I just combined Vietnamese culture with Nordic cultures, and I don’t have any idea how to make names! Their language will be based on the Nordic languages, Norwegian and such, but I want the names to sound slightly more Vietnamese…
They are very pale people, with tilted up eyes. They are tall. Their eyes and hair are almost always black. They look very elegant. They speak the Common language with a chopped/clipped accent, and they pronounce R’s very low and gutteral.
I also need a name for their country. I’m thinking its geography has fjords, plains, a few jagged mountains, glaciers, and it’s in the southern hemisphere of their world. Of course, all the “known” peoples are in the southern hemisphere, so that doesn’t really matter much. This country is far to the west of the area where the story happens.
Um okay so first things first: I’m assuming the “tilted up eyes” trait you described comes from the Vietnamese part, right? Or inspired by “[name_f]Asian[/name_f]” eyes. I think you’re thinking of hooded or monolid eyes (which a lot of [name_f]East[/name_f] and Southeast [name_f]Asian[/name_f] people don’t have in the first place). Please please please never describe [name_f]East[/name_f] and Southeast [name_f]Asian[/name_f] people as having “slanted” or “squinty” eyes. It hurts me to even type that. It’s really gross please don’t. People copying elements of “exotic” cultures can often be really appropriative, and that phrase about the eyes just sets off a lot of alarm bells for me.
Of course, if you’re Vietnamese, you can describe your people however you want, though I would still discourage it because of the orientalist connotations.
Now that you and anyone else reading this are slightly more educated, on to the part you were actually asking about.
If you’re making the language based on Nordic influences, it’d be best to use Nordic names. You can maybe tweak them a little when possible, but names reflect language. What you can do is use the Vietnamese naming system. Since your culture is a blend of Vietnamese and Nordic cultures, maybe the naming system is derived from the Vietnamese part. Some quick googling tells me that Vietnamese names have three parts. The family name comes first, then a middle name, then a given name. Middle names are common, though not ubiquitous, and certain family names are so common that people will identify themselves using their given and middle names rather than their surname. Middle names used to be mostly filler (like [name_u]Van[/name_u]- or Mc-) though they are now often used for meaning or sound, kind of like how most Americans do it.
It looks like Vietnamese names are also mostly one-syllable, making them three-syllable full names. So stay away from long names, for sure.
I’m not very good at coming up with names for other people’s stories, since you know the world and culture best, but hopefully that gives you a direction to go in.
Sorry about the rant, but now you know, so it’s all good
Good luck!
Thanks, that helps. I hadn’t thought of using the Vietnamese scheme with Nordic names.
Sorry about the eyes and my ignorance.
You could also use a cross of both cultures names since they are combined along with tweaking them since it is fiction since it’s mainly Nordic I would stick with names closer to that with slight Vietnamese influences
[name_m]How[/name_m] about [name_u]Van[/name_u]? It’s a Vietnamese name and makes me think of [name_u]Van[/name_u] in a Dutch sense or [name_m]Vaughn[/name_m].