the result has any questionable meaning. It makes for readable names that still have their originality.

[@Cici900]

7:51 This one hit hard. I worked as a sub for a year and the amount of kids with normal names but with uniquely bad spelling astounded me. Seriously, ‘Leslie' does not need eight letters.

[@alecprockhorov]

I stumbled across your video by chance, stayed for charisma and oral skills. You have cool live gestures that don't feel out of place or forced, and you speak clearly and fast. Clearly you know your deal.

[@Writing-Theory]

Wow thank you for that! It’s definitely a skill not a talent. It takes being awkward for a while to learn to stop being awkward 🤔

[@louiswilliams6478]

“Pls, call me hue” Fuq that got me

[@AliasPhex]

My last name is Janas. (Pronounced Jan-iss.) My brother had to avoid picking names for his son like Harry or Hugh that could be terrible if someone mispronounced our last name. :P

[@DaniDumZ]

@@AliasPhexkek, hugh janas sounds like a wonderful name

[@Sienna6164]

In my series, children are named after the parents and grandparents as well as being given old family names. But I always work to make sure that the names fit. I also name them after names that were trendy in a historical time period

[@bpop9394]

I love the name Mallory, it's so pretty. Spelling it Malloreigh is a crime.

[@amethystb12345]

I'm writing a fanfiction were my main character's name is actually an acronym of their parents names but its so normal that its not even noticable lol 🤣😆

[@supermaximglitchy1]

5:22 “I’m Out” could sound like such a cool name if you were to change some spelling or pronunciation