Naming Characters and help naming things.

[Mariaachi]

Hello! I was just wondering two things: How Do you decide on Naming your Characters? I like to think of multiple different names then consider the one best suited.

Two: I need help naming Creatures for my Project Symphony: Sounds of the Soul. It's a relatively short game I'm making and should be uploaded on the forum by August.....

I considered Noise since it can work well with my Story: The whole music theme-ish thing but my friends said it's too main stream. So any suggestions? I'm really at a dead end here!!!! I wanna start programming since the story's just about done!¬¬¬

Also sincerest apologies if it's in the wrong place...I get kinda confused when it comes to forums...... Forgive me Senpai!

[Googaboga]

If you were really feeling 'noise' but it seems too mainstream maybe just go with a synonym or something in the same vein? Here are some less often used noise related words that seem pretty fitting for a creature;
-Tocsin (an alarm bell or signal)
-Din (a loud, unpleasant, and prolonged noise)
-Peal (any loud, sustained sound or series of sounds, as of cannon, thunder, applause, or laughter. [it means other things too])
-Sonance ( the condition or quality of being sonant/a sound; a tune)

As for how I name my characters, I just go over lists of names until I decide I like one ^^;.

Good luck on you project :>.

[trooper6]

People who dismiss things as being "too mainstream" are people whose opinions don't need to be heeded.
Call it Noise if you want to.
Other music related terms that could work as monster names:
-Dissonance
-Tritone
-Feedback

[Laiska]

I honestly like "Noise". It's simple and straightforward and immediately implies a number on connotations, particularly interference. Looking at that design with that name, I think of the sound of static disrupting music.

As for deciding my own names, I have a pretty similar process. I make a list of names and then look at them a while until one of them feels right to me. If I'm comparing a few that are close, especially for say a character's surname to pair with a given name, I'll put all the different combos on display together for quick comparison. (Like so!)

[Rosstin]

I used to be really focused on naming things uniquely. I had this huge document where I listed millions of weird-sounding names I could use whenever I wanted.

(A list of unnecessarily weird names...)

Salamancer, Pacilusk, Cryolisk, Arsiluft, Dolemace, Santicore, Fallusade, Phelonious, Saskervoy, Chacellex, Panservoy, Kallusade, Doremace, Folluvoy, Corpsivad, Chasiluft, Corsicade, Varsisad, Banivaft, Cumbleost, Chorceleft, Saftervoy, Callusvade, Punchervon, Copulloss, Tuselvade, Muskervoy, Mucilade, Chost, Chasker, Chumvel, Chucell, Kusvel, Astervoy, Scumbleice, Pustelod, Chutelosk, Chankerville, Choselisk, Sankervon, Dunskey, Ducel, Daster, Mostolfius, Kastil, Krosp, Krospe, Kalvineiss, Gneisst, Niephe, Noyella, Suttellvassen, Sonfeidersan, Voskeloffessen, Chostevakendass, Astelloffenagga, Canivalmanos, Josphan, Tornevas, Ducellayna, Crunevan, Doyne, Dorfelas, Kotchenvas, Tagelos, Torcival, Jovella, Boselvanda, Cavilapada, Dupanis, Dragoffan, Droffel, Dalavine, Cavellina, Sortenskia, Docernias, Gavisade, Ochelatzvia, Gandia, Golivas, Atchengahn, Kyenvas, Transvinke, Zholvampaye, Kramemboo

Anyway, then I realized that names serve a narrative purpose and they should just be evocative and either be pleasing to look at and easy to see or easy to understand and pronounce and hear, depending on your medium. So it's better if your name "works" than if it is "unique" or something. Minor exception: if you're titling a creative work that you want people to be able to search out and find, try to name it something that you can Google-bomb later. Example: A game I worked on is called "Nefarious". You can find it if you search nefarious + game but not just nefarious. "Queen At Arms" was a better name because you can search for that with or without quotes and it shows up fine. ("Queen At Arms" is surprisingly hard to say/pronounce, but since most people read this title that's okay-ish.)

Anyway, don't overthink names. Make them evocative. Names should be memorable and relatively invisible. Don't name characters things that are super crazy just for the sake of it.

Also, don't name everyone in your story names that start with the same letter. And don't name two people in one story the same name. I don't care how realistic it is that two of the adventurers might be named "Bill". Just don't do it. In "Queen At Arms" we made the mistake of naming two characters who practically share a sprite and an identical role "Commander Bryce" and "Assistant-Commander Berin". I can't tell you how many times we've mixed those up. Terrible idea. xD

[Mariaachi]

People who dismiss things as being "too mainstream" are people whose opinions don't need to be heeded.
Call it Noise if you want to.
Other music related terms that could work as monster names:
-Dissonance
-Tritone
-Feedback

I like Dissonance a lot......YUP THAT's What I'm Using. Although it may be a little awkward to say "The Dissonance are eating her." I'll work my way around....

Salamancer

Salamancer is coincidentally, the nickname of one of the characters...huh I wonder how that happended?

[trooper6]

People who dismiss things as being "too mainstream" are people whose opinions don't need to be heeded.
Call it Noise if you want to.
Other music related terms that could work as monster names:
-Dissonance
-Tritone
-Feedback

I like Dissonance a lot......YUP THAT's What I'm Using. Although it may be a little awkward to say "The Dissonance are eating her." I'll work my way around....

Salamancer

Salamancer is coincidentally, the nickname of one of the characters...huh I wonder how that happended?

Well Dissonance is singular, so I'd say Dissonance is eating her.

[Kailoto]

Have you ever played The World Ends With You? It's a dual-screen JRPG-type game for the DS, quite unique. The monsters in the game were called Noise, and it was a perfect fit for them. Like Laiska noted, it implied interference and lack of direction or structure, and even hinted at the true nature of the phantoms.

Anyways, anything musically related can work; using the connotations of the word to imply the same attributes to the creature is a very effective way of adding depth and meaning to a name. Noise and Dissonance are good terms, as are Crescendo, Syncopate, Nocturne, and Staccato, to name a few.

When it comes to naming in general, I like to give everything a reason... not everything has to tie in to some mythos or hidden meaning, but I try not to just pull names out of a hat. Even if it's a relatively normal name (e.g. Elizabeth), you can still use it to convey something about the person or object it's naming. But that's just a personal preference, so just go with whatever names you'd like to see in the story, and only worry about changing them if you're met with unified opposition.

[Mariaachi]

Have you ever played The World Ends With You? It's a dual-screen JRPG-type game for the DS, quite unique. The monsters in the game were called Noise, and it was a perfect fit for them. Like Laiska noted, it implied interference and lack of direction or structure, and even hinted at the true nature of the phantoms.

Anyways, anything musically related can work; using the connotations of the word to imply the same attributes to the creature is a very effective way of adding depth and meaning to a name. Noise and Dissonance are good terms, as are Crescendo, Syncopate, Nocturne, and Staccato, to name a few.

Hmm....I heard the title but not much about the actual game. I never owned a DS before I only owned a 3DS until recently -_-". My Mom prefers Sony. Anywho: regarding the creatures, they are empty beings who run on the emotions of humans. (Trying not to spoil anything, sorry if it's vague.) Nocturne would be a good name too for a certain type....Oh this forum always gives me ideas ^////^