Hello all! I’m in an RP (roleplay) with some friends that has a college setting, so all of our OCs are college students. Mine is a pre-med male student, who is minoring in neuroscience. So he’s very ambitious but also a perfectionist. He wants perfect grades and feels like he needs to be the best of the best at everything to have self worth. He’s a stressed, overworked kid. I think he’s going to be charismatic and caring, but a little too overwhelmed at the moment to really help the freshman assigned to him as peer mentor. Maybe some [name_m]Steve[/name_m] from Stranger Things exasperated babysitter vibes.
Right now I’m leaning towards the name [name_u]Auden[/name_u], with [name_m]Shepherd[/name_m] as a close second. I love occupational names and names ending in -n (especially is they also start with a vowel.) [name_u]Arden[/name_u] is also kind of cool. I also considered [name_m]Stellan[/name_m], which I really like, except my cat’s name is [name_f]Stella[/name_f], so I don’t know if I’ll be able to break that association. Not a total deal breaker, though.
Other names I put into the name generator in my search include [name_m]Alistair[/name_m], [name_m]Holden[/name_m], and [name_u]Finch[/name_u].
[name_f]Do[/name_f] you guys like [name_u]Auden[/name_u] or is it too out there? Do you like [name_m]Stellan[/name_m] more, or [name_m]Shepherd[/name_m]? Any other first name suggestions, or surnames to go with your favorite first name?
Thanks, friends!
I like [name_m]Holden[/name_m] the most. [name_u]Auden[/name_u] sounds okay, [name_m]Shepherd[/name_m] is good too. [name_m]Alistair[/name_m] and [name_u]Finch[/name_u] are both too hippie vibes, you know? But if he’s a hippie, I would go with that. [name_m]Holden[/name_m] just sounds the most…studious. I prefer [name_f]Stella[/name_f] for a girl to be honest but I could possibly see it for a boy.
@cora_mae thank you! I actually meant [name_m]Stellan[/name_m] and have just now realized my phone was autocorrecting it. So I’ve edited it to be the correct name! So [name_m]Stellan[/name_m], not [name_f]Stella[/name_f]. I do like [name_m]Holden[/name_m], but afraid it’s too associated with Catcher In The [name_m]Rye[/name_m]. What do you think?
[name_u]Love[/name_u] [name_m]Alistair[/name_m] and [name_m]Holden[/name_m]! As for [name_f]Stella[/name_f], maybe [name_m]Stellan[/name_m] or [name_u]Sterling[/name_u] would be better masculine alternatives?
For these kinds of characters, I usually prefer classic or literary names like [name_m]Henry[/name_m], [name_m]Augustus[/name_m], [name_m]Thomas[/name_m], [name_m]William[/name_m], [name_m]Atticus[/name_m], [name_m]Matthias[/name_m], [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m], etc.
But here are names like [name_m]Holden[/name_m]/[name_u]Auden[/name_u]:
[name_m]Harlan[/name_m]
[name_u]Hudson[/name_u]
[name_m]Finnian[/name_m]
[name_u]Rowan[/name_u]
[name_m]Declan[/name_m]
[name_u]Sawyer[/name_u]
[name_m]Archer[/name_m]
[name_m]Beckett[/name_m]
[name_m]Dashiell[/name_m]
[name_m]Nolan[/name_m]
[name_m]Roman[/name_m]
[name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helps out!
I quite like [name_m]Alistair[/name_m] actually. Not sure this will help, but names that come to my mind when seeing your description (of a completely different style than the names you listed), are: Seraphimus/ Sophronius, [name_m]Yosef[/name_m] (not sure about that one), [name_m]Theodore[/name_m], Rosseau, [name_m]Johnathan[/name_m], [name_m]Giovanni[/name_m], [name_m]Fabrizio[/name_m], [name_m]Donatello[/name_m], [name_u]Constantine[/name_u], and [name_m]Atlas[/name_m]. Again, I don’t think that’s very helpful since it’s just what I think and the names you suggested are of a way different style.
@smnthphylls thanks! Like I said to cora_mae I actually meant to say [name_m]Stellan[/name_m] in the first place but autocorrect changed it to the feminie form. Those are good suggestions, thanks!
@aurelius! Thank you! Yeah, those are a different sort of vibe than I’m drawn to, but it’s really interesting to hear what you would name this type of character! I do like the name [name_m]Theodore[/name_m], but I already have a character with that name haha. And I like [name_m]Yosef[/name_m], but I don’t think for ths character. [name_m]Atlas[/name_m] is a neat idea.
[name_m]Alistair[/name_m] seems to be the most popular choice. I didn’t want to go with that one in particular because our family friend has a four year old names [name_m]Alistair[/name_m] and I associated it so much with him. But I could go with another variation like the Scottish [name_m]Alasdair[/name_m]? I do like a lot of A names.
One of the things you’re lucky with here is that [name_m]Shepherd[/name_m] is also a last name. Sometimes, when I face this kind of dilemma, with two names I like a lot, I decide to put one as the middle name and one as the first name. For example, I was working on something yesterday where there’s four siblings, three brothers and a sister, and I already knew that the three brothers’ first names were [name_m]Nigel[/name_m], [name_m]Alphonse[/name_m] ([name_m]Al[/name_m]), and [name_m]Isidore[/name_m]([name_u]Izzy[/name_u] or [name_m]Dore[/name_m]). (Maybe you’d consider one of these names too?). I was trying to decide between [name_f]Martha[/name_f], [name_f]Louisa[/name_f], and [name_f]Edith[/name_f] for the sister when I realized she needed a middle name anyway so I dropped [name_f]Edith[/name_f] because both [name_f]Martha[/name_f] and [name_f]Edith[/name_f] have that prominent TH sound and I liked [name_f]Martha[/name_f] with the brothers’ names better, and so the sister’s name is [name_f]Martha[/name_f] [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] W. (of course, I had to then go find middle names for the brothers, but you get my point). It’s even better when one of the names I’m deciding can also be a surname, because then you have your character’s full name.
So your character’s entire name can be [name_m]Stellan[/name_m] [name_m]Shepherd[/name_m] or [name_u]Auden[/name_u] [name_m]Shepherd[/name_m] if you wish.
I don’t think [name_u]Auden[/name_u] is too out there. It’s a poet’s name, so you can justify it by being a literary choice by his parents, adding to his studiousness. [name_m]Holden[/name_m] feels studious too, but it’s not an association I’d probably make with the [name_m]Holden[/name_m] I knew growing up. I saw [name_m]Augustus[/name_m] and [name_m]Nolan[/name_m] on someone else’s post and I think those are good suggestions too. [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] from someone else’s post is good too. I generally associate many traditional boys’ names as being serious, which I personally associate seriousness with studiousness, but that’s just me.
[name_u]Auden[/name_u] fits well!