Character Creation: Names
There are a lot of things to consider when naming your character. Now, if you’re writing your own book set in some far off land, you can create any kinds of names you like. But here in the Harry Potter world, there are things you have to consider before you ever name your character.
Now, when I create a character, I do one of two things. Their name might be the entire reason for making the character, but that doesn’t happen often. Say I really wanted to name a character “Silver.” Well, first, I have to come up with the reason why her parents named her Silver. Just having that be their favorite color is pointless, because you wouldn’t name your child Red, would you? Maybe the entire reason they got together was because they both worked with silver from a very young age, and they met in a silver mine, or something of the like. Well, then it makes more sense, because Silver isn’t really a name, much less one you would find in Britain.
Most of the time, however, creating a character works like this. I get out a character sheet, either from my head, adding as I go, or from one I took off a Role Play. I write their appearance or bio or personality first. Most of the time, the last thing that I write down is the name. Take Sophie Ether, for example. I wrote out a character sheet in Word and filled in things as they came to me. I added bits and pieces to appearance, personality, and bio as I went along, adding something in whenever I thought of it. The name was one of the last things that came.
Here is a basic Character Creation Sheet. You can use it yourself, adding or taking away anything that you might need. Say you’re going to use it to make yourself a Harry Potter Role Play character, you may want to add “Year” “Wand” “House” “Patronus” “Boggart.” Or maybe even more. Say you are joining a Fantasy Forest Role Play. You may want to add “Weapons” or “Magic Abilities.” Of course, you can always take things away as well.
Character name:
Age:
Appearance:
Personality:
Bio:
Other:
Some people look for cool sounding names on the internet, or they try and get their name to mean something cool. Like… Their name can be Valentina. I just flipped through the Harry Potter Role Plays and found this one. Valentina, it means love, right? But it sounds like you asked a five year old to make up a girl’s name, and the day was Valentine’s Day. Or maybe the name is just a combination of words the person thinks is pretty. Like Silver, only, her parent’s favorite color wasn’t silver, and they never worked in a silver processing mill. They just happened to like the name. Well, for one thing, Silver isn’t a name. You just think it sounds cool, and all. Now, if you where naming a pet instead of a person, fine, go ahead. People often think of cutesy names for their pets, or for nicknames even. But unless your character’s parents where stupid, insane, or some other incredibly horrid thing, they would name their child something they like, but that is rather common.
If their child would be picked on because of a name, the parents are less likely to give them such a name.
You must take into account the year of your character’s birth. If you where born in the early 1900’s, and you’re a female, your name might be Gertrude. That was considered a pretty cool name back then, just like Brittany was considered a pretty cool name around the time we where born. It’s a good idea to find a name to fit the time period. If you’re going to be playing a Murader Era Role Play, you want a rather old name. You can easily look for popular baby names of the 1960’s, I believe it was. Then, you’re name will fit the period, and you character will seem like they actually belong to that time period.
What I did with my character, Sophie Ether, is I searched for baby names of the 1980’s, because the time period of our Role Play is set a little after Harry and the gang leave, and before their children begin to arrive. So our characters where born in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, 1995ish if you’re a First Year.
1980’s 1990’sNow sometime you want your name to be different. Maybe because your characters parents where eccentric, or maybe they where rich, rich people name their kids stupid things. If you want a less common name, you can either search around the bottom of the list, or you can make something up. Take my other character, Freya Greengrass; though you may not know it, she is from a pure blood, canon family. Her aunt was named Queenie at one point, but J.K. changed it to Daphne. Frysia’s family chose to give her a different name, one that was unique. Once again, rich people do that. Unlike some names I see in random Role Plays, Freya has no other meaning to her name. It was a name used at the time, but it wasn’t very common.
Surnames, or more commonly referred to as last names, are just as important. Now, sometimes people use common last names, and that is a good thing. Sometimes, people use a generator, or a list of surnames to create the last names of their characters. That is also alright, as long as it isn’t something obnoxious. Sometimes, people even put two words together. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Freya Greengrass. That name works for a few reasons. For one, it’s a canon name, so it fits very well into the Harry Potter reality. Also ‘green’ and ‘grass’ are not overly pretty words. Like the last name Silverlocket. Both are very pretty, yes, but together there are a few problems. Unlike the name Greengrass, where the family who inherited the names had a field of green grass, or who grew grass that was green, Silverlocket really has no point to it. Did the family make jewelry? If so, why not have the last name be Jeweler or Smith. And then, the mixture of the words makes it seem like one just thought up to pretty words they liked and combined the two. Silver and locket. Maybe this represents the character itself? Like… maybe the girl has a silver locket that she always carries around. Well, that’s just silly. One’s last name really has no effect on who you, as a person, are.
Take Freya, does she love green grass, or is grass her favorite plant? No, she really hates the stuff. The only reason she likes it, is because it covers up the nasty dirt, which no one really wants to look at. Or Sophie, her last name is Ether. Does that mean she likes drinking potions or alcohol? She hates both of them, to tell you the truth.
In this list of
Surnames, you can search and find a last name for your character. It is ranked from most popular, to names that are not so popular, and then it goes down in backwards alphabetical order. You may not find your own last name, however. I didn’t.
You can travel through the list and pick out a new last name for your character, or you can bookmark, or favorite it for future reference.
Thank you for reading, and I look forward to seeing you again in our next installment~
~Sin-chan
