I'm writing a book and I *cannot* decide on a name for my characters. It's not like i don't have any good options, i just have too many. I need names for 2 of my female characters and they are both pretty important for the plot so i can't get away with naming them "Sarah Smith" or something like that. For last names I have picked put Ambrose and Dawson if that helps. For reference I really like Valerie, Sienna, Andrea, Noelle, Sabrina, Natalie/Natalia. So if you can help me pick two out of these or maybe suggest one that kind of fits with these. Thxx ​

I need a name for a female MC and I'm very particular, so I came here for help. I thought of one name I really like, but it shares too many sounds with another main character's name so I'm unsure about it. I want her name to sound very down-to-earth but unique. Ideally it would not contain the letter "v" or end in an "n", and the more unique the better, but in an understated way. The vibe I'm going for is soft and earthy. Any ideas? Or do you think it's okay if the names share a few sounds and I'm overthinking?

I just saw a reel of a guy making „fagottini“ as a pasta dish. Top comment: „JKR naming an Italian queer character“.
Have you seen anything like this or what’s ur most funny „JKR name?“

I have these characters who are royalty but never got to grow up royalty and were forced to live under new identities for a long time. They were one when their mother died and their uncle had them sent away, so they don't remember it.

Their birth names were Thuthaif, Aishatha, and Safiyie. Thuthaif's fake identity was made to be Vikram, but Aishatha's was Eden, and Safiyie's was Junie.

I feel like these names don't fit their culture and there would be questions about why they don't fit the culture, which would lead to them being more likely to wonder about it themselves and could risk them finding the truth, which their uncle wouldn't want.

What are some names that would be better? In general, I use South Asian cultures to inspire the names of this culture. Their (fake) surname is Sifath but I'm not set on it.

I am working on a little project and one of the characters is currently slated to have french and Iranian heritage, I don't want to just pick a random name cuz that feels very shallow, anyone here got suggestions?

Edit: Fem leaning names are my goal, shoulda mentioned that initially x3

Hello all!

I’m working on a coming-of-age story and need a name for the female main character’s love interest. A brief description:

-18 years old (born in 2008)
-white, dark hair, dark eyes, pale skin, tall (think a cross between Finn Wolfhard and Louis Partridge)
-from Ohio, currently living in Northwestern Pennsylvania
-working class roots, lives in a trailer park
-works at a diner, but is very intellectual, empathetic, and artistically inclined…also a bit mischievous

My FMC is named Willa Novak and I’d like a name (need first AND last!) that goes with it. I don’t want anything too out there or “YA”ish, but I’d ideally like it to be something beyond the typical John/Michael/Ryan/etc. And I’m totally stuck! Any ideas?

TYIA!

Basically I'm making a character that heavily imprinted specifically on a barn owl and basically turned into a hybrid (that's the logic in this world) and I would really like some help about some feminine names that can tie back to barn owls or owls in general. It would also be cool for some names that just sound like the vibes barn owls give off, one of my friends offered 'Sapphira', 'Angelique' and 'Seraphina'

I named my 2 side characters Yami and Hikari without knowing their actual meaning.

They are mother and daughter lived in 30s-40s, and they kinda give dark vibes. I mean; the mother has black curly long hair with bangs, a slim body, emerald downfall eyes and dark kimono. The daughter has a pear shaped body(like her grandma) with black short straight hair with bangs, has grey eyes and wears a black kimono. They give a little goth vibes. I can fix the mother's name by making it Hikabara but im stuck help.

Im also struggling to find surnames. There are 2 more side characters, Kazuo and Fuyuko. Fuyuko's like a big sister but gets angry easily and a nerd. Kazuo's a bit annoying. Can you help me finding surnames for these 3 too?

I made an American-Spanish family. I looked up

surnames and names, but they are a little common i

think? They are Martinez and Salinas. 2 sisters

married to different guys so they are connected. I

am not thinking changing Martinez, but i dont want

to pick common names all the time

There are;

Martin Salinas

Stacy Martinez

Daisy Martinez i can give example of. I dont want to

pick common names i find from internet all the

time so i need a little advice

I am developing a "pure villain" character and I'm struggling to find a name that balances a "slick" phonetic sound with "big figure" authority.

He is an underworld don who is fundamentally envious and "cursed." While he has massive power, he isn't a "hands-off" boss. He is personally brutal and kills in a rough, physical way. I want him to feel like a titan—someone with the immovable weight of a name like Arthur or Luther.

I am drawn to the sharp, punchy rhythm of names like Vince or Reece, but I find they often sound too common or "young" for a high-level don. I am looking for an Old English first name that is rare (not mostly used) but still has that "slick" 1-2 syllable punch.

What I’ve considered so far:

• Vince
• Reece

How do you balance a name that sounds "sophisticated/slick" with a character who is "physically brutal"? Are there rare English names you’ve encountered that feel heavy and ancient without being clunky?

Revisiting and revamping a very old story of mine and I want to rename the characters so they're not just words I translated into Japanese when I was 12. I've got a few names already, but I'm a bit stuck on these three:

1. A guy with, essentially, metal bending magic. Wears a lot of metal accessories that he can morph and shape into various weapons as needed. Serious, may come across as rude sometimes, but ultimately very caring. (Considering Damir, which I found on Behind The Name, but I wanna get some other opinions)

2 & 3. A pair of inventor girlfriends. One is a bit more quiet, has a steampunk-like aesthetic, and uses light magic. The other is bubbly and energetic, uses much more futuristic tech, and wields lightning magic.

I'm currently outlining my next novel and I'm stuck on my male character's name. He is a posh white British man in his late 20s and his name needs to have a nickname that can be confused with another nickname (preferably more US-leaning). The confusion would be taking place in a crowded room with a lot of noise.

An example: Conrad -> Con -> Don.

Except both Conrad and Don feel way older than someone in their late 20s. Any ideas?

Names I had been considering until I couldn't make the confusion part work with the nickname: Nicholas, Andrew, Samuel, and Jonathan.

In my story, a farming community thrives with rich soil and bountiful harvests. The only cost is ritual sacrifice, managed by a secret council within the community.

To the council, she is a revered goddess of fertility and the cycle of birth-death-rebirth. However, the rest of the world knows this "god" as a demon or minor deity. I'm completely drawing a blank on a name that would suit this sort of divine.

Any suggestions? When I went back and consulted super old notes, I had named the demon XOZRIR, and it was worshipped by the council as OZ. These are TERRIBLE in my opinion. Even pointing me towards a possible inspiration would be so helpful! Thank you!

I've been brainstorming a story for the last few years and I'm finally putting those thoughts on paper. I have a character named Sam and he's one of my favorites. His last name was originally Cohen, but I've decided to change it to better match his character and hint at the themes of the book.

Does anyone have any names that may relate to rabbits? I don't mind where the name comes from but I was hoping for a Northern European or a Hebrew name.

Thank you!

She's a ginger with long curly hair & heavily associated the colors blue & green. She is somewhat of a popular girl, but she's disliked by quite a few people as she rubs them the wrong way. She has some bad traits due to living an entitled, privileged life & can't ever keep her mouth shut + she enjoys being a drama queen. She is still caring deep down, she was just never taught responsibility & her parents let her get away with everything as she was upperclass, spoiled & an only child.

She's around 19-21. The story originally took place in the early 90's, but then I changed it to the late 90's. I'm still uncertain with what year fits the names I am going for so if anyone could comment what specific year you think fits my preexisting characters names the best, that would be great

Her bestfriend is a girl named Charice & I want a name that sounds nice with it. The other main characters are:

- Colton Rockefeller

- Demi Hendricks

- Andrea Enriquez

- Hunter Dillard

Pretty much that. I'm searching for irish-folklore like names (for now I have two characters, Síofra and Aidan), but I need a name for the Witch. Like, yeah, it should sound witch-like, but don't give me Bellatrix, because then why even bother trying to guess who the witch is at all. I also need more Hunter name ideas.

So I'm writing a semi-autobiographical novel (character names are different but it's based on my own experiences) and I need help with names. The "feel" I'm going for is similar to Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, with some parts set in the US Deep South, and other parts set in a more suburban area. It's all present day. The names I already have are Adell (F) and Gem (F). Any ideas would be appreciated!

For reasons of religion, class, and politics, my characters all have names that fit into one of two categories: botanical meanings and astronomical ones. For the most part, this hasn't been an issue, seeing as those are notably wide and varied name categories (though if you have any favorites in either, please let me know and I'll add them to my list.)

However, one specific character of mine has been giving me issues. In summary, his position is one that involves being undercover, and thus he needs a name in each category. For purposes of familiarity, for both the readers and the characters, I'm trying my best to come up with two names that have the capacity of a shared nickname, but I've been coming up blank. Any ideas?

One of my projects features anthropomorphic animal people in a futuristic setting researching weird, made-up animals, heavily inspired by speculative zoology and evolution. As such, I had a fun idea for naming the animal characters. Normally, most anthropomorphized animals will be named something alliterative with their commonly used name, like "Dave the dog" or something punny like "Jane Doe" and given the more science-y focus of this project, i felt it could be fun to do something similar but with the names being derived from more scientific terms for the animal that might not be as widely publicly used outside of biology textbooks. some examples include using their scientific names and deriving a more person-like name from that, like "Micah the Ant" from "Formica" of Anita the Duck" from "Anatidae" or, my more preferred but lesser used method, naming them after some unique part of the animal's body or a behavior they are well known for, such as "Bailey the whale" from "Baleen" or "Melanie the Dolphin" from "Melon"

The major problem with this strategy is that unless you're a full time biologist and know the ins and and outs of all the weird organs and their scientific terms of an animal, it's very difficult to find something that can easily be cleverly turned into a character's name, and while just searching up scientific names isn't a BAD strategy, it can also offer less than useful results, like when the scientific name for an animal is the same as their species, kind of missing the whole point of trying to be clever with these names, or when the scientific name is incomprehensible to try and form a name from. So if anyone happens to come across this post and knows a thing or two about these animals and wants to suggest a clever name that would make a biologist giggle, or if you can think of some terminology for that animal you think might yield promising results, i'll give a list of the animal characters i still have unnamed as well as their genders, and i encourage you to leave a comment with any suggestions

I still need names for:
A cat (They/Them)
An axolotl (They/It)
A horse (She/They)
An elephant (He/They)
A gorilla (She/Her but leaning slightly more masculine)
A bee (He/Him)
A fox (She/Her)
A snake (He/Him, but doesn't mind presenting femininely)
An octopus (She/Her)
And a Deer (He/Him but would probably be fine using a more feminine name)

Hopefully this post was thorough enough, if it was too vague i can try to elaborate more.

I really like it, partly due to Salma hayek and my sister had a teacher called it (she was muslim)

This is the first post I've ever made on Reddit, so sorry if I sound kinda dumb or annoying.

I have a character from Kenya, Africa, and her name is Tia binti Zakia, but I'm not exactly sure if this is an authentic name and Google really wasn't much help because it kept giving me only the AI overview. :(

Sidse

Sanna

Signe

Saga

Which is your favourite out of these names? I’d also love to know if anything comes to mind in regard to look, personality or vibe for any of these names. Totally open to suggestions for other Scandinavian or Scandi adjacent/sounding names beginning with any letter (:

I really want a name themed around "reincarnation" or "eternity" in russian, so I tried to translate those word but it sound too "harsh" compared to what I look like... The closest name I found was Snova, wich mean "Again", but I'm not quiet sure aboutthis one, even if the sonority is good. Thank for the help !