Thread: Fantasy names?

I am just about to write a fantasy short story for a competition and was wondering about names.

Is it ok to just use normal names, it just seems strange to have a wizard on another world called Dave?

Graham

You can use "normal" names, but it's usually better to use ones that are a bit more schmancy than "Dave," unless you're going for humor.

Try looking for more archaic names; ones that were popular in Rome or something. Or you could just maim a fully normal name.

How about Daiv? Or Dav? Davi?

You're allowed to do whatever you want, but it will clash against people's instincts if you pick too modern of a name. Even "David" would be better than "Dave."

there is a program I've used for years, it's old, a bit outdated, but still works most of the time...called ebon (everchanging book of names I think). Sorry, no link, don't visit the site more than once every few years. But it can give you nice consistent names that aren't normal.

Yeah, I think it depends on the tone you're going for, modern names may not feel serious enough. I would say if you're making your own names to avoid overusing "ae" and "y" which occur way too often in fantasy. Changing one letter of a name to "y" to make it look fancy I would avoid, like "Bryan," or simply overusing "y," like "Lanys Myrastygan." And all the "ae" overuse, "Laenard Mithrael."

Googling up on classical names can be really helpful, there's some really snappy ones from back in the day.

I think most modern names often simply don't look right in fantasy. Although that is not to say that all modern names don't work. It is just harder to suspend disbelief when the enchanter walks out and says, "There are those who call me ... Tim?" (as in Monty Python)

I sometimes use the root/classic form of a modern name as a base and then change/drop a vowel and perhaps append an ending. Sometimes I scrunch two modern names together to make a new one.

Something I would recommend would be to use old names, gaelic names, etc. It's hard to take a sorcerer seriously if his name is Dave... but thats me.

Looking for archaic names and baby name sites with foriegn names really help. Try making a corruption of an already existing name to make it more unique every now and then. And using a translator and creating a portmanteau from what several words mean.

I would read a book about a wizard named Dave. That would be an excellent writing prompt!