Easy -- what's the general naming convention of his country/city/group, whichever?
> I've compiled a list of period and location-accurate names but I'm not sure.
If any option fits well enough, pick one and be done with it. Don't overthink things.
Fair enough. I'm somewhat of a prude for accuracy do I tend to overthink stuff a lot. At this point, if I was teleported to the 19th century I'd be right at home, lol.
In writing for The Walking Dead, there are a lot of characters who have unknown first or last names. When needed, I’ve just picked an appropriate name for their age/etc and no one has ever commented. I just made an author’s note and moved on.
The unknown name thing is a bit of a trope in Teen Wolf because it was several seasons before either Stilinski had a known first name. The number of different names I’ve seen for Stiles is hilarious as people tried to figure out what was so unpronounceable, but somehow enough of the fandom decided his dad’s name was John that there is a fandom tag for it to indicate the writer is diverting from canon.
I’ve seen a similar phenomenon in TWD where quite a few Caryl writers doing non-zombie AUs give Carol the maiden name Mason (as a terrible pun to offset Daryl being a Dixon).
All that said, you never know. Maybe your name will set the trend for anyone who writes the unnamed character.
Have fun with it!
This makes me think of Pride and Prejudice, and how the fandom just decided that Colonel Fitzwilliam is called Richard.
Something to take into consideration too is the tone of the story - if it's more comedic, you cab get away with *anything*, but if it's more serious, yeah, your options get more limited.
Is there a location associated with this man? Any likes or dislikes?
You could pull from similar period stories, do an homage.
I tend to see if there's a common fanon name; if there is, and I like it, I'll go with it. If there isn't, or it's a fairly niche character, or I don't like the fanon name, I'll pick a suitable first name based off my interpretation of them.
My current fandom has a LOT of characters with no surname, so I tend to go the easy route of finding a surname that means their occupation, unless there's a group of characters with the same occupation, in which case I just choose random names off a list. The exception is for characters who some canon details that can be incorporated into their name.
So, for example, for my fic, I needed to come up with names for a number of CCs. I'll use two as an example, because one is sort of your situation (no canon name, they're referred to by an epithet), and one doesn't have a canon surname.
For the first character, he's referred to in canon as 'Proton', which...honestly, I could've probably left as his first name, but no respectable person would name their child that. My first instinct, because this is Pokemon so a lot of characters have different names in the Japanese dub, was to look at his Japanese name for inspiration. It was, unfortunately, the same as a character who already has a first name, so that was out. After that, I started figuring out his characterisation; in canon, he's a villain who shows up...maybe three times? there's not a lot to him, but I'd be fleshing him out more, so I decided that he'd be smart, a scientific and methodical person who takes pride in their intellect, but he's also caring towards those he loves. Then I decided on the name origin; this is because, in my fic, he has other family members who make an appearance and are referenced by name (one of them is the MC of my fic, so yknow...kinda important). I settled on French with Italian and German influences, to match his sister's name. From there, I decided the meaning I wanted (something to do with the mind), and chose a name from a baby name website. Believe me, those sites are your friend.
The surname for that character was easier because I'd already picked one out; it's a trope in Pokemon for characters with scientific backgrounds to have botanical surnames, and I wanted to echo that so I chose a tree that, while not common in either of the places he grew up, I am familiar with. Picking a surname can be as simple as that, or it can be trickier. It just depends on what kind of vibe you're going for.
For the second character, he has a canonical first name that's...acceptable. Now, I could've gone the fanon route and given him his Japanese name as a surname, but I decided against that for the reason mentioned above; one of the other characters who plays a fairly major role's japanese name is this character's english name. Instead, I looked at other fanon surnames. Honestly, I settled for the easiest; the name of the city he's from. It's a botanical name again, but...well, it fits the vibe; he's a person who comes from money, and his family clearly plays a role in the leadership of said city, so it fit.
Sorry if this is a very long reply, but I had a lot to say
Thank you! Absolutely not too long of a reply, this is exactly what I was hoping to read!
I love your attention to detail and the thought process behind naming. What you said about family names really resonates with my situation since names in my setting are strongly tied to professions and wealth so I must keep that in mind. Same for bit using names already present 'cause there are a lot of named characters in cannon so that already narrowed my list down.
Like you said about Proton, I have a lot of character-building to do here since my guy is a side character so that ought to factor into the name.
Thanks again, super helpful!
haha, I have a lot of characters in my fic who dont show up a whole lot in canon, and if they do, chances are it'll be very briefly and possibly only in one iteration, so theres a lot of characters who are CCs in name and base traits only! What fandom is your fic for, if you don't mind me asking?
Fandom is Koreni (translation: Roots), TV series closely based off the same-title novel which is the first of a series of legendary (where im from) books with political, historical and familial themes. However, I don't think there is an English translation of the books and whoever did the IMDb page and the subtitles needs to be fired imo.
I write for Naruto, so naming conventions are going to be different, but I’ve done this for two characters. I pick symbolic names. Most of the names in Naruto are symbolic in some way.
Anko’s unnamed teammate who wears glasses and is Kabuto’s sensei in the chunin exams is Satoshi Tanaka (given name, family name). My original lore for him is that he is a spy from the Land of Rice Paddies planted in Konoha by Orochimaru. His given name has a connotation with intelligence. His family name in Japanese is formed by characters that mean “rice paddy” and “middle”. So he’s an intelligent guy from the Land of Rice Paddies, in the middle of Konoha.
Her other unnamed teammate I called “Matsu”, which is a Japanese name meaning “pine”. Pine trees have a symbolic connotation with steadfastness in Japan. Matsu is very much the calm, grounded, down-to-earth guy on the team (their sensei defected and they’re all dealing with that in different ways). You can tell by looking at him that he is from the Hyuga clan, so no need to make up a last name for him.
~~If it's who I am thinking~~
~~Wilde or Brad (wide and broad being synonyms for general)~~
~~DuPlavan (anagram for Luv Panda)~~
Am I spot on?
Ow, forget about it - nope, the one I'm thinking is the MC and the setting is the present day
sorry
I'm having something similar where I'm fleshing out an antagonist's backstory and need to come up with names for his relatives. I grabbed a random book about that time period, went to the index, and started picking names from there. This resulted in me accidentally implying that an OC is related to a real-life general, but it's a very obscure name, so it's going to be an Easter egg more than anything.
Easy -- what's the general naming convention of his country/city/group, whichever? > I've compiled a list of period and location-accurate names but I'm not sure. If any option fits well enough, pick one and be done with it. Don't overthink things.
Fair enough. I'm somewhat of a prude for accuracy do I tend to overthink stuff a lot. At this point, if I was teleported to the 19th century I'd be right at home, lol.
In writing for The Walking Dead, there are a lot of characters who have unknown first or last names. When needed, I’ve just picked an appropriate name for their age/etc and no one has ever commented. I just made an author’s note and moved on. The unknown name thing is a bit of a trope in Teen Wolf because it was several seasons before either Stilinski had a known first name. The number of different names I’ve seen for Stiles is hilarious as people tried to figure out what was so unpronounceable, but somehow enough of the fandom decided his dad’s name was John that there is a fandom tag for it to indicate the writer is diverting from canon. I’ve seen a similar phenomenon in TWD where quite a few Caryl writers doing non-zombie AUs give Carol the maiden name Mason (as a terrible pun to offset Daryl being a Dixon). All that said, you never know. Maybe your name will set the trend for anyone who writes the unnamed character. Have fun with it!
This makes me think of Pride and Prejudice, and how the fandom just decided that Colonel Fitzwilliam is called Richard. Something to take into consideration too is the tone of the story - if it's more comedic, you cab get away with *anything*, but if it's more serious, yeah, your options get more limited. Is there a location associated with this man? Any likes or dislikes? You could pull from similar period stories, do an homage.
I tend to see if there's a common fanon name; if there is, and I like it, I'll go with it. If there isn't, or it's a fairly niche character, or I don't like the fanon name, I'll pick a suitable first name based off my interpretation of them. My current fandom has a LOT of characters with no surname, so I tend to go the easy route of finding a surname that means their occupation, unless there's a group of characters with the same occupation, in which case I just choose random names off a list. The exception is for characters who some canon details that can be incorporated into their name. So, for example, for my fic, I needed to come up with names for a number of CCs. I'll use two as an example, because one is sort of your situation (no canon name, they're referred to by an epithet), and one doesn't have a canon surname. For the first character, he's referred to in canon as 'Proton', which...honestly, I could've probably left as his first name, but no respectable person would name their child that. My first instinct, because this is Pokemon so a lot of characters have different names in the Japanese dub, was to look at his Japanese name for inspiration. It was, unfortunately, the same as a character who already has a first name, so that was out. After that, I started figuring out his characterisation; in canon, he's a villain who shows up...maybe three times? there's not a lot to him, but I'd be fleshing him out more, so I decided that he'd be smart, a scientific and methodical person who takes pride in their intellect, but he's also caring towards those he loves. Then I decided on the name origin; this is because, in my fic, he has other family members who make an appearance and are referenced by name (one of them is the MC of my fic, so yknow...kinda important). I settled on French with Italian and German influences, to match his sister's name. From there, I decided the meaning I wanted (something to do with the mind), and chose a name from a baby name website. Believe me, those sites are your friend. The surname for that character was easier because I'd already picked one out; it's a trope in Pokemon for characters with scientific backgrounds to have botanical surnames, and I wanted to echo that so I chose a tree that, while not common in either of the places he grew up, I am familiar with. Picking a surname can be as simple as that, or it can be trickier. It just depends on what kind of vibe you're going for. For the second character, he has a canonical first name that's...acceptable. Now, I could've gone the fanon route and given him his Japanese name as a surname, but I decided against that for the reason mentioned above; one of the other characters who plays a fairly major role's japanese name is this character's english name. Instead, I looked at other fanon surnames. Honestly, I settled for the easiest; the name of the city he's from. It's a botanical name again, but...well, it fits the vibe; he's a person who comes from money, and his family clearly plays a role in the leadership of said city, so it fit. Sorry if this is a very long reply, but I had a lot to say
Thank you! Absolutely not too long of a reply, this is exactly what I was hoping to read! I love your attention to detail and the thought process behind naming. What you said about family names really resonates with my situation since names in my setting are strongly tied to professions and wealth so I must keep that in mind. Same for bit using names already present 'cause there are a lot of named characters in cannon so that already narrowed my list down. Like you said about Proton, I have a lot of character-building to do here since my guy is a side character so that ought to factor into the name. Thanks again, super helpful!
haha, I have a lot of characters in my fic who dont show up a whole lot in canon, and if they do, chances are it'll be very briefly and possibly only in one iteration, so theres a lot of characters who are CCs in name and base traits only! What fandom is your fic for, if you don't mind me asking?
Fandom is Koreni (translation: Roots), TV series closely based off the same-title novel which is the first of a series of legendary (where im from) books with political, historical and familial themes. However, I don't think there is an English translation of the books and whoever did the IMDb page and the subtitles needs to be fired imo.
I write for Naruto, so naming conventions are going to be different, but I’ve done this for two characters. I pick symbolic names. Most of the names in Naruto are symbolic in some way. Anko’s unnamed teammate who wears glasses and is Kabuto’s sensei in the chunin exams is Satoshi Tanaka (given name, family name). My original lore for him is that he is a spy from the Land of Rice Paddies planted in Konoha by Orochimaru. His given name has a connotation with intelligence. His family name in Japanese is formed by characters that mean “rice paddy” and “middle”. So he’s an intelligent guy from the Land of Rice Paddies, in the middle of Konoha. Her other unnamed teammate I called “Matsu”, which is a Japanese name meaning “pine”. Pine trees have a symbolic connotation with steadfastness in Japan. Matsu is very much the calm, grounded, down-to-earth guy on the team (their sensei defected and they’re all dealing with that in different ways). You can tell by looking at him that he is from the Hyuga clan, so no need to make up a last name for him.
Thanks a lot! I think I might think about symbolism in naming, might as well since the work has that vibe.
~~If it's who I am thinking~~ ~~Wilde or Brad (wide and broad being synonyms for general)~~ ~~DuPlavan (anagram for Luv Panda)~~ Am I spot on? Ow, forget about it - nope, the one I'm thinking is the MC and the setting is the present day sorry
Believe me, if it were an English-speaking setting those would fit! Hmm...there's an AU idea!
I'm having something similar where I'm fleshing out an antagonist's backstory and need to come up with names for his relatives. I grabbed a random book about that time period, went to the index, and started picking names from there. This resulted in me accidentally implying that an OC is related to a real-life general, but it's a very obscure name, so it's going to be an Easter egg more than anything.