In Name Only

Names are quite important when it comes to writing.

Character names are probably the most obvious the of nomenclature. A lot of the time characters like to name themselves, but sometimes they'll make me do the work instead. While Behind the Name is undoubtedly my go-to for that, having a reference for meanings and origin isn't always what I need. For more exotic names, as in my sci-fi Wizard of Oz story, I might just translate something specific (like "scarecrow") into languages until I find one I like. I still had trouble deciding between Kaliause (Lithuanian) and Muqevva (altered Azerbajani) in that case, but I eventually chose what sound sort of felt more natural to the character. I feel like that's usually the biggest factor.

On that note, some characters refuse to play nicely when it comes to their names. I very carefully named Martin from Along the Winding Road both because the name started with an M, which matched his brother's name, and because it was derived from Mars—Martin is certainly a bloodlust-type character. Unfortunately he's now quite insistent on being called Milton, which may match the theme naming, but "mill town" isn't exactly the same meaning as before. I can't decide whether I should keep his current name or switch.

There are also place names. I usually break out the good old Google Translate to name my fantasy/sci-fi worlds: for example, "Salynas" is Lithuanian for "archipelago." On the other hand, stories set in real places don't have as much leeway. Still, I love how some of the places for The Long and Winding Road turned out. Hunt was first, as I browsed some Texas summer camps and thought that the one in Hunt sounded like something workable for the background plot. Then I looked for some cities/towns a reasonable distance from Austin (using a used car resale website) until I stumbled upon Killeen. Hunt, kill. Haha. Then a friend noted that the camp I had chosen—Camp Lonehollow—had quite a nice name for a post-apocalyptic story, and I was slightly amazed at how that had turned out.

How do you do your naming? What do you think is the most important factor of a name in fiction?