#naming characters
as a mexican i can’t help but laugh at how wrong some americans writing mexican characters get the way our name system works so lemme explain so you can get it right!
so most mexicans (remarking MOST because i do mean 99% of us) have TWO last names that come from our parents. it’s basically like this:
name / paternal last name (dad’s first last name) / maternal last name (mum’s first last name).
the first last name is ALWAYS the paternal last name, it always comes from the dad side of the family. there are some exceptions though. in 3 states of the country it’s already legal to put the maternal last name first but it’s very rare and usually only in special cases, like when the father is absent for example.
there are also cases where the person has only one last name but this is not only extremely rare but it can cause a lot of hardships with legal documentation like school, banks, etc. this can happen for some reasons:
1- they’re the child of a single parent (however, to avoid the difficulties that come with having one single last name some end up being registered with the same last names as the parent, but inverted)
2- they were registered in another country where they only have one last name (for example USA, a friend of mine was registered there and for that reason they only have one last name in their documents)
it’s important to mention that unlike american last names, the two last names are not separated by “-” they’re only separated by a space.
the last names are not necessarily one word, some have two or three. for example last names like “de la rosa” or “del olmo”
also, there’s no such thing as married name here. women don’t change their last names nor mix them with their husbands last names.
as i am aware, last names tend to work like this in all latin america but many specific details may be different depending on the country and i am not that well informed.
either way, i hope this helps anyone who’s developing a mexican character!
All these naming resources by country and language, but what I really need is a resource for what generation a foreign name’s tied to. I live in constant fear of naming my teenage character like a middle-aged accountant.
naming your characters - writing tips
- name them after someone important
- give them a name from their time
- choose a name with a meaning that matches their personality
- a name that foreshadows their future
- name a character after someone you love
- give them an unremarkable first name and call them by their last name
- don’t name two characters the same name, even with most reason—it gets confusing
- avoid names that are too similar—"Anne" and “Anna”, for example
- choose names the audience will remember
- research the meaning beforehand
- choose a plant name
- choose a colour name
- invent a name by putting vowels and letters together
- pick either a very unconventional name or very plain name
- generally don’t make too many characters or it could be confusing for the reader
- choose a name associated with the character’s personality
- name them after a celebrity (with meaning)
- name them after yourself!
- pick a name you would want yourself to be named
- go nameless until you find the right one—or keep switching when you feel you do
- ^^ try out many names
- think of names from that genre
Anonymous asked: Hi there, I was wondering if you had advice on how to rename a longtime character? I have an OC I’ve RPed for a couple years on the same site, but I’ve quit the site. I really like the character, but every time I think of the name, it reminds me of bad memories from this site. I’ve been looking through Behind the Name but it’s a bit overwhelming. Thanks so much for the help!
There’s a couple of methods I’d like to suggest. I’ll pop this under a cut as per usual, but a short gist: base it off what you already have, or randomize it in various ways. Just like naming it the first time, you just get a second shot at at. Maybe you had a second place name you sorta wanted and picked the first one instead, I mean, that name didn’t come out of a void and it doesn’t leave a void you can’t work off.
Kittycorner Meaning: Name the character the same name meaning but a different etymological relationship. What does your current character’s name mean? Where did it come from? Can you make the name more precisely match the character’s background/timeline somehow by changing it to something from a different region? Peter for instance means stone in Greek. Throw in an English background, and you could just call him Stan! Or Alan, or Bedros. They all mean stone, or something similar, so you can come out with the same deep meaning, but have a different name.
Similar Nickname: What nickname did you use for them? Names commonly have the same nickname in common, so you could find the same nickname, but then pick a different main name. Cassius, Castiel, Casey, Caster… They all start with Cas, so if your character is normally called Cas, you could step one to the right and pick a new name! Will, Bill, William. Dick, Richard, Fredrick. It’s pretty easy to do.
Clean Strip: Entirely wipe the character’s name, and go through the process of naming them from scratch. Start with where they grew up, their family genealogy, and the time period and research common names relating to that time period. Work them over, and pick ‘deeper meanings’ if you like to highlight major parts of their character. Explore the character, are they, as TVTropes calls them, a lancer? That’s the second-in-command to a main character who works to contrast them by being the opposite personality and injecting friendly conflict. Maybe you’ll name your character Lance if so, or… be a little less directly on point. Lance means “Land” in old German, so why don’t we use Darrick instead. That means King of the Land! As you can see, a permutation of anything you come up with is available, and you don’t have to explain how you got from point A to point B unless you want to.
Roll for It!: Another option, roll a dice for numbers between 1-26, and take the letter that matches your roll, then look through names starting with it! Pick your top 10 favorites, and roll again. Luck itself picks it, this can feel like a form of destiny. You have no hand in the ultimate outcome, you can influence it, but you can’t pick it by yourself. On the other hand, sometimes having it roll a name you don’t like makes you unhappy and roll again, which means you should remove the icky name you don’t like. You can keep rolling until all the names are good and dead, leaving you a final winner which subconsciously you picked all along. The die works simply as a way of forcing you to make a decision, because it already has, so you can decide to agree or disagree. Magical.
Ask a Friend: A friend who knows you and your character may have a good enough feel to pick a name for you. After all, we don’t get to pick our own names, our parents do, and that’s almost similar isn’t it? A loved one picking a name means it has more weight, and honestly your parents didn’t know you or your future before they picked a name for you. People don’t always grow into their names, and that’s alright.
Find a Name: A final way to do this is probably the most round about. Roleplay finding a new name. Create a reason to redefine yourself, or to find a name to be called by. Maybe it’s a symbolic act for the character of divesting themselves of their old life. Maybe they have amnesia or have forgotten a large portion of things, and need to find something else to call themselves. Maybe they pick up a title, or a new identity for some reason, and become so accustomed to playing that role they refuse to give it up. This option is the most fluid for change, within the game. It means no one has to pretend the change was true all along, and the people you meet can help form a history of this new name. Unfortunately, you’ll be stuck with the old one for a while longer, but this gives it some solid backstory as a reason to adopt a new one.
That’s basically all the advice I can give! Good luck finding a name that suits! It was hard enough trying to figure out the first one, I know, but you can do it. Sometimes, it just comes to you. You really don’t need to follow any rules when you do this, you’re the writer, not a best friend. You’re essentially a god-like figure with the choice of changing anything at any moment to your fancy without any reason or rhyme. There’s no reason to feel trapped by anything you’ve already created, because you can just say it never happened. Sometimes we get so close to a character we feel like we’re telling their story rather than creating it from scratch, but it’s not true. We’re gods. They live at our whim. You can change shit.
The only major thing that this may effect OOCly is how people you play with respond to it, well… Let them! Try and make it easy for everyone, explain your reasons, and just do it! This is your character, not theirs. You can change whatever makes you feel better. Let that character grow. Let them become something more than a first draft. It’s alright, and good people will respect your choices even if they’ll miss The Old Days™.
Oh and final word of warning, maybe let your friends know the name you have in mind in advance and ask them to make fun of it. If they can come up with something stupid in under 15 seconds, either be prepared to deal with that stupidness forever, or try a different name. People are very very bad at being original and any knee-jerk response will happen over and over until you want to scream. Best check in advance. Seriously. Sometimes you don’t see that that name rhymes with Penis, and now Thenis the Penis is the only fucking thing you hear forever. Don’t fall for this.
Good luck again!
Tree, Plant and Flower Names for Boys
Plant names for boys - also a link for girls.
It’s got male, female, and neutral options. Beware being redirected - it looks to be one of those sites plagued with spam.
