I'm writing a book... and well, the usual trouble.

[Shindy]

I am writing a book for my graduation project. It has to be a hundred pages long...

But that is not the problem. I am really having trouble with names. I mean... how do creators make good names like Vance Rhue North Kanna Lexus Slade Beaufort Durham Landorin... Is there like a list of "good" fictional names somewhere online? or can someone help me out with naming skills...

[Teenr0cker]

My only suggestion



http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/


Pick ones that can be used as a one-time pun.

[Sling]

You can get a namegen thing for character names, item names and location names from Phanxgames, I think...

[Angel_OA]

90% of the time namegens just come up with complete crap.
Just look at this:
# Ustq
# Neysh
# Toih
# Urny
# Breuh
# Athll

[Shindy]

sling can you give me the link to location generator?

and also, can i make inferrences to charactors in other games? it would only be minor references and wont actually use them as antagonists... like.. Tifa in Kingdom Hearts, and the Final Fantasy Burlington Bar in Three the Hard Way? I'm thinking of putting Traziun... nah that's too obsecure, rite?

[Sling]

This is where I got it from, but the download section where you get all the utilities etc is down for the moment...
http://www.phanxgames.com/pxg/downloads/

[Telephalsion]

Avoid having names that end with the following:

-tron
-ar
-ion
-maru
-ke
-li
-on
-ir
-ra
-el


Yeah.. that ought to work.

[EmperorJeramyu]

-maru

Yeah, just look at Naruto or Inu-Yasha. At LEAST 134% of the characters in those shows have named that end in maru.

[Teenr0cker]

Avoid having names that end with the following:

-ra

No Mum-Ra?!? Noooooo!

[HolsteinCow]

Use the rinkworks generator, but use this code:

sc(, Destroyer of )ss(ia IV, bearer of the Forbidden Crown of )s(, the Warrior-King)

Capitalize where neccesary.

[Elachim]

Anagrams work for me.

Example:

Michael becomes Elachim or Malechi.

Then play with spelling/emphasis:

Elachim can become:
Ela'chim
El Hakim
Eliakim

Malechi becomes:
Ma'lechai
Malaki
Mal Akai

and so on...

I think the essential part of creating a good name is making it sound authentic to that characters origins. It wouldn't work to have an Asian named Kyle nor an European named Kai.

Naming also depends on the setting and genre of your story. For instance, steampunk fantasy tends towards harder, sharper sounds while Tolkein-esque fantasy likes smooth and melodic names.

Just make sure you're aware of the various connections and connotations of the final name you pick. Like naming someone Cid for instance.

[Telephalsion]

If you start spelling Jonathan like Iyo'Hna'fthaahn I'll kill you...

[Impossible]

I'd like to take this moment to thank Rinkworks for giving us the greatness of the Pokemon name generator. Where else would we get Bumachu, Numburtle, Grumbleimon, Muckimon, Warechu, Twerpezard, Twitartle, Lumpochu, and Dipirtle? Dipirtle. Looking at the names of the Diamond/Pearl Pokemon, I think Nintendo might soon benefit from this generator themselves.

I'm always horrible at coming up with names for stories... I'm actually trying to write a couple of novels at the moment, but I don't know how I can introduce characters without names for them. And I can't just use crazy fantasy names, as both of them have modern settings.

I wish I could finish The Way novelization as well, but I think E6 discouraged me somehow. It just ruins the perfection the first five episodes had going, and I wouldn't want to disappoint a reader with a story that ends up full of loose ends when I, as the writer, don't understand them myself. I guess that's a dilemma I have with trying to write someone else's story. Sometimes I wonder if every mystery of the first five episodes really does have an answer, or if Lun just wanted to make us think it did. It kind of seems like poor storytelling to me, to just throw in as much crazy stuff as possible and never explain it. Not saying The Way is bad in any way, just... incomplete.

That said, I did write quite a bit more than I ever submitted to Lun. I should wrap up Episode 1 someday and send it so people can see how much it's improved from the ancient version on the site.

[Elachim]

I should finish my ep. 1 novelization too and stir up a rivalry again.

Tele, do you happen to be psychic? Jonathan is my real name!! Although it's more likely to become Johann or Yohn.

I can't put a story together. I get all these brilliant anecdotal ideas and then I can't mesh them all into one cohesive plot. It always frustrates me 'cos I like writing.

[Telephalsion]

Of course I am psychic, all swedes go through a telepathic rite of passage efore we're allowed to walk without supervision through the harsh winterland wastes that is our homeland. Without the power of precognition, our kind would have fallen prey to the polar bears eons ago.

That's also why I'm called Telephalsion, y'know, tele-pathy, tele-phalsion... yeah.