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What’s one of the first things you do to create your character? You come up with a name.
Well… Sometimes it’s difficult and I’ll admit I’ll throw in a random name and keep it bolded until I change it later.
For the sake of this post, we’re going to pretend the first thing we always do is name our characters.
A name is the most important thing you can give to your characters. It’s their identity and it separates them from everyone else inside the story and outside. Give them a name your readers will remember and appreciate. When you hear the name Harry Potter, you instantly know who I’m talking about, right?
1. Name Dice
I talked about this app when talking about fun ways to create characters. This is a free app I have on my iPad that does exactly what it says. You tap the screen to roll a pair of dice, one reveals a first name and the other reveals a surname.
It’s a great randomizer when you don’t know what to name your characters. It’ll give you ideas for other characters as well.
2. Baby Name Books
Go to your local bookstore or library and pick out some baby naming books. Most of them include genders, origin, and meanings, which is extremely helpful when finding a good name for your character. The baby name book I have even had sections based on “names based on flowers” or “names based on gems” and the like.
3. Baby Name Genie
This is a website where you type in the last name and you can choose or gender if you want. The genie will then find the perfect first and middle name to go along with the last name. You can do this as many times as you like and I always find it a fun way to discover new names.
How do you typically come up with names for your characters? Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to chat!
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