53 replies to this topic

[Taipu1]

Something I was wondering, in epics, short stories, comedies, or just MOCs, how do people name characters? Do you take them from words from other languages, make up gibberish, or base it on official names, or some other way?

I usually name characters in my epics/short stories by taking a syllable or two from an official name, and adding on to it. And usually the results aren't particularly inspiring. All the good names are always taken

[Bulik]

I just think of a name, sometimes letter by letter, other times trying to use a certain letter in it that I want to be in the name

[Dralcax]

Read the manga Bakegyamon. Read what the different monster's names mean. Mix and match.
Enjin
Umioh
Gekirin
Yuki Kitsune
Tsubute Oni
etc...

[Toa Smoke Monster]

I just put a bunch of letters together into words and see if any cool names come out of it.

[The Inquisitive Automaton]

I slam my head into a keyboard, then add some vowels.

Nah, I wish it were that simple. Some names I know the kind of sound I want, so add letters to try and achieve it, like I did with Xavor and Zhorya. Thantox and Harmaisis were a little easier, as they were based off of Greek names. Thanatos and Hermes respectively.

[Bambi]

I just put a bunch of letters together into words and see if any cool names come out of it.

Pretty much this. I don't try to make names too much, though.

[fishers64]

I usually stick to canon characters in my written works, but I do make a few of my own. Not sure how I make the names; they just kind of come to me.

[QuestionMark]

There is a feeling for what the tone of the name should be, which then translates into actual sounds and letters. The "tone" is somewhat determined by the personality of the character I'm trying to give the name to, but perhaps only tangentially. I don't make many new characters, though. Tenki is a Matoran name I came up a long time ago and still like; it seems kind of quirky somehow, but at the same time fits nicely into the "sound" of Bionicle.

Now, if I'm trying to come up with a name for a human character... forget about it.

~QMark

[Sumiki]

I tend to think of "harsh" sounds for villains, I string a few out with vowels, and then move the phonemes around a bit, removing some to shorten the name if need be.

As far as good-guy names, I generally just stare at the screen for a few minutes while my brain goes into standby mode.

[Ballom]

Oh, I can usually think of reasonable names simply by combining the general sounds used in Bionicle -- lots of vowels, often consecutive, heavy use of some of the stranger consonants like k, x, z, etc..

~B~

[Paleo]

I tend to think of "harsh" sounds for villains, I string a few out with vowels, and then move the phonemes around a bit, removing some to shorten the name if need be.

As far as good-guy names, I generally just stare at the screen for a few minutes while my brain goes into standby mode.

That was a great piece of advice.

While I'm not that good at thinking up names, I normally draw on rudimentary knowledge of Maori gained from Bionicle, as well as my minor skills in Spanish.

[christo1096]

Combining some words and add X,Y,Z elements. or using google translate and modify it

[You just lost the game]

When I first started doing stories, I named my Toa after Islands in the Pacific.
When I made my villian, I just randomly started throwing in things that sounded cool with "ax" at the end.

Edited by LEGOR, Mar 10 2012 - 10:43 AM.

[Dralcax]

When I made my villian, I just randomly started throwing in things that sounded cool with "ax" at the end.

Dralcax?

[Aderia]

I used to just do the 'random letter assembly' thing, but then the names ended up crazy and I didn't like them in the end.

Now I usually look to different languages for inspiration. Usually I use this online translator thingeroo that translates one word into multiple languages. The word usually is some trait of the character, and if I see a word I like, I use it, and sometimes tweak it a bit.

Also, for a few stories, I've used flowers for names. One unit in English class a few years ago, we talked about how certain plants and flowers had meanings in Victorian England, and so I googled that, and it came up with a whole list of flowers and what they represented.

And then sometimes, I still do throw random letters together, but I keep it simple

Edited by Aderia: Toa of Ducklings, Mar 10 2012 - 06:45 PM.

[Legolover-361]

Sometimes I'll use Google Translate to search for inspiration in other languages; other times I'll put random letters together and try to form a cohesive, appropriate-sounding term out of them.

[Taka Nuvia]

I usually come up with them all randomly. As in, I sit around and think "Oh my, I still need a name for that character". Then I wait what comes to my mind, write it all down, and cross out everything I dislike until I end up with a name I like.
Sometimes they're just words with different spellings, sometimes randomized names.

[Daiker]

I just smash my head against the keyboard, add some vowels, and I'm done.

E: Oh wow, someone else said that

Well I have no specific naming process. For example my name, Daiker, my real name starts with a D, so I wanted my name to sound something like it. In other cases, such as Grax, I just think of them off the top of my head

Edited by Daiker, Mar 11 2012 - 11:04 AM.

[Wotsiznaim]

Well, I use different methods for different names. Sometimes I combine words (Sentinel + Traken = Sentraken), sometimes I base them off real life names (Sofia = Solia) and sometimes I use other languages (Servio = Latin for 'grovel'). On the odd occasion I just throw some letters together and see what comes up (Gutlun), but that is rarely successful.

[Cederak]

The names used to be entirely made up. Just combinations across the keyboard that sounded cool. So I'd get names like Zephaon, Valixia, Landrak, Acerion, etc. As I made more character names though, I started to run out of original ideas, and started coming too close to names I already had. It was at that point when I started using parts of people's first and last names and merging them with other letters. So I ended up with combinations like Endico, Verton, Driagil, etc. Still good names, it just takes a little more thought to come up with them now.

-Ced

[The Novelist Called Nuile]

Various ways. Sometimes I'll take a few words that relate to the character and mash 'em up until I find a combination I like (example: Tyoun, Robert Young), sometimes I pick a word that relates to the character and search for translations until I find one (possibly slightly tweaked) I like (examples: Reise, Seren, Nagaan), sometimes I modify words (example: Veverka, altered from vivacious), sometimes I bash my hand into the keyboard until it produces something I like. That last, I believe, was how I got "Nuile." Ironically it takes the Matoran words "Nui" and "Le," which may have actually been how I concocted it. In any case, it translates, roughly, into "air of greatness."

Sincerely, Nuile: Lunatic Wordsmith

Edited by Nuile: Lunatic Wordsmith, Mar 14 2012 - 09:48 PM.

[Peach 00]

I either put letters together to make a cool sounding name, or take a regular reali-life name and change the lettering of it to make it look/sound more like Bionicle, but still keeping the same pronuonciation, or altering it ever so slightly. For instance: Alicia = Alyssia, but instead it's changed to a cee-a sound. Other times the words are derived from other languages.

[TheSkeletonMan939]

I'm lamer and less creative than you guys. I just put the character's personality into Google Translate and translate to Latin. For example, a good guy Skrall in an epic I'm working on has the name "Amicus" - Latin for "friend".

Edited by TheSkeletonMan939, Mar 15 2012 - 07:56 PM.

[LewaLew]

I haven't written much, at least not much fiction. (The one fanfic I ever started stalled and probably will remain that way permanently). The characters there were scrables of letters that to me sounded BIONICLEish. Except for one. He was an RPG character.

My RPG characters (like the aforementioned one, Akla) typically are slightly altered versions of various words. Akla's name was based off of a Star Wars character, and others were altered words of foriegn languages, usually only keeping the same vowels.

Codenames are easier. All you need is a seldom-used word or blend of words based off of that character's personality or abilities.

Even so, I generally stick to nonfiction writing.

[Astrotorical]

Names that sound like they would fit in bionicle. Names that sound Maori. or like they fit the same species
like my RPG character. I started with Tohu (as in Hapori Tohu). went to Kohu. sounded like a canon name, changed to Krohu. the end
or a Skakdii
By looking at the other names, you can base what the species looks for in names. such as Haktann, Nektann and Zaktann. 'N', 'K' and 'T' appear to frequent. shove in some short 1 sylable, 3 letter starter and you can get Roktann, Nokk, and Tridak

thats basically how i do it. I have my own little system

[Tahu Nuva 3.0]

I have a document where I put names I create from time to time and then use them if I like them, so in the end I just make them up.

[Akuna Toa of Sonics]

I have no clue.
In my comics, I named myself Akuna, which was also my screen name(I was Toa of Supersonics but quickly changed it, and has not changed since).
The 3 other main characters are Martin, Vahi Matoran, and Daku Nuva. Just names that were off the top of my head.

[~Allegretto~]

I normally translate the character's element/an element of the character into Maori and mess around with it. Works pretty well, except for that one time I got katoatoa by translating something related to plasma...

[Makuta Matata]

Look in a word search for letters that form an oddly nice word.

[Riglax]

It's usually part of my character; if he's an aggressive, more open-ended character, his name will either be a translation of a word in some other language, or made up to be offensive. If he's a laid back kind of guy, his name will be much more coherent and will sound more defensive.

[Bane of No Isles]

I buy a scrabble set, take all the letters out, and make them fight to the death. The last ones alive get used.

[Jinklemeister]

I open Google translate, type in a relevant word, and try every language. If I don't find one that sounds cool, I make one up. I have a long list of creative names I've gotten from reCaptcha on various websites. Excellent reference.

But seriously, to make up a name, I just say gibberish (alone, of course). Just add or remove letters/syllables as necessary. Maybe that'd work for you? Another idea is to name them something out of the dictionary, such as C.S. Lewis' Dr. Ransom character in the Space Trilogy. Any old word can sound like an awesome name. Just experiment, you'll know when you've got it!

[Tavakai]

Naming is my greatest weakness in writing. I'm awful at it most of the time. Other than naming my Makuta Vitriax, I haven't really done much to be proud of.

As for Vitriax, I just combined vitriol (sulfuric acid) with the Makuta suffix -ax.

I usually try really hard to look through the dictionary and the thesaurus even if I'm not successful, though.

[Jean Valjean]

It depends on whether you're talking about COT fiction of Bionicle fiction. I've rarely ever written Bionicle fiction, but whenever I did and ended up using fictional names I just went with whatever sounded good, and preferably something that matched the sounds of the 2001-2003 era. I tried to make them distinct and easy to pronounce as well.

Your Honor,
Tyrannosaurus Kraggh

[Predator - Jungle Hunter]

Just write random stuff til you get something, pronouncble

[Velox]

A lot of times I'll just ask other people. =P Or I'll use Latin or some other language, or just fiddle around with letters/names until I like something, but I haven't created a Bionicle name in a while. I remember Nuju Metru and I used to create names together for the BZPRPG and an epic we were planning by just typing out random possible names until something sounded slightly okay, then working with that until it got to what we wanted.

Edited by Velox, Mar 27 2012 - 06:25 PM.

[bonesiii]

Wiktionary. I pick a word related somehow to the character I've invented, look up its translations on that site, and if I like the sound of any of them, I modify it enough that it's not immediately recognizeable (but not always), and then I google it, modify as necessary, usually, until it gets zero results.

Not always that method but I find it to be the best if I don't randomly come up with a good one off the bat.

[Tekulo the WindWriter]

I. Don't. Even. Know.

I have characters named Tetak, Laza, Tekulo and I still have no clue where I got those words from. @_@

I think I may have started with a word and then just played with syllables a bunch, keeping in mind what Bionicle names already show? Maybe I just played with a bunch of random syllables without a root word and then just spawned these strange alien names.

[Applejack]

I just put a bunch of letters together into words and see if any cool names come out of it.

This.

[VeoiTheRascal]

AS some one said above, I have a word doc. dedicated to my bionicle names. Often times, I'll be playing around with sounds until I mumble something decent. Other times the names will tumble out of my head unprompted and need to be put down. Occasionally I'll be quite taken with a name's rhythm, such as Ananssi, which my mimicking attempts will produce Zusenti.

--VeOi ThE rAsCaL

Edited by VeoiTheRascal, Mar 31 2012 - 03:11 PM.