BY NOAH FONTANESI
STAFF WRITER
All names are made up, which includes fictional people, and sometimes it’s hard to think of them. Therefore, I have come up with some helpful tips for making up names and how to use them.
1. Chopping Up Names
An easy way to make fictional names sound like real names is chopping up real names and Frankensteining them. I’d recommend breaking them at each syllable to keep the sounds intact, though this might not work if you’re using names like Alexander or Elizabeth. This will keep the familiar sounds and make a somewhat plausible name.
2. Only Name Important Characters
Now, you are absolutely going to overwhelm yourself if you try to give all your characters names. Not only are you going to quickly run out of names, this could also affect your storytelling. Names are the face of a character, and if you constantly name characters, then they’ll all seem important to the audience. This can easily confuse the audience and might make you run out of ideas.
3. Uniqueness And Meaning
A name is the face of a character–which is what makes it important. It’s quite literally the first thing that people will think when talking about your character, so they should sound iconic. Like, what sounds more fabulous, Francis Fitzgerald or Agatha Christie?
Sound, meaning, and length can give your name certain connotations that will leave an impression on your readers.
4. Practicality
We don’t get to choose our names assigned at birth, so naturally, our characters don’t get to name themselves either. What I mean by that is that your characters should be named in a way that fits with the world. In our world, we have our own standards for what a normal name is, so your fictional world is going to have its own standards. Most people aren’t walking around 21st-century America with Zentiri Midnight as their name, and no one is running around Tang dynasty China with John Johnston in the party.
Just don’t be the person who names your white-presenting American teens with Japanese names.
5. Say It
Before solidifying your name, take it for a test run by saying it out loud. This can prevent you from creating confusing names with writing that doesn’t make sense. Check your spelling, ask other people to say it, and look it up to make sure it’s completely unique.