Character names

[Agalayth]

In your writing, what are some names of the characters? Mine are:

High Elves:
Tanaris
Teriel
Tiralon
Urion
Selenor
Tisral
Wood Elves:
Azral
Larian
Avrial
Dark Elves:
Agalayth
Amhrobis
Akaera
Illigath

BTW I've heard from some certain GWs whose names I won't mention that my names don't sound Elvish enough. Just remember, it's MY Elvish, not Tolkien's.

No offence GW, I just had to say that.

[Jonathan]

Most of the names sound Hebrew to me, not Elvish. Please don't be angry with me for telling you this!

[Elf Girl]

Your Elvish? There's only one Elvish. Well actually there's Quenya and Sindarin but that's not what I meant.

I go to various Quenya wordlists, find a word I like, make a name of it, and use it. That way certain GWs can't argue.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Remember, I said that they didn't seem Elvish to me, but that Different People had Different Tastes.

The exact quote being:

To me, certain sounds don't sound Elvish, mainly j and z. BUT that is completely a personal thing, and Elvish in one world could be like Orkish in another. Every secondary world is unique.

And as for names, transported from another thread:

I suppose I may as well post the ones I've come up with, as well.

Prepare to be Completely Bored! In cases where apply, I may include a primitive etymology.

Keyos (Kanrath/Nesai)
Entrioc (Kanrath/Nesai)
Seingath (Kanrath/Nesai)
Shanarien (Elvish; shan "spell" ara "lady" ien (feminine name ending)
Elontar (Elvish; elon"soul" tar "bright") (this one has a fairish chance of not staying as is)
Dorelas (Elvish dorel "river" elas "bow)
Kalin (Dwarven)
Talin (Dwarven) (these two will almost certainly be kapoot, as I began a Dwarvish language)
Jankagar (Barbarian/Vikarzik)
Shindagra (Barbarian/Vikarzik)
Kensoth (Kanrath/Nesai)
Enstar (Kanrath/Nesai; possibly Centaurian)
Daraec (Gnomish [Gnomes may be excluded from my world] )
Fallos (Kanrath/Nesai)
Sharlen (Kanrath/Nesai; Half-Elf)
Rulgan (Kanrath/Nesai)
Eigath (Kanrath/Nesai)
Kwinetha (Kanrath/Nesai)
Arsun (Kanrath/Nesai)
Gulstan (Cthalgar)
Vanyadir (Elvish; originally 'elf-path-light'; but it came from my Elvish that was on the disk I lost so I'm not quite sure about the specifics)
Estayen (Elvish; originally 'star-rider'; see above; I think esta "star" ayen "rider")
Tindorel (Elvish; orginally 'autumn-river', I think: see Vanyadir)
Teralon (Elvish; unsure on origin)
Ectaren (Elder Tongue; ectaren "consecrated")
Teran (Kanrath/Nesai)
Taldry (Gnomish; see Daraec)
Deran (Kanrath/Nesai)
Kuslen (Kanrath/Nesai)
Kinella (Kanrath/Nesai; Half-Elf)
Dalim (Dwarvish; see Talin and Kalin)
Ardast (Kanrath/Nesai)
Tigoth (Kanrath/Nesai)
Lentarec (Elder Tongue; from Elder Tongue notes on the disk, which have been lost)
Shanenessa (Elvish; shan "spell" anen "silver" essa "she of" suffix)
Originally Shanlanessa, with anen being replaced by anlan, an earlier word for silver.
Arulas (Elvish; arul Goodly or Supernatural Light ulas night; physical darkness)
Armine (unsure)
Tara (Elvish; tar "pure" ara "lady"; see Elontar)
Kadrilynn (Gnomish; see Daraec)
Ellac (Kanrath/Nesai? probably)
Saroth (Kanrath/Nesai? probably)
Bloodrain (Vampire)
Gorthogh (Demon)
Damin (Dwarvish; see Talin and Kalin)
Rugil (Kanrath/Nesai)
Trenett (Kanrath/Nesai)
Endon (Kanrath/Nesai)
Dalinor (Dwarvish; see Talin and Kalin)
Shan'lomen (Elvish; shan "spell" lomen (from previous Elvish, unsure if "word" or "golden")
Alganon (Kanrath/Nesai)
Teigost (Kanrath/Nesai)
Elton (Kanrath/Nesai)
Sagor (Kanrath/Nesai)

Deities, Powers, and Supernatural Beings:
Eltarn (Elder Tongue; eltarnost "He who blesseth"
Camras (unknown)
Lutas (unknown)
Kleptia (unknown)
Valrin (unknown)
Tarios (unknown
Galtir (unknown)
Sacrilla (unknown)
Lennia (unknown)
Delitia (unknown)
Ranwyl (unknown)
Arthil (unknown)
Karin (unknown)
Vilkroth (believed to be from Duorgothi, though unconfirmed)
Vuu'ora ("Lord of Blood" derived from Dark-Elven vuth "master" o'ora "blood", in the sense of drained or being drained)
Agrilzn (unknown)
Korzagazh (Dark Dwarven; "King of Hatred"; exact etymology unknown)
Seenai (presumed to be goblinic)
Sanroc (presumed to be goblinic)
Urgond (A barbarian tongue; "Chaotic")
Zakrazak (A barbarian tongue; "Warlord")
Tograku (A barbarian tongue; "Death-Doom")
Khulga (A barbarian tongue; "Life Master")
Zharha (Dark Elvish; zhar "spider" arha "queen)
Thu'iakh (Dark Elvish; thuu "master iakh "suffering")

There's a few more, but I don't feel like dragging up all of them.

But don't anyone try to steal them!

Also, some changes have been made to the names of some deities:

Camras (unknown)
Lutas (unknown)
Kleptia (unknown)
Valrin (unknown)
Tarios (unknown
Galtir (unknown)
Sacrilla (unknown)
Lennia (unknown)
Delitia (unknown)
Ranwyl (unknown)
Arthil (unknown)
Karin (unknown)

Are now:
Camras
Lutas
Teverah
Valtan (this one had a sex-change! )
-Tarios has been removed, as more female deities were needed, and his character didn't fit; Camras now serves double-shift for him-
Galtir
Ecanas
Ailant
Eltaia
Ranwyl
Yethar (Also has gone from male to female)
Kenón
Antoreah (Added in place of Tarios)

Half of them are married, half are not. As you can see, I have gone for less emphasis on Romance gender name endings, i.e. All ladies names end with "a".

[ArwenEvenstar]

Gwaimir I really like your names!

Here's a couple of mine:
Tsy
Ulovar
Uningon
Ileron
Æther

I have a bunch more written down somewhere, but I can't remember them or find them , but if I do I'll post them

[Agalayth]

Originally posted by Elf Girl
Your Elvish? There's only one Elvish. Well actually there's Quenya and Sindarin but that's not what I meant.

When I said that, I meant the way the Elves are portrayed in my books.



And they may sound Hebrew to you, but that's alright. I'm a Jew.

[Elf Girl]

Ah. But are they Tolkien Elves adapted to your style or your Elves influenced by Tolkien?

(Sorry, had to ask.)

[Agalayth]

I guess, since Tolkien's Elves influenced everyone else's Elves. Mine are very similar to the Elves in Warhammer. They have very good histories and background information for two of the Elven races in Warhammer. (The Wood Elf Army Book hasn't come out yet... )

[Wayfarer]

A good rule of thumb for naming characters: Names Have Meanings.

Don't give arbitrary names. Don't give names that you just think sound cool. Give names that reflect, or are a reflection of, the character.

[Lief Erikson]

That kind of depends where you want your focus to be. For example, I never bother with making meanings or linkage to my fantasy names, and I don't ever worry about making special weapons in terms of giving them names or history. I often just go with normal weapons also, such as swords, spears and bows and arrows. I don't often describe them much at all.

With other things though, I go into a great deal of detail. Tolkien was a genius . He went deeply into everything. Names, weapon lineage, histories, plotline, characters, everything. I don't think it should be necessary for every other writer to do the same thing as he does there.

[Starr Polish]

Names in non-fantasy stories don't necessarily have to have meanings, though sometimes they end up having meanings anyway. One of my stories' main character's name is Elizabeth. I chose the name because I liked it, but realized later that her name worked well in one of the themes of the book.

[frodosgirlfriend]

Elves:
Ithil Tinu
Thorn Rakka


Men:
Morko

Different Story
Narr
Lyen

Other Creatures:
Shien
Kye
Loomla

Different story
Vogue
Morsh

(then there are a bunch of serpents named what they represent like Peace, Earth, Moon, Death, and Fire)

In my non-fantasy Stories:
Jack, prince of the under world
Jessie (i hate that name and must change it)
Ada, Demon and guardian of Jessie
Lave, Also Demon and Guardian of Jack

Different story.
Serj, the Immortal from Victorian times
Kali, Serj is madly in love with her but she could care less
Morris (his name will soon be changed), Also immortal and from Victorian times.

[Silverstripe]

Originally posted by Agalayth
When I said that, I meant the way the Elves are portrayed in my books.



And they may sound Hebrew to you, but that's alright. I'm a Jew.

Hmmm. I'm not sure exactly why, but I rather like the idea of an elvish language that sounds like Hebrew. Although I'd personally never have thought of it, it does seem to fit, somehow.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Originally posted by frodosgirlfriend
Elves:
Ithil Tinu
Thorn Rakka


Men:
Morko

Different Story
Narr
Lyen

Other Creatures:
Shien
Kye
Loomla

Different story
Vogue
Morsh

(then there are a bunch of serpents named what they represent like Peace, Earth, Moon, Death, and Fire)

In my non-fantasy Stories:
Jack, prince of the under world
Jessie (i hate that name and must change it)
Ada, Demon and guardian of Jessie
Lave, Also Demon and Guardian of Jack

Different story.
Serj, the Immortal from Victorian times
Kali, Serj is madly in love with her but she could care less
Morris (his name will soon be changed), Also immortal and from Victorian times.

Demons and Immortals aren't fantasy...

[Lief Erikson]

It really depends what kind of a demon or Immortal it is. You know, we make up our own creatures. I have Demons in my fantasy trilogy, but I defined demon as I chose. These are demon-like demons, it's true, but they are different because they have physical bodies and can be slain. I have other demon type creatures, though they aren't named demons, which belong to the spirit realm, and they're much closer to what I really envision a demon to be like.

So it really depends what you do with the name to make what kind of a creature it is. How you define the names defines whether they're fantasy or not . Peretti's books aren't fantasy; they're religion based. Immortal can also be defined in various ways to have different meanings. If the book is based upon a religion, it would be a slap in the face to the religion to call them fantasy. If something is real life, it isn't fantasy. And it wouldn't be put in the fantasy genre if a vast amount of people really think it is like real life.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

On the contrary: Peretti's books ARE fantasy.

From the Dictionary.com definitions of fantasy (these being the ones which apply to literature):

4
A. Fiction characterized by highly fanciful or supernatural elements.
B. An example of such fiction.

My emphasis added. And I don't think anyone can say that they don't have "highly supernatural elements"...

[Lief Erikson]

But not all religious books are fantasy. No one would dare put the Bible on a fantasy book shelf . Those types of books go in religious genres, not fantasy. That is because only some people consider them "highly fanciful".

[IronParrot]

I find that all delineations of genre are bunk, and that they're only used to shelve things neatly. I don't even read books by genre, so I'd actually much prefer it if bookstores just had all fiction in alphabetical order of author's last name. It's a pointless argument.

I do believe that names should have meanings - or at least be given meanings, particularly in the case of fantasy names that are not rooted in any earthly languages. But of course, some of you already know my feelings about being overwhelmed by fantasy names from the thread in Fantasy/Sci-Fi, so I'll just leave it at that.

I don't write fantasy, so I don't have a list of names to post here. However, when I do write fiction, I often have a tendency to create names that are distinctly very English for some odd reason - sort of the lordly garden variety... think Jane Austen. I don't know why.

[Silverstripe]

Originally posted by Starr Polish
Names in non-fantasy stories don't necessarily have to have meanings, though sometimes they end up having meanings anyway. One of my stories' main character's name is Elizabeth. I chose the name because I liked it, but realized later that her name worked well in one of the themes of the book.

Actually, I once had to change my protagonist's name because her name had a meaning that did fit what she was, too well. Originally, her name was Sarah, or "princess." Her parents (father especially) didn't want her to turn out to be who and what she was -- basically, heir of the sort of "Dark Lord" character, although Sarah herself was NOT evil.

Since both parents strongly believed in the power of name meanings, they would never have given her a name that would work so well with their daughter becoming what they feared she'd be. So even though the name was appropriate in terms of meaning, it clashed with what I had already decided about other characters.

[Eowyn, Lady of Rohan]

Ooo one of my favorite things is making up names!

Boys names:
Sorino
Gridion

Girls names:
Slovenka
Solenka
Demara
Liliac (Li-lee-ac)
Hanara
Aliana