I asked this before but got like, one response so I thought I’d ask again. Not to brag, but I thought I did a fabulous job picking names for my novels. Since I love names and want to know what other name nerds are going to think when they come across names in my book, I’d love to have some opinions on the names themselves (not on whether they fit the character or not really so there won’t be any long drawn out descriptions). I suppose I’ll add whether the character is good or bad or neutral.
Summery:
I want opinions on the names themselves as fellow name nerds. If you want further info on any of the names, feel free to ask.
I also know that not all of these are going to be easy to say, so I included pronunciations and I really want to know how you would have pronounced them otherwise. That is important to me.
Whoa, amazing names [name]Angel[/name]! Not that I’m surprised. I’m pleased to see Viatrix in there, and very happy she’s good!
The pronunciations are how I would say them for the most, but the ones who aren’t is just because we’d say them different here in [name]England[/name]. And [name]Altair[/name], but you explained that one
Yes, I already know how to say [name]Altair[/name] right, the character itself just has a mispronounced name (as happens in real life). I actually fought with myself over that too. >.<
Only ones I stumbled on were Etrean (my head said et-reen) and Eldrisa (el-DRISS-uh). Lots of interesting ones in there. [name]Love[/name] [name]Llewelyn[/name] Elenwen is interesting- where’s that from?
renrose – we’re saying [name]Marietta[/name] the same I just have it written out in a confusing way I think. ^^ When I say publication stages, it means I have have sent the manuscript to publishing companies and their editorial departments are looking over it. So, waiting for acceptance would be better suited I suppose ^^. I’m about 100 pages from finishing the second novel too and I’m hoping to finish in the next 2 weeks before the baby gets here.
Also, why do you say [name]Llewelyn[/name] like that? Is that how it’s actually supposed to be pronounced?
Charlieandperry1 – I might have invented Elenwen. I can’t find it anywhere and it just popped into my head as I was writing the character.
Secondly, yes. In Welsh, ‘Ll’ is a letter with a pronunciation like ‘hcl’ (super hard noise to write down) [name]Just[/name] noticed you spell the name differently to me though. I’ve used the ‘ll’ letter both times but you only have it at the start. With your spelling it would be more like ‘cloo-elen’. Not 100% on the ‘y’ at the end. My Welsh friend told me it sounds like an ‘eh’ when it’s by itself but I can’t really say when it’s next to l’s.
Oh Dantea, the prospect of publishing a novel must be very exciting for you. Good luck!
Etrean – eh-tree-an (good) - Reminds me of the poor country Eritrea. I like it the sound and look of it. Did you make it up?
[name]Faron[/name] – fah-ron (neutral) - I would pronounce this one more as “fair-in” but maybe I’m thinking of [name]Farren[/name].
Alsandair – al-san-dare (good) - I like this form of [name]Alexander[/name].
Rannulf –ran-nulf (bad) - Ranulf/[name]Ranulph[/name] is usually spelled with one “n” but many authors redo spellings and make up names so who cares?
Pivane –pih-vane (badish) - Similar to [name]Jeremy[/name] Piven?
[name]Alexis[/name] –ah-lex-is (bad) - Definitely bad after the Dynasty vamp!
[name]Juliana[/name] – ju-lee-ah-nah (bad) - Pretty
[name]Phillipa[/name] – fil-lip-ah (bad) - majestic
[name]Marietta[/name] – mary-eh-tah (good) - She sounds like a goody two shoes.
[name]Syrena[/name] – sigh-reen-ah (main bad guy) - I’m surprised that this is a male.
Maji – mah-ji (neutral) - Different
[name]Absalom[/name] – ab-sah-lom (good) - An underused Biblical name
[name]Pax[/name] (bad) - This name is harsh so I do imagine a baddie.
Quella – kwel-lah (bad) - Definitely a badass. Cruella de Ville could be her sister!
[name]Victoria[/name] – vic-tor-ee-ah (neutral) - Classic
Soroka – sor-oh-kah (bad) - It sounds like an exotic name from [name]India[/name]
[name]Amara[/name] – ah-mar-ah (alias for [name]Syrena[/name]) - this is very feminine for a male character
[name]Etain[/name] – eh-tane (good) - I love this Irish name.
[name]Samantha[/name] – sah-man-thah (good) - [name]Every[/name] [name]Samantha[/name] that I’ve known as been a bad girl.
[name]Andrea[/name] – an-dree-ah (neutral) - a newer classic name
[name]Theona[/name] – thee-oh-nah (neutral) - Pretty Greek name
[name]Odette[/name] – oh-det (neutral) - Not very attractive in sound
Zarex –za-rex (neutral) - sounds like a medication. [name]Male[/name] or female?
[name]Cassandra[/name] – cah-san-drah (bad) - lovely Greek gem
[name]Kiera[/name] – keer-ah (neutral) - I prefer the Irish spelling [name]Ciara[/name] since you have an [name]Etain[/name].
[name]Cecilia[/name] – seh-sil-yuh (neutral) - Frilly and feminine
[name]Dahlia[/name] – doll-yuh (neutral) - Some may pronounce it as “day-lee-uh”
Majendra – mah-jen-drah (bad) - This looks like a Hindu name. Sounds cool but bad.
[name]Felicity[/name] – feh-lih-sity (neutral) - A [name]Felicity[/name] is a “happy” name so she should be good!
[name]Jocelyn[/name] – joz-len (neutral) - Gender neutral gem
[name]Lilith[/name] – lih-lith (neutral) - Neutral is the way a lot of people feel about [name]Adam[/name]'s first wife.
[name]Seren[/name] – seh-ren (badish) - This name does have a sinister sound to it, doesn’t it.
Tacitus – tac-ih-tus (badish) - Many [name]Roman[/name] names do sound badish
[name]Mathis[/name] – ma-this (good) - [name]Johnny[/name] [name]Mathis[/name]?
[name]Reynolds[/name] – rey-nolds (good) - A surname seems odd but I don’t know your story.
[name]Altair[/name] – al-tare (good and I already realize this isn’t a ‘correct’ pronunciation) - [name]Ethereal[/name]
Lilandra – lil-ahn-drah (bad) - A smoosh? A cross between [name]Lilian[/name] and [name]Alexandra[/name].
[name]Cynthia[/name] – sin-thee-uh (neutral) - It’s nice to see this name being used.
[name]Aurelius[/name] – aw-ray-lee-us (good) - I pronounce this name as “aw-re-lee-us”. [name]Love[/name] it!
[name]Vega[/name] – vay-gah (neutral) - [name]Suzanne[/name] [name]Vega[/name] and a star.
Places and words:
Thuria – thur-ee-ah - Exotic
Jara – jah-rah - Dreamy
Eldrisa – el-drees-ah - Sounds like an exotic witch
Baelfire – bale-fire - oh this is wicked (in a good way! :))
Kaga – kah-ga - Reminds me of kangaroo
Tondris – ton-dris - I like the sound of this place.
From the second:
Verin – VEH-rin (bad) - Too soft to be bad
[name]Nasir[/name] – NAH-seer (bad) - I can see evil with this name
Erebus – EH-reh-bus (bad) - Sounds very bad
Viatrix – VEE-ah-triks (good) - Reminds me of the word “dominatrix”.
[name]Cornelia[/name] – kor-NEE-lee-ah (good) - It’s refreshing to see this Old [name]Roman[/name] name
[name]Lorelei[/name] – LOR-eh-lie (good) - Any sailors in your story? I knew a very smart woman named [name]Lorelei[/name].
[name]Bianca[/name] – BYAHN-kah (good) - Lots of Italian flair
Carya – CAR-yuh (neutralish) - I would pronounce this like [name]Aria[/name] with a C in front.
[name]Cyrus[/name] – [name]SIE[/name]-rus (neutral) - Strong and masculine
[name]Lorcan[/name] – LOR-kan (neutral) - Irish boys name for [name]Laurence[/name]. It has spunk.
[name]Delphine[/name] – del-FEEN (bad) - I love this French name so I’m sad that’s she’s a baddie!
Lilandra – lil-AHN-drah (bad) - here she is again. This woman gets around, doesn’t she?
[name]Llewelyn[/name] – LOO-eh-len (goodish) - A fine Welsh name.
[name]Ulric[/name] – UHL-ric (good) - He sounds bad
Corrick – [name]COR[/name]-[name]RIK[/name] (good) - A smoosh that sounds bad.
[name]Sophia[/name] – so-[name]FEE[/name]-a (good) - Yes, wisdom is good!
[name]Haldor[/name] – [name]HAL[/name]-door (good) - A Norse name that sounds like trouble.
[name]Zillah[/name] – ZIL-ah (bad) - A rare Biblical name.
[name]Valeriana[/name] – vah-LER-ee-ah-na (good) - This one sounds bad to me.
Faris – fa-ris (bad) - Could be pronounced as “fair-is”.
[name]Demetri[/name] – deh-mee-tree (bad) - I would pronounce this as “deh-meh-tree”. [name]Dimitri[/name] would be “deh-mee-tree”.
[name]Cassius[/name] – cass-ee-us (neutral) - I pronounce this name “cash-us” like boxer [name]Cassius[/name] [name]Clay[/name] (aka [name]Muhammad[/name] [name]Ali[/name])
[name]Imogen[/name] – im-oh-jen (bad) - [name]Shakespeare[/name] would be so proud!
Dajanira – day-jah-neer-ah (bad) - This could be two things: a version of the Spanish [name]Dayanara[/name] or something from [name]India[/name].
[name]Malik[/name] – ma-lik (bad) - An Arab name popular with African-Americans.
[name]Qadir[/name] – kah-deer (bad) - A cool Arab name
[name]Tahira[/name] – tah-heer-ah (bad) - A pretty Arab name
Elenwen – el-en-win (bad) - Sounds and looks Welsh. I think it sounds pretty even if the character is bad.
Catori – cah-tor-ee (neutral) - A made up smoosh? It reminds me of the Native American saint name Kateri.
[name]Moira[/name] – moy-rah (good) - Irish gem.
Ursicina – ur-sih-see-nah (bad) - Yes, this one is a baddie for sure!
Calinico – ca-lih-nee-co (goodish) - [name]Cat[/name]-like. [name]Calico[/name].
Places
Dar-el-Mendal – dar-el-men-dahl - Arab
Dar-el-Dorahn – dar-el-dor-ahn - Arab
Alocia – ah-loh-shuh - Some may say “ah-loh-see-uh”. It’s similar to [name]Alicia[/name].
Woran – wor-ran - This sounds like a bad place.
Loroth – lor-oh-th - I would pronounce this as “lo-[name]ROTH[/name]”.
That’s interesting Renrose! Thanks for trying to explain that.
[name]Mischa[/name], love your comments. I’ll address some:
Etrean – eh-tree-an (good) - Reminds me of the poor country Eritrea. I like it the sound and look of it. Did you make it up? – As far as I can tell, yes. I can’t find it anywhere online ^^ Pivane –pih-vane (badish) - Similar to [name]Jeremy[/name] Piven? – I actually had no idea who that was. I had to google >.> I was looking for a name that meant “sneaky” or some such and found this which means “weasel” or “like a weasel” ^^ [name]Marietta[/name] – mary-eh-tah (good) - She sounds like a goody two shoes. – lol no. She most definitely isn’t a goody two shoes, just playing for the good side [name]Syrena[/name] – sigh-reen-ah (main bad guy) - I’m surprised that this is a male. – No! I see where the confusion came in. I’ll go change that to “main Villain” [name]Absalom[/name] – ab-sah-lom (good) - An underused Biblical name – I agree. Though I’m not biblical, it’s a beautiful name and perfect for him. I went overboard on his whole name – [name]Absalom[/name] [name]Lucien[/name] [name]Verity[/name] – father of peace, light and truth. (All my MAIN characters have full names) [name]Pax[/name] (bad) - This name is harsh so I do imagine a baddie. – Yes. I wanted an ironic name for him. He’s terrible but his name means peace [name]Amara[/name] – ah-mar-ah (alias for [name]Syrena[/name]) - this is very feminine for a male character – I addressed the confusion up there Zarex –za-rex (neutral) - sounds like a medication. [name]Male[/name] or female? – Zarex is male. It’s an old Greek name – A son of Carystus and founder of the town Zarex in Laconia. – I agree that it sounds medical which is why it’s not on my baby name list any longer [name]Mathis[/name] – ma-this (good) - [name]Johnny[/name] [name]Mathis[/name]? – I had to google this one too >.< I don’t watch a lot of TV and he isn’t my musical style. Mathis is a random surname I picked out of the air for an army general >.> [name]Reynolds[/name] – rey-nolds (good) - A surname seems odd but I don’t know your story. – Yes, I agree. It’s for an army commander though, so he is generally referred to as [name]Captain[/name] [name]Reynolds[/name] or some such in text. Lilandra – lil-ahn-drah (bad) - A smoosh? A cross between [name]Lilian[/name] and [name]Alexandra[/name]. – It’s a name I know I’ve heard, but can’t find. Probably is a smoosh, but I sort of love it.
From the second:
Verin – VEH-rin (bad) - Too soft to be bad – Lol. I like that though ^^ It’s a word from an ancient language meaning ‘evil’ [name]Lorelei[/name] – LOR-eh-lie (good) - Any sailors in your story? I knew a very smart woman named [name]Lorelei[/name]. – Nope, but if I were to choose one to be a sailor or something like it, she would be it ^^ Corrick – [name]COR[/name]-[name]RIK[/name] (good) - A smoosh that sounds bad. – Actually, Corrick is a real name. From my research, it’s an old norse variant of [name]Corey[/name]. Faris – fa-ris (bad) - Could be pronounced as “fair-is”. – I asked on here a while back how to say this one but no one answered so I just picked the one that sounded like it would be right (since it’s Arabic). I started out pronouncing it fair-is so I’ll probably change that [name]Demetri[/name] – deh-mee-tree (bad) - I would pronounce this as “deh-meh-tree”. [name]Dimitri[/name] would be “deh-mee-tree”. – I can see that. [name]Demetri[/name] (this spelling) comes from the Greek [name]Demeter[/name], which is where the pronunciation comes from Dajanira – day-jah-neer-ah (bad) - This could be two things: a version of the Spanish [name]Dayanara[/name] or something from [name]India[/name]. – It’s actually an old Greek name. It’s in some of my old books and whatnot. Catori – cah-tor-ee (neutral) - A made up smoosh? It reminds me of the Native American saint name Kateri. – This isn’t a smoosh either. Old Greek form of [name]Catherine[/name] (according to some extensive research)
[name]Reading[/name] over all your comments, I actually realized I left my [name]King[/name] off! His name is [name]Dorian[/name].
Thanks for your replies and thanks [name]Mischa[/name] especially for your detailed comments! I love that.
Yes, but sadly, he’s not nearly as interesting as [name]Dorian[/name] [name]Gray[/name]. He’s more like the scarecrow from [name]Oz[/name]…no brains >.>
He is a womanizer though, so I guess I balance out.
Manuscript is getting read today. I’m already nervous and impatient and hoping my editor reads it fast! I need to know if it’s good or not!
So many beautiful and fun names. I love it [name]Angel[/name]. (Now I want to read the books. You did that on purpose right?)
The names below are the only ones I’d pronounce slightly differently.
Pivane –pih-vane (badish) --> Piv-aine (in my accent it make the end of the name sound a little like anus. Which if he’s a butt-head totally works. lol).
[name]Syrena[/name] – sigh-reen-ah (main villain) --> I actually know a [name]Syrena[/name] she pronounces it Sah-ree-na the sound of which I find quite pretty.
Dajanira – day-jah-neer-ah (bad) --> Dah-jah-neer-ah. The other sounds too much like [name]Deja[/name]-Vu. (Since you haven’t sent this to a publisher yet, I’d consider the spelling if you really like the day-jah-neer-ah pronunciation. Dejanira would give me that. [name]Remember[/name] that even if you put a pronunciation guide in the book - which is so popular with ScFi/Fant books now it’s always about KISS.)
