Need help with character name! Pretty please help!

Girl Names
1

Okay this had nothing to do with naming a baby, per se. But my characters are my babies in a way. There’s a novel I’ve been obsessing on for a while and I have started it a few times but it was never going in the right direction. So I stopped to give it a little more thought and realized the main character wasn’t properly developed. I’ve given her some thought and now I need help naming her. Usually my character’s name themselves with little thought on my part but she just doesn’t want to introduce herself. I’m eager to start the novel but since it starts from her POV I need to name her and get her settled into her personality.

The character in question is a Halfling–which is to say she is a bastard of the royal family (the story takes place in a far future when one family rules what is left of the world. Eastern Oriental nations ([name]China[/name], Japan, and Korea) formed one superpower over a thousand years ago and now make up the royal family. All asians are either part of the Ruling Family, or Halflings. This character is unique in that she is a bastard of the Emperor and a [name]Moon[/name] Maiden or [name]Moon[/name] Watcher, also called Untouchables, as they are to live their lives as virgins, in service to the [name]Moon[/name] goddess, Kiame. As a young man, when his father was still in power, the current Emperor raped a high priestess in the midst of a ritual for Drawing Down the [name]Moon[/name]. She was imbued with the [name]Essence[/name] of Kiame when she conceived the main character. I don’t want to give too much of the story away but long story short she will end up fleeing for her life from the Imperial [name]Palace[/name] when there is an attempt on her life from uncertain sources.

The other main characters that I have named have word names. This wasn’t on purpose, it was just how it happened and now I feel that this is how all Commons are named. Only the Imperial Family and the gods have names in the old Tongue (a mix of the three languages which formed the superpower that took over) thus names like Kiame are reserved for inside the palace walls and places of worship.

Names of other characters outside the palace walls are:

[name]Doe[/name]
[name]Raven[/name]
[name]Eve[/name] (short for [name]Evening[/name])
[name]Burn[/name]
[name]Blaze[/name]
[name]Honey[/name]
Owl
[name]Azure[/name]
[name]Aria[/name]
Snapdragon
[name]Blue[/name]

I thought about calling the main character [name]Moon[/name] but I’m not 100% sure of it. I’m not yet sure whether she should have an asian name for inside the Walls that she then translates into the Common tongue to be the usual sort of “word name” those outside the palace walls have, so she won’t stand out or if she was never named as she was raised by the Untouchables where names are obsolete and she only gives herself a name when she moves outside the walls. Anyway I really need help with her name and I appreciate any help

2

Please help. I know this isn’t to name a living child but it’s really important to me. I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was 8 years old, after my dad died and I discovered I was good at writing. This story has been haunting me (literally) for years. But I’ve been putting it aside in order to work on a collaboration with a friend and also to focus on my poetry, which is my first passion. But this story will be ignored no longer. I have dreamed of being published, of seeing my name in print on the bookshelves at [name]Barnes[/name] & [name]Noble[/name] for nearly 14 years, since I first decided I wanted to write. This is really important to me and if there’s one thing I’ve discovered over the course of my time writing, it’s that a character doesn’t behave correctly if they don’t have the right name.

I thought, who better to ask than all the Berries here who are self professed name nerds and lovers.

3

[name]Sian[/name], ming, amida (savior in buddhist) , shen (spirit in chinese), fuchi (fire in japan), Jikoku (guardian in japan), karta (means fate)

[name]Hope[/name] these help

4

I really like Shen. It would fit the superstition inside the Imperial walls that she isn’t a real person because she was conceived when her mother had no spirit, as it is believed her spirit or soul leaves in order to make room for the essence of Kiame when doing the ritual for Drawing Down the [name]Moon[/name]. But once she leaves the palace walls name in the Old Tongue will give her away and make her stand out. She will need a word name in the Commons (the common tongue) to blend in outside the Walls.

5

I really like the idea of [name]Moon[/name]!

Maybe …

Sea
[name]Opal[/name]
[name]Tempest[/name]
[name]Quill[/name]
Nightingale (A bit long, but there’s nickname potential - [name]Night[/name]? [name]Gale[/name]?)
Bloom
[name]Day[/name] (Interesting with all of the moon connections, maybe?)
[name]Gold[/name]
[name]Lark[/name]
[name]Fate[/name]
Plume
[name]Gem[/name]
[name]Bright[/name]
[name]Navy[/name]
Candle
[name]Chariot[/name]
Sylph
[name]Leaf[/name]
[name]Meadow[/name]
Veil
[name]Bow[/name]
Mint
Flow

Are any of those on the right track?

6

I like [name]Opal[/name] and I had considered that one because some opals really remind me of the moon, all sparkling and iridescent. I’m not 100% sure about using it though because it’s high on my list of names for a daughter someday and I would hate for my daughter to think I named her after one of my character (should I choose to use it). So I’m still contemplating it. I kind of like Candle, too. Or maybe Wick, although that seems a bit more masculine but I like the reference to a light in the dark.