What's in a Name?

[+Aletus he/him]

Authors like Brandon Sanderson, Pat Rothfuss, and Robert Jordan introduced us to the power and importance of solid worldbuilding. From creating awe-inspiring worlds that are linked together through 3 separate planes of existence, while each being massive in their own right - diverse and detailed; to creating magic systems, races, religions, currency, dialects, and names. 

 

My concept for approaching worldbuilding uses the name as a putty knife. Names shape the process from the very beginning (I know, I sound like I could be Master Elodin.) It might sound crazy - but for me, at least, I had to become a namer before I could become a writer. 

 

The big vague picture here is this: Make your names sound right, and fit. It seems really easy, but many great authors get tripped up by it. For example, David Eddings' Elenium has a large number of characters, from a wide range of nations, and for lack of a better word, geographical locations. Only about 2 of the characters actually have a noticeably different dialogue pattern. Compounding on that, Aside from trolls and a few God characters - all of the names could arguably have originated in the same geographical area. There is no real feeling of differentiation. On top of all of that, Sparhawk. We will address that shortly. 

 

The other mistake I've seen fairly often by popular authors is either The Sparhawk Problem or Clashing Influences. Eddings, and Goodkind have this problem. The names Sparhawk - and Richard simply clash with everything about their worlds. Sparhawk doesn't even have any other names. It's a big oversight in my opinion, as you should never use a name because 'you like it.' Clashing influences is another issue - Elven names suddenly have to sound elven, according to what was put forward by Tolkien almost 100 years ago. Wy combinations, ae combinations, and accent marks aplenty. 

 

So how about we get into it, with an example of Name-Shaping.

 

You take a character, the character you want to be your main protagonist. What gender are they? Gender establishes a vast number of things. Automatically, it engenders thoughts from the reader about their physical prowess, (regardless of skill) how good a driver they will be, and from the moment the reader gets a gender - they begin developing their mental image of the character. Continuing on - if you haven't practiced at writing across gender lines, and haven't shown a natural aptitude for it - you should consider sticking with your gender for major PoV. (This is absolutely not an issue for everyone, I know plenty of girls who can only write guys)

 

For the sake of this example, we will write a girl. Gender, check. What's next? Let's just get right into it, a name. For this, we must think about nationality, skin color, clothing style, and so on - because all of that culture has created in our character's parents - the reason to name her thus. What did her parents name her? Elle Rein Cley Now it's important from this step onward to remember that name, and love that name. 

 

Why is this all so important? because working backwards from this, you have to keep in mind that everyone from her surrounding geographical region should have names that sound similar. This is extremely difficult, and aspiring authors almost universally trip up on this. That doesn't mean that people from Elle's country all have names that start with E, or last names that start with C, or last names that are 4 letters long. Nor does everyone have to have an announced middle-name. It's all on feel, and sound. This is one of the biggest roles of my Alpha Readers. 

 

Name-Shaping and how it effects geo-political culture.

 

Elle Rein Cley is from the coastal area of a large continent, specifically the west side, which specializes in fishing and trade. The religion of the area is a polytheistic religion, and the country has strong brotherly ties with the nations to the east, and most of the island countries. Pirates occasionally trouble them, but the only real threat they face comes from encroaching mono-theist priests from the east, who are zealous to a fault, and prone to violent displays. They have forced a large portion of the population into following them. 

 

Working Backwards from her name, we can establish the following:

• Her Mother was named Halley Jein Renna before marriage
• Her Father was named Da'Sette Tanor Cley
• The Da prefix on her father's name is an honorarium bestowed for holding elected office
• Thus the Government for the region is at least partially democratic
• The country name is Edges, named for being the edge of the continent
• The continent name is conditional to where you are, in Edges, it is called Massrock
• The currency used in Edges is called Tags, or sheets of gold, silver, copper, in varying thickness, cut into tags, or small squares. Older tags that are worn around the edges hold slightly less value,
• As such, trade is a more common form of commerce - especially fish, and oyster pearls
• Elle's middle name Rein is a Goddess of the Edges pantheon
• Her mother's middle name is also a Goddess from the pantheon
• Her father's middle name is a God from the pantheon.
• In fact, it is common for anyone with a middle name have it tribute a god/goddess of the pantheon
• It is not required or necessarily common for people of lower class to have middle names, especially with the insurgence of Monotheistic beliefs.
• The Religion of Edges is called Skyfa, and was once common over most of Massrock
• The up-and-coming Monotheistic religion is called Seroc, which believes in the one God, Eclipse

The point here, is that working backwards from a name makes everything operate more smoothly. This is simply my method for doing this, and you can very likely have a different functioning system that works just fine for you. 

 

I am profoundly aware that some people simply write. They get an idea, sit down, and have at it. I respect and admire that ability, but I need to tirelessly plan, and worldbuild, and outline, before I can begin a project. 

 

So I suppose that this post is directed at those of you who have trouble with cohesion or consistency in naming. Your best bet, honestly, is to get yourself an Alpha reader involved in the process from as early as possible. They can hold you accountable with what sounds good and fits, I personally have a pair of wonderful young ladies, one of whom is my assistant, that constantly are involved in my writing process, from note taking to outlines, to rough-drafts, edits, and final works. 

 

Disclaimer: I do not mean any offense to fans of Eddings, Goodkind, or anyone else I may have used as an example in this post - I am simply posting from my experience and opinions, in a manner that can be demonstrational and educational. 

[Virtual Mayhem he/him]

This is something I often try to do in my worldbuilding.  Linguistics is a passion of mine and I tend to end up designing entire languages for my worlds with different dialects and alphabets and cultures surrounding them.  Of course approximately .01% of that ends up in the finished product (or so I've found), but the fact that it exists allows you to draw from it to create a more authentic feel to your world.