You have got a terrific idea for a science fiction, fantasy, or horror novel, however with regards to crafting names of individuals, locations, and belongings you’ve invented, you stumble. Fortuitously, it’s simpler than you may assume to assign identities:
When you’re a world-building author — you might be creating a completely realized realm with discrete cultures and languages — assemble names in order that they’re clearly distinct from these of different places and in step with others present in the identical areas. If you wish to recommend parallels with cultures and languages right here on Earth, select names that can evoke them with out imitating them — consider letter and sound combos, the preponderance of assorted vowel pairings and consonant blends, and whether or not phrases are usually curt or complicated.
Use names that convey a sense: Guttural consonants recommend belligerence, cruelty, and evil in individuals, and harsh, hostile climate and topographical options. Multisyllabic, mellifluous monikers make one consider benevolent individuals and exquisite locations. Let the identify of an individual or a spot recommend persona or atmosphere, or physique or geography.
Do names in your invented tradition consist of 1 phrase, two phrases, or extra? Does this quantity fluctuate in keeping with social class, or are phrases much like royal titles constructed into names to sign social standing? Do surnames within the tradition establish trades or abilities, equal, for instance, to Taylor and Smith? Do individuals use completely different types of deal with relying on relative social standing?
Consider how surnames in numerous languages, particularly these stemming from Indo-European, have parts often known as particles: Latinate languages, for instance, have Le, La, De, Du, and the like, whereas German and Dutch have Von and Van and Gaelic has M’, Mc, and Mac in addition to O’. What particles may your characters’ language have, and why do some names lack them? (A word of warning: Apostrophes are overused in fantasy fiction, typically to an absurd extent. Use them judiciously or in no way.)
What does the identify imply? When reusing a specific syllable, take care that it’s applicable. For instance, if twell means “river,” the syllable shouldn’t seem within the identify of a valley until the valley’s identify means “valley of the river.” And if names are equally constructed — sharing a syllable or a sample of two or extra phrases — these individuals or locations or issues ought to share a typical tradition or language, however be sure to don’t have too many related names, or ones that start with the identical letter.
Word that on the planet we come from, individuals who communicate completely different languages have completely different variations of names for individuals (Paul vs. Pablo) locations (Germany vs. Deutschland), and issues (wine vs. vino). Generally, phrases are adopted into different languages, and typically they’re not. There’s no cause the principles for the world you construct needs to be any completely different. Have in mind, too, how languages evolve (and typically turn into extinct): The identify sprawled throughout a 1,000-year-old map of a kingdom will doubtless differ considerably from the identify used within the current time. Spelling modifications needs to be in step with others within the story: If a topographical identify’s vowel shifted over time from e to a, then a personality’s historical close to namesake most likely spelled their identify with an e, not an a.
To create new names, take a reputation or one other phrase from English or one other recognized language and alter one letter or consonant mix, or substitute a number of syllables. Don’t hesitate to assign truncated or diminutive types of names (equal to Jon, from Jonathan, or Timmy, from Timothy), or nicknames. Additionally, one or two names out of many may replicate or carefully resemble names in recognized languages, however greater than that might be distracting.
Use Scrabble tiles, magnetized letters, or alphabet blocks to spontaneously type phrases, or sort random letters till a possible syllable or whole phrase is generated. Alternatively, should you’re the dishonest sort, or these recommendations don’t be just right for you, search on-line for a random identify generator.
Even in a fantasy realm, names must be sensible. Superman had a nemesis whose identify I can’t even sort (or seek for on-line) as a result of it consists of a string of consonants that defy my efforts to reconstruct it. The thought was that the villain was as annoying and opposite as his unpronounceable identify suggests, however characters should be capable of articulate the phrases you invent. Bear in mind, any individual christened every individual’s identify, and a few society bestowed every identify of a geographical function on that place and on every sensible object inside it.
The ultimate step, earlier than inserting a reputation right into a story, is to do an internet seek for it. If one other writer has already used the phrase, or it finally ends up being the Romanian time period for slime, alter or jettison it.
