Ways to come up with names for your OC!
Some consider naming characters the boss fight of character creation, but don’t worry! It can be easier than it seems. Whether it’s picking a name carefully based on culture and the time your OC was born, using a theme for your character’s name, or picking based on a perfect meaning, there are lots of ways to find something that suits your tastes.
The best way to start narrowing down name options is by looking at your character’s cultural background. If your character comes from a specific culture, you have the opportunity to represent their cultural heritage in their name! Maybe if your character’s parents are from two different cultures, a name that originates from both but has different meanings in each language could perfectly fit your character. Picking a name that matches the culture your OC grew up in is also a wonderful idea. Kids can be mean, and being picked on for your name is a common experience, so if your character’s parents wanted them to fit into their culture and not stand out with a unique or odd name, that might be worth considering; although, it’s not worth overthinking ultimately! Pick the name that makes you happy.
If you want to go even deeper into realism, I’d suggest looking up what names were in use or popular when your character was born. Some names come back into use again after many years because parents choose to name their child after a late family member, or because the name was used in popular media. This is true across the world, and you can make a character feel more realistic by referencing these trends. Picking a name that sounds nice but is actually an equivalent to an old-fashioned name like Edwina or Bernice is always a hazard in picking names outside of your own culture, so it’s good to be careful if you want to avoid that! Of course though, this is all assuming that your character is from a world like ours.
If your character is from a fantasy world, I’d recommend using naming themes for your characters. Naming themes can break real life cultural consistency while still keeping a form of internal consistency that works in a fantastic world. For instance, the names Sumire, Garofano, Coquelic, and Thistle all match because they’re all related to plants (violet, carnation, poppy and thistle, even if they’re Japanese, Italian, French and English respectively). Here are some themes to get your creativity flowing:
There are so many more categories of themes out there. They can give you a list to pick from, and potential hidden meanings behind the character’s name.
Speaking of, most names have meanings behind them, and sometimes the meaning can vary based on how the name is written, such as with Japanese kanji. For instance, the name Alexander originates from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος, and means “defender of man”. If you’ve got an OC who’s a protector of others, but Alexander is too masculine, there are many variations like Alexandria, Alexa, Alex, Sandra, and more (as a general tip, a good name often has nickname potential). As an example of putting a meaning into practice without being too obvious, I have a character named Rana who’s named after the first part of the Latin name for the buttercup flower. You might not guess the connection at first reading, but when you learn that the buttercup symbolizes sarcasm, ingratitude, childishness, riches and memories of childhood, you might find that it suits her perfectly when you read her backstory.
Though sometimes the name you chose has a meaning that doesn’t fit your character at all; this is actually a great chance to show off that irony! Maybe your OC was expected to turn out a certain way, but ended up being the opposite. Maybe your character or their parents just liked how the name sounded.
Not all names have meanings, and some of the best names just sound good to say. Names have a natural rhythm to them based on syllables and sounds, like ‘Peter Parker’; it’s an alliteration with two syllables per name. When you’ve finally settled on some potential names, try saying them aloud. You might find that some work better than others when put with a potential last name.
Speaking of names… Unvale recently put out a new name randomiser! Maybe it’s not your style, but sometimes you might strike gold if you try it enough times. Who knows? At the end of the day, the perfect name can come from anywhere. Sometimes you just have to wait for it to arrive!