How do you deal with "name block"?

I have had a bout of serious name block as of late, and it has been mildly upsetting, to say the least. Names are my special interest, and have been since I’ve been a young child. I have all of these lovely first names, but nothing I conjure up can satisfy me. It’s exhausting, and I have hundreds upon thousands of disorganized names in so many different documents, that I have no clue where to even begin naming again! :slightly_frowning_face: Nothing is inspiring me, or striking my fancy, and everything I create these days feels bland. I feel like I’ve used every lovely name in this world already in other combinations, which I know cannot be logically true. How on [name_f]Earth[/name_f] does one pull themself out of this? :slightly_frowning_face: [name_m]Can[/name_m] anyone else relate, and does anyone have any ideas as how to rekindle your love for names and inspire yourself once again when you feel like you’ve hit a wall? Any and all replies are greatly appreciated! I know I’m being overly dramatic, but it’s such a passion of mine that I don’t know what to do without my naming hobby. :sweat_smile:

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Hmm, I’ve found myself in this predicament a few times. [name_f]My[/name_f] best tip would be to write names in a journal or on a bit of paper. No online lists. Names always seem more magical when written with ink :candle::scroll::feather:

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Oh, you are so right, I can’t believe I haven’t thought of doing that in so long! :man_facepalming: Names are much more appealing when you put pen to paper and bring them to life! Thank you for your helpful tip, I shall grab my favorite journal and perhaps a name book, now that I think of it. Have a lovely day/evening! :yellow_heart:

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I absolutely agree with the pen-and-paper reset approach! I usually need a break from names (or my lists), then a journal page, and I’m back to maki my up combos that make me dream of babies, feelings, images, etc!

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Thank you for your input as well! I’ll definitely start there, then. I already might have found some inspiration. :slightly_smiling_face: Have a wonderful day/night! :yellow_heart:

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Absolutely! Let that new goodness in!!

When I focused more on my boy names, I remembered the girls and found myself in love with [name_f]Beloved[/name_f] (for a girl). And when I focused on my girl names, in came beautiful [name_u]Jonah[/name_u] (for a boy). [name_f]Inspiration[/name_f] always strikes when we aren’t hunting for it—and sometimes when we are. :wink:

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Here’s something I like to do, to get that inspiration back, to force myself back into creating, to play about with new names etc:

First, I find or create a list of names that I can play about with.
This list could be firsts/middles, firsts/surnames, or just firsts, and I’d recommend finding lists from people’s listographys, from lists of literary characters, birth announcements, registers, celebrity baby name lists etc.

And then, here are a series of things I like to do with said list:

  • make it over in my style - if I had to make the combo my own, what names would I use (so if the names were [name_f]Mia[/name_f] [name_m]Winfield[/name_m] and [name_u]Alex[/name_u] [name_u]Francis[/name_u] they might become [name_f]Mira[/name_f] [name_u]Willow[/name_u] and [name_m]Alec[/name_m] [name_u]Franklin[/name_u] to me)
  • use the initials to inspire combos. (so [name_u]Jasper[/name_u] [name_m]Felix[/name_m] might become [name_u]Jem[/name_u] Ferdinand)

  • use the sounds and letters to inspire new combos (Esther [name_f]Ruth[/name_f] might become [name_f]Tessa[/name_f] Edith)

  • swap the gender / make it unisex

  • give the firsts a middle of your choice / the middles a new first

  • what new names can you make out of the combos on the list, using the letters (Sarai [name_f]Matilda[/name_f] could become [name_u]Aria[/name_u] [name_u]Tali[/name_u] or [name_f]Tamar[/name_f] [name_f]Ailis[/name_f], [name_u]Tristan[/name_u] [name_m]Rafferty[/name_m] could be [name_u]Ira[/name_u] [name_m]Stefan[/name_m] or [name_f]Tansy[/name_f] Freya)

I find this makes me create combos in ways I’m not used to, to use names I don’t normally, to make combos I’d never normally consider?

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I have to agree with writing names down!

I actually did this when naming [name_f]Lilia[/name_f] for some reason seeing my list written down with all the final names on paper made them feel way more magical helping with narrowing down my short list.

@may.rose is completely right :candle::books::black_nib::sparkles:

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You are quite right! And would you believe that when I took a look at notes I wrote back in high school in the back of my name book, I saw Castianeira, of all names? :joy: I must have been an even crazier namer back then, somehow! :wink: But I am kind of loving the sound of Castianeira again, as a guilty pleasure, at least. It made me think about how much I love Castalia and then I got to thinking about her combination and how it leaves much to be desired, and now I’m thinking of swapping around my combinations to make new ones that suit my names more! We shall see what happens, haha.:slightly_smiling_face: Thank you again your uplifting words and reassurance! :yellow_heart:

@Greyblue
Thank you so much for your reply, you are always so genuinely kind and extremely helpful on these forums, and I appreciate you very much! You have given me some great advice and tips, and I shall attempt all of the methods you’ve mentioned! :yellow_heart: I’m also watching some baby name videos, as somehow despite constantly collecting new names, I always seem to find a gem or two I haven’t heard as much or at all! :slightly_smiling_face: Thank you again, Grace!

I find them so fun to write! I penned down some of my old favorites and a few new ideas last night, and I do have to agree with you that I find it to be inspirational and the process definitely makes a name all the more magical! :sparkles: Thank you much for your contribution to this thread. :slightly_smiling_face: And as a side note, Lilia is a stunning name, congratulations on picking such a lovely moniker for your child! :yellow_heart: It’s making me think of Lilaea, an old name love of mine, haha. :blush:

I hope you all are having an amazing day/night, and thanks again! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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it’s lovely to see you here, edmund! i dealt with a name block for the majority of the year and started finally loving names again. i’d suggest:

  • writing them on paper. i tried to make lists and write them on paper, especially using calligraphy and some designs to make them sparkle. also, saying them out loud would help too.

  • searching for names. some days, i had no new names to think of and talk about, especially none for posting on the NOTD threads. i reviewed some of my old lists wherein i found a lot of gems that i had forgotten about. i tried searching for newer names on sites like behindthename or even on nameberry (the main blogsite).

  • look for inspiration. many instagram name-nerds post beautiful combos/names and are a delight to hear. personally, along with surfing instagram, i would keep an eye out for posts by my favourite users/users with similar style to mine, and they’d prove to be a great help! a lot of the newly discovered names on my list were introduced to me by these users.

I hope this helped you in some way or the other. good luck with naming <3

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I’ve been writing them in cursive and whispering them to myself, which helps a lot, actually! It’s one thing to read a name on paper or online, but to breathe life into it by saying it aloud is such an amazing experience, especially sensory wise, for me! I’ve found so many lovely names this morning that are such pretty colors. :slightly_smiling_face: I think I found new names for my shortlist, even. :sweat_smile: Oops.

I appreciate your advice and other tips greatly as well, and your ideas genuinely are helpful! :yellow_heart: Thank you for your contribution, I think I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things!

Oh, and thank you for saying so! It’s lovely to see you as well! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: I’m so touched that you remember me, haha. :slightly_smiling_face:

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[name_m]Ah[/name_m] thank you :two_hearts::sparkles::tulip:

[name_f]Hope[/name_f] you recover from name block!

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I’ve experienced this sort of name burnout a few times! [name_f]Pretty[/name_f] common as I understand it.

While I was naming myself I found that what ended up helping the most was simply taking a break from them for a while and returning later. Your brain needs time to process all the information you’ve gathered (in this case names) before it’ll start spewing out ideas! Maybe filling your time with another SI in the meantime may help.

Besides that, since I know that’s a sort of different situation to just collecting for fun, I think exploring a specific kind of name you’re totally unfamiliar with is a good way to spark inspiration. I sometimes open Behind The Name and scroll through different origins, finding pronunciations and really diving into names from different cultures. I’ve explored both Finnish and Māori names in that way. It’s really rewarding and opens your eyes to new ideas.

I also recommend exploring the longlists of other namenerds whose styles you enjoy or are very different from your own! Anything to introduce unique ideas.

Best of luck!

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I have such a difficult time stopping myself from engaging with names, it’s become almost a daily thing to look for new hidden name treasures and I’ve done so for many years, but perhaps you are right, and that a brief break is in order. No long seven month hiatus like last time though, I promise, haha! :slightly_smiling_face: I do so happen to have a few other special interests to take part in, so I may take your advice and occupy myself with those for the time being. Thank you for suggesting that! :yellow_heart: Is it sad that the thought didn’t occur to me? :joy:

Ooh, yes! There’s another brilliant idea! I used to browse through the submitted names especially (and cross reference meanings for accuracy of course), and look through each and every language available and then pick out my favorite names, be they Zulu or Mapuche. :slightly_smiling_face: It was so much fun, I haven’t done that in so long…thank you for this suggestion, as well. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

I recently started a listography for this very reason, actually! I like to bookmark other Berries’ pages for inspiration, and I’ve rediscovered a few gems recently that have made it to my short and long lists. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my thread, you’ve given me much to mull over and good advice, and I greatly value it! :slightly_smiling_face: I’ll think a bit over the suggestion of taking a break. Have a wonderful day/evening! (Also, the name you chose for yourself is brilliant, if I may say so!)

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Not at all! Considering how consuming special interests are, I understand completely :sweat_smile: remembering other things you enjoy can be a struggle at times.

oh awesome!! link it if you’d like, I’d love to bookmark it

and my pleasure, I’m glad some of these might be helpful!

thank you for saying so :black_heart: it was the result of several years of trying on names. yours is beautiful! Ed- names specifically are some of my very favorites.

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