I’ve been hard at work during the past three weeks finishing the fourth book in my Enchanted Bookstore Legends series, Staurolite. Creating names for characters is not my favorite part of the writing process. It usually means endless searching instead of writing. Usually, when I create my outline for the book, I create a bank of names that feel right for the particular fantasy world. I consider the sound of names important in world-building.
While in the flow of writing, I dislike stopping my rhythm
to search for a name. But there are pesky characters who jump up and demand a
bigger role than I had originally allotted, and expect a more unique moniker
than one from my preselected bank.
Either way, through the years, I’ve located a few useful
websites to help me create fantasy character names. Listed below are my
favorites. These sites have helped me name many characters. I especially like the
two fantasy name generators and the elvin name generator.
Fantasy Name Generator:
Downloadable Fantasy Name Generator from Fantasy Factor
Elvin Name Generator:
Elfin Names:
Dragon Names:
Fairy Names and Meanings:
Wolf Names:
Celtic Mythology Names:
Celtic Pet Names:
Magic Names for Cats:
Do you have any good sources for
fantasy character names to add to my list?
5 comments:
This is so timely. I'm looking to rename my main character but I'm finding it difficult because I want something that is symbolic or has a special meaning but has to fit in with the Asian culture. Presently my MC has a name from India.
Although, the links are more Western based, I'm saving them for the next book. :)
Welcome back and thank you for a wonderful post.
The capcha (?) prove-you're-a-real-person doohicky on Blogger. I've got pages of names from that.
Also typos. Crosseyed fingers are a great resource!
Sometimes the word is perfect, sometimes you add a vowel or consonant or two, and you're ready to rock-n-roll!
The word for this comment is: 'jectsock' ... hmm ... I can work with that!
Elizabeth, it's good to be back! I'm glad you found this list helpful.
Widdershins, those are some clever ways to create names! :)
I don't write full on fantasy—urban fantasy is the furthest I do—so I don't have to worry about this much. I also like mythology, so I use characters from myths and they already have names. :)
I had no idea there were so many websites for fantasy names! I generally don't use them much in my writing and end up hunting down names from past eras that don't make me cringe to hear them now :) Whoever said getting names from the capcha made me crack up though--what a great idea! :)
Post a Comment