3 Tips and Methods for Naming Things

In each book I write, I'm tasked with naming dozens of things from characters to places.

Today I want to share my 3 favorite methods of naming things, not just for a fun behind-the-scenes look of my work, but also to provide some name-creating tips for you the next time you're writing fiction or naming a pet, child, car, (or anything else)!

Pro-tip: As you'll see below, I also like to combine methods, creating the perfect name using a variety of techniques and resources.

Method 1: Name Dictionaries, (both online and offline)

First is an obvious, but tried-and-true method: Name books and websites. There are countless resources, but here are the ones I like most.

Nameberry allows you to search names by meaning. I've found this website to be the most straightforward and quickest option to look things up when I'm after a specific meaning. But if I'm doing a little more digging I check Behind the Name, which adds more categories like origin and related names. They even have another site Behind the Surname, which gives insights and meanings to last names!

But these websites are most helpful when you already have a clear direction. Sometimes it helps to peruse a little bit. That's where a physical book comes in handy. If the obvious name meanings don't feel right, I page through my reverse name dictionary by Yvonne Navarro. Instead of sorting alphabetically by name, this book sorts by meaning. Here's a look inside.

Example from Book 2, Welcome to the Lands of Luxury: Kenneth Ottenfox

Kenneth is a Scottish and Irish name meaning, born of fire and handsome. I felt both of these phrases fit his character well since he is both obsessed with how things look and very passionate about his convictions.

Ottenfox was created by combining the German surname Otto meaning wealth and prosperity with "fox," an animal known for its cunning nature. I took liberty to change Otto to Otten since I felt Ottenfox had a stronger feel to it than Ottofox.

Extra Pro-tip: sometimes there are differing meanings between sources, so I'll always check multiple places. Sometimes the variant meanings fit the character well too and that's how I know it's the right fit!

Method 2: Words and root words from various languages

When a pre-existing name doesn't quite do the trick, I'll research the root meanings of words to create my own name. This is especially helpful with fictional creatures!

There are a few websites I use for this, but my favorite is the Online Etymology Dictionary. You can search for a word and it then gives you the origins of that word. From there I'll combine words together, often adding a bit of my own unique flare to them, and viola – a brand-new original name.

Example from Book 3, Secrets Beneath the Lands of Luxury (not yet released): a new creature called the Iwatavorax

Iwata is Japanese for rock field, and vorax is from Latin meaning ravenous and consuming. What might this creature be like? 🤔

I don't want to spoil anything else right now, but I will tease that this creature is kind of like a mix between the Sarlacc pit from Return of the Jedi and No Face from Spirited Away.

Method 3: Paying homage to an existing person or character

I don't do this too often, but it's still another tool in the naming toolbox. This is relatively common in the real world, especially with family names (for example, my nieces share middle names with my sister and mom). But the best way to show how I do this is with my example...

Example from Book 1, Please Return to the Lands of Luxury: Marc Dennington

Marc is an animator, and so for his first name I looked at Disney's famous original animators, often referred to as "the nine old men." Of their nine first names, the only one that I felt fit the character was Marc Davis who worked on characters like Tinker Bell and Cruella De Vil. So I used Marc as his first name.

Here's a photo of Disney's "Nine Old Men":

Next I used the Behind the Surname website to find the last name Dennington, which comes from the Old English for Dane meaning "gift" plus "Tun" meaning "settlement/home." This fit perfectly with the theme of the story and the direction the ending took.

Another example from Book 1, Please Return to the Lands of Luxury: Yarborough Ridge

This is a fun one. In the game Bridge there is a term Yarborough which refers to a very weak hand when you have no card higher than a 9. It's a rare hand in the worst way possible with a 1 in 1,827 chance of occurring.

I added Ridge to make it sound more like a place, referring to the trash mountains in the book. Plus together I felt Yarborough Ridge sounded like someone saying "garbage" in slow motion.

Those are the 3 methods. Here are a few bonus names from The Lands of Luxury series and how I came up with them:

Abonderbhel: Here I used Method 2's root words with the Old French "abonder" meaning "to be abundant" with the related "abounder" meaning "one who has plenty of wealth" plus the Proto-Indo-European "bhel" meaning "to thrive" and "to bloom."

Copiacia: Similarly this is from the Latin "copia" meaning "an abundance, ample supply, profusion, plenty; riches, prosperity; ability, power, might" and then the ending here is inspired by the ending of other place names such as Appalachia.

World Legan: from the Old English legan, which means "to lie." I then gave the letters an acronym that the company might use to give backstory to why it's named that in the world of the book. World Legan stands for "World Leading Enterprise and Government Administration Network."

Jaggerclaw: I remember combining a ton of different words for this one and crossing them out until I found the one I liked most. Variant of "Jagged" from the Scottish word meaning "to slash" and then I stuck claw at the end.

Cecelia: the World Legan call center receptionist. Her name means "blind." I chose this name since she is happily doing her job the best she can while ignorant to some of the things happening behind-the-scenes at the company she works for.

Melina: I won't directly say it because it's a spoiler for the short story, but if you've read The Mystery of Doomed Dune, then click here to see what Melina means!

Perhaps I'll add more name origins here in the future, but that's all for now! Thanks for reading.