Here's where you invent a good, original name

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I'm writing a story, and I've been trying to invent a name, whittling away at phonemes, but I find it very hard to do, without the resulting name sounding like gloop or too pretentious. Maybe you can come up with anything?

― Nat Custer, Tuesday, 12 April 2005 10:10 (twenty years ago)

Demetrius Fontaine

― moley@gmail.com, Tuesday, 12 April 2005 10:12 (twenty years ago)

Barry Lasagne.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 10:13 (twenty years ago)

Lord Kitten, Commander of the Galactic Burberry Starfleet

― g-kit (g-kit), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 10:23 (twenty years ago)

March Hadbers

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 10:24 (twenty years ago)

LaBurne Premeal

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 10:26 (twenty years ago)

charlton lidao

― charltonlido (gareth), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 10:26 (twenty years ago)

Conlem Maybury

Is this helping at all?

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 10:28 (twenty years ago)

Prestin Tigges

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 10:29 (twenty years ago)

Bill Car

― $V£N! (blueski), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 10:31 (twenty years ago)

Twurl Sleevely

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 10:36 (twenty years ago)

Nice cognomens. My character is female, and the first name has to be original, pretty and strong in the same way that Lorna was, invented by R.D. Blackmore for his novel. I like to think I can write a bit, but name-inventing, it seems, is a different skill. What's the best way to invent a name? So far, I've been piecing together phonemes from my favourite ones, like Dinah and Betsy, but I get things like Dinetsy. See my problem - not a very good name is it, that?

― Nat Custer, Tuesday, 12 April 2005 10:38 (twenty years ago)

Caitlin Cruickshank.

― Huey (Huey), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 10:47 (twenty years ago)

We get these muffins at work made by "Oscar Spunkmeyer". No-one can be as bad at thinking up names as the advertising guy behind that.

― Craig Gilchrist (Craig Gilchrist), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 10:49 (twenty years ago)

Morgan Hutchence.

― Huey (Huey), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 10:49 (twenty years ago)

Diles Mavis.

― Huey (Huey), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 10:49 (twenty years ago)

Donald Cake

― dog latin (dog latin), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 11:02 (twenty years ago)

Craig I believe it's Otis not Oscar. And it's a great name.

― $V£N! (blueski), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 11:04 (twenty years ago)

My character is female, and the first name has to be original, pretty and strong

Lady Kitten, Commander of the Galactic Burberry Starfleet

― g-kit (g-kit), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 11:06 (twenty years ago)

Flick Cotherinos

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 11:07 (twenty years ago)

Chelsea Ciabatta
Jane Grey Pipette
Jenny Hettikamkamagme
Agnes Trumplehorn

― dog latin (dog latin), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 11:12 (twenty years ago)

Flek Hiverstein

Tears Majesty

Noroma Blue

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 11:17 (twenty years ago)

(people, these are meant to be new names, not names that already exist.)

'Wendy' was, i think, another of these names invented by a writer (tries to remember who wrote the GODAWFUL Peter Pan and fails)

maybe you should borrow autechre's name generating machine and turn all the dials to pink. um, http://www.cs.pdx.edu/~kenstcyr/wordform.cgi

how about co-opting other words as names? Wednesday was a great name. Six too. Candle maybe?

Then there's femalisations of normal male names (am thinking of Felice, female version of Felix. this was a cat though so...). Or take a normal name and spell it in unexpected way.

― koogs (koogs), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 11:19 (twenty years ago)

Mirla Wenthrop

Aven Donnelly

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 11:20 (twenty years ago)

Those all sound a bit Amis-names-Americans (xpost).

― suzy (suzy), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 11:20 (twenty years ago)

or type things into swedish (etc) online dictionary and see if that throws up anything interesting.

― koogs (koogs), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 11:21 (twenty years ago)

Sven Johansson
Johan Svensson

― $V£N! (blueski), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 11:22 (twenty years ago)

Fyler Steele

― Rumpie, Tuesday, 12 April 2005 11:31 (twenty years ago)

(tries to remember who wrote the GODAWFUL Peter Pan and fails)

J M Barrie

― caitlin (caitlin), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 11:32 (twenty years ago)

Barrie La Sagne

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 11:42 (twenty years ago)

Spiral Winterson.

― Pete (Pete), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 12:01 (twenty years ago)

Peter Abbott

― you better believe it (you better believe it), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 12:31 (twenty years ago)

Nathalie
Esther
Noémie
Annouck
Colette
Isobelle
Nora

― you better believe it (you better believe it), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 12:34 (twenty years ago)

Kat Totenburg
Irene Crumpet

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 12:34 (twenty years ago)

Ocean Pablo
Cinnamon St. Cyr*
Xicaga Dos Santos
Verizon DuPree

*Warning: name too hottt, might be unconcious porn reference

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 12:39 (twenty years ago)

I've always really liked the name Gretta. And Kester.

― Alix with an i? (alix), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 12:51 (twenty years ago)

'little' Jimmy Valone

― lukey (Lukey G), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 13:31 (twenty years ago)

Phinella Andopolis

― jennpb (jennpb), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 14:45 (twenty years ago)

Twinny Parstone
Jayla Warstine
Franke Chasmaster
Pelly Woldone

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 14:51 (twenty years ago)

ooh, I rather like "Jayla", thanks.

― Nat Custer, Tuesday, 12 April 2005 14:59 (twenty years ago)

'Pamela' was coined by Richardson, I thought.

― M. White (Miguelito), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 15:09 (twenty years ago)

Harglebog Tra La La

― A Nairn (moretap), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 15:26 (twenty years ago)

Leona
Macey
Elise

― happy fun ball (kenan), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 15:29 (twenty years ago)

The simple joy of stupid spam names

― mark s (mark s), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 15:52 (twenty years ago)

Joanne Kwesi-Johnson
Constance Column
Bud Arbor
Fannie Bolger

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 16:25 (twenty years ago)

Nobby Huddlestone

― jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 16:28 (twenty years ago)

Freddie LaCrosse

― jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 16:28 (twenty years ago)

Faith Cranberry
Arthur James Marigold
Lim Song
Larissa Wool

― jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 16:32 (twenty years ago)

Juliane Swales (kidding)
Tamsin Keating (kidding there too)
Rebecca Jasper
Aubergine Pomme de Terre (name literally means "Eggplant Potato" in French, although "potato" in French means "fruit of the earth")
Lucienne Riese-Moraine (it's not really my last name, at least not yet, so take it if you want)

― Ian Riese-Moraine. To Hell with you and your gradual evolution! (Eastern Mantra), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 16:34 (twenty years ago)

Sophia Brooke

― Ian Riese-Moraine. To Hell with you and your gradual evolution! (Eastern Mantra), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 16:35 (twenty years ago)

I have a Russian friend who is actually named Natal!ya Sl!nk0. With similar-looking letters where the numbers and symbols are. I have often thought that if someone wrote a character with that name into a book they were writing, people would find the name far-fetched and absurd.

I bet nobody ever gave "Pirate Jenny" much of a chance of catching on.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 16:41 (twenty years ago)

Anyway: Clive Broadway

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 16:41 (twenty years ago)

Mac Acadac
Zeke Zyzillia

― peepee (peepee), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 16:43 (twenty years ago)

Eileen Dover.

― andy --, Tuesday, 12 April 2005 17:55 (twenty years ago)

Zahra Zimferii

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Tuesday, 12 April 2005 18:01 (twenty years ago)

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