Question for OT writers

As writers (short story or novels, published or unpublished authors) we all have strengths and weaknesses and my 2 big weaknesses are connecting events and the damned...bloody...names! I suck at names...I used to call my stuffed teddy bear Teddy (so did my son when I asked what he wanted to name my childhood bear...) and my goldfish Fish.

I have absolutely no talent to naming characters or places. Now I've heard a lot of ideas like:

"Go to your spam list and pick some names from there"....I don't get spam and that's a terrible idea anyway :p

"Just give them regular names"...Bob the Wood Elf. Major successes are being had right now.

"Throw apostrophes in there and you're done"...Ok, now you're just being an ass to me...

"Base your fantasy race on a real world setting, see which language they speak and try to adapt some of their words into your names" Aha! This one has merit...I sucked at it.

"Write the book first and name the characters later"...now I know some people can do that but I can't get into the mind of a character if I don't even know the most basic stuff about them. On the other hand my brain is already writing a backstory for Bob the Wood Elf (it's a sad one...nobody likes elves anymore, Bob is screwed...).

So guys, help me out...what are your techniques to creating good character names? (If possible, in a fantasy setting)

I was going to suggest this.

Oh well.

@stormcast: And if there are several captains just assign numbers, right? ;)

I'm a writer by no means, but one thing I noticed is that sometimes any sort of acronyms you come up with have a way of sticking and sounding good, even if they seem terrible at first.

For example, in the Dragon Age series, the developers couldn't decide on a name for the setting of the game like Middle Earth or Narnia, so they just decided to use the place holder THEDAS (THE Dragon Age Setting) in the meantime. Everyone hated it at the beginning, but when the time came to rediscuss it a few months later, the team could no longer imagine NOT calling the setting Thedas, as we know it today.

Perhaps an idea would be to give whatever characters you are writing an acronym which briefly describes them, and see if comes up with a name that could eventually stick.

@genius2365: That is actually one I hadn't heard before. I can imagine why Thedas would sound weird for the crew working on the game; they would always see it as the-DAS but for me as a gamer, I went right through the name and never stopped to think about it. Might be a good method to try out. Thank you! :D

I am by no means of a writer, but I do however, can come up with good names/nicknames when I play any RPG games due to creations & naming stuff.

I basically go by looking at environments, the people you meet and outside stuff when it comes to creating names. What I mean is, just pick a name from someone you know but don't try to use the same letters of the sound, like James=Jamie or John=Jon. I basically use that an example when it comes to naming a character.

Just remember, a name doesn't always has to be a badass name, a name is a name we are giving, no matter how badass, silly, or odd it is, naming identifies us as a person.

Creating nicknames is a lot of fun in ways like, this person is an "Assassin", I'd nickname him/her=The Silencer, this Assassin kills without making a noise.

I hope my examples helps.

I name my characters based off of people I know, and people I admire (real or fiction).

Sorry, I can't be more specific, naming characters has never really been a problem for me. Trying to get over writer's block has been my main struggle.

@davillain-: Everything helps my friend :D

@xdude85: I understand. It's more difficult to do that in a fantasy setting though :D I don't really have writer's block since by the time I actually get myself to start writing I'm already on the 3rd revision of the book in my head :p

If it's fantasy just take two random syllables and two other random syllables. First and last name, easy.

Frangry Landstew

Plokdo Creamslip.

Rakquad Orgnod

"I am a child of the trees, sibling to the wind and the grass. I stride alongside deer and speak the language of flowers. I have lived ten human lifetimes and come from a long lineage of proud forest dwellers. I am...Bob. Bob the Wood Elf."

Yeah that works.

Anyway, I googled "elf name creator" and this came up http://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/elf_names.php#.Wsr7vojwaUk

*ooooh go to the Christmas Elf names! Start calling me Dash. Dash Jollyglove.

@Vaasman: The problem with just creating stuff at random or using name generators is that, well...you end up with a bunch of random sounding names that will never stick in the reader's mind, especially when you have a huge cast...well, except maybe for Creamslip because that just sounds absolutely disgusting XD

Cue the saturday morning cartoons jingle. :p

@davillain-: I wish I could do that. I usually just name my characters like I am doing scat jazz "Boopdeedoop" or 'Skittydeedat" and I end up regretting it.

@korvus I'd be interested in reading what you have on offer at any point if that's viable?

Unfortunately I have no advice to offer in terms of coming up with a name! An easy to remember name is good though, for example I love Game of Thrones but my life is it difficult remembering everyone's names!

@korvus:

I go to sites for that! lol I've never been good with names either!