THESE FOUR WEBSITES ARE A HUGE HELP WITH NAMING YOUR CHARACTERS. #character name list #how to name a book character #how to name a character in a story #name generator #name ideas for characters

One of the big questions writers run into is, “What should I name my character?”

There are good reasons to take character naming seriously. If an agent or editor is reading a query letter, or if someone in a bookstore is reading the back cover of a book, the characters’ names are one of the first things they learn about the story. If the names sound wrong or silly, it’s a turnoff. If they sound appealing and authentic, it can make a person want to read more.

 

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That’s why I’ve done a lot of research to create character name lists for medieval stories, Regency stories, and more. (I have a few more of those lists in Master Lists for Writers.)

I’ve also done research on “likeable” names for this list of names for female main characters (not that they always have to be likeable!), and I’ve made a list of names for romance novel heroes.

You can probably tell that naming is a particular interest of mine. When I’m naming my own characters, I want to feel like the name suits both their background and their personality.

Here are a few online resources I use a lot to get name ideas for characters! Bookmark or pin this post for ready access to all of them.

 

THESE FOUR WEBSITES ARE A HUGE HELP WITH NAMING YOUR CHARACTERS. #character name list #how to name a book character #how to name a character in a story #name generator #name ideas for characters

 

 

For American characters, 1879 to the present:

Social Security Baby Names

This is where I go all the time for character names. If you want a realistic, ordinary character name, you can go to this site, put in the year your character was born, and pull up the top 50 or 100 baby names for that year.

Looking for something more unusual? Pull up the top 1000 baby names from that year, and start at the bottom of the list.

 

For last names of American characters:

Mongabay

If you want something fairly average and readily believable for a last name for your character, click on the link above. It’ll take you to the 1000 most popular last names in the United States according to the 1990 census.

Of course, demographics have changed since then. I would guess that some names have since broken into that top 1000, and some names on this list have moved up in ranking. But not to worry: this website also gives you deeper stats in case you want to peruse the top 5,000, 10,000, or 100,000 last names.

 

For characters from all over the world, present day:

Students of the World, Penpal Stats

If you’re naming a character from another country—which I am doing all the time in my Manus Sancti books—this website is pure gold.

 

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For historical names, fantasy names, and more:

Lowchen Australia

This site is actually for naming pets, but it’s a treasure trove of lists of names. Want Maori names? Celtic names? Faery names? Ancient Roman names? Names related to the moon? Would you like to play around with over 100 name generators? This page is your gateway to all the links. (Warning for casual racism: “gypsy” is a slur, and a few other terms are questionable.)

 

THESE FOUR WEBSITES ARE A HUGE HELP WITH NAMING YOUR CHARACTERS. #character name list #how to name a book character #how to name a character in a story #name generator #name ideas for characters

 

Are there websites you recommend for character naming? Do you want to tell us about your own approach to this part of writing? Tell us all about it in the comments! Thanks for reading, and happy writing!

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