New topic? I am the only one who wrote anything about the last one. It was followed by Slanputin heaping me with (well-deserved) praise for conclusively settling the topic for all time. Then N810 went back to the exclamation points topic. I suppose the silence on the old topic. here shows we are ready for a new topic.
Do any of you have any conventions for naming characters?
Well I just made up names that i thought sounded good. Then I accidentally gave a perfect Saurian name for Kaitar and decided I should put more conscious effort into names. Note, I am more to come up with meaningful names for side characters than my main characters. My main characters are often too nuanced (in my mind) to have a one-word description where I don't care if the first part of the name of Nka-Lat the mentally damaged Skink priest's name means "captive and/or unchanging."
Nowadays I go to the Saurian language guide for naming Lizardmen characters for about 80% of my characters. If I don't think the name looks memorable or rolls off the tongue I will change things a little bit from the Saurian to make Saurian-rish. Slann I tend to take more liberties with their names. Since I like my Slann to have three or four syllable names I want them relatively easy to pronounce and remember. Just in case people have trouble keeping track of my background characters, I usually give Slann the title "Lord" so readers at least are clued in that it's a Slann.
For Skaven I make stuff up, favoring double "e"s or "it." U-E does not have any formal resources on this despite people asking, and while I don't mind sharing stories with U-E, I'm not going to make them a writing guide.
I find the Dark Elf and High Elf forums have language guides similar to what we have for Saurian but a bit smaller. I started naming some elves that way, but I think I prefer an English-French dictionary taking the word that describes the character best and then changing a few letters to slightly mangle the French.
For Empire I usually go to baby name sites and look for German names, then I poke around for a meaning that seems roughly close to the character. I occasionally google "German surnames" but I find relatively few Human characters need surnames.
Are there any things about names that irritate you?
I think you know what bothers me B'o'b...Interestingly enough, the
Fantasy Novelists Checklist says hyphenated names are just as bad, and I have quite a few of those. I do not think I ever read a book or watched a move that passed every check point. Since we are tied to GW fluff to some extant, it is
literally impossible to write a GW fanfiction piece that passes every question. That's a topic for another day, should we take the "Fantasy Novelists Checklist" seriously as a guide.
Actual when it comes to naming a character I would think anything goes, even if the name seem alien and without reference. Not every name has a direct meaning to me even in the real world.
Allow me to amend your statement. When it comes to naming a character, I would think anything goes
as long as you are consistent with naming conventions in your literary setting.
I am not picking on Bob here, But number 38 on the checklist seems very important,
- Do you see nothing wrong with having two characters from the same small isolated village being named "Tim Umber" and "Belthusalanthalus al'Grinsok"?
There's a whole trope on this
"Aerith and Bob." Generally you shouldn't use this trope if you aren't going for comedy.
" @NIGHTBRINGER ) how would his "blessings / curses" feel different?
