Of character name and nationality

[Saitoki1582]

Do you have a hard time coming up with character name and nationality? What do you usually do to get inspiration to name a character?

I believe many people would come up with personality and outer appearance of the character first before naming them. But then, sometimes I find it hard to come up with a good name.

I have seen many people on this forum complain about Japanese name. But then, is English name any better? I'm a Vietnamese, so if I make English name for my character, would it be wrong? Name in some languages like Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese... are easy to pinpoint the nationality: If a character is named Chun Ling-> Chinese; Sakura-> Japanese; Hoang Anh -> Vietnamese.

If my character look nothing like Vietnamese, in a fantasy setting not like anywhere in the world, I won't be comfortable naming them in Vietnamese. Since I draw in manga style, could Japanese or English name be better choice? My choice is English name, because it cover many parts of the world. In every races, every continents, there are countries that use English name so I find it safer (in fact, many fantasy anime name characters in English). But there are also people who use Japanese name, and I don't think it's because they are Japanese wannabe, but because they may not feel comfortable naming an anime style character in their own language.

The next step is pick out a name that is not weird-sounding, but not cringe-worthy either (something like Saphire or Tenshi scream mary-sue, for example). When I name a character in a language, I try to have a good understanding of said language, but it's still not enough. I often have to rely on name generator, but it may take away the chance to make an actually meaningful name.

To everyone, how do you usually come up with nationality and name for your character?

[firecat]

you thinking too much on the name part, mostly it has to do with the setting and timeline. you don't expect a name like "robot-1000" in the medieval era or Max in a alien planet (o.k maybe you do). just know the setting of the character and timeline, these should help with the names or you could just randomly pick a name like everyone else.

[MaiMai]

I have seen many people on this forum complain about Japanese name. But then, is English name any better? I'm a Vietnamese, so if I make English name for my character, would it be wrong? Name in some languages like Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese... are easy to pinpoint the nationality: If a character is named Chun Ling-> Chinese; Sakura-> Japanese; Hoang Anh -> Vietnamese

You have to think about the setting and time period of where your story takes place. For instance, an English name for a Vietnamese person would not be out of place from anywhere between 1980s-2015 because of the amount of Vietnamese immigrants who live in America or other English speaking countries like Canada or Australia.

I'm Vietnamese, but born in America so I have an English first name and a Vietnamese middle name.

[Juno]

Honestly, it depends on what kind of setting you are going for.

Is it another planet in the distant future? And alt. universe Earth? Another plane of existence?

I have a lot of different universes/story worlds and my naming system is dependent on that. In my somewhat distant future that takes place somewhere in post-apocolyptic US, most of my characters have American-sounding names like Eli or Gideon, though there is a character with a Russian background named aptly.

In another world of mine, on a far away planet in the far away future that takes place half on the physical world and half on the astral plane, my astral characters are mostly named after known demons while my human characters have names like Lulu or something. Most characters are mixed race and limited to a particular city.

The MAIN story I am actually working on consistently (the other ones mostly RP-based worlds or too complicated to actually turn into anything right now) is based in a particular city on the planet I just mentioned. The naming conventions for that city are mostly noun-based: Glacier, Haze, Eden, Arc, etc. I figure that while they are English-based names, the language they speak probably isn't English but a mixture of evolved languages, and that their names would just be translated as such into English.

I've also been known to heavily use Latin words to make new names or completely make up key mash names in very fantasy-like world.

[Kuiper]

For stories set in the real world (or a facsimile thereof), I try to have names that are reasonable accurate, but within that constraint, I try to lean on the side of names that are reasonably familiar while still representing the era. For example, if I'm writing a story set in Victorian England, I'll have characters with names like Alexander, Hugh, Lawrence, and Edwin, but I'll shy away from names like Obediah, Hortence, and Leander, even though these names would be accurate for a story set in Victorian England. That said, I do tend to get more liberal with giving "unusual" names to side characters, since giving someone a distinctive name can be a good way to make a character more memorable.

A really easy way to find accurate names for different time periods is Googling around for baby names for a certain period. For example, I was recently writing a story set in the present day (2015), and one of the main characters was a 25-year-old Indian immigrant, meaning that he was born in India in 1990. By searching for phrases like 'most popular baby names india 1990,' I can quickly come up with lists of names that would be accurate to that time and location. A lot of people tend to forget that matching your names to the setting means not only matching location, but era as well.

I have seen many people on this forum complain about Japanese name. But then, is English name any better? I'm a Vietnamese, so if I make English name for my character, would it be wrong?

If you're writing a story in English, odds are that your audience is primarily going to consist of westerners. Because of this, English-sounding names are going to sound more "normal" to most of your audience, while eastern names are going to sound more foreign to your audience. This is fine if that's the intended effect, but if you name your main character Daisuke when there's nothing explicitly Japanese about him or the world he inhabits, that's going to take some people out of the story. (If you were writing your story in Japanese, this wouldn't be the case.)

When you're creating a fantasy setting, consider your influences. Are you influenced more by eastern or western mythology? If you have a fantasy setting where the dragons look like this, then I'd be more okay with a protagonist named Miyoshi or Adachi. But if you have dragons that look like this, then maybe a western name like Arthur or Thomas would be more appropriate. Consider the culture you're creating. Does it feel more western or eastern? Note that if you create a culture with a more eastern feel to it, giving the characters eastern-sounding names can actually help readers acclimate to the new culture, since they'll more immediately recognize it as one that differs from there own, and the differences that they spot will be seen more as "cool" in a way that pulls them into the story rather than being "weird" in a way that takes them out of the story. Xenophilia is a real thing, especially among many younger readers and visual novel enthusiasts who have an affinity for Japanese culture, so don't be afraid to use it to your advantage where it's appropriate.

When you're simply trying to evoke a certain setting, such as a fantasy set in faux-Medieval Europe, you get to be more liberal with names, and you can get away with choosing names based on how cool they are rather than their accuracy. I wouldn't fill my Medieval fantasy with characters who have modern-sounding names like Sabrina, Cody, Chase, or Amanda, but I'd feel pretty comfortable just making up names like Toth, Rouff, or Olvario.

This is a point of some contention, but I'm partial to names that directly evoke some sort of meaning. Some names, on their own, tell you something about the character. It's possible to do this in a very overt way, by using words that are immediately recognizable. For example, the fantasy game Golden Sun has djinn that are each tied to one of four Aristotelian elements (earth, fire, wind, water), and they all have names that reflect that. For example, earth-aligned djinn have names like Flint, Crystal, and Petra, while wind djinn have names like Zephyr, Squall, and Gale. This kind of approach isn't exactly subtle, but I like it a lot when it's used well. This kind of naming convention can work well for ensemble casts where you need to keep track of a large number of characters, since it's easy to remember that Flint is an earth djinn while Gale is a wind-based character. (In Golden Sun, there are dozens of djinn characters, so having a naming convention that sort of tells you what each character does helps you to keep track of all of them.)

Another way you can do this is have trait or virtue-based names for your characters, like Hope, Faith, Charity, or Justice. But I'm quite a bit less fond of that, and if you're worried about having a name that sounds "Mary Sue"-ish, you may not want to beat your reader over the head by giving your main character a virtuous name.

One last naming tip: regardless of what kind of naming convention you use, try to keep names distinct. (A simple way to achieve this is to avoid giving characters names that begin with the same letter.) For example, if your three main characters are named Alfred, Alwin, and and Albert, that has the potential to get confusing. If you want to do this intentionally, that can work (for example, if you want a plot point where a Alwin picks up a note addressed to "Al," assuming it's for him when it was actually intended for Albert), but when you do this you need to find other ways to make the characters distinct in other ways. (If I were writing this story and needed to have two characters named Alwin and Albert for plot-related purposes, I'd probably have Albert go by the nickname "Bert" most of the time.) Since you're working in visual novels, you can make the characters visually distinct to separate them, but that alone won't help when two other characters are talking about Alfred behind his back, and the reader has to spend a moment trying to remember which one Alfred was.

You can also flip the "name similarity" thing around to intentionally make certain names similar when you want the reader to conflate the two in their mind. For example, in the novel Mistborn, the character Vin uses the alias Valette when infiltrating high society, and because both of these names start with the same unusual consonant, the reader never forgets that when people mention Lady Valette, they're actually talking about Vin.

[Kailoto]

Names are reliant on two things: the setting and the meaning. A character's name has to fit the setting (unless the character doesn't fit the setting either), but the meaning of the name is up to you and entirely optional. It's sort of a duality between "does this name fit in with the rest of the story?" and "does this name fit this character in particular?"

Nationality isn't as important as culture; I can have a character with a Japanese name that maybe isn't in a story set in actual Japan, but in a culture similar to it. If you're assuming a real-world setting, then yes, nationality is the same thing; but fictional realms are not limited to this world. You can model societies off of real ones, or even invent your own from scratch. (That takes a lot of worldbuilding though.)

Remember that a name is how the player identifies a character. So beyond making the name fit the narrative, I think it's equally important to come up with a name that conveys something about the character to the player. Maybe it's a plain name, like John, to show that they're a plain person compared to the rest of the cast. The more meaning you can pack into a single identifier, the easier it will be to establish that character in the long run.

[annpan]

I don't know... A person's name confuses me sometimes. When it comes down to it, there's actually a lot Chinese names that crosses over to some Korean and Vietnamese's names (mainly North Vietnam? due to geography). Vice versa with English's names in America and Europe. You just can't judge so easy. To add on to point that they don't look like that nationality... I can say for sure that I've met people who don't look their nationality in real life... So will it matter? No~ And about your concern about drawing in an anime/manga style -- a lot people tend to believe that anime/mange characters look more Caucasian than Asian so it doesn't matter if they're are different. Trust me, I'm pretty sure that the google top search for "anime look likes" is, "Why does anime look white" XD It's a heated debate. I think the artwork for my game has an anime/manga style to it?, can't be too sure but to fit the setting -- I just made-up a bunch of Chinese names (with help) and went with it... Yup, my advice to you is just name them whatever but make sure it fits with the setting.

P.S. - I did a little research into the Vietnamese history a while back and I have to say that the girls are amazing. There's also a tactician named... err.. *searches* Tran Hung Dao --> http://www.badassoftheweek.com/tranhungdao.html. History, it's pretty amazing.

[Kikaharu]

I name my characters by just how I feel like what their name should be. Sometime I substitute a name if I need to write a name while writing but I'll usually come back and figure one out. Sometimes it just comes to you and sometimes you just have to set them a name. Sometimes that name grows on them and sometimes you have to go back and change their name a long time later. I usually don't think about the nationality as much unless that plays a big role in the setting. But English names I think are being a bit more common in some places so I don't feel like it that's out of place. Really depends on the setting. If it's historical type of writing then names that fit the nationality probably a good idea. But doesn't mean that it has too. And sometimes just make up a name something.

Also nationality I don't pick out. I just make the characters and they will fall wherever things just flow together. Backgrounding your characters sometimes the nationality comes naturally when doing background information on the characters.

[Saitoki1582]

Ofcourse when making a story, I always take setting into consideration. It's only when the setting is more generic that name and culture are hard to choose. For example, in futuristic setting, both western and eastern setting will still have skyscraper everywhere, so I think I can pick whatever kind of name I want. Actually, it's interesting to have mixed races and cultures as a result of globalization.

If you're writing a story in English, odds are that your audience is primarily going to consist of westerners. Because of this, English-sounding names are going to sound more "normal" to most of your audience, while eastern names are going to sound more foreign to your audience.

This is a good point, I guess it's best that I stick to English name, then. Now that I think of it, many fantasy anime still use Japanese name and still sound normal because the anime was made for Japanese audience.

As for just picking a name and go with it, I'm not native speaker. I'm not exposed to the western culture my whole life, to it's hard to just imagine an English name that sound right to native speaker.At the moment I'm using a name generator,but Kuiper's method of searching baby's name is pretty good as well.

I think it's equally important to come up with a name that conveys something about the character to the player. Maybe it's a plain name, like John, to show that they're a plain person compared to the rest of the cast. The more meaning you can pack into a single identifier, the easier it will be to establish that character in the long run.

That's right, it's why I used to spend hours in front of the name generator to pick out a fitting name for my characters. It should not be too plain, but not too extraordinary and must somewhat fit the character personality.

[LPRe]

MMm, well it depends. Is your story taking place on Earth as we know it or some fantasy land? Is it in space? Is it something new? That changes things a lot. If it's in space or something, you can kind of mess with traditional naming schemes, same for fantasy places.

Admittedly it depends on the scale of your project's world. If you stay in one place that's based on one place, like a fantasy kingdom based in european type fantasy, then you can keep the names in that general sphere, with some variants due to migration and, depending on the timeframe of this fantasy kingdom, merchants and the like. Likewise, if you're setting up some place that has similarities to Japan or Vietnam, you can stay in that general sphere with some variation. If you go too far out of your setting, it'll feel strange and awkward. You can't really have just one guy named Jim surrounded by characters with names like Kazuya Yukihara unless Jim is either someone of the same nationality but with circumstances(raised in x place, raised by x parent), or has just moved or something, it feels kind of awkward and weird otherwise. He doesn't really belong in the setting.

I think that's what matters most, is that your characters match the feel of the setting. This gets more complicated the more you create your own world, because with worldbuilding you can make and jam together essentially anything to create something new. I'm currently working on a comic with a fantasyworld that has a strong mix of european fantasy and korean/east asian type fantasy, and there are a lot of problems with names and what nationalities my characters resemble and whatnot. I'm still working out the kinks, honestly.

I tend to make a character's design and personality and then spend anywhere from ten minutes to weeks trying to get the perfect name. There's a lot of running around name meaning sites and 100 top names and historical names and everything, since I name conveys a lot about a character. I've changed character's names several times before settling. There's a lot that goes into naming a character for me, though I know some people just come up with something and go for it, but I get really nitpicky about that kinda thing. Personal preference really plays into that as well, there are some names that have fit my characters before, but because I personally don't like how they sound I don't use them and seek out something else that works.

[Coren]

I actually like it when a character has a name that evokes a certain nationality but isn't actually that nationality. It's because of the globalised world that we live in now.

When I see American characters nowadays, it just feels strange if ALL of them are white with names like John Smith or Bob MacDonald. For example, I expect a few Asians who've lived there all their lives. Their names can be Zhulin Li, and yet don't carry around stereotypical Chinese things, speak in Chinese, or talk about their traditional conservative Chinese families etc. And I actually like that. Same with white characters who're fond of things from other cultures and carry them around a lot.