Aelioua-Name Syndrome

[Dom]

So...I think it's a given that most people starting to write SFF for the first time have a bit of what I call "Aeloiua" (or any other word with lots of a's, e's, i's, l's, k's, and y's) syndrome.  Where all the names have entirely too many vowels, strange puncutation, l's, and k's, and are attempting to look "elvish".

How did you guys get over it?

Or are you one of the ones that didn't have it to begin with?

I had characters called Kayla/Kayra (twins, of course), Anya, Aquaitine (I find it amusing Jim has characters in Codex Alera named "Aquitaine"...assuming I'm spelling that right...), Lance, etc. when I first started out.  I was in middle school, so about 12 at this time.

Eventually I realized all my names sucked, so I turned to baby name books.  Which got me really weird looks at the grocery store when I purchased those little baby name books when I was 16.  "No, I'm not pregnant!"

Then I got tired of baby name books, because if I wanted the name "Jessica" I could find it by looking at the people I worked with, and turned to mythology.

And after that, I said what the hell, I'm going to make my own.  I started this around when I was 20.

So now I take English words, and chop them into syllabls, then re-assemble the syllables into new names.  I got Oginokomis, Bregomaw, Oriax, and a whole mess of others this way.

How do you guys pick names for your characters and places?

[Tersa]

To pick first names for my characters I start thumbing through lists of names until something strikes me as "right."  It usually works out that when I look up the origin and meaning of the name I chose it fits the character.  If it doesn't, I pitch it and go back to the list.  For surnames I do pretty much the same thing, only I pay more attention to the family's crest, coat of arms, and "motto" (if they have one) to make sure it fits the character. 

Ex: Jacob (Jake) Bowen

Jacob- "May God Protect" or "Supplanter" depending on who you ask

Bowen: Crest colors are silver and green, with a stag with a trefoil around it's neck.  Motto "Esse quam videri," which according to houseofnames.com translates to "To Be, Rather Than to Seem. "

A lot of this stuff fits Jake.  Thanks to his being a magical prodigy he ends up supplanting people (which bothers him), he doesn't like to fight unless prevoked (the stag), he keeps striding forward and will keep doing so until he dies (perpetuity from the trefoil) and prefers to present him self exactly as he is rather than put up a front. 

It takes a while and can be a lot of trouble to go to when I don't even know if a lot of this information is totally correct because I get most of it off the internet, but it's what works for me at the moment. 

P.S.  If anyone who knows Latin reads this, I would be forever greatful if you could tell me if the Bowen "motto" is translated correctly. ^.^ 

[Kali]

If I remember correctly, and technically it was only last year that I was translating Vergil but damned if I could do it now, "videri" would be the present passive infinitive of "video, videre", to see.  Passive of to see is to be seen, and in Latin that has the dual meaning of what we might say "to be seen as"... or in this case, "seem".

So... long answer short, yeah, I'm fairly sure "videri" translates as "to seem".  That's the only tricky bit, the rest is straightforward and is correct.

[Tersa]

If I remember correctly, and technically it was only last year that I was translating Vergil but damned if I could do it now, "videri" would be the present passive infinitive of "video, videre", to see.  Passive of to see is to be seen, and in Latin that has the dual meaning of what we might say "to be seen as"... or in this case, "seem".

So... long answer short, yeah, I'm fairly sure "videri" translates as "to seem".  That's the only tricky bit, the rest is straightforward and is correct.

Thank you. ^_^ Many virtual cookies for you.  *Gives you a heap of chocolate chip cookies*

[terioncalling]

Names mainly come at just random and they are usually vary random.  But only if I'm writing fantasy, such as the story I'm working on now based in my fantasy world.  Some name examples: Syndys, Zaelnaei, Klaeshii, Mrawth, Qwith Xaithor, Arraran Ristvuul, A’kail Moldrenke, and Ockbrim Shaestuul.

For regular names, I have a whole three lists of first names (male and female) and last names that I took from yearbooks and various and assundry other places.  Few I've used are: Darien O'Connell, Ravyen Smythe, Halcyon Baxter, Harper Dannon, Emily Hart, and Dana Galloway


Also, Tersa, its really weird that I have a friend with that exact name.

[Mickey Finn]

Let's see, character names I've used in the past:
Meryl
Sachiko Santos
Brand McBride (Brandywine McBride)
Jeremiah Shakespeare
Grady Niblo
Magnus Greer
Jezabel DuSant
Magdelena Smith
Finn McCool
Parker Finn
Old Man Coyote
Selena Delcroix
Leopold Delacroix
Preach



Don't think I have the aforementioned problem

[Tersa]

*Snip*

Also, Tersa, its really weird that I have a friend with that exact name.

Nifty.     He wouldn't happen to have long white hair and green eyes would he? 

That reminds me of something I wanted to ask in this thread... if you are using a real person's full name, totally by coincidence, they can't go get a lawyer and sue you or anything, can they?  I don't think someone can really "own" a name, but people seem to be able to have lawsuits for little to nothing these days... Just wondering.  If this qualifies as thread stealing I'll go make a seperate one just for this.  My knowledge of thread etiquette is still a little hazy.

[terioncalling]

Nope.  Does have long hair though.   

Hmm, I don't know about the name thing.  They did have to change Murphy's name on the TV show because of the cop with the same name but I don't know if it'd be the same with this.

[Belial]

I come up with my names by... coming up with my names. Hard to say how they come to me, sometimes I sit down and make a list (and end up scrapping most of them, but some of my favorites have come from this process.) However, I don't think I have problems with elvish names (Damned dirty elves). Mine go along the lines of:

Numazel (Probably my favorite name)
Lantan
Lazak
Malasa
Leamek
Akenzar
Grashenka
Greschka (those two are brothers)
Ordeas
Caidosh
Lezul
Aduron

(Lantan, Numazel, Akenzar, and Ordeas all share the surname of Sincraes, never really gave the others surnames.. though Lazak was known as Lazak of Hern).

Long white hair and green eyes you say O_o

How long is long?

I've written Lantan (one of my MC's) as having shoulder-length white hair and emerald green eyes before... he's not a mage though, he's more of a fighter.

As a side note, for my comedies (mainly based in the real world) I draw names (and characters often-times) from myth, religion, and demonology.

[Amber]

Most of the stuff I write is for characters in the "here and now," so they have names like Sara, Jake, Michael, Shane, etc.  The one fantasy story I've written, the main character's name (the only named character, actually) was Ynnid.

Now, when you want to talk naming characters for games like Final Fantasy...

I tend to fall to the apostrophies.  Names like J'taka or Ta'laia.  Why?  I have no idea.

[Tersa]

*Snippy*
Long white hair and green eyes you say O_o

How long is long?

I've written Lantan (one of my MC's) as having shoulder-length white hair and emerald green eyes before... he's not a mage though, he's more of a fighter.

*Snip*

Long is VERY long.  Think Zechs Merquise from Gundam Wing long and you've got it.

http://merquise.net/zechs/gallery/tv/tv38.jpg

[Belial]

Psh, that's not very long, that's just a hell of a lot longer than lantans .

[Cathy Clamp]

  I have to laugh at this, because my co-author gets fixated on names--so much so that occasionally I'll have to scream, "ENOUGH!" I probably wouldn't have noticed it as much except it's MY name she was fixated on! LOL! Of course, this was before I knew her, but her first book featured a "Catherine" (also called Cathy and Cat.) That's my spelling. Her next book featured "Kate" (formally Kathleen.) Both of these books are published now. Then she's had short stories with "Cate" "Kat" "Caitlin" "Kathryn" and a couple of others. I finally BOUGHT her a baby name book.

It worked, but now she's switched to "Emma" for every other heroine... 

[blgarver]

Coming up with names of characters and places is my favorite little treats about writing.  I usually go by the meaning or origin if I'm not looking for too exotic a name.  However, if I want total fantasy, I just start saying names randomly until something sounds cool.  Then I write it down.  A lot of times I'll base them off objects I see around me. 

Here are some of my favorite names I've come up with in the past:

Characters:

Exeter Kane - vigilante cop that focuses on saving abused women, and he carries a cane

Vermiad Evenshade - cast out of his homeland to wonder the world, until he stumbled upon a league of  assassins and made it his home

Corwin Channing - jack-the-ripper type with supernatural powers


Places/Things:

Aviagrom - the dragonmen of my fantasy epic

Aphanter - shadow creature from my fantasy/horror, sort of a boogie man type thing

Sanity's Rim - the walled and patrolled border between the Golden Lands and the Unclaimed, from my fantasy epic

People of the Scar - the psychotic, tribal, often cannibalistic dwarf creatures that live in a deep ravine called The Scar, just across Sanity's Rim


These are my favorites.  The ones that really feel "right."  I don't really remember the process I employed to come up with them.  With Vermiad and the Aphanter, I took words that described how I wanted each to be.  I wanted Vermiad to be a sneaky, remorseless survivalist that can kill without regret.  I used the base Vermin and worked from there.

The Aphanter came from the word Phantom. 

I like names.  And just talking about this makes me want to write.

[The Corvidian]

Occasionally, I take names from my ancestors, usually surnames, like,
Anderson
Shinburg
Le Fevre
Hunter