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HelpNeed help naming a character
I'm writing a high fantasy story, but I'm having trouble naming one of my protagonists.
+She chose her current name when she was in her late teens. She's presently in her early 20s.
+She's a butch lesbian, so I'd prefer a masculine/unisex name. A feminine name with a masculine/unisex shorthand is also okay.
+She has a well-deserved reputation for being a no-good scoundrel/thief. She loves bragging and is a bit annoying, but it's just a mask for her low self-esteem and loneliness.
+The other characters are mostly named after minerals and dyes. It's not a strict theme, though.
Thanks for reading and sorry for any errors.
+She chose her current name when she was in her late teens. She's presently in her early 20s.
+She's a butch lesbian, so I'd prefer a masculine/unisex name. A feminine name with a masculine/unisex shorthand is also okay.
+She has a well-deserved reputation for being a no-good scoundrel/thief. She loves bragging and is a bit annoying, but it's just a mask for her low self-esteem and loneliness.
+The other characters are mostly named after minerals and dyes. It's not a strict theme, though.
Thanks for reading and sorry for any errors.
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Replies
First name to come to mind was, Murphy
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You say this is a "high fantasy" story. Most such stories are set in completely invented worlds with cultures based on medieval or Renaissance times. Many of them use completely invented names for their characters.
So what are your other characters like in terms of their names? Do they have names that are identical to those drawn from some European language and culture? Or are they invented names which one doesn't find commonly in real life? If they are the former, which particular culture and language are they related to? Without knowing more about your fantasy world, it's hard to know whether or not what one would suggest would really fit in with the names of your other characters.
You do say the characters are named after minerals and dyes. Do people have surnames (family names) in your culture? Are those mineral/dye names given names or family names? And can you give some specific examples?
Garnet and Onyx are two gemstone names which have been regularly used for boys as well as girls in modern American culture, and could lead to short forms Gar and Nyx or Nic, which would be masculine sounding. But I don't know if those would really fit in with the world you are creasting.
So what are your other characters like in terms of their names? Do they have names that are identical to those drawn from some European language and culture? Or are they invented names which one doesn't find commonly in real life? If they are the former, which particular culture and language are they related to? Without knowing more about your fantasy world, it's hard to know whether or not what one would suggest would really fit in with the names of your other characters.
You do say the characters are named after minerals and dyes. Do people have surnames (family names) in your culture? Are those mineral/dye names given names or family names? And can you give some specific examples?
Garnet and Onyx are two gemstone names which have been regularly used for boys as well as girls in modern American culture, and could lead to short forms Gar and Nyx or Nic, which would be masculine sounding. But I don't know if those would really fit in with the world you are creasting.
This message was edited 5/2/2022, 9:13 AM
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The other characters are named after minerals/dyes that aren't typically used as names (e.g. Iodine, Viridian, Cinnabar). Gemstones aren't quite the vibe, but rather the minerals that make them up. Think "Silica" rather than "Garnet". (Silica itself wouldn't work, because I don't want another name starting with a S- sound.)
I'm even worse at picking surnames, so all my characters have only one name.
Thank you for your time and suggestions.
I'm even worse at picking surnames, so all my characters have only one name.
Thank you for your time and suggestions.
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Thank you for the suggestion!
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Name her Spelt. She wouldn't want her new name to have the same origins as most other people's. You could let other characters have fun with puns, like Miss Spelt, Spelling Mistake, etc; and spelt is organic and a foodstuff, so very far removed from minerals and dyes. She'd like that, and it also could suggest the potential for being/becoming spontaneously nurturing, if that could be a plot string.
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That's a very creative name. Thank you.
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