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Our name generator allows you to create a name with up to five components, so a name can be short and sweet or double-barrelled and swanky. With over 220,000 names in our database, you can also specify language, nationality and other factors to give your character the perfect name.
- Quick Name
Character Name. Pen Name. Band Name. Baby Name. First Name....
- Quick Name
- Language Name Generators. Iconic names come from all over the world, such as Don Quixote, Elizabeth Bennet, and Jean Valjean. If you'd like to venture beyond the scope of your own country for the right name, this random name generator is for you.
- Medieval Name Generators. Here lie the original names of the world — as sturdy and worthy today as they were thousands of years ago. If you’re interested in the secrets that the ancient world of names holds, this medieval name generator is for you.
- God Name Generators. Long before books came into existence, men and women relied on their ancient gods for guidance. If you, too, would like to look to the universe’s greater powers for help when it comes to a name, this god name generator is for you.
- Fantasy Name Generators. For the next J.R.R. Tolkien in the world — or anyone who wants a more fantastical name. If you’d like to ascend into legend alongside characters like Azazel, Bilbo, and Daenerys, this fantasy name generator is for you.
Aug 16, 2018 · How to come up with a character name. You deserve more than common sense advice that you could come up with yourself: only give names to important characters, for instance, or avoid common names. These are 12 top shelf tricks to mastering the art of naming a character. 1. Does the name fit the character? James Gatz or Jay Gatsby?
- By Anne R. Allen
- Always Google Your Characters’ Names!
- Choose Names That Fit The Character
- Choose Names That Begin with Different Letters
- Avoid Generic Or Over-Used Names.
- Be Creative When Naming Fictional Characters, But Make Names Pronounceable.
- Name only Featured Players, Not walk-ons.
- Don’T Change Names Mid-Story.
- Choose Names to Fit The Setting, Period, and Age Group.
- Try A Character Name Generator
The old-school advice for naming fictional characters was to comb the obituaries. But not a lot of people get newspapers these days, so we need other sources of inspiration. For me, spam is turning out to be one of the best places to find unique names. Every week I cull a few from my email and blog spam folders. I can always perk up a story by subj...
I once wanted to name a porn star Peter McHugh until a Google search showed a local politician with that name. I don’t suppose he would have welcomed one more off-color joke. And you want to make sure there’s not a real Galveston Ngyen, or you might find yourself in an embarrassing situation. Sometimes failing to Google a name can lead to more than...
Would Jack Reacher be such a phenomenon if Lee Child had named him Phillidus Frogmore? Would Miss Marple have been able to do all that surreptitious investigating if Agatha Christie had called her Fifi LaRue? Inappropriate and misleading character names are what prompted this post. You don’t want to give a character a name that sets up the wrong ex...
It’s best to vary the length as well. You want to choose names that look different from each other on the page. Names that begin with the same letter will always confuse the reader. So don’t give your heroine rival boyfriends named Tim and Tom unless she can’t tell them apart either. This gets tougher as you move along in a series. If you carefully...
I’ve seen agents complain that all variations of Catherine/Kate/Caitlin have become ho-hum. Personally, I’m tired of Jake/Jack. This summer, when I was bed-bound and reading dozens of books a month, I once read three books in a row with love interests named Jack. I couldn’t figure out why Jack the mechanic didn’t arrest the bad guy when he caught h...
Making up names is fun. But make sure humans can pronounce them. One of the most common “pet peeves” readers complain aboutare the unpronounceable character names that show up in Sci-Fi and Fantasy. We may think that since the story is presented as text, it doesn’t matter if you can say them out loud. But it’s amazing how much we need to “hear” eve...
Don’t clutter the story with too many names. A named character needs to play a significant role (whether dead or alive.) Otherwise, just call her “the Uber driver” or “the mail carrier.” If her only purpose is to transport the protagonist to the family reunion or deliver an Amazon package to Uncle Sanjay, don’t name her. Or the reader will think sh...
So your heroine finds out halfway through the book that she’s the king’s daughter, and she’s not really Sally the milkmaid but Princess Ursula von Milkenberg. Avoid the urge to start calling her Princess Ursula in the narrative. Obviously it will become necessary in dialogue, but if we met her as Sally, keep calling her Sally to the reader.
I once had an editing client who named a contemporary sixty-year-old librarian “Mildred”—an unlikely name for a Baby Boomer. I suggested Linda, Susan, or Judy. On the other hand, Linda, Susan, and Judy don’t even rank in the top thousand names for the last decade. If your female character is under twelve, try Sophia, Emma, or Olivia. I made a perio...
Character name generators are great fun. And they can be a goldmine for minor character names. Just Google “character name generator” with the genre. There’s one for naming male characters in Regency England. And one for naming fictional characters in fantasy and steampunk. I played around with a steampunk name generator that gave me the names of t...
- Match Their Personality: As I mentioned earlier, a character’s name plays a big role in how readers perceive them, especially during their introduction!
- Consider Your Story’s World: Next on our list, when it comes time to name your characters, you need to consider your novel’s worldbuilding. After all, the world around us plays a big role in what names we’re given—or perhaps choose for ourselves!
- Think About Meaning: While some authors think hiding meaning in their characters’ names is silly, some lean into this practice hard—and honestly, I don’t think there’s a right or wrong here.
- Avoid Repeat Letters: For rule number four, we have something that’s often easy to overlook—but that can make a huge difference if you’re juggling a large cast of characters.
Use these methods for naming characters in your book: Using baby name websites. The Root-Meaning method. Mash-up character naming method. The Add-on method. Develop-First naming method. Making character names up from scratch. Naming-by-era method. Using similar-to-real-life names. 11 tips for getting character names right.
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fantasy Name Generator. The ultimate playground for imagination! Our OC Generator is here to spark your creativity with a fun and unique twist. With just a click, mix and match to create one-of-a-kind character name.
