Of Names

@dragon-snapper *nods* Well for starts alien are sometimes peppered with z’s, x’s, w’s, q’s, and/or several y’s they seem to be harder to remember…
Names that are very similar can be confused.
When you see the name are you reading it (as in pronouncing it in your head. Later you can say it possibly.) or are you just looking at the letters (as in you see the word and don’t really read it, instead you just look at the beginning and ending letters and your brain says that them.)?
If you wonder if they are difficult, say the names out loud.

Memorable names are names you can remember.

Is that helpful? *waits patiently*

@dragon-snapper I personally use this site and just play with alterations on the different names the site generates until I find the one that works for me: https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/ The most important thing for me is finding names that all seem to have a similar vibe/similar culture behind them in a story.

Here’s the deal—-I don’t worry about this much. That being said, here’s what I do sometimes, just to make things interesting.

Take the name Kiara. It’s got a bunch of different variations…Kiera, Kyra, Kira… sometimes, playing with the spelling is super fun.

That’s what I do, at least.

@Dragon-snapper, I honestly don’t think the names matter too much. it’s the character that makes the name memorable, not vice versa. For example, the names Harry and Percy are now instantly recognisable as fantasy names, because of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, but there are probably heaps of average, ordinary men (maybe even women) named Harry or Percy. We remember Harry not because of his name, but because of who he is.

like pretty much everyone has already said, names that aren’t too weird are great. Frodo is a name that no one would ever have in real life, so it brings to mind a fantasy setting, but its easy to pronounce and it doesn’t hurt your head. Even Tolkien’s elves, for the most part, have names that are easy to say: Arwen, Galadriel, Legolas, Elrond.

I’ve been reading a lot of French literature at the moment, and one of the things I really struggle with are silent letters. I hate silent letters and sounds, so I prefer books with names and words that don’t have weird accents and silent things (*glares in the general direction of Christopher Paolini*). It takes me a lot to get used to names like that (the name Eowyn, for example. It’s said A-o-winn, but in my head I always read it as Ee-o-winn).

Sorry for the long reply, I’m extremely passionate about names.

Oh goodness, names… what makes them too much… let’s see.
I’d say that most everything has already been said- I especially agree with Josiah about making sure the names sound like they’re from a similar culture for everyone within the same culture of your story. But then, maybe you have someone with a name from a different culture, and maybe it is or isn’t different enough that everyone can tell just from hearing it it’s a foreign name. Just a thought *shrugs* Also, I think it’s okay to have semi-long names if they’re easy to pronounce- if you really want someone to have a long name that you think might be a bit much, just make it their “formal” name and give them a nickname as well. Things like that.
I’d also like to say that fantasy names don’t have to be so different at all; like you said, the most famous aren’t extremely unique or unusual. I actually have a fantasy I’m (kind of) working on that’s based off of old English culture, with possibly a splash of Jewish, so most of the names are pretty normal, with one or two slightly unique- Emma, Deric, Sir Algernon Ashenburl, Cole, Lord Valron, Aziel… 😀

@dragon-snapper The is a name site where you can search for names from different places. http://www.behindthename.com If you need to look up names…