Writing Tip — Fantastic Names

If you have been following my blog long, you know I love creating names for characters.  I did a series of posts earlier in the year about what I’ve learned about this kind of writing. If you haven’t read them, here are the links for Post #1, Post #2, and Post #3 on naming characters.

I don’t write science fiction or fantasy, and those genres have their own unique rules for creating names.  This post at Almost An Author covers this topic.  Ms. Zimmerman’s first idea of looking at the root of words reminded me of how unfamiliar Latin words can make original names.

My husband likes birds, and we have bird identifiction books.  As I was perusing one of them, I began reading the Latin names.  The name for a barn owl is “Tyto alba”.  I think that’s a great name for a fantasy hero.  It sounds strong and noble. If it’s a heroine, you could flip it,”Alba Tyto.”  It’s unusual but easy to pronounce, which is critical for your readers.

Other Latin words with name potential are “Strix”, “Asio”, “Surnia Ulula” — a northern hawk-owl — “Athene,” “Nyctea”, “Saya”, and “Sasin”.

If you write in either science fiction or fantasy and need to create names, where do you get your inspiration?