# Character Names



## -AT (Apr 10, 2014)

How do you decide on your characters' names? Do they have importance? 

I take a lot of time when I choose names for my characters. To me, for every person, there is only one right name. Or at least, a name that seems appropriate for them. 
Here are a couple of my characters and the names I settled on. (Note, the setting of my book is in Japan):

Marco Nakahara: A 24 year old male who's mother is European and Father Japanese. Blonde hair with blue eyes.

Takeru Shimamoto: A large 28 year old male who was a mercenary for several years after escaping his village that was overrun by pillagers

I don't know that Japanese names were the best examples for this discussion...but maybe you guys can see how the names match the character profile? Does Marco sound like a European pretty boy? Does Takeru sound like a large, hardened combat veteran (think "tank")? Maybe you think names don't mean anything?


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## Bishop (Apr 10, 2014)

I create names from nothing! Well, that's not true. I take the dominant elements of the linguistics of the race I invented and combine them into a name that's unique, but never overly complex. I should probably note this is what I do for aliens. 

For human characters, I take classic names like Michael, and change them slightly. So Michael might become Mikal, making it a bit more phonetic makes it sound futuristicy if you ask me. I like to think that they started to simplify names the same way that slang degrades the complexities of language. Others might go the other way, and add letters like Frank becoming Fraynk. Sometimes, I keep them just as they are! John, Alan, Ophelia (that escalated quickly). Usually I make the surnames the more complex ones, so you'll get a lot of characters with names like John Lovamb. Or Sarah Cutlan. 

This is why I love sci fi. It might not make sense, but actually it does.


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## bookmasta (Apr 10, 2014)

Names...I usually choose ones that I find appropriate for whatever I'm working on. I could explain why, but that's futile. Everyone has their own preferences and reasons for what they do.


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## Potty (Apr 10, 2014)

James Bond, if my information is accurate, was inspired by the name of an author of a gardening book. Names can come from anywhere and often will mold itself to fit the character. When you think Bond, you think spy. Before his conception Bond was probably just a common last name. James Bond made the name work.


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## Blade (Apr 10, 2014)

-AT said:


> Maybe you think names don't mean anything?



In real life no one goes around assigning just the perfect name to everyone after deep thought and contemplation so why is it so important in a novel?:suspicion: Generally you just meet someone with a particular name and get used to the person who goes with it. I prefer common, easy to pronounce, names myself rather than a tangled mouthful as they slip into the story without any fuss.:untroubled:


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## -AT (Apr 10, 2014)

That's not exactly the case. While there isn't a particular someone going around assigning people proper names, everyone's name is generally chosen after careful consideration of the parent(s). As well, while names do grow on you, that doesn't necessarily mean the name fits the person. A scrawny, glasses-wearing computer nerd named Butch is just going to seem out of place no matter how long you know them.


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## spartan928 (Apr 10, 2014)

Easy to remember. Pretty much it.


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## Kyle R (Apr 10, 2014)

I like to take normal names and change/replace letters here and there until it's something that's still familiar, but unique and grabs me in some way. (Similar to what Bishop does.)



			
				-AT said:
			
		

> Takeru Shimamoto: A large 28 year old male who was a mercenary for several years after escaping his village that was overrun by pillagers
> 
> I don't know that Japanese names were the best examples for this discussion...but maybe you guys can see how the names match the character profile? Does Takeru sound like a large, hardened combat veteran (think "tank")?



I like the strong, chopping "T" and "K" sounds of Takeru. Very forceful consonants. Works well. :encouragement:


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## Blade (Apr 10, 2014)

-AT said:


> That's not exactly the case. While there isn't a particular someone going around assigning people proper names, everyone's name is generally chosen after careful consideration of the parent(s). As well, while names do grow on you, that doesn't necessarily mean the name fits the person. A scrawny, glasses-wearing computer nerd named Butch is just going to seem out of place no matter how long you know them.



The parents consideration of the name happens before they are even born.:grumpy:

I think that the fact that we are used to letting names grow on us downplays the importance the choice of them in a novel. Certainly a severe misnaming should be avoided but trying to select just the right match doesn't seem to me to be worth the effort.

In any case most of us have subliminal associations with many names anyway. If you only knew one 'Ralph' as a child you have a pre-image assigned to that name regardless of how carefully it was chosen. Since we all have a different cache of prototypes you would be best off just choosing reasonably familiar names and let it go at that.:joyous:


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## T.S.Bowman (Apr 11, 2014)

I simply made up the names for a few of my characters. The dragons (except one and only because I had forgotten the use of the name from my childhood) are all my creations. A couple of the characters are too. I do try to stick with normal names in my work as much as possible. But I make up as many as I can, or if I deem it necessary.

I actually have to change the name of the villain in my story because I unwittingly named him after a European Power Metal band. LOL


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## Jeko (Apr 11, 2014)

> A scrawny, glasses-wearing computer nerd named Butch is just going to seem out of place no matter how long you know them.



This brings up the issue, however, of the fits-too-well feeling that comes with some names. A name doesn't have to 'fit' the character in some noticeable way - sometimes, obvious connections can be off-putting. Likewise, juxtaposition, like the example above, can be great for humor. A giant guy called Tiny, for another example.

Usually, the way I pick names is by writing the story and using the first name that comes to me. If it works for me, I continue to use it. If it doesn't, I continue to use it until the part of my brain screaming 'Use something different!' thinks of a better name. I never consciously link names to characters. I have a story to focus on; I let the semantics figure out themselves. That or I play with them more once the first draft is done.


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## Ariel (Apr 11, 2014)

For me the name has to sound _natural_.  That said, people do all kinds of weird crap with their kids' names.  

My mother named me so that my name rhymes--all three of my names end with an "el" sound.  Then she gave my younger brother the same exact initials.  If she was mad at both of us she would just yell out our initials.  If she wasn't she'd yell out our initials with a number.  I didn't think anything of it until it occurred to me that I had been numbered by my mother.

Also, names have meaning and connotation.  William, Henry, George, and Edward are all names from the British monarchy--royals pick their children's names with consideration to these names.  Some families will name successive lines of children (usually male) the same, or a family might make something up (Moon Unit and Dweezel Zappa).  There's ethnic, time period, and cultural considerations as well.


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## ChristinaH (Apr 11, 2014)

In my current book, one of the walk-on characters is named Letta. That seemed like an odd choice for a name, so I thought I was saying something very subtle about the mother. Of course, the actual mother-daughter interaction overwhelms that.  I was going to call my Siamese twins Yvonne and Yvette, but they had different personalities and the similarity of the names confused even me. So I called them Anna and Zelda. Of course, I normally just work to think of a name and go for something ordinary unless I want cultural diversity.


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## voltigeur (Apr 12, 2014)

I will go to baby name directories and Surname directories to get names for my characters. I very seldom will choose a name because of its meaning. If nationality is an issue I can look for “Spanish boy’s names” or “Spanish Surnames” this gives me a list and I can get variety that is still very realistic.


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## Bard_Daniel (Apr 12, 2014)

Isn't the choice of names, and creation of characters, our own psychological imprint on what we, as authors, think those human beings would be like considering the environment they are put into?

That's what I thought...


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## Jeko (Apr 12, 2014)

> Isn't the choice of names, and creation of characters, our own psychological imprint on what we, as authors, think those human beings would be like considering the environment they are put into?



I'd let the critics worry about that; I just want to tell a story. Whatever names help tell that story best, those are the ones I'll use.


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## Bard_Daniel (Apr 12, 2014)

Cadence said:


> I'd let the critics worry about that; I just want to tell a story. Whatever names help tell that story best, those are the ones I'll use.



Fair.


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## Lytharicus (Apr 14, 2014)

I usually make up names that sound fun and then assign them to characters from specific cultures from my story (fantasy or sci fi typically so not real world cultures). After a while each culture seems to have certain kinds of names associated with it and making other names becomes easier. I don't always think the name has to be specifically fitting to the character because after a while the names do seem to grow on them. Even names which seem odd at first become familiar after they keep coming up. I do tend to try to keep names that have softer sounds or harsher sounds with groups that reflect that kind of personality as a whole. If you are trying to make names that reflect real world cultures you could try to research typical names and meanings from baby naming sites like voltigeur suggested. Ultimately I think names will probably mean a lot more to you as a writer than your reader unless they are names with obvious meaning or have a serious involvement with the plot.


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## garza (Apr 14, 2014)

Not being a real fiction writer, I need help thinking up character names so I keep a basic list of names and pick the next one from the list whenever I start a story. The top names in my list are John, Joe, Charlie, Bill, and Fred for men, and Mary, Betty, Becky, Alice, and Ruth for women.


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## aj47 (Apr 14, 2014)

I make them up but not out of nothing.

My two characters in "The Juice" are names Everett Leighton and David Jessup.  Rett and Dave.  Rett is named for a former 3rd baseman for my hometown nine -- his last name.  He was going to have a different last name but something happened.  Dave was originally named Bill but one of the guys in my writers' group said "Why are all vampires named Bill?" That guy's name was Dave.    And Dave's last name is Not A Real Last Name of Any Major League Ballplayer Ever -- but is similar to the last name of my first boyfriend.  

In my LM piece, Eleanor is named after no one but has a name that can be shortened to another familiar name and she hates when people *do* that.  Stacy, her friend is just a name I saw on FB.  Vince is named after an ex-boyfriend -- his last name is from a different ex-boyfriend.  And Eleanor's middle name sounded good with her last name -- and *that* came from my BFF's last name -- I wanted a "generic" name and occupation names are like that.  

So any name can be picked up, dusted off, and used.

If you're (un)fortunate enough to have your work become required reading for tweens, teens or college students, the instructors will invent reasons you used the names you did and discover hidden (from you, even) meanings in them.


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## Bard_Daniel (Apr 15, 2014)

I thought names were always supposed to be meaningful though...

For, as someone mentioned, don't parents choose their babies names before they are spawned?


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## Bishop (Apr 15, 2014)

danielstj said:


> I thought names were always supposed to be meaningful though...
> 
> For, as someone mentioned, don't parents choose their babies names before they are spawned?



Yes, but there are people who name their babies really dumb things. Sometimes, a name is just a name, or the author couldn't come up with anything else.

Or they name them something with the subtlety of an anvil, such as John Allman.


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## Trygve (Apr 15, 2014)

Sometimes, it's better to just snag an imperfect name and run with the story until you suddenly go, "Ah! Her name should be Rachel."  Then you do a find and replace, and Rachel's staid parents no longer have a daughter named Moonbeam.


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## Bishop (Apr 15, 2014)

Trygve said:


> Sometimes, it's better to just snag an imperfect name and run with the story until you suddenly go, "Ah! Her name should be Rachel."  Then you do a find and replace, and Rachel's staid parents no longer have a daughter named Moonbeam.



Hey! Just remember what Frank Zappa named his kids: Dweezil, and Moon Unit.


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## T.S.Bowman (Apr 15, 2014)

I'm pretty sure ole Frank was stoned out of his gourd when those kids were born. LOL


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## kilroy214 (Apr 15, 2014)

Dweezil was in The Running Man.


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## Ariel (Apr 15, 2014)

danielstj said:


> Isn't the choice of names, and creation of characters, our own psychological imprint on what we, as authors, think those human beings would be like considering the environment they are put into?
> 
> That's what I thought...



if you want to think about it philosophically then everything we write is really an extension of our psychological imprint--which really means that you can't just take the names and say "this is the author's dislike for the color blue" (bad example) without also taking the entire work and looking at it as a whole.

Honestly, I think people--including and, maybe especially writers--look into what's written too much.  Sometimes blue curtains are blue curtains and the floor is the floor.


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## T.S.Bowman (Apr 15, 2014)

amsawtell said:


> Honestly, I think people--including and, maybe especially writers--look into what's written too much.  Sometimes blue curtains are blue curtains and the floor is the floor.



Sometimes, a story is just a story.


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## Lyra Laurant (Apr 15, 2014)

-AT said:


> How do you decide on your characters' names? Do they have importance?



I choose names for their combination of meaning + how it sounds/reads.
As you used Japanese characters, I'm going to use the protagonist of my first novel as an example.

Airi Guerreiro: A gentle 16 years old Brazilian girl who is 1/4 Japanese, 1/4 Indigenous, 1/4 Portuguese, 1/4 I don't remember.

*Airi* (愛理) is a Japanese name that may be written with the ideograms of "love" (愛) and "reason; true; management" (理). A delicate name for a delicate girl. I like it because it is short, it looks clean on the page, and has easy pronunciation for westerns (I know names like Mitsukuni are readen as Mijtskjuitynkuni by who is not used to Japanese names). By coincidence, it also happens to be an Indigenous name, which is perfect because the girl is connected to an Indigenous ancient curse.
*Guerreiro* is a common name in my country and literally means "warrior" (somehow equivalent to the surname Knight, I guess?). I chose that name because the girl needs to overcome her fears and fight for what she believes if she wants to stop the curse and protect the ones she love.

That's just how I choose my character's names, though. As a reader, I don't care if the names mean nothing, as long as they are easy to remember/distinguish (no Lyria and Lidia on the same story) and easy to read.


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## skitty (Apr 19, 2014)

Unlike many people, I don't think that names really mean anything. Sometimes I use names in that way, but many names don't have symbolic meanings. I just try to use names that I happen to like - and ones that make sense for the setting.

The main character of a story I wrote that takes place in Crimea is named Anton. The name is of Etruscan origin (the original form being Antonius), and it really doesn't mean anything. He's not named after any famous Anton, either - I was looking for a Russian/Ukrainian name and Anton was a name that I happen to like, so I stuck it to him. Sometimes I name characters after people I know. I used the name Florian on a character in a story I wrote about France because I met a French guy with that name.

I try to be flexible, and sometimes I use names that I like on evil characters and names that I dislike on good characters. After all, you're not going to like everyone with your favorite name. Anton's evil mother is named Valeria, which is a name that I happen to like.

Names don't always fit their bearers. In real life: A girl named Ida or Shirley can be beautiful and delicate, and a girl named Francesca or Aurora can be ugly and butch. A guy named Melvin can be a jock, and a guy named Chad could be a D&D player. A guy named Muhammad could be blond and blue-eyed (there are blonds in the Muslim world), while a girl named Britney could be Asian. In many fictional works, all of this isn't the case. My name is Erik, probably one of the most stereotypical Scandinavian names of all. Most of my family is from southern Italy, and I'm dark-haired, dark-eyed, and olive-skinned - I'm not Scandinavian in the slightest.

I try to avoid meaningful names. I do use them for fanfiction, though, but not much in original writing. It's to reflect real life, where names are usually meaningless.


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## Clove (Apr 20, 2014)

Definitely. If an overall story is a fiction, why can't the names be just as fictional or have meaning? I never pretend at any realism within my stories - although they are what you would call realism - so why have average names. If everyone was called James and Kate, then how dull; it's not like using a distinct name would stop the reader from believing within the truth of the story. People have odd names all the time. Furthermore, I like to use cultural names (Asian, Arabic, Biblical) and whilst I try not to blatantly drive home a point or specific meaning, but offer some kind of take on a character and how they interact with their surroundings, for example through satire or irony. Particularly, I enjoy it if using say a Japanese name, the way the name spells or sounds in English connotes a different word.


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## Jeko (Apr 20, 2014)

> Unlike many people, I don't think that names really mean anything. Sometimes I use names in that way, but many names don't have symbolic meanings. I just try to use names that I happen to like - and ones that make sense for the setting.



Often, the lack of a forced meaning for a name is a meaning in itself. Even if symbolism isn't wanted, the freedom that comes with not wanting it can lighten the work and allow the reader more room to mentally maneuver around a work.


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## TheYellowMustang (Apr 20, 2014)

Unique names are cool, but when writers make up new names that sound strange or that I don't know how to pronounce, I usually have trouble remembering them. 

I like those comic book names with double initials. My favorite name from my own WIP is Dani DeMarco, although every time I say it out loud I think about Danny DeVito, and Dani D is an 18 year old girl. Oh well.


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## Ixarku (Apr 23, 2014)

Character names are HUGELY important to me.  I spent a lot of time coming up with names for each character I use, to the point that I usually can't put any real details down on paper until I settle on a name for a particular character.  Ditto for names of places.

For me, a name has to evoke a certain image in my mind.  A name must fit some key aspect of a character in order to fix that person in my mind.  Even my forum name fits the pattern -- years ago, "Ixarku" was supposed to a demonic character in one world I was building.  I wanted a name that was alien, disquieting, even vaguely threatening, so I combined several syllables that I rarely see used in combination.  How many words in English end in "ku", for example.  I eventually chose the name for my forum presence because it's such a weird word that I've never seen it used anywhere else.

My methodology and inspiration for names varies a lot.  If I get stuck on a name, I'll use random name generators just to get some ideas.  I also like to take familiar names and change them up a bit to come up with something new.  In the story I'm working on now, "Eric" became "Erryan", "Will" became "Wyl", and "Dylan" and "Alan" were combined to become "Dalyn".  I also have a habit of picking up pieces of real-life names and reusing them in new combinations.  Sometimes I'll do this without even realizing it; tonight I discovered that I unintentionally borrowed the last names of two prominent fantasy authors and assigned them to characters in the story.

When I'm trying to come up with something truly unique, sometimes I'll find myself staring at my computer screen and mumbling individual syllables under my breath, trying out different combinations until I hear something that just clicks for me.


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## RSwriter3 (Apr 24, 2014)

oh gosh this is such an issue for me. for my current project, i dont want my characters to have 'real' names, as it's fantasy (albeit loosely based in the historical time period of the middle ages). but when i make up names i worry that they are actual words in other languages!

my female character names are: Ava, Lavna, Magra
and my male characters: Nariman, Groman, Lodrian

do you think these sound like fictional names, not words in other languages (besides English)?


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## Ixarku (Apr 24, 2014)

If I'm deliberately trying to create new names that don't exist elsewhere, I always Google the name.  If I get a hit, especially on a foreign language page, I throw the name out.  It may not be foolproof, but at least it decreases the chance that I'm going to name a character after something obscene in another language.


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## Blade (Apr 24, 2014)

Ixarku said:


> If I'm deliberately trying to create new names that don't exist elsewhere, I always Google the name.  If I get a hit, especially on a foreign language page, I throw the name out.  It may not be foolproof, but at least it decreases the chance that I'm going to name a character after something obscene in another language.



I think from a statistical point of view that is foolproof. If you consider that the number of obscene words in in any language is very small eliminating the entire language is quite sure to avert the repulsive. Beyond that what are the chances of getting caught with a faux pas anyway?:applause:


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## Ixarku (Apr 24, 2014)

Heh, the only thing I know is that I just don't want to be the guy that inadvertently names his character after some foreign slang word for a crude sexual act.


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## Erik Fantasia (Apr 24, 2014)

My names can vary from catchy, random, meaningful, made up, symbolic, a reference


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## Lyra Laurant (Apr 25, 2014)

RSwriter3 said:


> oh gosh this is such an issue for me. for my current project, i dont want my characters to have 'real' names, as it's fantasy (albeit loosely based in the historical time period of the middle ages). but when i make up names i worry that they are actual words in other languages!
> 
> my female character names are: Ava, Lavna, Magra
> and my male characters: Nariman, Groman, Lodrian
> ...



"Magra" means "thin"(female) in Portuguese. But your names sound like nice fictional names for me 
Oh, and I did use some words in different languages as names once, by the way! And that was intentional XD


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## TheYellowMustang (Apr 25, 2014)

RSwriter3 said:


> oh gosh this is such an issue for me. for my current project, i dont want my characters to have 'real' names, as it's fantasy (albeit loosely based in the historical time period of the middle ages). but when i make up names i worry that they are actual words in other languages!
> 
> my female character names are: Ava, Lavna, Magra
> and my male characters: Nariman, Groman, Lodrian
> ...



Go to google translate, type in the name under "recognize language" (or something like that) and have it translate it to English. If it does't recognize the name as a word, it's probably safe to use it  I like the names you picked.


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## Greimour (Apr 25, 2014)

I think I have replied to this thread before, but...

recently, I wanted to name a character to make the writing easier. I had resisted giving him a name for a long time but eventually I conceded.

He was a soldier; able, proud and a last man standing after a momentous battle. He was considered a hero. However, he hated himself for what happened during the battle - the things he witnessed, done and was part of:- as a result he became a bum on the street (or for the era, a vagabond) and even after many years he could feel the weight of armour he had not worn since that battle. 

I named him Tavorian in the end. African origin meaning Misfortune...

:- Guess for me I do tend to find meanings of names - but additionally, names that will be accepted into the setting and era.


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## JosephineRinaldi (Apr 26, 2014)

I put a lot of thought into the names of my characters, they have to fit. Otherwise it feels strange to me. I like them to be simple yet memorable.


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## lzbeth97 (Apr 27, 2014)

For the characters that I find the most important I choose names that fit them by meaning.  I can spend 1 minute to an hour searching for names on numerous baby names sites.


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## Grizzly (Apr 27, 2014)

I usually use the name Arney Schnuck, because nobody with the name Arney Schnuck is cool.


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## Riptide (Apr 27, 2014)

I just found out one of my character's name means horny in some other country... Will I change it? Not in a million years! I think guy names are much easier to come up with than female names. My name, on the other hand, is just perfect, so maybe that's why I find it difficult to name my female characters.


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