Surnames

[Lessien]

Just curious...how does everyone come up with surnames for their characters? I'm not very good at making up coherent fantasy-sounding names, so I just Google 'unusual surnames' and see what it comes up with, or use other real-world surnames. (Like, right now, one of my characters has the last name Lutrova.)

How do you come up with surnames?

 

[NeoScribe]

I just flipped through my history book until I found a name that stuck.

ex. Jonas Alveres (Alveres was the last name of some Portagese guy back in the 1700's or 1800's, and since Jonas traces his ancestry to Portugal...)

Or I just used the Latin Dictionary and looked up a word that described the character.

ex. Thaddeus Dex Ducis (Dex Ducis means leader or general or something along those lines, and he is the leader of the characters.) Karla Varme (actually this one isn't Latin, it's some sort of Norse language but anyways it means fire and she is a redhead with fire powers).

Actually, I almost never give my characters last names. They haven't really gotten to the point where they use yet. When stating their whole name its often "Name of Name of Country"

Ex. Karen of Barbury, Notob of Unity.

 

[Doubtless]

I believe only one character in my entire book has a last name. He's the Main Character, and his last name is the last name of my grandparents. I like German last names, and thus I used the one I did, though I won't tell what it is.

 

[oncewaslost]

i flip through the phonebook, history books (since i do study history), or i just keep an ear/eye out for any last names that strike my fancy. i keep a whole list of surnames though i haven't kept up with it recently.

 

[Lessien]

I believe only one character in my entire book has a last name. He's the Main Character, and his last name is the last name of my grandparents. I like German last names, and thus I used the one I did, though I won't tell what it is.

I like Russian surnames, personally. Like I said before, one of my character's surnames is Lutrova, and there's another who might end up having the name Dyachenko. I'm still trying to decide between Rymore and Platov for my main character's surname.

 

[NeoScribe]

Pick whatever sounds good with the first name.

 

[Lessien]

That's the problem. They both sound good with the first name (Mirele). Mirele Rymore and Mirele Platov...and there's a couple others. I guess it'd depend on whether or not the two MCs were from the same country. Because my other MC's surname is Lutrova, and if he's from a different country than Mirele, then of course he'll have a different-sounding last name than her. But I still haven't figured out whether they're from the same country or not....

And then there's the possibility of Rubin for Mirele....

 

[MichaelRM]

I like Mirele Rymore, it rolls off the toungue nicely.

 

[Tariel]

I like Mirele Rymore, it rolls off the toungue nicely.

yeah...I like that one better too. My characters don't often have Surnames....but I have seen a few strategies in fiction. One (if you're really into name symbolism) is to use a word that describes the character's personality or life--the example I'm thinking of is Cloud Strife.

Another thing I've seen before is in fiction with royalty, the surname of the royal family is the same as the name of the kingdom.

Just a few thoughts as I'm running out the door Do with them as you will

 

[CelticRose]

Or use the Gaelic/Irish/Welsh thing ie son of/daughter of parent. Eg Dafydd ap Reese, Serial ni Beathag. I don't use surnames as such.

 

[Aibrean]

It depends on the area where the story is taking place. My "world" is split up into several countries. One of the lands is styled like Gaelic, one is Greek, etc. So I build the names around that. When I first wrote the story I just picked names and ironically they all have similar meaning related to God or royalty. When I pick names now I go to one of those baby name things, search for the meaning of the name I want and the region I want it to come from and then see results. Surnames is similar.

 

[WPZanar07]

Well, me personally, if I can't think one up (Depends on the story I'm writing and the character's personality) I look up "Random name generator" on google and then pick the Random Name Generator site. It's pretty good for making up last names. If you understand the formula thing, though, then try it out!! (I certainly don't!!)

 

[GratiaCorpusChristi]

Look up Kate Monk's Onomasticon online. It's an ethnically-arranged database of names and surnames from around the world, including a database of ancient names and topical arrangements for English ones.

 

[Magda77]

It depends on the character and the story. I spend many hours searching the net for websites that have names and their meanings. I look for names that suit my character and their meaning is representative of their personality.

For first names, the website behind the name is very good. You type name in you have in mind and it comes up with the meaning, or you can type in certain words and names that have that word in their meanings, comes up. Its a very good website.

 

[godzsouljah]

i must say, there's nothing entirely simple about picking surnames or even first and middle names

on very occasional occasion, i think about the people around me, their names and a couple of times i've actually named characters after teachers at my school
(don't worry, these characters (and teachers) are nice, kind and caring people - i hope)

i hope this helps

 

[sunstruckdream]

it really depends on the kind of story you're writing. if my character lives in an American city in 2007, her name would most likely be different than if she lived in an ancient fantasy realm. A lot of times, I make names up. Or, once I have the first name invented or chosen, the name just comes to me. And there's always Google - an ever-helpful beacon. Just play till you find something that sticks.

 

[plum]

I try to pick a name that follows a few guidelines:
1) Ethnically appropriate (no "Ombungu" Puritans)
2) Time-appropriate (nobody named Wendy in the 17th century, for example)
3) It doesn't distract the reader (something hard to pronounce or even read is not helpful)
3) It sounds and looks good (I LOVE names)
4) It illustrates something about the character (but nothing too overt like a protagonist named Jim Goodguy )

 

[Lessien]

4) It illustrates something about the character (but nothing too overt like a protagonist named Jim Goodguy )

Or a villain named Shifty McButthead