the name's whatsit toyah

What's in a name for you? Do you just use a name that sounds cool or do you choose names based on their meanings or based on similarities between them?

I like names that sound cool. Not in a weird cool kind of way, but in a it's a pretty uncommon name that doesn't stretch the realms of believability kind of way. Like my most recent fic had a woman named Morgan for a given name, which is mainly a guy's name (eg. Morgan Freeman), but I really liked that name for a woman because it just sounded cool like that.

I guess it also depends on genre because in one of my other pieces I had two characters called Geoff and Jennifer and that was a (sort of) romance, so it was better that their names were somewhat common.

I feel there is a lot that can come from the sound of a name. You hear the name Jaklo (one of my main characters). It has two harsh sounds and ends in o. In my mind that sound like a rather rugged male character. I also have Isaac. Now say it I zzzz ic. Isaac is another character whose ace is an Electabuzz, so right there I have a sound hint to the character.

On the other hand I do like a nice subtle reference. In the town the head of the pokemon rangers is named Tyler Easton. In this universe there aren't very many towns left and as such they live in the eastern most town in the US. Tyler is the center of the community both as a figure and as a person who really stands as the heart of the people.

Then there is the literal references with names. Jaklo's parents are named Axel and Eva. Both are hebrew names indicating some origin there (Though neither are jewish the families trace roots back to poland, germany, eastern europe.) they also both refer to giving life and peace. Which is Jaklo's role. To make piece and protect life. It also is fitting for parents names.

Finally there are names that I just like. Jason Wolf. My OC, my alter ego, my other name is just something I liked. Jason Wolf. Sounds good, shouts well, and fits on a ID card. it just works for a character name.

It depends what I'm writing, but I like to choose names that fit the theme of my story, which isn't often easy.

In The End, the characters were named to fit the pokemon they were given to - Cleo is a meowstic, so I chose a cat name; or Tantrum for a vigoroth. Other names, like Sandpaw, just sounded like they were suited to an animal, whereas Hope and Faith were named as such because it fit the overall theme of the story and they were pretty important characters that helped point the plot in the right direction.

In Glitched, every character is named after computer, technical or mechanical terms. So are the locations (while also having the occasional Gen 1 reference hidden away). This is quite the challenge, I have to say.

I usually choose names that sound cool or unique. You know, ones that not many people hear very often. I also have this issue with using names of friends/family. It's just weird for me for some odd reason. I don't have a problem creating characters based on my friends or anything, but I usually have to choose names that fit them. That can often be a real task for me as well, especially when it comes to the names for boys too. ><

Since I often base my love interest on my boyfriend, I give him the name Azuka. It's a play on his real name, or the name he likes to be called. The one thing I have trouble with the most are last names to be totally honest. :c