What’s in a name? For fiction writers who have to invent their story from the ground up (or from the page down) a name can mean everything – and fiction can include names for characters, places, stores and brands in your story.
That can take a lot of thinking when it’s done the old fashioned way, and it might even be what’s holding your story back if you’ve been thinking about a name for too long without your story moving forward from there.
Fantasy name generators are a way to find suitable names for your story without the effort.
Character Names
If your character doesn’t have a fitting first name, who is going to enjoy reading about them? Harry Potter is known as Harry Potter, and Bridget Jones is recognizable almost anywhere people have seen the movie. Your character name and surname should carry the same power – and some things just sound right.
This is part of why it’s normal for writers to obsess over character names for a long time. But this doesn’t mean that you should.
Using a fantasy name generator can help you to skip all of the complicated stuff and get straight to choosing the right character name for the hero, heroine, villain or side-character in your story.
Character Surnames
Surnames tell us a lot. Sometimes they tell us about families in positions of great power, other times they just tell us who is related to who. But overall, they tell us something – and this is going to mean something within your story.
Finding the right surname isn’t just about pulling one out of nowhere. It’s about finding the name that fits and then creating the right history to go with it.
A fantasy name generator can help you to do this, and it can save you a lot of time that you would have otherwise spent obsessing about what to call which character.
Brand Names
If you look up close, the same fictional brand of cigarettes appears in both the X-Files and Californication – smoked by the same actor, of course. It’s a little fictional homage for fans of both shows, and it’s a trope that can carry you very well in your own fiction.
Why resort to famous brand names like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Lucky Strike or Marlboro when you can use a fantasy name generator to come up with consistent brand names within your own fictional universe?
Even as a first-time author, it can be nice to add an early touch for your Constant Readers in a few years.
Town Names
The town your story is set in can be pretty important. There are many reasons why writers don’t want to choose a real existing town name and state for story: Maybe your story takes place in an entirely fictional fantasy universe where pigs do fly – or maybe you’ve just never been to Louisville, KY before and don’t want to write about their local restaurants when you haven’t seen them yet.
If you’re struggling to find the right name for where your story is set, you can rely on a fantasy name generator to find the answer: And yes, it can save you a lot of time.
Organization Names
Heroes had The Company masquerading as a paper company. A lot of sci-fi and dystopian fiction include the names of ominous-sounding organizations and corporations – and there are a million examples, including Resident Evil and Heroes. If your story fits into one of these categories and you’re struggling to find a name that fits right, fantasy name generators are another way of finding the right answer.