How do you go about making up names for characters /lit/? This

>>9513796
we could help you out with a few, describe your characters

Not OP but help
>Irish
>depressed because has wife but in love with a man
>average in every way

>>9514122
Leo Boldploom

>>9514122
Vladimir England

>>9514122
What about his wife?
>sensitive
>easily deceived
>caring
>loyal

>>9514122
Bono

>>9513796
Stick your names to a specific cultural background (country, city, a specific historical period, character's parents education, etc) and don't try too hard in being original.

>>9514122
Wait. Is his wife in love with another man, or is he in love with a man?

>>9514172
Holy

I just choose names that amuse me, like in lolita

>>9513796
just write em down as you hear good ones

Just whatever feels right, amusing, has some relevant meaning, or is appropriate to the time and place. Depends on what feel the story has.

A comedy might have amusing made up names, or names with silly connotations.
A realist piece might have names relevant to the time and place.
A serious piece might have names relevant to the time and place and/or names with serious connotations.

My names are usually in reference to other works, often mythological ones, that influenced how I imagined the character. I also like to give the first/last names of authors, musicians, artists or historic persons that seem relevant. However, I never just copy names. I always alter them or combine them with others (first name of one guy, slightly altered last name of another etc).
I would for example never name a character Rene Descartes or Johann Goethe, but maybe Reiner Deckert or Johannes Götze. I also sometimes make puns (André in German could also mean "the other", etc.)

If all else fails, I look up the meaning of names and choose a fitting one.

>caring about names


I go on a name generator for the specific culture the character comes from. Unless having a different name is a plotpoint for the novel then ignore it

>>9513796
Except in children books where names are likely to be translated (take the Tintin characters in English for example), the names should be easy to read, memorize and pronounce in any language.

First names like Albert, Harry, Paul, Sylvia, Lea, etc. are good. Avoid complicated names except for a comical effect. Longer names can work if they are easy to read and pronounce, typically if they follow a consonant+vowel sequence, like Akira.
In Tintin and the Blue Lotus, the bad guy has an unusual long name, but following this rule it's easy to read: Mitsuhirato.

For example, James Bond is a perfect name for an international hero. So are Mickey and Donald.

>>9513796
You can have a lot of fun with character names if you move past giving them just generic names. You can make up anagrams, puns, symbolic names, names that seem like they mean something but really don't, title-names (like "The Banker" and never being more explicit) and all kinds of things if you think outside the box

I just use the first name of any friend or acquaintance who fits the description of the character. Rarely do I use last names and if I do I basically make something up on the spot since it won't matter. For instance, if a character is meeting an official who would need a full name my character will give it, but it won't come up ever again.

>>9514122
Cryrish Smith

I wrote only one story in my life and the MC's name came to me while I was falling asleep, when things in my head flow naturally and meaninglessly. And a meaningless name was exactly what I wanted (symbolic names feel lazy and blatant - a character's filled with inner conflicts and schisms so let's call him Schismikov/Raskolnikov lol I am genius - no wonder Beckett hated the Godot=God interpretation).

>>9516766
Mope Mchomo

>>9514122
Tom Cassidy

>>9513796
I mostly stick to traditional names with vowels and consonants that fit the character.

>>9514122
Gregory Berrycone

>>9513796
>>9514352

Visit a cemetery, plunder names from many generations

>>9518551
Now there's a good suggestion.